AAflyerORD

Deleted

bse118

Simple question: if this is the case, then why are you not flying United?

chuck1

There good and bad with each elite program. Maybe in certain situations, UA might serve you better.

rjw242

To be clear: you didn't request an upgrade, and didn't receive one. So yes, you are wrong to be upset about not getting an upgrade you didn't ask for, and weren't willing to pay for in any case.

JonNYC

Yes, completely.

Don't mean to be?
Perhaps.

Come off that way?
100%

enviroian

Wait, so you never requested an upgrade and you're upset you didn't get one?



I'm the last person to be an AA apologist but them' the rules my friend.

You can't get won't you don't ask for.

Fleck

No, it is not.

AAflyerORD

My point is, they are very not competitive at the platinum tier when it comes to united and delta (not just with upgrades) and it is easily fixable.

rjw242

Making a substantial change to a program with ripple effects across millions of customers and billions of dollars of revenue isn't "easy" by any stretch of the imagination.

You yourself switching to an airline that matches your preferences is a vastly simpler fix.

Also, just because you don't like something doesn't mean it's "not competitive." Plenty of PLT/GLD flyers choose AA even though Delta has offered unlimited comp upgrades for many years.

bse118

Except for you are flying AA and not United or Delta...so clearly it's not as simple as "they [AA] are not very competitive."

And FWIW for the brief time I was gold/plat I considered AA's sticker upgrade policy to be an advantage over DL/UA. YMMV.

Beltway2A

Agreed. When I was Plat I liked AA's policy. They're upfront about the fact that you get at minimum 16 certs for domestic flights, and it's up to you when you want to prioritize them. If you want more, you can always buy them or fly more.

enviroian

FWIW if that was a United bird flying to Chicago from Las Vegas there wouldn't be 14 empty seats. They would be filled up with either 1K's or last minute FCM sales. As a plat you'd never get a complimentary upgrade on that flight. That's why AA's system is so much better. It lets you pick and choose what flight you want to have an upgrade shot at just not across the board putting you in a pool with EVERYONE.

I cleared more on upgrades using 500 milers as a American Platinum FAR MORE than I got comp upgrades as a UA 1K

Often1

If OP believes that he gets better value from another carrier, he should fly that other carrier. But, he chose to fly AA, chose not to request an UG, and is upset that he did not get one.

Whether the AA system is better than UA/DL or whether it is worth $160 to UG LAS-ORD (I would pay that out in a heart beat before being stuck in steerage), is entirely a matter of personal preference. OP made his choice.

The entire nonrev thing is an FT obsession. That is simply part of their contractual deal. There was availability in F because nobody claimed it, so AA gives it to employees as a perk.

The entire notion of umlimited UG's for low-level elites is silly. It discourages people from paying for F and that's simply bad business.

javabytes

As someone who switched over from DL in the last two years and worked up through Gold and Plat, I find the 500 mile system to be far superior. With programs like DL or UA, where everyone gets unlimited upgrades but the reality is upgrade lists are so long you only seldom receive them, you have no way to prioritize upgrades you actually want. With AA, although your overall upgrade frequency is limited by design, unless you're willing to buy 500 milers, upgrades on flights you want are far more attainable since you're not competing with literally everybody.

The unlimited system used to be superior, back when airlines were selling 20% of the front cabin instead of 80%, and before DL had rollover MQMs... but no longer.

George Purcell

I wish I had the problem of so many upgrades I need to buy more stickers to take advantage of them....