Very disappointed with my new Exec Plat status so far
Jan 24, 2017, 3:45 pm
#46
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Toronto
Programs: UA 1K, AC MM E75, Marriott LT Ti, IHG Dia Amb, Hyatt Glob
Posts: 15,510
did you get an email showing ticket numbers from AA? On the email from EY, it shows ticket numbers starting 001?
A confirmation from EY is likely just showing that a booking was confirmed , not proving that tickets were ever issued. Unless the EY email shows ticket numbers or have the eticket confirmation showing ticket numbers from AA, it would suggest that the agent , who was having none of it, may well have been the one that was correct
A confirmation from EY is likely just showing that a booking was confirmed , not proving that tickets were ever issued. Unless the EY email shows ticket numbers or have the eticket confirmation showing ticket numbers from AA, it would suggest that the agent , who was having none of it, may well have been the one that was correct
Jan 24, 2017, 5:36 pm
#47
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Live: IWI; Work: DCA/Everywhere; Play: LAS/SJU/MLE
Programs: AA EXP, DL PM, Hyatt Glob, Marriott Ambassador/LTP, Nat'l Exec Elite, LEYE Gold
Posts: 6,661
I've had countless agents (airport, phone, admirals club) go out of their way to make "impossible" things happen for me, usually (if not especially) when I haven't asked for it. Things that absolutely were impossible when I was just Plat.
So, not that it makes your experience any better, I do think that if you have significant domestic travel apart from your QR/EY dealings, you'll notice some difference in treatment that may even offset your bad luck.
But then again maybe not -- if you've been getting good treatment for 10 years at UA, then perhaps you won't have a good sense of when an AA agent is doing something "impossible" for you that you wouldn't have gotten if you weren't an EXP. So, hard to say.
Jan 24, 2017, 6:06 pm
#48
Join Date: Jul 2001
Programs: AA EP
Posts: 2,203
This happened to me last year. I received the schwduk change from EY before it reflected in the AA system. A day later I called AA and they saw the minor Skd change and re issued the ticket.
Jan 24, 2017, 6:33 pm
#49
Join Date: May 2006
Location: MYF/CMA/SAN/YYZ/YKF
Programs: COdbaUA 1K MM, AA EXP, Bonbon Gold, GHA Titanium, Hertz PC, NEXUS and GE
Posts: 5,837
As someone who has maintained both 1K and EXP for several years now, I have some insight into this.
1) I was 1K before the nightmare merger with CO. Before the merger, I always felt incredibly valued and well taken care of, regardless of cabin and with little discrepancy as to station. This even includes stations that were handled by Express partners.
2) I matched over to EXP during the 2012 extravaganza and really enjoyed it, but still ended up 1K on United because I had done a ton of EQMs prior to 3/1/2012 (the cutover date). I also remained EXP for the next year, but had a lull in travel and ended up just re-qualifying on UA, again thanks to some early year earnings and a tough economic year. During my time with AA, I felt incredibly well valued and treated like a king. The sUA FAs continued to give great service, as did the sUA clubs (I'm lucky to have one of by bases as LAX, where Bruce makes the world a better place every day). I definitely felt more valued in AA's program.
3) I got an EXP challenge in 2014 and was happy I did. Despite maintaining 1K, by the skin of my teeth, AA was still the same and I realized it was a mistake to stick with UA over AA.
4) Since then, I've maintained top tier on both. I fly a mix of long haul international and shuttling within California and between California and Ontario. Since the programs changed, I still find AA to be more rewarding, simply because they don't penalize me for booking partners, something United does despite DL and AA both figuring out a way to not screw people for flying even JV partners. I find that UA's experience is still very mixed, but their IRROPS handling is much better than AA's. UA does a better job with empowerment of agents and recognizing status as a factor in dealing with problems, and is more proactive. AA has started getting better at this, especially since the DL interline got killed, but they are nowhere in the ballpark. At the airport, and on board, however, I do find that AA is more consistently good at taking care of EXPs than UA is with 1Ks, with the one big exception of lounge access rules (true definition of international on United, unlike the various restrictions from AA). In the air, you still see how different the UA and CO sides are, with the UA FAs being consistently better. On AA, the AA FAs are better than the US ones, but US is only about a quarter of the combined carrier and less of an issue. AA offers better hard and soft products than UA does.
5) With the OP being a YYZ-based flyer, as are my wife and I, I wonder about the specific experience. I've had nothing but a great experience with the YYZ counter staff and the staff in the (under renovation) Admirals Club. How is your ground experience?
