DUflyer

Well, premium flyers never had to fly more than 66k to get EP and 8 SWU. Now they have to fly 100k to get 8, that's 50% more flying. So even premium flyers lose.

If you don't fly oneworld premium or mostly AA, then it is best to forget about achieving high AA status.

brp

Those who mix economy with a few premium win quite substantially. Previously these all got 1 EQM/mile. The economy got 0.5 EQP and the thrown-in premoum got 1.5 EQP. But not enough for the EQP to matter, so it was 100K miles to get the EQM.

Now, with one currency, even a few premium (when the fares are good) make the journey shorter.

Big win for people in this situation.

Cheers.

TheBOSman

And with the continued reduction in the price of paid advance purchase fares in the first class cabin, that is a very good move for those who have the option of purchasing paid first class.

milenewbie

first, thanks all for the commentary on all the new changes to AA (good, bad or indifferent).

I am pretty new to the game, and just 2wks ago qualified for platinum. Looking at the new RDM earning schedule has had me depressed this week . But I was hoping for someone to help me run some #s for a flight I'm planning (it was going to be for later, but guess I'll try and squeeze it in before 3/22 for improved RDM earning). Please tell me how wrong I have this:

flight info:
TPA-ORD-DOH-CPT (and return in discount business) = 25,500 base miles

Expected EQM: [Base Miles x2] + [50% Business class bonus] = 76,500 EQM
Expected RDM: [Base miles 25,500] + [platinum elite bonus 25,500] + [class bonus 12,750] + [promo bonus (6000pts/long segment) 24,000] = 87,750 RDM

Does this mean I'm actually THAT much closer to EQP after one flight?! Also, if these #s are right, after 3/22, RDM earnings would be less than half! Thanks for your help (sorry if posted in wrong spot).

MN

Dave Noble

What airline would you be flying?

If not AA, then the EQMs ( from January ) would be 25,500 * 1.5 = 38,250 .
On AA , the EQM earning would be 25,500 * 2 = 51,000

Redeemable miles on AA would be

25,500 base plus 25,500 for status bonus and 6375 for business class = 57,375

If there are any promotional bonuses, they would be on top for redeemable miles

Fanjet

Is it a fact that QR's business class will earn 200% EQMs? As well as qualify for the 6,000 premium long-haul bonus? And what does 3/22 have to do with RDM earnings?

AA_EXP09

And even international J has become more affordable (I have seen many sub 1800 EUR TATL I class fares...)
This can be even cheaper than coach/W sometimes.

AA_EXP09

Yes, it is completely rational to hoard something without value

beltway

Except that less than 6% have an affirmatively favorable view of this, so that 25% isn't exactly evenly distributed.

Let's be real: this is a terrible deal for most AAcolytes, and the bean counters running the program know it--but they also know that most people won't walk away completely because the alternative loyalty programs are even worse. (Note that I do not use the term "competing.")

In short(s), BOHICA.

AA_EXP09

Not necessarily-I could credit to SQ and fly UA and get SQ *G easily.

JonNYC

apologies if this was already posted:

Microwave

Wow. I honestly had a lot more respect for Ms Rubin before I read the equine excrement in that Q&A. I wouldn't have minded a dose of honesty, but l guess when the changes speak for themselves, why say more?

JonNYC

I like her very much and have great respect for her and she usually is very responsive to emails, etc., so... I won't tell you how much agree with you.

RustyC

That tip-of-the-iceberg theory might work in polls of the general public, but methinks the audience here is heavily skewed toward people who fly a lot, predominately for business and also quite a few hub captives. If you can't poll well with that crowd then I don't think you'll do better among less-frequent or savvy travelers.

Airlines have been all too willing to play the divide-and-conquer game with pax when it's convenient to them. We saw it with bag fees where the foot in the door ws charging for a SECOND bag because a small minority overpacked and why should 95% pay for that. Way too many people bought that reasoning without question, even though the skeptics were right that deterring second bags wasn't the airlines' real goal.

And so it is here. They want a minority of heavy-flying mostly biz travelers to think their benefits are enhanced or protected when that isn't the real game. The real game is taking back revenue and pleasing Wall Street with a lot fewer benefits overall because there's less competition now. It's not a zero-sum game. We've already seen this with Delta and United. And of course the miles-minting-via-credit-cards bit continues unabated, so that's where the game will move to for a lot of people and that's what'll add pressure for more devaluations.

Less competition = less need to try harder, especially with hub captives. This applies to all levels of revenue, though they'll target the lowest ones first. Look for more revenue grabs and steal;th benefit cuts, such as mileage-earning specials only in targeted competitive cities or on competitive routes in J in lieu of more benefits for heavy flyers across the board.

In 2 years they'll have a better idea of where they stand and what the fallout from the changes is, and the revenue grabbed will already be factored in. Then they'll be under pressure to find even further savings. We saw plenty of that during the aughts with repeated rounds of small cuts at all levels.

DUflyer

Qualification might be easier and/or cheaper for those who fly a lot of AA including some business/first, but for those of us who don't live in the US and where only a small fraction of our flights is with AA, the changes are terrible.

Now the funny thing is that those who fly lots of AA get punished as well by only having 4 SWUs, while for those who don't fly much AA 4 SWUs might be enough anyway.