Oct 28, 2014, 7:12 am
Last edit by: JDiver
HELP: JUST THE FACTS / FAQs: Combined AA/US AAdvantage FFP 2014 on
PLEASE NOTE: this thread has been re dedicated for "JUST THE FACTS" in an attempt to raise the signal to noise ratio, allowing members to find germane information about the AAdvantage program (merged pre-merger AAdvantage, and Dividend Miles, now under way) program and get factual answers to your / frequently asked questions from experienced members.
REACTION DISCUSSION: Combined AA/US AAdvantage program announced Oct 2014 – opinions
Please use the thread started for impressions, opinions, reactions, feelings, concerns, etc. and keep this thread for "JUST THE FACTS" and ACTUAL REPLIES. And of course, feel free to add new facts and findings to this wiki for members' ease in finding information on the new FFP.
Thank you, the AA fora moderation team
REACTION DISCUSSION: Combined AA/US AAdvantage program announced Oct 2014 – opinions
Please use the thread started for impressions, opinions, reactions, feelings, concerns, etc. and keep this thread for "JUST THE FACTS" and ACTUAL REPLIES. And of course, feel free to add new facts and findings to this wiki for members' ease in finding information on the new FFP.
Thank you, the AA fora moderation team
AAdvantage loyalty program in 2015 - LINK
The AAdvantage program will continue to offer three elite status levels – AAdvantage Executive Platinum, Platinum and Gold – and you’ll still have three ways to qualify with elite-qualifying miles, points and segments. On January 1, 2015, the segment qualification requirement for Executive Platinum will move to 120, and the current 100 segment threshold will continue until December 31, 2014.
Three tiers:
- Executive Platinum - 100k EQM / 100k EQP / 120 Segments
- Platinum - 50k EQM / 50k EQP / 60 Segments
- Gold - 25k EQM / 25k EQP / 30 Segments
Elite Status Benefits:
- AAdvantage elite status members receive select reciprocal benefits to enrich their travel journey when flying on US Airways.
- This includes upgrades on US Airways on the day of departure when available, First/Business Class check-in, priority through security checkpoints, priority boarding, complimentary checked bags, access to preferred seats, and priority baggage delivery for Executive Platinum and Platinum members.
- Upgrades will still be different on American and US Airways flights until we have a single reservation system at the end of 2015. For now, continue flying and enjoying reciprocal benefits and the ability to earn and redeem miles on both carriers. We’ll keep you updated as we move forward with other important integration milestones.
Million Miler Program:
- 1 Million combined miles - Lifetime Gold Status
- 2 Million combined miles - Lifetime Platinum Status
Upgrades on American: https://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/AAdvantage2015/index.jsp#500mile
- All flights 500 miles and under, no stickers needed and are complimentary regardless of elite status for the elite members.
- Complimentary upgrades will be auto requested for all elite levels at booking. Non complimentary upgrades (aka those needing 500mi stickers) will have to be requested manually.
- No complimentary upgrades for Y/B fares for Gold/Platinum anymore (unless flight is 500 miles or less)
- Companion Upgrades still will require 500mi stickers to be used.
- 8 SWUs for EXP level and EXPs still will not earn 500mi stickers to use for companions.
2015 - January Updates:
- Executive Platinum and Chairman's Preferred members enjoy complimentary same-day confirmed flight changes on American, a new benefit
- Redeem all your Special Dividends by early 2015; qualification ends in December 2014
2015 - 2nd Quarter Updates:
- Move to three elite status levels in the AAdvantage program – Gold, Platinum and Executive Platinum
- Qualify for elite status based on elite-qualifying miles, segments or points
- Receive a 100% mileage bonus if you're a Dividend Miles Gold or Platinum member who becomes AAdvantage Platinum
- Redeem miles for AAnytime awards and mileage upgrade awards on both American and US Airways marketed and operated flights
- Upgrade on American marketed and operated flights before day of departure
On March 13 2015, AAdvantage sent a letter to members saying "we're on track to bring the US Airways Dividend Miles® program into the AAdvantage program within the next 30 days."
N.B. The previous thread discussing the putative, pre-announcement AAdvantage program, entitled "Speculation and discussion of what the new merged FFP might look like (consolidated)" can be found here; it has been closed and archived.
Some useful resources:
FT:Airport Terminal, Gate & Counter Changes
Link to Gary Leff's "View from the Wing" interview with AA's Suzanne Rubin
Link to TravelingBetter with JonNYC's information.
Clarifying contact from AA provided by jmachin:
We want to address all your concerns. Thank you for responding to our most recent email.
