AAdvantage Changes for 2016 - DISCUSSION, REACTION & POLL
The thread for factual information, asking questions and posting answers about the changes AA has announced (and will refine) for 2016 is here: Link
Please discuss, ponder, argue, praise or complain about these changes here. Most members know how to do this, but we have had to delete some posts. This unfortunately makes it necessary to post the following: Please remember the Rules require civility, refraining from ad hominem and attacks - these include accusations, disrespect toward US or AA members, over personalization, the use of offensive language, etc. For a review of the Rules we all agreed to abide by in return for membership privileges, please read here: http://www.flyertalk.com/help/rules.php. Posts that do not conform to the Rules may be summarily deleted or edited; continued Rules violations may lead to suspension of membership privileges. Thank you for your understanding. We may have originally sailed on different boats, but we are all rowing and bailing together here on this merged airline and dealing with some sea changes. American Airlines | AAdvantage Forum moderation team |
Originally Posted by ashill
(Post 25728679)
Have they rented a convention center and redone everything down to the signs for the bathrooms with AA branding for the announcement? And, unlike Apple, AA managed to keep the machinations of their preparations for this event (if not the substance of it) out of the press!
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Partner airline award charts have the new EQM earnings.
BA ranges from 0.5 EQM/mile flown (H fares and below) to (only) 1.5 EQM/mile flown (all premium cabin fares, from discount premium economy to full F). ETA: All discount economy fares on AS earn 0.5 EQM/mile flown. This includes many fare classes that currently earn 1.0 EQPs. For me, that's a big ouch. Based on the information JonNYC provided about the AA earnings, which was (of course) spot on, I had no objection to the short notice, since it was an improvement in the elite qualifying process for all flyers. But the revisions to the partner EQM earning chart with about six weeks notice is not good pool. :td: |
Transcon Business: 32,500
Transcon First: 50,000 Ouch. |
J award changes aren't too bad, 57.5k to Europe and 60k/70k for Asia 1/2 seem fine.
110k for F to Asia 2 though...yuck. |
not bad but partner airline, even in business, are only 1.5 EQM.
Shesh. |
Originally Posted by JonNYC
(Post 25728708)
Yeah, F to Asia and SWP biggest increases for sure. Everything else seems palatable to me, IMO.
And they are cheaper than UA for USA-Europe partner awards in premium cabins by a good margin, which is a good sign. |
Originally Posted by ashill
(Post 25728709)
Partner airline award charts have the new EQM earnings.
BA ranges from 0.5 EQM/mile flown (H fares and below) to (only) 1.5 EQM/mile flown (all premium cabin fares, from discount premium economy to full F). ...But the revisions to the partner EQM earning chart with about six weeks notice is not good pool. |
The award chart devaluation could have been much worse, J levels look pretty solid all around ^
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They should have thrown segment flyers a bone, with at least 1.5 segments for Y/B and above like UA and DL do.
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At first glance, it looks quite similar to the earning structure we had with the US Dividend Miles program.
Based on all the hype, I really was expecting something much more harsh. |
Unfortunately, JonNYC seems to have seen the good side of these changes only. The drastic, short-notice cut to partner EQMs which makes partner EQM earning less than it is for EQPs this year is a heavy devaluation for me. The SWU earning cuts turn out to be about as bad as we could have imagined; there appears to now be a maximum of 8 SWUs, and only for 200k EQMs. The rise in the cost of stickers. The award chart.
Based on what JonNYC presented, I had no problem with the short notice, but this is a fair bit worse than he warned us about. Although one positive change in the award chart: a new 7500 mile award for <500 mile nonstop flights. That is one of the old strengths of BA awards; good to see that option on AA. (Of course, BA's comparable award used to be 4500 points but is going up to 7500 points around the time of this change; in retrospect, that might have been a hint.) Hawaii 5000 mile inter-island awards are gone, though the new 7500 mile <500 mile awards would apply (for nonstops). |
0.5 EQM for most AS fares and a cap of 1.5 BA EQM even on JBA routes are supremely disappointing to me. The BA decision especially. If they're interested in incentivizing us to buy-up to higher cabins, what's the sense in capping EQMs on revenue shared, métal-neutral services? Rubbish.
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Deleted - late to the game.
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Originally Posted by aztimm
(Post 25728796)
At first glance, it looks quite similar to the earning structure we had with the US Dividend Miles program.
Based on all the hype, I really was expecting something much more harsh. |
Originally Posted by jamespvg
(Post 25728823)
If they're interested in incentivizing us to buy-up to higher cabins, what's the sense in capping EQMs on revenue shared, métal-neutral services? Rubbish.
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Originally Posted by taxicabnumber
(Post 25728719)
110k for F to Asia 2 though...yuck. |
Originally Posted by jamespvg
(Post 25728823)
...a cap of 1.5 BA EQM even on JBA routes are supremely disappointing to me. The BA decision especially. If they're interested in incentivizing us to buy-up to higher cabins, what's the sense in capping EQMs on revenue shared, métal-neutral services? Rubbish.
Originally Posted by ashill
(Post 25728850)
That's very little change, though. The only changes are Y,B go from 1.5 EQP (1.0 EQM) to 1.0 and H goes from 1.0 to 0.5. CX earning is :td:, but it always has been.
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Originally Posted by JonNYC
(Post 25728859)
I agree-- I'm shocked by how unfair and crappy that is.
Originally Posted by TheBOSman
(Post 25728838)
They are incentivizing you to book the AA codeshare on these flights, which to my knowledge exists on every BA TATL metal flight.
