I was somewhat planning to do that anyway, but in light of my most frequent redemptions increasing 30-40% (or more), the last bit of real value to me is gone. I'm clearly better off with a 2% card now.

I wish people took to email or Twitter to express their dissatisfaction instead of just complaining here.

Well, I've got about 175K miles left on my AA account. That leaves me enough for Christmas 2016 under the existing rules. I'll book both myself and my SO on different Cathay flights, both in F (since they don't release 2 F anymore), and then change the date/routing close-in (December 2016) to hopefully get in the same flight. That shouldn't change the original 67.5K per person cost, as it won't trigger a refare.

Phew. Then I'll be done with AA miles, and will refocus back to United. Like someone mentioned before, similar costs, but MUCH better availability, a easier website, etc. Will miss having free changes thanks to EXP, but the price to pay.

Complaining won't work.
This is what you get when corrupt politicians, owned by Wall Street and Big Airline stifle competition and let everyone merge with everyone else.

Availability has unequivocally gotten better with LH F post-deval, the cabin most affected by the pricing change. Most of the other award prices were not affected nearly as much.

Also, not all of those partners fly TATL, and BA serves more destinations with more flights in North America than LH does. But Star Alliance is simply larger than oneworld, no doubts there.

Puerto Rico is out of the new Award Chart. Someone confirm it, please. Or it could be a huge glitch.

When you go to the "View region definitions", Puerto Rico does NOT appear in the Caribbean, nor in Central American nor Contiguous 48 US States.

Where is Puerto Rico????????????????????????????????????????????

I need help in here, PLEASE.

Based on aa.com regarding the official changes, Puerto Rico is out of the Award Chart. So, travel from/to Puerto Rico is out of the award game. Someone confirm me, please.

Puerto Rico is not shown in the Caribbean, South America, Central America, 48 48 US states...in no place whatsoever.
My guess is that its a glitch, but a glitch that avoid redeeming flights to SJU. CORRECT IT ASAP!!!!

In other words, they merge airlines just to screw their members over.

1. Subtract 1 month from membership period.
2. Increase segment requirement for EXP
3. Slash SWUs by 50% and fly even more to get the additional 4 SWUs. 200K needed for 8 SWUs
4. Increase sticker requirements by 25%

... all this whilst degrading the product. Thanks AA$$hole$!

I'm creating a twitter account just for that.

What? airlines being profitable?

Being London-based and often flying BA in economy just got a lot more painful.

CX F availability might get better too for the exact same reason!

New Disadvantage program will no longer win the FT award :) LOL

Must we?

Red herring.
Maybe we should let Microsoft and Apple merge too... iPC. :rolleyes:
Cry cry: computer makers being profitable? Sure: pay $100,000 for you next pad.

Good grief, would you take a breath and step in off the ledge. Nobody is bleeding and nobody is dying. Posting the same thing over and over, in multiple threads doesn't get the answer sooner.

This is an emerging topic and everyone is figuring things out as quickly as they can. Most of the people in these threads don't have much more information than you do. Everyone is looking at the same public info.

Regards

Just renewed my AA PLT for next year, but I'm gone. Going to redeem my miles now and look for new options.

Merging and shafting customers is the only way the airlines can be profitable?

Gee, I would have thought innovative concepts like treating customers and employees well, and offering products people are willing to pay more for were the ways to becoming profitable. Silly me. :rolleyes:

Off-peak Saver availability to EUROPE was dramatically and negatively reduced.

Bad bad bad bad news!!!!

Also no business off peak fares too. That was a nice little thing US used to offer. :(

This is making me want to go to Puerto Rico.

I'm with you :)

LOL

Well Delta is on a different level.

The award chart is perhaps marginally cheaper than United. However, United I think makes up for it in not having YQ to Europe, as well as FAR more generous routing rules. AA has painfully restrictive routing rules that cause substantial issues.

I'd say AA and UA award charts are about a wash at this point.

If you're flying monthly to HKG in paid J, and other trips elsewhere, I'm sure AA will take care of you (are you CK?).

