Could be worse....
 

Since we all had warning here a couple weeks ago, today's AAnouncement is not quite the shock it would have been. If I put aside all the qualifying and EXP changes (yes, ouch), and just focus on the new chAArt.... Overall it coulda been a lot more horrific. I've enjoyed some great J and F awards thru the years, and oh well, most will be too pricey compared to Y. The Y changes on the chAArt are really not so bad at all...Europe off-peak from 20 to 22.5? Still one of the great values remaining. I'm as dejected as everyone else, but these changes could have been a lot more extreme.

Because on a personal card, it is personal spend - it is separated from a business reimbursement

Corporate cards which I have had have had no points earning options ( to the cardholder at least )

The US tax office has had a while to look at taxing FF schemes if it had wanted to ( such as UA ir Dl changing ) - wouldn't see this change making much difference

Not necessarily. I charge most business expenses to my personal cards.

However, I agree that if FF miles/points were going to be taxed, it would have happened decades ago.

I'm definitely done with loyalty to AA. I'm used to booking on aa.com and skipping checking my options on Kayak. Now I'll just pick the best fare/schedule and pay a little extra to get E+ if it makes sense. This also means I won't be renewing my AC membership.

It will be a hard adjustment, but almost a no brainer considering the downgraded domestic F experience and upgrades clearing less frequently. And AA international J is horrible.

So I will fly a little less (no MRs), will probably end up spending about the same, but will save time and hopefully even get a little bit better experience.

MRs are such a tiny, tiny fraction of elite flyers I doubt that airline management has given them much thought. I do think that airlines are trying to better align rewards given in relation to financial metrics of elites. Certain FFs may not like it but it is where the industry is heading. And with three major global airlines in the US there is not much choice.

Agree with the above


And on the other hand...what is the lifetime of a mileage runner?

Regardless of AAdvantage changes, I was already burned after 5 years and stopped the nonsense.

For how long can one be a mileage runner?

I liked American a lot more when they were broke.
 

Now it seems they can afford to punish us and they would never miss that chance. Paybacks are ......

g) Disciplined reduction of supply and high load factors, IMO.

Frequent flyer programs made sense back in the "good old days" when Podunk Air was running six DC-10s a day from Akron to Buffalo or whatever and there was a ton of capacity. Loyalty meant a continued revenue stream, and kowtowing to middle-manager road warriors was a necessity. So they dangled the benefits to lock in those 100 discount economy tickets a year, because that was 100 tickets that viably could be lost to a competitor.

Now the airlines have finally wrapped up decades of consolidation and fleet shrinking. Most US flyers who travel domestically have probably never even set foot on a widebody. Those routes are now being done with RJs. Load factors are through the roof. Every flight is jammed. And airlines don't care who it's jammed with. It could be the same middle manager doing 100 segments or 100 different people flying once a year to visit grandma. Who cares.

The back is fixed and the front is marginal, and it's clear that's who they're fighting over. So everyone is pumping up their premium products. And they're selling them - because big data and technology are enabling it through innovative pricing and selling mechanisms. Why give those away if you can get the amount the market will bear, to the very cent? Maybe it's Johnny's big trip to see Grandma, and he's willing to shell out for domestic F at a reasonable increment over Y. Fine with the airlines.

The new MO is - we're gonna fill the back no matter what, and we don't care who's back there. Now, we fight over the big bucks up front.

Now that said, the number one rule of life is everything is cyclical. The next question, then, is - who's gonna flinch? Who's gonna start boosting supply? And, will we end up with an oversupply situation, where the cycle begins anew?

I will bet you and everyone else on here $50.00 that AA will continue to devalue Advantage in the coming years...A little at a time. Next year will for sure bring more devaluation.

I'm right there with you! EXP really hasn't been much of a benefit to me for what it took to get it (in my case).

I am fortunate enough that the company I work for lets me book domestic F (not so much on international flights). So I don't ever have to play the upgrade lottery on that. From now on it will be lowest fare and nonstop for deciding factors on what flights I will be taking. Which more times than not will probably still be AA seeing that DFW is home and I still hate SouthWorst.

(not taking the bet) I think you can replace AA with DL, UA, etc in your post and still be correct and $50.00 richer.

