Hawk Circle

Sent my request and documentation Monday. Received rejection email today because "that offer is no longer available."

Mad_Max_Esq

No dice for this premier gold. I sent my information just before 12pm EDT last friday. I just received an email including the following:

We received your letter and accordingly, I've taken the liberty of
answering electronically, using the email address included in your
AAdvantage membership profile. I apologize for the delay in responding
to your fax and appreciate the opportunity to assist you now.

Thanks for your interest in making American Airlines your first choice
for all your travel needs. We understand that there have been some
misunderstandings regarding ways to attain AAdvantage elite status
without meeting standard criteria. I am sorry to disappoint you, but the
offer you are expecting is not currently available.

That said, we are pleased to inform you about a special opportunity to
achieve AAdvantage Platinum® status by earning 10,000 elite-qualifying
points on American Airlines, American Eagle, the AmericanConnection
carrier, British Airways, Iberia, Japan Airlines and Qantas (including
eligible codeshare flights marketed by these carriers) in a designated
3-month period. The cost to register for this "challenge" varies from
$180 to $240. For details about earning elite-qualifying points, please
visit www.aa.com/elitestatus

Boghopper

Doubt that's a factor. There seem to be many who submitted on Friday and Saturday (including yours truly) who haven't heard or seen anything yet.

Supratik

Likewise, got the same email. Now have to figure out if it's worth sacrificing 10k that I will inevitably need for 1K this year to get Platinum on AA...

LarkSFO

OK, here is my explanation:

1) Some guy on FT claims that some rep from AA told him during his conversation with them that '5,000 UA Elites have applied for this match'.

2) You then repeat it like it is a fact from the NYT and must be true.

3) By doing so, I think you reiterate my point about FT: It is an internet message board! Period. Some posters have developed a reputation for accurate information and honest, truthful perspectives. The vast majority? Just some guy (or girl) posting anonymously saying whatever they'd like...

And I love it anyway!

And, I also want to hear more from your perspective since you do fly both AA and UA. Just not the unfounded claims or hyperbole.

SFO777

You can get those 10K EQPs for about $1,000 and 36 or so hours, unless you want to spend a few days on the beach.



+1
Never should have tossed in the SWUs. Then again, the opportunity to poach tens of thousands of top elites from a tone deaf major competitor in disarray is probably worth the cost of what they assume to be a small percentage of freeloaders.

chavala

I agree. But there has always been opportunities to take a challenge with AA. I didn't feel the need and I didn't see a whole lot of UA people taking them up on it. Until now. They are just GIVING it away to almost ANYONE. (correct that: they are apparently now deciding who gets it based on some mysterious "criteria").
I'm in awe. Feel like someone on the street just handed me a stack of cash.
If UA did this you guys would be having cows!

HansGolden

It boggles the mind of one that is selfishly aghast at having more upgrade competition, but it doesn't boggle the mind of someone that's actually pro-AA. The point of the match is so that AA gets previously UA business. The longer that that takes (especially if the process is fraught with irregularities and inconsistencies), the worse it is for AA because business is not being moved until the match is completed. (Also the longer it takes, the more likely they will get "phantom" matchers who get eVIPs, but don't respond with full business. Every bit of the year that ticks along is a smaller window into which to squeeze 100k to requal.) I know I'm very anxiously awaiting the match in order to book some AA flights. That anxiety translates to matched customers that are less satisfied than they could be out of the gate. I'm speaking here from a perspective of helping AA, not out of selfish motives. I'm honestly fairly neutral between AA and UA right now. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. Pre-status match, AA was not compellingly enough better for me to fly kettle for 100k miles to switch. With a match, I can take a fair look at both.

UA no longer has a culture of customer service. AA does. For me, that's the main point of giving AA a try. (If you would have read my post you're replying to, you'd have seen me say that there too. It does not help your credibility to simply repeat questions that have already been explicitly answered by a poster.)

--

Please also note that my earlier comments about how AA could improve to be more attractive were once again analyzing what would be best for AA, not necessarily what would be best for myself. Regarding eVIPs being valid on BA/JL, I think it's business travelers who will be more concerned about being able to use their eVIPs all the way to the destination than me. For me, if I can get a cheap ticket to Singapore, I don't care if the last 7 hours are in Y. I've slept 12/14:30 JFK-JNB. I also did GUM-HNL-LAX-HNL-GUM in one straight shot one time (GUM<>HNL was Y). I don't mind hacking together an ICT-ORD-NRT ticket with a NRT-SIN//SIN-BKK//BKK-KUL//KUL-NRT award or some-such. However, your typical business traveler will NOT want that complication--he'll want to be able to easily book AA via NRT to SIN on AA/JL at the same price he can with AA.

AAExPlat

Ahhh. Now I understand what you meant. I guess that's a fair point to make.

You bet.

If AA succeeds in poaching tens of thousands of elites from UA, then the effort has a definite chance to create problems for AA via unintended consequences. If this was indeed the outcome, then AA will probably need to expand capacity across the network to prevent issues.

German Expat

I am also a little bit puzzled how the requests are processes. While I understand that they said 10 days the reports here gave me hope it would be faster.
I did book a held UA (Z class) roundtrip to Europe today because my ticketing window came to an end. Would have moved it to BA or AA if I had a match but didn't want to risk being stuck in limbo.

ULMFlyer

Well, at least there have been no additional reports of 1Ks being rejected.

Thunderroad

True, this could be a short-term problem if the new customers translate into occupying a significant enough percentage of AA seats. I just don't know how those numbers work out.

But more generally, isn't coping with successfully poaching tens of thousands of a competitors' elites exactly the kind of problem an airline would love to have?

EsquireFlyer

I submitted my account statement last friday afternoon, and still have not heard a peep. I guess I should have submitted my MP card instead? If I follow up with that now, do you guys think it will help, or just slow the process down further?

Boraxo

Still working as of 3pm Pacific. ^ Very smart move by AA - will win quite a bit of business once people realize the grass IS sometimes greener at AA and the fares are almost always cheaper (at least when I compare with UA). Miles are also easier to use. I will definitely look for opportunities to book my family on AA now that I know I can get free upgrades and waivers of garbage fees.

LarkSFO

Now it's tens of thousands!

It must be true, I read it on the internet!

Thank you.


I would love to know what the actual number really is... Although I remain mostly loyal to UA, I still think this was a brilliant move by AA. And, yes, I think they had to include SWU's to get the kind of response they did.

I would speculate (means I do not claim it is true!) that the bankruptcy proceedings have to be hurting AA. And as further layoffs, route reductions, US Airways acquisition, and labor strife happen, it will continue to test the loyalty of their elites.

The amount of DEQM they gave away to keep elites loyal, and now this move are great ways to convince people to stick with or move to AA.

Thanks to FT I am much more engaged in the whole FF / Travel world and I look forward to seeing how things play out over the next year or two.