GUTTING of partner EQM earning after Jan 1st
 

So we all know AA gutted BA earning, but for flights on BA from Jan 1-31, 2016, you will also now earn 50% EQM G, Q, S, N, O, K, L, M, V, H while still earning 100% RDMs.

Nice to see AA giving a full 44 days notice on that gutting.

Alaska earns 50% EQM starting Jan 1st on B, H, M, Q, U, G, K, L, T, V

Finnair earns 50% EQM A, H, K, L, M, P, V, G, N, O, Q, R, S, T, W, Z

BASICALLY all partners earn 50% EQM unless you buy a Y/B fare.

Really is no reason to fly AA anymore

Never expected anything different from this Parker led Mgt. team...just about everything is being degraded (although I do give them credit for purchasing new aircraft) including # of First seats, private label snacks in first, etc.

Thank goodness I hit the 2M mark and have reduced my flying (of course who knows if million miler program will continue)

It was inevitable that once the merger was going smoothly, AA would follow the likes of DL and UA in devaluing the FF program. I'm just surprised there is no minimum $ spend yet - I suppose you have to save something for 2017!

Considering Concierge Key doesn't even have its own specific webpage on AA.com, wouldn't any of those be made quietly? I know you would know if they occurred anyway, but might be something they'll be changing later after putting all of their focus into this much larger overall program change.

So, partner earnings even on normal economy tickets gutted.
No improvement in partner earnings for premium cabins (unless I've missed something).
And a major devaluation on redemption levels... my usual two awards move from 62,500 to 85,000 o/w and 32,500 to 50,000 o/w - so 36-54% more miles needed for my usual redemptions.

I suppose it could have been worse, but this is pretty bad as far as I'm concerned.

If subsequent changes to tickets issued between now and March 21 are honored under current rates, I'm tempted to book some of my usual routes at current rates.

Now everyone will be looking for EY F apartment awards. I guess I need to just find something, book and go.

Feeling rather glad I just drained my account with a J return Europe-Australia. 25K extra each way from next year. Old J redemption rate is the new Y rate.

I predict a rush to redeem, and corresponding dearth of award availability, especially in J/F.

I have zero regrets about all of the wonderful tickets I booked in the last 12-13 months :D :D :D.

The earning changes aren't an improvement for me as a very mixed class flyer.

The redemption chart changes and the reduction of elite benefits for me are rather brutal.

This basically marks the end of an era of me going out of my way to fly AA and Oneworld carriers. Also what is history: AA getting top spot when it comes to crediting my non-flight activity to a partner airline program (in this case AA).

AA is hiking the cost of most of my mileage ticket redemptions by well over 30% -- even as my cost to acquire miles has not dropped.

Yup. Glad I booked mine weeks ago after the BA earning announcement.

Not CK, lowly EXP. This year over 300k EQP, and last month CS gave me 6 extra SWU's. 50% of my OW spend is on CX, so although total spend over $60k, only 50% is on AA metal, so they won't give me CK.

Thanksgiving is next week...close enough to call this the Thanksgiving Massacre?

So depressing but makes sense
 

I don't know you all, but I'm 99.99% sure I'm the saddest of all. I had such a good thing going, but I do understand. AA was losing so much $ on me and my status benefits. Sigh. I guess I'll consider using up my miles and going rogue.

+1. Also, on award bookings to Europe UA does not add on fuel surcharges.

delete.

Email I just sent to AAdvantage:

"Wow, AAdvantage, from first to worst in 2016. So now you have a frequent flyer program that mirrors Delta and United but your operational efficiency is at the bottom, it routinely takes 45 minutes to an hour to receive bags (with no guarantee), your premium cabin food has been downgraded, your US Airways planes have no power, no AVOD, no MCE etc, etc.

"Tell me: why on God's green earth should I choose to fly with you? Understand that, based on increased mileage requirements for awards and massively decreased mileage earning, I will be looking very hard at switching carriers and will strongly encourage friends and business partners to book away from AA. After all, if AAdvantage is the same as all the others, then we might as well book with the much better airline - which, for the past several years, has been Delta."

Forgot to mention that, with a greater number of partners, availability is generally better when redeeming on UA and DL. Very dumb move by AAdvantage - no competitive edge remaining.

[Deleted for duplication]