1) I was 1K before the nightmare merger with CO. Before the merger, I always felt incredibly valued and well taken care of, regardless of cabin and with little discrepancy as to station. This even includes stations that were handled by Express partners.
2) I matched over to EXP during the 2012 extravaganza and really enjoyed it, but still ended up 1K on United because I had done a ton of EQMs prior to 3/1/2012 (the cutover date). I also remained EXP for the next year, but had a lull in travel and ended up just re-qualifying on UA, again thanks to some early year earnings and a tough economic year. During my time with AA, I felt incredibly well valued and treated like a king. The sUA FAs continued to give great service, as did the sUA clubs (I'm lucky to have one of by bases as LAX, where Bruce makes the world a better place every day). I definitely felt more valued in AA's program.
3) I got an EXP challenge in 2014 and was happy I did. Despite maintaining 1K, by the skin of my teeth, AA was still the same and I realized it was a mistake to stick with UA over AA.
4) Since then, I've maintained top tier on both. I fly a mix of long haul international and shuttling within California and between California and Ontario. Since the programs changed, I still find AA to be more rewarding, simply because they don't penalize me for booking partners, something United does despite DL and AA both figuring out a way to not screw people for flying even JV partners. I find that UA's experience is still very mixed, but their IRROPS handling is much better than AA's. UA does a better job with empowerment of agents and recognizing status as a factor in dealing with problems, and is more proactive. AA has started getting better at this, especially since the DL interline got killed, but they are nowhere in the ballpark. At the airport, and on board, however, I do find that AA is more consistently good at taking care of EXPs than UA is with 1Ks, with the one big exception of lounge access rules (true definition of international on United, unlike the various restrictions from AA). In the air, you still see how different the UA and CO sides are, with the UA FAs being consistently better. On AA, the AA FAs are better than the US ones, but US is only about a quarter of the combined carrier and less of an issue. AA offers better hard and soft products than UA does.
5) With the OP being a YYZ-based flyer, as are my wife and I, I wonder about the specific experience. I've had nothing but a great experience with the YYZ counter staff and the staff in the (under renovation) Admirals Club. How is your ground experience?
Jan 24, 2017, 6:45 pm
#50
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: BOS/UTH
Programs: AA LT PLT; QR GLD; Bonvoy LT TIT
Posts: 12,742
1. We now cringe when we call the EXP desk. HUACA shouldn't be necessary due to lack of language skills. Shouldn't understandable English be a requirement? With UK english, US english, Japanese, Mandarin, French, Spanish, Italian, and Romanian spoken in our home, at least 1/4 of the time the rep can't be understood. In addition to the lack of language skills, there has been a pronounced and severe drop off, probably linked, of knowledge and a willingness to help/work with the passenger. Solution: More training (Increased knowledge increases confidence) with more than basic "English" as a requirement.
4. The gutting of (DIS)AAdvantage. Fewer SWU's to go along with non-existant inventory, etc., ... Solution: A Management mind shift. Instead of being "Me Too", and like the rest of the industry, looking at AAdvantage as being a creation of Lucifer and a neccessary evil, be different. Look at it as a means of rewarding BIS 1st and foremost. Bring back Suzanne Rubin, and then do what she says 
!
!See Above.
CX ex-EWR doesn't work for you? You'd rather fly out to SFO and connect there, adding hours to your trip?
Jan 25, 2017, 12:14 am
#51
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: ROC/NYC/MSP/LAX/HKG/SIN
Posts: 3,212
As someone who has maintained both 1K and EXP for several years now, I have some insight into this.
1) I was 1K before the nightmare merger with CO. Before the merger, I always felt incredibly valued and well taken care of, regardless of cabin and with little discrepancy as to station. This even includes stations that were handled by Express partners.
2) I matched over to EXP during the 2012 extravaganza and really enjoyed it, but still ended up 1K on United because I had done a ton of EQMs prior to 3/1/2012 (the cutover date). I also remained EXP for the next year, but had a lull in travel and ended up just re-qualifying on UA, again thanks to some early year earnings and a tough economic year. During my time with AA, I felt incredibly well valued and treated like a king. The sUA FAs continued to give great service, as did the sUA clubs (I'm lucky to have one of by bases as LAX, where Bruce makes the world a better place every day). I definitely felt more valued in AA's program.
3) I got an EXP challenge in 2014 and was happy I did. Despite maintaining 1K, by the skin of my teeth, AA was still the same and I realized it was a mistake to stick with UA over AA.
