AA Gold Loses 50% Discount for MCE >5 Sep 2018
Jun 5, 2018, 4:16 pm
#1
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
AA Gold Loses 50% Discount for MCE >5 Sep 2018
AAdvantage Gold members buying Main Cabin Extra seats after 5 September 2018 will no longer receive for a 50% discount.
Gold members will still be able to secure available MCE seats free 24 hours from departure.
AA e-mail sent on this date:
Link to article on One Mile At a Time.
Gold members will still be able to secure available MCE seats free 24 hours from departure.
AA e-mail sent on this date:
Starting today, enjoy complimentary beer, wine and spirits when you fly in Main Cabin Extra.1 That’s on top of the other great benefits you already enjoy like:
- Extra legroom
- Earlier access to overhead bin space2
Last edited by JDiver; Jun 5, 2018 at 4:26 pm
Jun 5, 2018, 4:49 pm
#4
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Dallas
Programs: AA ExPlat, Marriott Ambassador, Hilton Gold, Hertz PC
Posts: 121
Well this sucks. It's been discussed in a number of threads, but I'm pretty surprised by the number of Gold's buying MCE seats after my own personal experiences in the 24 hour window as a gold and my father's.
Last edited by adunker; Jun 5, 2018 at 8:47 pm
Jun 5, 2018, 5:55 pm
#7
Join Date: Jul 2017
Programs: DL Platinum UA Silver
Posts: 13
Absolutely agree. Although this isn’t a benefit that I have ever used since I can usually wait until the 24 hour window, taking away a benefit during the middle of the year certainly seems distasteful.
American can make whatever changes they want to their rewards program, but making these changes in the middle of the Award Year seems to abuse this power. Telling Gold members that they are going to have 50% off MCE seating when they qualified for Gold and received the welcome letter in January and then arbitrarily deciding to end the benefit in September definitely inspire a positive attitude.
American can make whatever changes they want to their rewards program, but making these changes in the middle of the Award Year seems to abuse this power. Telling Gold members that they are going to have 50% off MCE seating when they qualified for Gold and received the welcome letter in January and then arbitrarily deciding to end the benefit in September definitely inspire a positive attitude.
Jun 5, 2018, 6:18 pm
#8
Used to be 'g_leyser'
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Brandon Johnson International Airport (expect delays)
Programs: AA PlatPro, HH Gold, Bonvoy Gold, IHG Plat, Reno Air MEGA Platinum
Posts: 10,039
To me this is AA saying "a lot more Golds were buying MCE than we thought, so we realized we're leaving money on the table."
Kind of a dick move, but then is anyone really surprised?
Kind of a dick move, but then is anyone really surprised?
Jun 5, 2018, 6:20 pm
#9
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: MIA
Programs: AA EXP (AC), DL G (SC), Bonvoy LTP, & IHG AMB
Posts: 1,798
This was a very generous benefit for Golds on AA vis-a-vis DL who offers Silvers no discount for Comfort seating, but chance to "upgrade" at T-24, and UA who also offers Silvers no discount on Y+ seating, but chance to select the seat at T-24. So, from that perspective, AA is merely aligning with the competition.
BUT, and it's a big BUT, the timing is pretty shocking: mid year change. Wow, if I were a Gold, I'd be none too happy. As an EXP, I'm really hoping that MCE doesn't follow DL's Comfort Plus to become "an upgrade" vice select at AA's current select at booking process... but with the service "improvements", I suspect it's only a matter of time...
BUT, and it's a big BUT, the timing is pretty shocking: mid year change. Wow, if I were a Gold, I'd be none too happy. As an EXP, I'm really hoping that MCE doesn't follow DL's Comfort Plus to become "an upgrade" vice select at AA's current select at booking process... but with the service "improvements", I suspect it's only a matter of time...
Jun 5, 2018, 6:50 pm
#10
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: CLT
Programs: AA Plat, DL, WN, HH Diamond, Marriott Lifetime Silver, HY, Global Entry
Posts: 49
I knew something like this was coming when they added "free" drinks as a new benefit, which is one I didn't care much about. This doesn't affect me now as a Plat, but I am concerned this is a step toward charging everyone extra for these seats. I have purchased MCE a few times in the past when I was Gold and the price was reasonable with the 50% discount. MCE seats are by far my favorite benefit of Plat and I will switch a lot of my travel if I have to pay for it, especially flights where I have to transfer anyway, which are many of my long distance and higher $ flights. I currently sit in exit rows about 90% of the time. AA isn't offering much else noteworthy these days to make me want to stick around.
Jun 5, 2018, 8:39 pm
#11
Join Date: May 2005
Programs: BA Gold, AA PLT PRO, AGR, Strawberry (Nordic Choice), Marriott Bonvoy
Posts: 4,249
When all the 777s have converted from 3-3-3 MCE seats to 3-4-3, the MCE seats will be so nasty the 50% discount won’t make them any more appealing anyway.
And this is at the same time that DL chose to keep economy on their 777s as 3-3-3 and not move to 3-4-3 like AA did.
And this is at the same time that DL chose to keep economy on their 777s as 3-3-3 and not move to 3-4-3 like AA did.
Jun 5, 2018, 11:42 pm
#15
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: PHX, SEA
Programs: Avis President's Club, Global Entry, Hilton/Marriott Gold. No more DL/AA status.
Posts: 4,422
Well, there goes that vestigial regret I felt for using my miles this year to PVG instead of earning EQM for my 2019 requal. With this perk gone, AA dumbs itself down to DL/UA levels and leaves Gold the equivalent to the $95 credit card. Oh right, plus my 500-mi stickers 
We have the acronym "LCC" for Low Cost Carrier, perhaps it's time to rename AA to "LCD" for Lowest Common Denominator.
I wonder if this has to do with the reality of the Spirit-levels of pitch on the MADMAX prompting Golds to actually pay for MCE. I know I would buy it even on a normal 737 because it made flying... wait for it... bearable.
We have the acronym "LCC" for Low Cost Carrier, perhaps it's time to rename AA to "LCD" for Lowest Common Denominator.
I wonder if this has to do with the reality of the Spirit-levels of pitch on the MADMAX prompting Golds to actually pay for MCE. I know I would buy it even on a normal 737 because it made flying... wait for it... bearable.