rjburns

While I was trying to find out why my AA bonuses miles for transatlantic flight didn't post, someone at AA accidentally forwarded an email that included my Helix score. (2 Eagles) I fly 30 - 50 K a year, mostly paid F on transcon or cheap economy on short flights in the Northeast. I fluctuate between Gold and Plat. Surprised to see only two Eagles given that I do a fair amount of paid F. Does this explain my crappy customer service or is that just AA in general? I could fly AA more but I'm a free agent now so I don't end up with top status on anybody but instead mid level status on everybody. Better use of my time and dollars.

dickinson

As a free agent, why would you expect a higher Helix score? What customer service issues do you feel would have been handled better if you had a higher score?

JonNYC

The answer might be somewhat nuanced. Keep in mind, Helix score is -not- member profitability-- 2 separate figures with some overlapping but different purposes.

But reasonable people can disagree as to if your Helix score (which absolutely -does- determine some customer service accommodation decisions) is the main factor -or-, as you mention, just "AA in general." Much of that depending on what exactly you mean by "crappy customer service." So could be a mix of both-- almost certainly mostly the latter (AA in general) but depends a bit on the specifics.

rjburns

I buy a lot of paid F and spend a lots of $$. That's what it all about. My point is I could be ExPlat and do all my business with AA but they (nor DL nor B6 are differentiated enough) Crappy customer service =
*Refuse to through check a bag on AA flights from Europe to US because I have two PNR's
*Not posting Advantage bonus miles that I earned without making me hunt down ticket numbers and months old BP's
*Misdirecting a refund check for a cancelled flight and making me contact them 6x over 6 weeks
Is that enough to qualify for "crappy service?" or do we need to go back to 2015 mishaps?

JonNYC

Good luck to ya.

3Cforme

That's a systemwide rule that you just don't want to think should apply to you.

As for mileage postings and refunds, IME, AA is as consistent as other U.S. carriers.

Like JonNYC said, good luck to you. You're not going to change AA. You won't find durable happiness elsewhere.

josmul123

If 4 and 5-Eagle customers are the ones AA considers the top tier for things like extending SWU availability, I'd expect a platinum to be 1-2 eagles.

You are 2nd tier on a 5-elite-tier frequent flyer program. Granted the helix scores are most certainly not correlated to status tier (particularly toward the top, as we know there are EXP's who aren't 4 eagles), but I'd say the fact that there are 3-eagle (possibly lower) EXP's would definitely correlate with a 2-eagle rating for a platinum (and I'd say that's probably high for a platinum). There are people in this forum who qualify for EXP in a month or two who never even get a sniff at CK qualification.

As for the question of customer service? Crappy service affects all of AA's customers at some point or another, even the CK's. Definitely an AA problem that has little to nothing to do with your helix score.

ericcheung

I am doubtful that agents look at your helix score to differentiate customer service but flying short hops around the northeast will likely lead to some overstressed agents dealing with day after day of flight delays.

My guess is the helix score differentiator is just due to overall spend being on the lower end as you are splitting up your travel among different airlines. For flyers spending around a platinum range (2 round trips in business to Asia or deep South America) the extra differentiation happens at the tiering. The benefit of the helix to AA probably differentiates the exps that barely make it to those that are commuting across continents on paid business fares.

With upgrades being prioritized by eqd that should help you as a high spend flyer.

The only real benefit of the helix score that is somewhat public is the extension of SWUs which is really only valuable for EXPs.

captaink

I don't believe Helix scores correlate to Status levels (other than the floor set by the broad bands of EQD levels starting this year). Someone could conceivably spend a substantial amount, but not rack up enough miles/segments to qualify for status, and even within a status band, there could be lots of variation.

I've not seen my helix score w/ AA, but I have seen my WN customer value score, and while I have zero status, the few flights I've taken with them have been relatively high WGA fares, leading to a 4 "airplane" score. Airlines love passengers who pay a lot, but don't earn or use the perks associated with status (a fact lost on travel blogger types who alternate between posts about how to drink in lounges all day for free and posts bemoaning "devaluations" that cut out those same loopholes.)

JonNYC

Not connected to status.

Not a measure of profitability/spending (Sabre provides a version of member profitability scoring, and AA has a separate-from-Helix member profitability scoring.)

Definitely -does- effect the kind of customer service response/recovery you might get under any given circumstance. It's used a fair amount, actually, in borderline cases of how much to compensate a member or what options to offer a given member that might be outside of what's generally available/published and even what follow-up is offered, etc.

Interesting!

asf-07

Jon, I've seen you point out rather emphatically several things that aren't primary considerations in the helix rating... can you provide any insight (or is there a thread somewhere) that gives some visibility into what metrics they do use?

Phasers

So how does one find out their mythical profitability and Helix ratings?

pinniped

Frankly, it's a dumb rule that shouldn't apply to anyone regardless of eagles, but I digress: I thought I read here somewhere that most Plats were in the 2-eagle range. So yes, it may explain the OP's crappy customer service, but it isn't out of line for a 30k-50k type flyer.

I'm LT Gold. I'm guessing that's 1 eagle (unless zero is possible). On the rare cases I've complained about something, I've gotten a form letter and a token amount of compensation.

MSPeconomist

I'm confused. Doesn't AA Plat require at least 50,000 status miles per year? So how can the OP be a 30K-50K flyer and be Plat rather than Gold?

enviroian

What the heck is a helix score?