Who among us regularly buys first class seats?
Dec 7, 2015, 11:48 am
#31
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: St. Louis, MO, USA
Programs: AA PPro, Mariott Gold Elite, Lowly kettle across every other loyalty program.
Posts: 778
Company travel: mandated lowest Y fare. Have not attempted cash upgrade yet.
Personal: if it's more than 2 hours, or traveling with DW in a 3-across, and -UP fare < cost to replace miles+copay, then I buy -UP. The seat pitch and comfort matter. Not so much on a Mad Dog or an E175, but on just about everything else, yes. Not as flexible as I was 30 years ago.
Personal: if it's more than 2 hours, or traveling with DW in a 3-across, and -UP fare < cost to replace miles+copay, then I buy -UP. The seat pitch and comfort matter. Not so much on a Mad Dog or an E175, but on just about everything else, yes. Not as flexible as I was 30 years ago.
Dec 7, 2015, 1:04 pm
#32
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: East Coast
Programs: AA CONCIERGE KEY & 1MM, HILTON DIAMOND
Posts: 11,970
Dec 8, 2015, 7:57 pm
#33
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Ala.
Programs: AA Gold
Posts: 74
When I was loyal to AA, almost 100% econ; I was PLT and had a great upgrade rate. Now, I purchase the cheapest first ticket on any airline ~90% of the time. I don't feel there's enough of a reward to be loyal anymore...
Dec 8, 2015, 8:40 pm
#35
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Milwaukee
Programs: AA Pl, KL Platinum for Life
Posts: 384
Today when checking on my flight from ORD to MIA, I noticed in the morning the remaining F seats were $50 cheaper than the Y seats they call "refundable." Later in the day F became much more expensive again.
I have purchased F seats to maintain my Plat status this year considering AA offers 2X EQP through 12/31/15, but the flights I booked in Y have not upgraded to F mainly and rightfully due to EXP's. I wonder if Plat is even worth it. Domestic F has been a big disappointment with really poor service (both lazy and unfriendly FA's and more so the terrible food). Is that because of the new CEO coming from USAir or what? It's a shame the remaining US legacy airlines have fallen so far behind the International carriers in terms of service.
I have purchased F seats to maintain my Plat status this year considering AA offers 2X EQP through 12/31/15, but the flights I booked in Y have not upgraded to F mainly and rightfully due to EXP's. I wonder if Plat is even worth it. Domestic F has been a big disappointment with really poor service (both lazy and unfriendly FA's and more so the terrible food). Is that because of the new CEO coming from USAir or what? It's a shame the remaining US legacy airlines have fallen so far behind the International carriers in terms of service.
Dec 9, 2015, 6:53 am
#37
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Roswell, GA
Programs: AA EXP 2.8m,Lifetime PLT, Hilton Diamond, IHG PlLT, SPG Gold
Posts: 3,198
does buying them with miles count?
if that is the case then 3 or 4 a year, depending how many miles are left in my account, otherwise I will buy business about 2 times a year (international)
if that is the case then 3 or 4 a year, depending how many miles are left in my account, otherwise I will buy business about 2 times a year (international)
Dec 9, 2015, 11:59 am
#39
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: PBI/FLL/MIA
Programs: DL DM/360 2.8MM, MR Ambassador, National EE
Posts: 1,616
Ditto. I will on occasion buy Y and use SWUs if the UG is confirmable at booking but 95%+ is J/F purchased. I do shop around (multiple airports to choose from) and am not tied to any one carrier though. If you shop around down here in SoFla you can usually find some pretty good fares, there is a lot of competition. My total spend is only marginally higher than if I were to do exclusive direct Y flights out of MIA.
Dec 9, 2015, 12:36 pm
#40
Join Date: Dec 2014
Programs: AA exp
Posts: 114
Domestically I definitely look at the F fare as it many times is less than $100 difference. As mentioned previously the pricing strategy has definitely hurt chances of UPG even if EXP in my experience. Some people claim nearly 100% UPG success but for me based out of DFW has been around 60-70%.
Dec 9, 2015, 1:12 pm
#42
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: NY
Programs: AA, Hilton
Posts: 1,606
Now that we're doing well, Im more inclined to buy J depending on the route length. That said, having seen the most recent change in the AAdvantage loyalty program, I'm finding it hard not to consider other airline's F product and prices.
Dec 9, 2015, 2:52 pm
#44
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: DCA
Programs: AA Executive Platinum
Posts: 2,085
This has been the first year I regularly have. AA offers a valuable product (even after the cuts following 9/1/14) that US simply didn't used to offer. When the price of F is equal to or within very close range of the sticker cost (even though I'm EXP I feel that the sticker price is a nice gauge), I'll buy the F ticket.
Example:
Lately, client travel has me headed to QRO very frequently. F has priced between $100-150 each way for paid F over Y, for the full DCA-DFW-QRO (and return) trips. This is a great value in my mind, particularly considering that the F cabin on the QRO segments is almost always completely full 5 or 6 days before departure (which is when I'm usually buying tickets). While my company will only allow me to expense the Y fare, I'll pay the difference out of pocket.
It's very clear in my mind why this is listed as an exception market for meal service, and I have noticed a fair amount of passengers connecting from Asian cities, which makes sense considering the manufacturing that many global corporations have in QRO.
Example:
Lately, client travel has me headed to QRO very frequently. F has priced between $100-150 each way for paid F over Y, for the full DCA-DFW-QRO (and return) trips. This is a great value in my mind, particularly considering that the F cabin on the QRO segments is almost always completely full 5 or 6 days before departure (which is when I'm usually buying tickets). While my company will only allow me to expense the Y fare, I'll pay the difference out of pocket.
It's very clear in my mind why this is listed as an exception market for meal service, and I have noticed a fair amount of passengers connecting from Asian cities, which makes sense considering the manufacturing that many global corporations have in QRO.
Dec 9, 2015, 3:04 pm
#45
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Las Vegas
Programs: BA Gold; Hilton Honors Diamond
Posts: 3,243
Anything up to a couple of hours, maybe three, I will book coach and use my OWE status to get MCE. So that's LAS - LAX or LAS - DFW for example. Anything longer I will usually pay cash for a First ticket. As I have no status with AA it's exceptionally rare that I get an upgrade. As someone else said, the upgrade lists seem to be getting longer: it was 28 if I read the screen correctly at PHX for Sunday's last flight back to LAS.