Anyone who has flown it can tell you why. For econ I don't think anyone beats them.

Agreed, in fact B6 is really the only airline I will fly in Y on, and 90% of the time that's to the Northeast to trasfer onto an intercontinental flight in J/F operated by a foreign airline.

Snag an exit row seat on the A320 with no one in the middle and it beats domestic F in some cases.

Some of us still are earning EXP with no business travel. It is still not that hard to do.

I do heavy travel the first 3 months of the year - about 50% real trips, 50% - overnight trips. Already have EXP for next year. I am helped with the CC bonuses of $6K EQD and 20K EQM - but will still be flying more.

If you play the game - EXP is $6K EQD and 80K EQM, and you can earn the $6K EQD by flying 60,000 miles regardless of what you paid for your ticket.

I switched from B6 to DL as my primary as my travel needs began to increase a few years back. As an evening flyer, most if not all of my flights on B6 would be delayed. Often significantly. DL is much, much better about getting me there on time.

I'm starting to wonder if this is the case with everyone but AA.

As I sat at FNT a few weeks ago and watched all the other UA and WN flights depart for ORD/MDW except AA's (due to "ATC issues" :rolleyes:), I had to shake my head.

Well, I think it's been AA who is walking away from their regular customers in search of bigger fish. If they had a decent enough product and CS they might just pull it off. However, these recent changes have been a motivation to try other airlines, plus my move to BKK from China makes alternatives look better. So, found something better at a reasonable cost and I'll only fly on AA metal the minimum needed to burn SWU's. I always look at the competition for my domestic segments-so far it's AA 4 segments, UA 2 and Frontier 1. Next trip coming up is on *A in business. Probably not as good as the QR business I'm in the middle of now, but variety is always a good thing. Still prefer the AAdvantage program and it's actually cheaper to reach EXP than it's been in a long time.

They all suck.

My expectations have never been unmet on an LCC. :)

I apologize, the mistake is mine. I've read this twice and I'm confused. The reason I've never gotten the CC is thinking only the one time bonus is good, nothing much after that.

Do you earn EQM's and EQD's on regular spend? Or is it simply the opening bonus?

You can earn regular EQM for spend with the AA Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard (10K EQM for $40K spend)
https://secure.fly.aa.com/citi/direc...=citiexecutive

And you can earn regular EQD offsets with the AA Barclaycard Aviator Mastercard's. See wiki at following --
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...t-details.html

I buy a lot of FC tickets and I can say when it does come time to spend the miles Delta is awful. AA is miles better on the available mileage awards and earning is about the same to me.

On domestic flights delta service and consistently better but not by the miles some claim.

Agree^

God, that flight is a nightmare. I think my helix score is a 4 or 5 just based on the fact that they cancel this flight about 90% of the times I book it (FlyerTalk Disclaimer: This is a joke. I know Helix scores are based on more than just this).

After spending multiple years as an EXP, and most of the last year as an EXP with virtually no upgrades, as well as my last flight across the Atlantic, booked in business (and charged for business) but seated in Y with no ability to move to business over the past year, I have to agree that being EXP on AA is no longer worth it. For many years, it offered the best benefits of any program. Enough that I would do a few extra flights a year to keep the status. But now, the benefits seem to be gone, so no extra flights for me. From now on, it's just what is the most cost-effective flight on any airline, and hope that there is a decent price available in J.

That has been my experience also on the awards that I am usually in the hunt for. AA miles are much easier to use than DL's-- and the routes I travel most often on, about 40% cheaper at the Saver level.