I am glad to see that they kind of evolved EQP into EQM rather than going with the ridiculous - and problematic - minimum spending requirements that Delta and United adopted (I have mentioned here in the past that I felt EQP qualification was more senscial than the revenue minimums). By using the EQP/EQM hybrid model there is less confusion among members, easier to track, does not alienate those who flies on partners, and saves a lot of money/headaches on the IT front.

The only disappointment I have here is the upgrade instrument change for EXPs, but not a huge deal for me. I still maintain my stance that AA should award EXPs 500-mile coupons to use for companions and that will actually bring AA on par or better than UA/DL who offers confirmable regional upgrade instruments in conjunction with systemwide upgrades.

Every thing else is what I expected and I could care less about most of the changes. As long as AA remains dominant in PIT then I'll stick with them, but they need to be careful with cutting flights and not replacing them through other hubs or whatnot. I believe we are set to lose this upcoming spring/summer 1x DCA, 1x BOS, 2x PHL, 2x CLT, 1x DFW, 1x LGA, 2 weekly LAX, tran states flights, etc. This is where I will have problems with AA, not the AAdvantage changes.

That's next years kick in the gut!

It depends on how you define "mileage running." The pure turnaround MR- I can see that getting old pretty fast.

We base the amount of flying we do each year on getting EXP. We plan trips (2 days here, 3 days there, 4 days in Europe) to get enough miles. But we stay there and enjoy the places, so there is no burnout.

10 years and counting.

Now I'll have to plot how best to fit into the New World Order.

Cheers.

+1 > Absolutely!

Business awards to EU at 115K r/t match UA exactly, but sans stopover I guess.:td:

The BIG 3 US airlines don't care about those in the back, no matter who they are. They do care about those in the front and want to make certain they paid for it. The loyalty of yesterday is gone. The points are devalued. The stock prices went up.

Note that many of these changes came from people on forums like this. You all helped the airlines learn about the things that favored you, not them. Keep that in mind the next time you post something.

The last is purely unsubstantiated opinion, IMO, not fact-based.

I can promise and assure you I sure won't. I'll post how it is, when it is.

Oh good, devaluations to the AAward chart that were allegedly not supposed to happen. DisAAdvantage becomes a reality... :td::td:

I agree with JDiver. IMO, AA was smart to be the last of the big 3 to devalue and change their FF program. After DL and UA changed their programs, AA was able to welcome those programs' flyers with open arms as they searched for a program that was nearest to what was previously their own program.

Now that the migration has slowed, AA decided it was time to join DL and UA. IMO, AA believes there will be little out-migration due to the (now) similarity of the programs.

I'll take that bet, as long as I get to define what "devaluation" is. ;)

Ignore

Well, one less trip to Europe to use those extra SWU I guess.

Of course maybe I'll be able to find 2 C's in advance again.

I do wonder if they will have to beef up customer service to handle inquires on how many RDM's were earned and if people were credited correctly. Now, in theory, no one earns the same miles for the same flight.

Wow! AA finally decided to go revenue base like DL and UA, it's all about the $$!!

If by "now" you mean in the "second half of 2016" you are correct regarding RDM.

As someone that migrated FROM Delta (and I fly out of Atlanta!), I still far prefer what AA is giving us here. This is far less convoluted. No ridiculous minimum spend. They flat out tell you what you will get for your miles, and they are easy to calculate. (Even if coach will be earning less than before). They kept the sticker-upgrade program, which I like because it means I can actually get an upgrade when I need/want one (usually). The nominal increase in sticker cost is meh, but it's not insanely different.

Overall, AA built a program that accomplished what they wanted (rewarding higher spenders) without making their program a colossal mess like UAL/DL did. I like it. More than ever, I'm glad I switched to AA, and I'm not disappointed with these inevitable changes.

As a Gold, I'm struggling to see what the point of sticking with AA is. If I switch to United, the programs are basically the same - except I can get FREE upgrades instead of having to use stupid stickers. That's a huge plus.

The problem for me is I am DCA based and AA has a lock. They need to build that silver line to IAD faster.

AA is still easy:

EXP: You still get some elite perks.

PLT/GLD: You get 0. 0 is easy. Nice and round. :D

2016 AAdvantage Program Changes Announced 18 Nov 2015
 

Good luck clearing an upgrade as a Gold on UA...

