nk15

Oh, ok, I am not sure, I am just seeing E7 and wasn't sure what it is about, I don't remember seeing it often. Is this supposed to be visible on EF?

Col Ronson

Yeah unless you want to experience the joys of an international first class lounge such as the lovely CX ones in HKG, or the QF first lounges in LAX/SYD. Perks that come with Oneworld Emerald status or buying a $18,000 first class ticket...your choice. Nevermind the whole other load of elite benefits....But sure have fun on southwest and save your mockery of those who still get rewarded for loyalty.

Dave Noble

Does CX have any domestic flights? The lounges are nice, but if not often going to HKG, is it worth paying lots extra for rare access to such a lounge

Whilst enough people are prepared to pay higher fares, then the airline will charge them

Being loyal to best value offering works well for many. e.g. next week: for paying less than QF economy I can get NZ premium economy. doesn't make sense to pay more for less to me

matrixwalker2012

CX generally has pretty good Premium Economy fares. Even west coast to Australia, I'd pick CX. That lets me run up nearly 40,000 Elite Miles on one trip.

Dave Noble

The comment about CX was in response to someone posting about booking SouthWest; CX is not a competitor on such a route.

CX can be a good option for some journeys ( though no way I would go via HKG to get to Australia ) but not really a choice for a domestic US flight

This would just go into taking the best option for a specific journey

bse118

If, on balance, you are paying significantly more to stay within one alliance, then you are, IME, doing it wrong.

As an example I've flown 4 trips from the US to the EU or Asia this year. All of them were under $1000 all in, 3 of them were on AA, all 3 of those I upgraded to business with SWUs (pending one leg of the trip I am on now), the fourth was AA marketed, BA operated. My domestic trips, all purchased in Y, were for the most part the same price or less than competitors on the routes. And you can see my upgrade success below.

I'm getting pretty good value staying mostly on AA, thank you very much.

thecurtisw

Exactly. Those lounges are one of my favorite things about a trip. And on top of all the benefits, without the baggage benefit it would cost me around $80,000/year just in baggage fees & overweight/oversize fees.

thecurtisw

Yes! Why not pay just a few hundred extra (in most cases) for PEY from YVR to Australia over Y from LAX, especially when you can earn DOUBLE the EQM flying that route?! I totally get that most people wouldn't want the extra travel hours going through HKG to get to Australia, but I don't mind it at all for the benefits. Especially when I can schedule a 10+ hour layover to explore the beauty of Hong Kong.

RogerD408

And remember, factoring loyalty on a flight by flight basis will skew the numbers against any program. However, if you take in account a year or more, there is a good chance being loyal to a program will have several benefits in service and cost savings.

What I've been reading is people picking at individual components and not considering the whole package. Yes, it's frustrating when something that was free now has a charge or limitation. I see that all part of the business cycle. Entice the customer into the web with services/products and hope they indulge in the more expensive offerings (sometimes voluntarily, sometimes not).

carlosdca

As an EXP I found myself many times flying circuitous routes in economy to take advantage of benefits.
Those were the times when I planned a 4 hour layover in LHR to "enjoy" the first class lounge and "take a shower".

Now I just fly non-stop home or choose a layover at a more efficient airport.

ijgordon

Maybe you're lucky. The odds that one's airline/alliance of choice offers the lowest fare on every single flight a person takes that year is probably pretty small. Maybe even close to zero. Therefore, one has a choice:

1. Stick to the airline/alliance of choice and necessarily pay more than the lowest fare, at least some of the time, or
2. Just go with the lowest fare.

For someone who flies enough to earn, say, just over 50,000 EQMs, choice #2 means probably only qualifying for Gold. Maybe, best case, low level elite on two alliances. If that passenger wants Platinum, he'll have to make choice #1, and it will cost him extra.
For someone who flies, enough to earn, say, 75,000 EQMs, well, there's a lot more flexibility built in for her to go with choice #2 and still earn Platinum.

I don't think you can say someone is "doing it wrong" based on their personal situation. Sounds like you're fortunate enough to have enough slack in your flying that you can still meet the elite qualification hurdle without directing 100% of your travel on AA/OneWorld.

bse118

I didn't claim every single flight is cheaper. I said "on balance". Big difference. One flight may be more expensive, the next the same, the third cheaper than the competition.

Lowest cost and best value are not the same thing.

And most of the time for domestic flights, economy, purchased in advance, prices are pretty similar across carriers.

I am not flying to chase status. I am flying for work, right at about 100-110K miles per year. I evaluate value based on that year's worth of prospective flying, not on a per flight basis. And my company has a lowest reasonable Y travel policy. If sticking with a single alliance was significantly more expensive, I wouldn't be able to do it.

carlosdca

I would add:

If sticking with a single alliance was significantly more expensive or less convenient, I wouldn't be able to do it.
Which happens to be the case for some (including myself).

HomelessScientist

If you're in a business where the cost would be billed to a government grant, then this could have an even larger impact. Unused tickets can't be charged to the grant, whereas change fees can, as long as there is some justification that they benefit the funded project. It wouldn't surprise me if some other kinds of contracts work the same way.

AAEmpireState

It looks like AA's website is beginning to reflect the upcoming rollout of the BE fares. Whenever you run a flight search, a hyperlink now appears at the top of the search results to run a "Product Comparison." "Main Cabin" is described as the "Best value in the Main Cabin," and includes eligibility for upgrades.