Stripy

I have trouble believing this. Stickers are no guarantee of F so why would someone who's prepared to pay for F take the risk that the UG doesn't come through? Sure, a few such pax may exist but I don't believe there's even close to enough of them to make a dent in that $100m.

morrisunc

$100mm will be easily replaced with the combined aa:us. No way they won't do udu like everyone else. Delta has figured it out and aa will copy.

jfinsocal

Agree that DL is at the forefront here, the combined AA-US management team in Ft. Worth/Tempe have an established successful model to follow. UA-CO didn't have this at the time of their merger.

For upgrades, stickers can also be replaced by miles and copay - it's not really that different.

They may already do this but I'd allow for a no-fee upgrade from non-refundable economy to non-refundable first. This provides another way to upgrade for those that are bound to economy tickets by work rules and would provide revenue to the airline.

ElmhurstNick

Sadly they don't do this today. If they did this AND merged EQP/EQM so that you got 150% EQM for an A fare, I'd probably do this on a number of routes. When I did my challenge to get back to Platinum, I did it almost all on those kind of discount A fares.

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

Hotel stays generally do not have the price swings that airfares do. And of course, stays booked on PL, HW and other opaque sites do not earn points. DL and UA have been taking baby steps towards a revenue based status model and I would make any bet that when the combined AA FF program is announced in 2015 if not a totally spend model certainly moving in that direction. I also eventually see smaller premium cabins on mostly domestic a/c (such as the 8F seats on the A319). Lets face it, eventually its only going to be the high dollar spend paxs sitting in comfort.

xliioper

You are missing there is very little equivalence between "miles" and "nights". Note that WN, despite using a revenue based status qualification system, still allows one to qualify solely based on "flights". However, they do not count individual segments (each one-way trip is a flight), so you can't really game the system with segment runs. This translates far more closely to nights than miles do. I'd expect the legacies to adopt something similar to WN's program if they go to revenue based qualification. So the cheap fare flyer still has a shot at status and an incentive to remain loyal. However, it is unlikely they will be able to get status nearly as cheaply as some of the heavy mileage runners currently can.

TXguy

That's what came to my mind too - the hotel programs dont differentiate based on category of hotel either. You can be Marriott Plat after 75 nights at the Fairfield Inn or Silver after 49 in a suite at the Ritz Carlton.

I would do much better if AA granted status based on one-way trips. I'd be solidly Platinum at least.

It would be the best way, in theory, to measure loyalty.

Air Houston

if you stay 49 nights at full service properties Marriott will surely provide status above the level "earned" according to strictly following the program rules. I have benefited from this "generosity" offered as a reward for my loyalty on numerous occasions.

dylanks

I think a revenue model is a bad idea, as it skews towards passengers flying expensive routes rather than profitable passengers. I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but there's a lot more that factors into a customer being valuable than the pure revenue they spend.

I think the BA tier point system does a better job. It greatly favors passengers who pay for premium class travel.

TXguy

I have too after about 15 nights with quite a lot more booked, but most of the nights already stayed and reservations weren't even at full service properties so it's not even so much about revenue in all cases.

Regardless, my point was about the rules of the programs. Obviously, challenges, "gifts," status matches, etc. happen.

LINDEGR

I diagree. AFS is a joke compared to what it used to be just last year. The seat and IFE may be better on the new planes, but everything else is worse. DL J is better than AA F at this point and I have switched - at least until January of 2015 when I need to requalify for EXP.

eponymous_coward

If AA is so much worse, why do you need to requalify for EXP?

Also, it seems rather silly to invest millions in hard product (that can't easily be redone, you're committed once the hardware goes in) and neglect the soft product. DL's actually been plowing some of their profits back into the J soft product. Why wouldn't AA once they get their merger behind them?

TXguy

Because Dougie seems intent on racing UA to the bottom.

Superguy

Rental cars as well. National doesn't reward or penalize my spending - just rewards my continued patronage of their services.

Of course, rental car prices can vary as wildly as air fares. I can rent the same class of car for a similar time frame and it can be double in one location over another.

eponymous_coward

How so? I don't see the new 772s as "racing to the bottom", for instance.