AA 2 class Domestic US50 First re-coded as J, D, I, R, C Nov 12, 2016
 

Domestic non-transcon F to be booked as/info J-- will still be branded/marketed as "first" however.

International and 3-cabin transcon will still book as/into F

Does this mean saver awards will book into U - and that avios will only charge double for shorter flights?
When does this go into effect?

...so I assume awards will now book into U instead of Z - and perhaps the cost of awards with BA Avios will decrease?

Please note that title should read "re-coded" not recorded.

The current thinking (others, not mine) is that no, this will not decrease the cost of domestic F awards using avios, but I don't personally have those details.

What's the implication?

My read is simply that due to the moving of -P- to premium economy, this was simply a way of making up for the lack of that bucket in controlling first class inventory/pricing.

I'm not as this juncture aware of any noteable impact on members, although I won't be surprised if I'm missing one/them.

The mileage accrual on other OW programs will be in that case lowered if the code is J instead of F

That appears, to me at this point, to be the biggest impact of this change.

That they finally acknowledge they do not have a First Class product?

No, I really don't think that comes into play here at all.

I wonder whether there will be any impact on availability of upgrade awards (that currently book into 'A').

Also, any idea on the timeline for implementing the change?

The biggest change of this will be the upgrade bucket changing from a shared revenue/non-award booking class "A," which is usually abundant and confirmable without any issues, to the elusive non-"revenue" bucket, "C," like international business class upgrade, which is far less available. Bravo, AA, Bravo!

Probably much easier when trying to coordinate partner/OW itineraries, given that others have Business as the premium cabin on 2-cabin services.

R will replace X. Hence, C will likely replace A.

I suppose this means BAEC TP runners will receive J rather than F TPs?