I apologize for the delay in answering. I wanted to discuss the point you raised with our executive team and get you a correct answer.
When our frequent flyer programs are combined sometime in the second quarter of 2015, if your 2014 combined elite-qualifying activity meets the requirements for AAdvantage Executive Platinum status, then your AAdvantage account will be updated with Executive Platinum status. The requirements for 2014 are 100,000 elite-qualifying miles, 100,000 elite-qualifying points, or 100 elite-qualifying segments, with at least 4 segments flown on American Airlines or US Airways.
This means that if you end 2014 with 107 elite-qualifying segments and at least 4 of those segments were American Airlines or US Airways flights, then you will receive Executive Platinum status when the programs are combined. Until that point, you will have Dividend Miles Preferred Platinum status.
Please be aware, beginning in 2015, the segment requirements will be 120 segments to re-qualify for Executive Platinum status. We look forward to having you as an AAdvantage Executive Platinum member!
Regards,
Kathleen L.
AAdvantage Customer Service
American Airlines.
I apologize for the delay in answering. I wanted to discuss the point you raised with our executive team and get you a correct answer.
When our frequent flyer programs are combined sometime in the second quarter of 2015, if your 2014 combined elite-qualifying activity meets the requirements for AAdvantage Executive Platinum status, then your AAdvantage account will be updated with Executive Platinum status. The requirements for 2014 are 100,000 elite-qualifying miles, 100,000 elite-qualifying points, or 100 elite-qualifying segments, with at least 4 segments flown on American Airlines or US Airways.
This means that if you end 2014 with 107 elite-qualifying segments and at least 4 of those segments were American Airlines or US Airways flights, then you will receive Executive Platinum status when the programs are combined. Until that point, you will have Dividend Miles Preferred Platinum status.
Please be aware, beginning in 2015, the segment requirements will be 120 segments to re-qualify for Executive Platinum status. We look forward to having you as an AAdvantage Executive Platinum member!
Regards,
Kathleen L.
AAdvantage Customer Service
American Airlines.
HELP: JUST THE FACTS / FAQs: Combined AA/US AAdvantage FFP 2014 on
Oct 28, 2014, 11:00 am
#271
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Palm Beach/ New England
Programs: AA EXP 3MM, DL GM, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,382
...A joke because there was a period of like 8 months post-merger where the website was TOTALLY screwed up and you could only view on the mobile app! But generally fixed now!
Oct 28, 2014, 11:01 am
#272
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: SFO
Programs: WFBF
Posts: 963
They'll never retire the "Super" 80s. My personal hope is they figure out where all the people live who sing the praises of these wonderful nostalgic planes that hearken back to the glorious 1980s, and permanently keep MD-80 service (and only MD-80 service) to those stations, and let the rest of us fly on actual modern planes instead.
Oct 28, 2014, 11:01 am
#273
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: DEN
Programs: AA EXP 1MM, UA 1K 1MM, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Plat
Posts: 400
Oct 28, 2014, 11:02 am
#274
Suspended
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FIND ME ON TWITTER FOR THE LATEST
Posts: 27,730
Oct 28, 2014, 11:04 am
#275
Suspended
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FIND ME ON TWITTER FOR THE LATEST
Posts: 27,730
You have no idea what you're hysterically ranting about, just calm down and get ahold of yourself-- you're coming off like a complete nut.
Oct 28, 2014, 11:05 am
#276
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: 32.7758° N, 96.7967° W
Programs: AA EXP,SPG 75
Posts: 318
Oct 28, 2014, 11:07 am
#278
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Gorham, Maine, USA
Programs: Delta Gold, UA Platinum
Posts: 193
The revenue requirements at Delta and United are minimal. If any elites cant meet them, they should never have been elite. I really find it hard to believe that anyone can plan business travel far enough ahead to get fares so cheap they can't meet the very modest $ levels needed at Delta and United.
Oct 28, 2014, 11:08 am
#279
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: 32.7758° N, 96.7967° W
Programs: AA EXP,SPG 75
Posts: 318
Oct 28, 2014, 11:10 am
#280
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: NYC
Posts: 6,433
The arguments I've seen from AA folks are (1) paying improves chances of upgrades on some routes and (2) paying improves AA's ability to provide FC seats.
Oct 28, 2014, 11:10 am
#281
Suspended
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FIND ME ON TWITTER FOR THE LATEST
Posts: 27,730
You can call up and request more SWUs.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/23705355-post117.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/23705355-post117.html
And, other, member-specific criteria apply for eligibility.
