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, 11:52 am
#316
Join Date: Aug 2010
Programs: AA 1.6MM EXP; UA GS; SPG LTG,Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,477
Looks like you'd need two stickers per segment - so 20k miles for one roundtrip. Yeah, that still stinks relative to status quo.
Oct 28, 2014, 11:52 am
#317
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2002
Programs: UA Platinum MM; DL Silver; IHG Diamond Ambassador; Hilton Gold; Marriott Gold
Posts: 24,248
I'm pleased with the change to make elite upgrades complimentary on flights of 500 miles or less. The majority of my AA flights less than 500 miles (i.e. SAT-DFW), so this is a welcome change.
Oct 28, 2014, 11:58 am
#319
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: FLL
Programs: AA PLT 2.7 MM, DL GLD, UA Prem, BW Diamond, PC PLT, HH Diamond
Posts: 1,285
Yes, but you will find you will get upgraded much more often. Thats the beauty of the AA system. Without unlimited request, no everyone requests an upgrade.
Oct 28, 2014, 11:59 am
#320
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: NYC
Posts: 6,423
I don't think the intent was to insult anyone.
I would think that airlines would seek to keep their highest yielding flyers - regardless of source - loyal. The loyalty program is one tool with which to achieve this. To the extent that AA's corporate contracts plus other paid J and F may be more weighted to legacy AA customers than legacy US customers, the optimal solution would likely end up with a solution that is more likely to keep AA customers happy at the expense of US customers than vice versa - given that it's not going to be possible to make everyone equally happy ever. If the reverse were true, it would be rational to keep US fliers happier than AA fliers. Perhaps newAA management is acting irrationally - but I rather suspect not.
I certainly don't submit that any one passenger is more important to a carrier than another - except to the extent to which they bring in revenue in excess of the incremental cost of carriage. Now, as to which fliers fit that profile better in general - I'm sure AA mgmt (and perhaps some of the posters here) have a pretty good idea of this. I don't, but I do have my conjectures.
I would think that airlines would seek to keep their highest yielding flyers - regardless of source - loyal. The loyalty program is one tool with which to achieve this. To the extent that AA's corporate contracts plus other paid J and F may be more weighted to legacy AA customers than legacy US customers, the optimal solution would likely end up with a solution that is more likely to keep AA customers happy at the expense of US customers than vice versa - given that it's not going to be possible to make everyone equally happy ever. If the reverse were true, it would be rational to keep US fliers happier than AA fliers. Perhaps newAA management is acting irrationally - but I rather suspect not.
I certainly don't submit that any one passenger is more important to a carrier than another - except to the extent to which they bring in revenue in excess of the incremental cost of carriage. Now, as to which fliers fit that profile better in general - I'm sure AA mgmt (and perhaps some of the posters here) have a pretty good idea of this. I don't, but I do have my conjectures.
It's not personal. It's strictly business. Pointing it out is not an insult.
Oct 28, 2014, 12:03 pm
#321
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: South Park, Metropolis
Programs: AA LT PLT 3MM, Hilton/Marriott/SPG/Club Carlson GLD, IHG PLT
Posts: 4,606
NEW combined AA & US AAdvantage program announced 28 Oct 2014 (master thread)
I'm happy, thank you. 😄, let's continue with the process of completing the merger and making AA the world class airline it ought to be.
Oct 28, 2014, 12:03 pm
#322
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: NYC
Posts: 6,423
I am in the rare situation of qualifying for both US Airways Chairman's and AA ExecutivePlatinum status this year.
The announcement specifically says this:
Reading that myself it sounds as if I will receive my 8 SWUs this year as soon as I hit EXP, then "when we combine the programs" I'll "also receive 8 systemwide upgrades" as a Chairman's Preferred member, so effectively 16 SWUs total in my account at that point.
Now, I reached out to clarification from AA twitter and they said no, I will only get 8 SWUs total. Ben & Gary also both think I won't actually receive both sets. But that does not seem like a straightforward reading of that passage, and at the very least they should probably change it with clarity for people in my situation.
What's silly is that this actually creates the stupidly perverse incentive for folks with both to create an additional AA frequent flyer number, then match their Chairman's account to that, effectively giving them 16 SWUs for sure.
What do you think?
The announcement specifically says this:
Reading that myself it sounds as if I will receive my 8 SWUs this year as soon as I hit EXP, then "when we combine the programs" I'll "also receive 8 systemwide upgrades" as a Chairman's Preferred member, so effectively 16 SWUs total in my account at that point.
Now, I reached out to clarification from AA twitter and they said no, I will only get 8 SWUs total. Ben & Gary also both think I won't actually receive both sets. But that does not seem like a straightforward reading of that passage, and at the very least they should probably change it with clarity for people in my situation.