4) Since then, I've maintained top tier on both. I fly a mix of long haul international and shuttling within California and between California and Ontario. Since the programs changed, I still find AA to be more rewarding, simply because they don't penalize me for booking partners, something United does despite DL and AA both figuring out a way to not screw people for flying even JV partners. I find that UA's experience is still very mixed, but their IRROPS handling is much better than AA's. UA does a better job with empowerment of agents and recognizing status as a factor in dealing with problems, and is more proactive. AA has started getting better at this, especially since the DL interline got killed, but they are nowhere in the ballpark. At the airport, and on board, however, I do find that AA is more consistently good at taking care of EXPs than UA is with 1Ks, with the one big exception of lounge access rules (true definition of international on United, unlike the various restrictions from AA). In the air, you still see how different the UA and CO sides are, with the UA FAs being consistently better. On AA, the AA FAs are better than the US ones, but US is only about a quarter of the combined carrier and less of an issue. AA offers better hard and soft products than UA does.
5) With the OP being a YYZ-based flyer, as are my wife and I, I wonder about the specific experience. I've had nothing but a great experience with the YYZ counter staff and the staff in the (under renovation) Admirals Club. How is your ground experience?
1) I was 1K before the nightmare merger with CO. Before the merger, I always felt incredibly valued and well taken care of, regardless of cabin and with little discrepancy as to station. This even includes stations that were handled by Express partners.
2) I matched over to EXP during the 2012 extravaganza and really enjoyed it, but still ended up 1K on United because I had done a ton of EQMs prior to 3/1/2012 (the cutover date). I also remained EXP for the next year, but had a lull in travel and ended up just re-qualifying on UA, again thanks to some early year earnings and a tough economic year. During my time with AA, I felt incredibly well valued and treated like a king. The sUA FAs continued to give great service, as did the sUA clubs (I'm lucky to have one of by bases as LAX, where Bruce makes the world a better place every day). I definitely felt more valued in AA's program.
3) I got an EXP challenge in 2014 and was happy I did. Despite maintaining 1K, by the skin of my teeth, AA was still the same and I realized it was a mistake to stick with UA over AA.
4) Since then, I've maintained top tier on both. I fly a mix of long haul international and shuttling within California and between California and Ontario. Since the programs changed, I still find AA to be more rewarding, simply because they don't penalize me for booking partners, something United does despite DL and AA both figuring out a way to not screw people for flying even JV partners. I find that UA's experience is still very mixed, but their IRROPS handling is much better than AA's. UA does a better job with empowerment of agents and recognizing status as a factor in dealing with problems, and is more proactive. AA has started getting better at this, especially since the DL interline got killed, but they are nowhere in the ballpark. At the airport, and on board, however, I do find that AA is more consistently good at taking care of EXPs than UA is with 1Ks, with the one big exception of lounge access rules (true definition of international on United, unlike the various restrictions from AA). In the air, you still see how different the UA and CO sides are, with the UA FAs being consistently better. On AA, the AA FAs are better than the US ones, but US is only about a quarter of the combined carrier and less of an issue. AA offers better hard and soft products than UA does.
5) With the OP being a YYZ-based flyer, as are my wife and I, I wonder about the specific experience. I've had nothing but a great experience with the YYZ counter staff and the staff in the (under renovation) Admirals Club. How is your ground experience?
2. AA was indeed still good in 2012 PMUA FAs? Yes, but ground, not so much. That's the time that they started watering down the benefits and service. In the UA club they told everyone who got their flights canceled to go back out to TA and rebook? That's awful.
4. In 2013/2014, they were both ok in terms of awards. AA still had the gateway stopover, with UA the stopover *anywhere* in the round-trip. If you are talking about program changes for AA and UA (2015/2016), they both got worse. Gateway stopovers gone, with UA starting to allow all segments to show availability before you change the tickets. The days where you could tailor the segments in UA were long gone.
(PS: Agents aren't trained to help us save miles. They are trained to understand the system, and the system was designed to charge us more, not to make our life easy. Therefore, segment-by-segment searching, and spoon-feeding the flights to the agents are the only way to get what you want.)
In 2016, AA got massive devaluations in award cost. Mergers in terms of systems are ok, but the CS, EXP desk, AC Angels all went downhill. UA has improved their flyer-friendly scheme. FA attitude did get improved. NRT (PMCO crew) was generally good. EWR? 25% of the time was ok, but ORD was definitely good. Both are still good at IRROPs. However, UA only rebooked you in GPU-ed PNR into UA J protection, but definitely not partners/non-partners J/F protection. AA, however, would protect your eVIP-ed PNR into any partners/non-partners J/F. That's huge difference, and I bet ever EXP still loves this benefit - At least AA shows whatever they can to make it right.
(PS: But the key - Having EF and spoon-feeding the flights to rebooking agents are crucial to success.)
