Except if the partner is also flying at peak times!

We were just re-routed via PHL (FRA-PHL-JFK). I have to say it was not a pleasant experience. Rude personnel (no one knew where the Admiral's Club was -- and there were two of them), lots of delays (which we were told were common for this flight), and lack of communication. We took a downgrade to Y thinking it would be a short hop from PHL to JFK. Spent hours stuck waiting on a tiny plane that could not take off (after a multi-hour delay because they had no crew). If I am flying out of NYC and have to get to PHL to start my international journey? No, thank you.

No idea, but AA is very hesitant to commit 757s and tout it as a premium offering. Probably part of it is they know the refurbished 757s are inferior to their own A321T product and competitors’ 757 products. They made several short sighted decisions with the 757 refurbishments in effort to minimize investment cost.

^ I worded this weirdly, should have just said 10x weekly. The second flight will only operate on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays in the morning.

Yes, I think part of the scheduling included the non-business travel crowd. The 5x weekly flight will operate on Su, M, Th, F, Sa.

Honestly, I think PANYNJ will at some point force AA to allow other airlines to operate out of terminal 8. If AA does not want to find some random airline stuffed in there, they should be more proactive in convincing their own partners to move into T8 with a goal of turning the terminal into “OneWorld” terminal. That is the best solution for AA IMHO.

I really prefer AA (esp the flagship lounge) when flying out of NYC, but not that I'm a full-time NYC resident I'm finding it hard to stay with them. I've had two BOM trips and I took United on the EWR nonstop which sucked. I've booked a trip to Portugal in Delta One because I'm not going to fly through PHL when I can go nonstop. I've moved all of my RDU-LGA flights to Delta because I'm not sitting on a crappy e-140 after 3 cancellations in 2 months. I've kept my JFK-LHR monthly flights on AA because it's the best product. I've even booked 3 Allegiant flights to visit my parents in Asheville so I can fly nonstop over the summer. I really value my CK status, but I'm not going to fly through PHL and LHR every time I want to fly to Europe to keep it. I will make GS on United ONLY because I have to fly to BOM ~10 times this year and I'm not flying Air India. If Delta really does open up BOM from JFK I will prob shoot for 360 status and move my LHR flying to Virgin and Delta (which isn't as good as AA), but I really wish AA would give me SOME reason to keep flying them. Hint hint. Keeping my bi-monthly visits to see kids in Raleigh on 2-class RJs would be a huge step in the right direction.

1) Depends - can be done in matter of months for most... BA/IB is a different story although pressure to raze T7 and build a more cohesive terminal is slowly building up. BA recently extended its lease but not very long (maybe 5 or 7 years) so they might not have a choice at some point as JFK tries to move forward with transforming the airport.

2) AA is done with A321 CEO orders, but they have 100 A321 NEO orders with deliveries commencing in 2019. No word has been said yet about their intentions for these birds as far as configuration goes.

Jetblue and Mint have killed any desire for me to fly AA to SAN, LAS, or SEA.

Exactly, if it's not clear yet, Mint is going to kill AA in these markets. The number for AA on JFK-SAN before and after mint is not pretty.

The big move would IAG in there sometimes down the road.

To be fair, JFK-DEN didn't exist last year. And JFK-SAN/SEA are normally at once daily in the late fall/winter season. So this is just a resumption of normal activity. They tried to re-allocate those slots from Europe/SJU for domestic market, but simply don't know where to use them.

Personally don't think Mint will kill AA transcon. As much as I love Jetblue especially in my early days of upstate NY, it is hard to stick with B6 with almost no FFP or international partners. A lot of my coworkers stick with US3, even though they don't travel internationally, just for these reasons (they couldn't care less about ground experience, which adds to AA's advantage).

However, I do agree AA is digging itself into grave in the NYC market.

Another issue with Mint is that they effectively penalize you if you book through a corporate travel platform by giving you half the points. Whereas Delta, AA, UA, etc give you extra points by booking paid business class on transcons. I like Mint a lot, but I can't switch over to Mint entirely for transcons for that reason. For an odd leisure flight, or when I need a specific time (for example Mint has a good 4:30 PM flight from SFO to JFK), I will use Mint.

Lounges on the West Coast are also an issue for JetBlue. At LAX, AA has its flagship lounge. At SEA, there is the excellent Delta Sky Club.

Great point that isn't discussed much here on FT. I agree this is a major factor - I essentially earn a free one-way business class ticket to Europe every 2 roundtrips in paid-J on AA transcons. I'll gladly order from a not-so-happy AA FA, while knowing my mileage account will be in great standing once I land.

JetBlue Mint really screws over the corporate flyer given you only get the bonus points if you book on jetblue.com, which is generally not possible.

Hard to compare 120% bonus on AA (for exec plat) vs. half credit on JetBlue Mint if booked through corporate travel.

It's the exact opposite problem for my company. We use concur and require lowest business class nonstop on all flights which is always jetblue when booking last minute - which most people do. 95% of the people at my company would be forced to choose mint on this route vs having a "doesn't comply with company travel policy" sent to our controller. Luckily I'm not in that 95%.

deleted by op

I can live with fewer miles and even no lounge (just arrive as close to boarding as possible), but I can't live without IRROPS support. AA/DL/UA FFs who pine for B6 miss this point as well; which I think is by FAR the most important. Even in the worst of cancellations, delays, etc., AA has always been able to accommodate me and get me to my destination by NLT next day (usually morning). Good luck getting that on B6, even from JFK and BOS, much less from EWR/LGA... where it could be days.

OTH, about 90% of my flights these days are less than 1000 miles and probable about 75% are fewer than 500 miles, so luxuries like premium transcon service aren't within my realm of options ;)