goldtiger

unfortunately no, still showing March expiration next year... despite the email from my Airpass rep indicating otherwise... however the Airpass portal is showing the 3 month extension

BlooJoo

Weird. Everything extended for me to 6/17/21: funds usage, status, SWU's, FFD passes, etc.

LoungeLizardHugo

Anyone have experience with YUP/JUP success rates (for the both of you) when traveling with a companion? In other words, are the opportunities to achieve the UP massively contingent on only traveling alone? Or similar upgrade availability if yourself with companion? Trying to understand if AirPass would be a marriage killer

BlooJoo

The YUPs and JUPs are not really upgrades. They book into a Business/First Class inventory. For Business or two-cabin planes, they book into R, D or I, whatever the lower available is. R is right below J. Essentially, they're almost always available unless the front cabin is close to sold out.

LoungeLizardHugo

Thanks for quick reply, and for all your previous questions from which I learned a LOT! ^

Perhaps I could have better worded my question- Odds of R/D/I buckets being generally 1+, or generally only 1?

BlooJoo

This is a very broad question, and really depends on the route, time, day of the week, and when you buy.

daron4000

Generally speaking pretty easy unless traveling at very popular times on routes that have sold out most of the J cabin already.

FleyeSkyHigh

Right now you may see R, D, and I almost always available but back in busy seasons I would nearly always see J be a 1 to 4 higher in inventory count on high demand/volume routes.

LoungeLizardHugo

Thanks very much, that's exactly what I was looking to find out.

FleyeSkyHigh

My understanding is that the reps of certain new Airpass members or Airpass members that have reps pro-actively extended some accounts three months but that has since been stopped. So there is a limited number of contracts that have undergone extensions. For those that are new to paid Airpass the "sales rep" goes away after the first term and renewals/extensions are handled by the call/service center at the one year mark of the relationship. According to a conversation I had today with a senior member of the Airpass servicing team, the intention is to extend ALL Airpass contracts by up to one year but that the extensions will not be done until the contract is near expiration. The thought process is that they will obviously not extend contracts where all the funds have been utilized already. This makes sense from a business perspective as the point of most Airpass accounts is to routinely add supplement amounts as needed and on a periodic basis. They don't favor accounts that are increasing in spend. Nonetheless, the take away, at least unofficially, is that assuming travel continues to be slow, they will be extending contracts quite a bit more than three months.

BlatheringPenguin

That almost all agrees with what I’ve been told as well. (Only thing I’ve experienced differently is that I’ve dealt with the same Sales Rep every year, both in my first year and in every renewal year.)

FleyeSkyHigh

That's interesting. My understanding is that Reps were generally only assigned accounts that are approaching six figures and higher on an annual basis. Maybe your contact fits that criteria.

Aside from Airpass extensions, the bigger concern is what happens to the route network as a reduction in network impacts how far Airpass dollars can go and what they can be used towards. There certainly are possibilities that involve AA selling off or divesting certain assets. Ideas that have been publicly floated thus far have including selling or leveraging AAdvantage program with banks, long term mortgaging of gate/ramp space, conversion of passenger aircraft and spinning off cargo business, selling interests and operations of regional network and selling off International trans-Pacific or trans-Atlantic routes or both (making AA more like a Southwest). ME-3 (only two of which are meaningful) are absolutely chomping at the bit for the trans-Atlantic and gate spaces. The International network is absolutely in play but bottom line there is little clarity and any of the above or more are on the table. I think it's safe to assume that the already massive elimination of expenses will materially reduce the route network over the next several years. The question is how much that reduces usefulness of Airpass funds will be reduced. For those companies that have been using Airpass for quite some time there is some level of protection in the contract. If there is a route that gets eliminated (or reduced) that the company may have routinely utilized then they have an out but other than that there is no pandemic exception in the contracts. On the positive side, from a business unit perspective I do not see Airpass being at risk in a bankruptcy or divesting scenario as it is positioned in the core business services division of the company.

goldtiger

Thanks for the comprehensive posts... helps me understand what's going on here. My contract is barely 6 digits, but only got minimal communication from Airpass so far (through rep). Contact is extended by 3 months, CK status isn't, that's all so far on my end. I'm really hoping for a full year extension for both airpass contract & status. Haven't touched the contract balance at all.

LoungeLizardHugo

I also appreciate the additional detail.

With previous post in back of mind, what is the value of AirPass for Asia/Pacific flights? YUP/JUP rare or non-existent, or good as TATL? Limited to only a few cities? We like going to NZ/Australia/China/Japan/HK and TPE. Is AirPass of value, limited-value or no value for those destinations?

Thanks in advance for feedback!

BlooJoo

Interesting. The the AAdvantage extensions went into place, I asked my rep (playing dumb), why I wasn't extended (beyond the three months I was already extended). Her response was, "The announcement for Elite status’s being extended was for the Aadvantage members who earned the status. This right now didn’t include AirPass member who received status with the contract."

Bolding, italics, underline, mine. Seems like the door is open for a future extension.

-BlooJoo