Why switch to anyone? UA/DL put the whole idea of sticking with one airline on life support. AA just put a pillow over its face and pushed till its arms stopped flailing.

If there is no reward for loyalty, then we have to be opportunistic.

I'm Silver on UA and I've been upgraded 3/3 flights. Got Econ+ on 1 flight (IAD to ATL), and then got F on 2 flights (ATL to IAD, and DCA to BTV).

There is no point in remaining loyal to AA. Buy the cheapest option offering you the best product. Don't expect to get upgraded as a Silver, Gold or anything on UA though. Expect that going forward the best way to get upgraded is through kiosk and post-purchase offers. I typically have gotten very good ones when flying DL and UA, and I have no status on either (nor do I plan to).

^ Replace DL with UA and ATL with DEN, and this is pretty close to how I feel. Although, the SWU changes are disappointing (mainly how stingy AA is going to be with the additional ones beyond 100K EQM)

As a former UA 1K, I suggest you do some checking with the UA Forum before you jump over to UA because of the free upgrades at the Silver level (AA Gold = UA Silver). They're very few and far between. UDU ain't all it's cracked up to be.

Huh? This doesn't make any sense.

Econ+ is not an upgrade.

UA doesn't fly DCA to BTV.

Good point FT has been a gold mine to the airlines.


Apart from low oil prices, I have to imagine that there is some correlation by UA and DL (and soon to be AA) making record profits after over a decade + of bankruptcies and huge losses, by cutting everything. And that includes everything. As a passenger, you can't pay the lowest price and always expect to sit in first class, unless you want a truly awful first class. And that is what US Airlines are now known for. It sucks that you can no longer enjoy caviar upgrades for spending 3k per year, but I think one thing we can all agree on is that AA would not hold out from UA and DL. They tried that with bankruptcy (noble) but in the end untenable. When i joined FT in 2001 I learned a lot from this forum how to game UA. Now the big 3, with minimal competition, have done what any smart business does - reward its best customers. You can't really fault them. The mileage run is not dead if you are buying first or business - just for economy.

No problem with the minimum spend at UA? The 25K level there (silver) requires $3,000.

I get Silver as a Marriott Platinum. Plus I don't think I'd have an issue with the $3k requirement. I frequently travel with other people and put their tickets on my card.

Guess I am a free agent come 2017
 

I am most disappointed in the reduced earnings for RDMs. I have really gotten used to having a 100% bonus on miles flown - and have used these miles freely. This is a huge reduction for me.

I will continue my pursuit for million miler - Gold for life will be useful for a slightly better flying experience domestically. I should make it by mid next year, after that I can start taking advantage of fare sales in Premium Economy and Business on other airlines for my international travel. The places I go most often offer these and I haven't taken advantage of them devoting my $6000 or so a year travel budget to loyalty to American.

I will save my AA miles for international business/first at some point in time, I won't concern myself with earning more, just keeping them from expiring.

I will get rid of airline credit cards and probably switch between Amex Platinum and cash back products - makes my life easier.

Whoever pointed it out first is right - this is no longer a loyalty program, it is just a reward program, and not a very good one at that. None of them are.

Sorry, meant IAD to BTV.

I consider econ+/MCE an upgrade bc it's a better seat with more legroom that I didn't have to pay for. I'm sure I'm in the minority there.

On my few business flights on Delta this year: I qualified on EQM for Gold, but my spend was too low, so I'll remain Silver. (and since I'm lifetime Silver anyway, I gained nothing.)

Good post. I am by no means a top-tier AA elite, but only on a few occasions in the last 5-6 years did I need MRs to get to 100k, and it was usually under 10k EQMs in Nov/Dec when business travel slowed down.

If using MRs alone, I could have done that for the whole year I suppose. I am no expert, but now I get to EXP for under $12k, most of it for work. If I read the changes right for sometime in 2016, and pay for a few more instant upgrades (or just book up front) it might actually be easier for me.

I have no issues with AA for seeking to clear RDM miles from their balance sheet with the awards chart. I am sitting on 975k, and just don’t have the time to use them. I might pull back business travel a lot in the next year, so this might be just the impetus I need to start using them That said, the charts don’t look that extreme to me.