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Originally Posted by ashill
(Post 25728850)
That's very little change, though. The only changes are Y,B go from 1.5 EQP (1.0 EQM) to 1.0 and H goes from 1.0 to 0.5. CX earning is :td:, but it always has been.
This is just about as bad as DL treats some of it's SkyTeam partners. Bottom line: if you can't fly an AA codeshare, you're screwed - especially if you have to fly in below Y/B. To me, this essentially kills OW as an alliance. |
Well, the earning criteria for SWU's 5-8 are very disappointing.
And yes, EXP is still the best in its class, both for earning and for benefits. Well played, Discount Doug. |
Originally Posted by TheBOSman
(Post 25728838)
They are incentivizing you to book the AA codeshare on these flights, which to my knowledge exists on every BA TATL metal flight.
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Originally Posted by jamespvg
(Post 25728879)
Why? It shouldn't make an difference to them.
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Originally Posted by jamespvg
(Post 25728879)
Why? It shouldn't make an difference to them.
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Originally Posted by ashill
(Post 25728709)
Partner airline award charts have the new EQM earnings.
BA ranges from 0.5 EQM/mile flown (H fares and below) to (only) 1.5 EQM/mile flown (all premium cabin fares, from discount premium economy to full F). ETA: All discount economy fares on AS earn 0.5 EQM/mile flown. This includes many fare classes that currently earn 1.0 EQPs. For me, that's a big ouch. Based on the information JonNYC provided about the AA earnings, which was (of course) spot on, I had no objection to the short notice, since it was an improvement in the elite qualifying process for all flyers. But the revisions to the partner EQM earning chart with about six weeks notice is not good pool. :td: |
Originally Posted by Passmethesickbag
(Post 25729110)
Difference is that at least UA had overpriced awards but good availability (and none of them with BA and their EQ). Now, AA is as bad on the former count and much worse on the other.
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Originally Posted by sombrachinesca
(Post 25728950)
Why should I fly OW to Asia if I'm only going to get 1.5 EQM? I'll just fly Etihad or Emirates for a cheaper price and get better service & forget about the miles... and AA, BA, IB better believe that I will remember that forced choice when the time comes to book TATL.
Originally Posted by PWMTrav
(Post 25729108)
It just occurred to me, but I suppose I no longer care much if Citi adds AA as a mileage transfer partner for TYP.
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Originally Posted by Passmethesickbag
(Post 25729110)
Difference is that at least UA had overpriced awards but good availability (and none of them with BA and their EQ). Now, AA is as bad on the former count and much worse on the other.
Originally Posted by JonNYC
(Post 25729121)
I'll take AAdv's CX and even JL award F availability over UA's SQ award availability any day. :) But, yeah, I hear ya. Will have to see if AAdv availability now changes at all as a result of the hikes though.
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I can't criticize this new EQM structure at all. For my usual UK-USA legs which I normally book in AA Y, I will try to book into BA W to get 1.5 EQMs for what is normally an extra GBP 70 extra on top of the AA Y fare.
Works for me. |
Originally Posted by TheBOSman
(Post 25729130)
Expect award availability to get much better if you can afford to spend it, partner redemptions to Europe are far more available post-deval with UA than they were pre-deval. The BA YQ remains an irritant though and partly undoes the lower AA cost :mad:.
AND I WILL NOT REVEAL IT BECAUSE WHEN I DO SO THE TRICK WILL VANISH DUE TO EVIL BLOGGERS!! :mad: |
Originally Posted by Superguy
(Post 25729042)
Wait until next year.
Not gonna waste any brain cells thinking about a change in 2017 qualifying for 2018 flying. |
Originally Posted by crimsona
(Post 25728808)
Europe to Middle East J and F going from 30 and 40 to 42.5 and 62.5
Middle East to Australia J and F going from 45 and 60 to 80 and 100 Affects Etihad residences. |
Originally Posted by Dieuwer
(Post 25729126)
Yes. AA just devalued the Citi cards. Citi must be thrilled.
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Originally Posted by Passmethesickbag
(Post 25729128)
Damn. I missed that part :td:
Still better than BA, but 2016 may be my last year with OW. I wish they would have given us decent notice as I bought BA J tickets on TATL routes had I known Of these changes I would have bought AA coded flights. 45 days notice is low!!! |
Considering most of my redemptions are premium seats to China, this award change isn't too favorable.
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Originally Posted by JonNYC
(Post 25729121)
I'll take AAdv's CX and even JL award F availability over UA's SQ award availability any day. :) But, yeah, I hear ya. Will have to see if AAdv availability now changes at all as a result of the hikes though.
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Well we all saw this coming...not nearly as bad as I had expected in terms of award chart. Still less than UA in many cases the cost of F travel.
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Originally Posted by Superguy
(Post 25729197)
SQ is a unicorn, true, but I think *A generally has more and better airlines than most of OW. Getting a ticket on TG, OZ, or NH is a darn good consolation prize. :)
Originally Posted by Blootch
(Post 25729200)
...Still less than UA in many cases the cost of F travel.
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Originally Posted by TheBOSman
(Post 25729130)
Expect award availability to get much better if you can afford to spend it, partner redemptions to Europe are far more available post-deval with UA than they were pre-deval. The BA YQ remains an irritant though and partly undoes the lower AA cost :mad:.
I can assure you partner availability will get better after the devaluation, as noted partner awards with UA are much more available now than they were before. |
Not unexpected. But it's a bloodbath. |
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