5. Club - YYZ ground+AC was ok. AA/DL, and any US clubs are going to fall behind dramatically if UA's Polaris Lounge comes to fruition(HKG,EWR,SFO,NRT, etc). You cannot see any better lounges in the US. A la Carte with quality food offerings and self-serve food/drink area at ORD Polaris lounge, and servers can be compared to upper echelon of restaurants? AA JFK/ORD/LAX/DFW Flagship lounges are getting smoked. ORD Polaris lounge is definitely the fresh in the air.
They are both improving lately, and this is coming from AA EXP/UA 1K after picking up travel in 2010.
Jan 25, 2017, 1:06 am
#52
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: RDU
Programs: AA LTP, Bonvoy Titanium; AA CK before I retired
Posts: 1,597
I've been EXP for most of the last 10 years and my satisfaction level with AA is reasonably high. Yes, the ex-US employees are sometimes a PITA. On the other hand, the flexibility of ex-US flights is helpful. (I was rebooked today on LHR-CLT.)
EXP is not an immunization against misfortunes. Anyone who expects it to be so is unrealistic.
EXP is not an immunization against misfortunes. Anyone who expects it to be so is unrealistic.
Jan 25, 2017, 4:46 am
#53
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Everywhere you wanna be
Programs: AA EP | UA 1K
Posts: 1,657
As someone who's both 1K and EP i don't really notice much differences in treatment, although my upgrade success on UA is noticeably less than it is on AA (even though AA seems to have eliminated elite upgrade windows). Although quality on UA is better than it was during the Jeffrey years (especially the free food perk for 1Ks that UA copied from AA).
I will go ahead and say that UA has a much better website and app that gives out a lot more information and has a lot more functionality. I like how you can view seat maps for all the flights on UA, especially by just typing in the flight number.
I do enjoy the perks of Oneworld Emerald though, especially access to partner first class lounges. I don't fly paid international F ever so getting into the lounges on Star is not happening. Catering on AA from LAX/DFW-HKG is better than i've had on UA from ORD-HKG/SFO-HKG, but UA wifi is faster than that gogo crap.
I will go ahead and say that UA has a much better website and app that gives out a lot more information and has a lot more functionality. I like how you can view seat maps for all the flights on UA, especially by just typing in the flight number.
I do enjoy the perks of Oneworld Emerald though, especially access to partner first class lounges. I don't fly paid international F ever so getting into the lounges on Star is not happening. Catering on AA from LAX/DFW-HKG is better than i've had on UA from ORD-HKG/SFO-HKG, but UA wifi is faster than that gogo crap.
Jan 25, 2017, 7:36 am
#54
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Toronto
Programs: UA 1K, AC MM E75, Marriott LT Ti, IHG Dia Amb, Hyatt Glob
Posts: 15,510
I flew mostly QR and some BA. I think I only flew AA once out of YYZ so nothing really stood out. (I got my 4 AA segments and then some, flying between SJO and SFO.)
Jan 25, 2017, 8:01 am
#55
Suspended
Join Date: Apr 2016
Programs: SkyMiles, AAdvantage, TrueBlue, Rapid Rewards, Global Entry
Posts: 204
Jan 25, 2017, 8:26 am
#56
Join Date: May 2011
Location: NYC (LGA, JFK), CT
Programs: Delta Platinum, American Gold, JetBlue Mosaic 4, Marriott Platinum, Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond,
Posts: 4,888
I status matched to United recently to see if it made sense to direct some flying there. The problem is United flies out of Newark (annoying TSA lines, often hard to get to go) and is behind on the IFE experience versus DL/AA depending on the route. However, redemptions are good. Honestly if I flew 150,000 miles a year, I would do 50/50/50 on DL/UA/AA.
Jan 25, 2017, 9:18 am
#57
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Beantown! (BOS)
Programs: AA PtPro (2 MM); Hilton Diamond; Hertz President Cr; DL SkyMiles; UA MileagePlus
Posts: 3,435
OP, my suggestion will to give AA another a year or two before deciding to move back to UA or not. Sounds like you have been UA elite flyer for quite long time. If so, do you remember fiasco of Continental-United merger? I lived at Houston area right at that time as AA EXP, and sure I was glad I was flying out of IAH on AA rather than new United. Few times I flew out of IAH on new United back then even agents were telling me that I should not try stand-by because there were too many agents not familiar with the new system yet and there were so many situations where passengers reservation being messed up (completely disappeared from the system) when an agent were trying simple thing like stand-by.
I do think current AA is going through growing pain of AA-US merger. But the current situation at AA is nowhere near as bad as I remember CO-UA merger fiasco. I think you should give little more time before deciding if you want to go back to UA or not.