Oct 28, 2014, 11:11 am
#282
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 3,698
This is a great point. Even as a 1K and Chairman and EXP, I don't get upgraded all the time - probably about 90%. (I am sitting at JFK right now, #1 on the upgrade list with 1 seat left.) And as you mention, sometimes I really want it, while other times 'it would be nice'.
I doubt this will happen, but having something like a permanent bonus of 2 SWUs at the 75K earning threshold might be a reasonable compromise to encourage folks who previous were in this tier to keep earning, and also to offset some of the pain of needing to earn/buy stickers where it wasn't necessary before. (In fact, it sounds like this would be moving something like a US Chairman's benefit down to their PLT tier.)
Oct 28, 2014, 11:13 am
#283
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Dallas
Programs: AAdvantage EXP, IHG Spire, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, National Executive Elite
Posts: 1,523
Oh how I wish I could get you to comment on my blog! Sometimes I feel I am the only one waving the US Airways flag.... however, that being said:
The American sub-elites (Platinum and Gold) have never known any other system so for them, it is business as usual. US Airways had the sticker program back in the late 90's and did away with it because it felt it wasn't working for its elites. So sad to see it reinstated.
Yes, it is a major downgrade and slap in the face for US Airways flyers and no, the American flyers have no idea how we really feel about this.
The American sub-elites (Platinum and Gold) have never known any other system so for them, it is business as usual. US Airways had the sticker program back in the late 90's and did away with it because it felt it wasn't working for its elites. So sad to see it reinstated.
Yes, it is a major downgrade and slap in the face for US Airways flyers and no, the American flyers have no idea how we really feel about this.
The only time I've EVER seen an F seat go empty on AA was a Saturday afternoon flight (that's in 400+ flights). Its very common to have 10-40 people on the upgrade list. Whereas on my 10 flights on US this year, I have seen F go out empty on 7 flights... and these are flights like PHX-SAN, CLT-ORD. Routes that would have 30+ elites on AA.
So as the elite ranks swell on every US route, upgrades for the "mid-tier" will become very difficult if everyone automatically gets an upgrade.
A friend flies DL almost exclusively and is their "mid-tier" and in 2 years of 150+ flights, he has been upgrade less than 10 times. At the same level at AA, I upgraded 75% of the flights I chose to upgrade.
You will quickly learn to love this new system when you are competing with the number of elites that AA has.
Oct 28, 2014, 11:14 am
#284
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: SFO
Posts: 1,746
Questions about the stickers from a US Gold...
-If a flight is 501 miles, do I need to burn 2 500-mile stickers to get upgraded?
-When looking to redeem stickers, when I book a flight, do I need all the stickers necessary in my account at that point? Or at the point of the upgrade period a few days before the actual flight?
-If you put in an upgrade request with stickers, are the stickers withdrawn from your account immediately? Or after the flight?
-If my upgrade doesn't clear, do they put the stickers back in my account?
-If I have a multi-segment trip, can I request the upgrade for only specific segments? Or does it have to be all of them?
-If a flight is 501 miles, do I need to burn 2 500-mile stickers to get upgraded?
-When looking to redeem stickers, when I book a flight, do I need all the stickers necessary in my account at that point? Or at the point of the upgrade period a few days before the actual flight?
-If you put in an upgrade request with stickers, are the stickers withdrawn from your account immediately? Or after the flight?
-If my upgrade doesn't clear, do they put the stickers back in my account?
-If I have a multi-segment trip, can I request the upgrade for only specific segments? Or does it have to be all of them?
-Yes, you'll need 2 stickers for 501 miles.
-Currently I know you can request upgrade without the stickers but if you don't have any stickers available when the upgrade window comes up you will get passed by.
-They are withdrawn at the time you are granted the upgrade before the flight
-The sticker(s) will not be deducted if you aren't upgraded
-Upgrades and stickers are on a per flight basis
-Currently I know you can request upgrade without the stickers but if you don't have any stickers available when the upgrade window comes up you will get passed by.
-They are withdrawn at the time you are granted the upgrade before the flight
-The sticker(s) will not be deducted if you aren't upgraded
-Upgrades and stickers are on a per flight basis
-There is a 50 mile grace. So at 551 you need 2 stickers.
-You only need the stickers at check-in. You will not be passed by at the upgrade window. This is entirely false.
-Stickers are withdrawn at the time you board with an upgrade.
-Stickers will not be withdrawn in the first place if you haven't boarded with an upgrade.
-Yes, per-segment request.
Oct 28, 2014, 11:14 am
#285
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: SFO
Programs: WFBF
Posts: 963
So it's when, not if, and no amount of spin is gonna fix that for you. Changes you'll love!