What's silly is that this actually creates the stupidly perverse incentive for folks with both to create an additional AA frequent flyer number, then match their Chairman's account to that, effectively giving them 16 SWUs for sure.
What do you think?
Creating an additional AA FF number sounds like a bad idea and the sort of thing that would raise red flags with AA's anti-fraud unit.
Oct 28, 2014, 12:03 pm
#323
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Gorham, Maine, USA
Programs: Delta Gold, UA Platinum
Posts: 193
Its all Delta for me until the end of February, and then I need to make a decision since I will drop to Silver on Delta. RIP US Airways and Dividend Miles, Hello 1981.
Oct 28, 2014, 12:04 pm
#324
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Dallas
Programs: AAdvantage EXP, IHG Spire, Marriott Gold, HHonors Gold, National Executive Elite
Posts: 1,523
Go ask a gold at DL how often they get an upgrade.
Oct 28, 2014, 12:10 pm
#325
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: San Diego, CA
Programs: AA ExecPlat
Posts: 35
You might try customer service or corporate to see if you get an answer more to your liking. One would think they'd try to keep a 200k flyer happy.
Creating an additional AA FF number sounds like a bad idea and the sort of thing that would raise red flags with AA's anti-fraud unit.
Creating an additional AA FF number sounds like a bad idea and the sort of thing that would raise red flags with AA's anti-fraud unit.
Still though, that passage read reasonably really does seem to suggest I'll get both sets of 8 SWUs as ExecPlat and Chairman's, and I think they need to clarify.
FWIW even though I'll have 225k combined EQM on both, I am not a high-revenue flyer at all. I have spent about $6k for all those EQM, buttressed by a targeted 3x EQM program on US and a bunch of cheap & mistake long-haul fares. :-/
Oct 28, 2014, 12:12 pm
#326
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: SFO
Programs: WFBF
Posts: 963
There is nothing "beautiful" about that. It's a strict devaluation, and I don't understand why so many people have a hard time getting it.
Oct 28, 2014, 12:12 pm
#327
Join Date: Apr 2000
Location: Palm Beach/ New England
Programs: AA EXP 3MM, DL GM, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 4,382
My most frequent route right now is MCI-CLT-BDL. If I'm understanding correctly, I'd need to fly 40k miles just to earn enough stickers to upgrade that once. Compared to right now when I get upgraded on MCI-CLT/CLT-MCI routinely and have a decent shot at CLT-BDL/BDL-CLT (granted, the last one I bought F because it wasn't terribly expensive and fit with where I thought I'd want my PQMs to be, but I'm not gonna do that every time).
If you can't understand being angry and seeing that as a devaluation, or if you think that somehow doing that trip in the back of the bus every couple of weeks (which is how often I fly it right now) will somehow magically get better, then I don't know how to begin explaining it to you.
If you can't understand being angry and seeing that as a devaluation, or if you think that somehow doing that trip in the back of the bus every couple of weeks (which is how often I fly it right now) will somehow magically get better, then I don't know how to begin explaining it to you.
So one round-trip would cost you 4 stickers. You earn that every 10,000 EQMs, or, worst case, you pay $120. The super-apex fare generally runs around $600, so you are paying an additional 20% to upgrade into F.
Yes, this is different than free. But I expect AA will grant lots of stickers to pmUS flyers plus I also expect they will implement some kind of EQM-based upgrade prioritization for the post-merger platinum tier because of the large group of flyers at that level.
Also, let's all please stay civil. I also fly BDL-CLT from time to time and have enjoyed the wider and cleaner US Airbus planes, and the US frequent flyers have been polite, well-dressed, and certainly every bit as equal to the AA flyers I see on BDL-DFW.
Oct 28, 2014, 12:13 pm
#328
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: DCA
Programs: UA LT 1K, AA EXP, Bonvoy LT Titan, Avis PC, Hilton Gold
Posts: 9,658
Plus AA doesn't do TODs, when Elites have upgrade requests.
Oct 28, 2014, 12:19 pm
#329
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: YYF/YLW
Programs: AA, DL, AS, VA, WS Silver
Posts: 5,950
This is why I hope that, if AA eventually moves to some sort of revenue requirement, they do it through a mechanism like eliminating EQMs (ie qualify on EQPs only, since they're weighted more to reflect revenue) than elite qualifying dollars, since EQDs are essentially impossible to implement tracking partner spend with neither an AA ticket nor flight number.
Oct 28, 2014, 12:20 pm
#330
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: LAX
Programs: UA:1k; MR: PLT; Hilton: Gold
Posts: 1,324
New program still splits the concept of miles and points so you're still penalized for occasionally booking some deep discount fares mixed with premium cabins? And still no free confirmed flight changes for PLT?
Looks like I won't be moving back to AA any time soon - really unfortunate.
Looks like I won't be moving back to AA any time soon - really unfortunate.