Last November I flew UA, where I have not flown on UA for long time. I was very impressed with boarding arrangement at a gate. Wish AA can implement like that. As "Mr. Nobody" at UA having Boarding Group 5, I really had no complaint about UA boarding procedure.
I seen how today's UA is different from CO-UA merger fiasco of new UA back then. I do think it is worth give little more time with AA and see if there will be any improvements in next a year or two.
I do think current AA is going through growing pain of AA-US merger. But the current situation at AA is nowhere near as bad as I remember CO-UA merger fiasco. I think you should give little more time before deciding if you want to go back to UA or not.
Last November I flew UA, where I have not flown on UA for long time. I was very impressed with boarding arrangement at a gate. Wish AA can implement like that. As "Mr. Nobody" at UA having Boarding Group 5, I really had no complaint about UA boarding procedure.
I seen how today's UA is different from CO-UA merger fiasco of new UA back then. I do think it is worth give little more time with AA and see if there will be any improvements in next a year or two.
Jan 25, 2017, 9:47 am
#58
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: The Frozen Tundra
Programs: Former AA EXP, DL PM, BAEC Bronze, SPG GOLD, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Platinum
Posts: 159
I've been getting the same treatment from AA agents as well. Seems that they take an argumentative attitude when you approach them about an issue, then they never apologize for it. However, I wont deny that I've also been approached by FA and they have thanked my wife and I as well on our flights. Several times they have come to us early on in the flight, and right before landing and thank us. They also introduce themselves personally and mention that if we need anything do not hesitate in asking. Another thing that they mention to us is that we are one of the few couples that are both EXP as well.
I can't say how UA/DL is in that matter, but they few times we've flown with them as non elite on paid F, the treatment has been good too. They introduce themselves and thanks us for the business.
I can't say how UA/DL is in that matter, but they few times we've flown with them as non elite on paid F, the treatment has been good too. They introduce themselves and thanks us for the business.
I am truly enjoying my return to AA. However like someone else has mentioned award space and the constant drive to BA and their ridiculous fee structure is insane. I just wish that AY would open more US routes.
Jan 25, 2017, 4:43 pm
#59
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Toronto
Programs: UA 1K, AC MM E75, Marriott LT Ti, IHG Dia Amb, Hyatt Glob
Posts: 15,510
OP, my suggestion will to give AA another a year or two before deciding to move back to UA or not. Sounds like you have been UA elite flyer for quite long time. If so, do you remember fiasco of Continental-United merger? I lived at Houston area right at that time as AA EXP, and sure I was glad I was flying out of IAH on AA rather than new United. Few times I flew out of IAH on new United back then even agents were telling me that I should not try stand-by because there were too many agents not familiar with the new system yet and there were so many situations where passengers reservation being messed up (completely disappeared from the system) when an agent were trying simple thing like stand-by.
I do think current AA is going through growing pain of AA-US merger. But the current situation at AA is nowhere near as bad as I remember CO-UA merger fiasco. I think you should give little more time before deciding if you want to go back to UA or not.
Last November I flew UA, where I have not flown on UA for long time. I was very impressed with boarding arrangement at a gate. Wish AA can implement like that. As "Mr. Nobody" at UA having Boarding Group 5, I really had no complaint about UA boarding procedure.
I seen how today's UA is different from CO-UA merger fiasco of new UA back then. I do think it is worth give little more time with AA and see if there will be any improvements in next a year or two.
I do think current AA is going through growing pain of AA-US merger. But the current situation at AA is nowhere near as bad as I remember CO-UA merger fiasco. I think you should give little more time before deciding if you want to go back to UA or not.
Last November I flew UA, where I have not flown on UA for long time. I was very impressed with boarding arrangement at a gate. Wish AA can implement like that. As "Mr. Nobody" at UA having Boarding Group 5, I really had no complaint about UA boarding procedure.
I seen how today's UA is different from CO-UA merger fiasco of new UA back then. I do think it is worth give little more time with AA and see if there will be any improvements in next a year or two.
I am VERY disappointed at the lack of award space, crappy website and agent incompetence/attitude. Hopefully things will improve.
Jan 26, 2017, 5:41 am
#60
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Dallas
Posts: 2
I'm a 4million miler on AA. Clearly the agent talent has declined, which is to be expected with the internet and cost saving BUT it's those infrequent travel hiccups where you need someone to help you get something hard done. Frankly, I'm now splitting my miles between AA and SWA (if for no other reason then "A list" is as good as a Plat. and the SWA miles are way easier to use and get.
