Free agency. An AA loyalist no more - YMMV
Sep 25, 2018, 5:00 am
#46
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: San Jose, Costa Rica
Programs: AAdvantage Platinum
Posts: 1,894
YMMV = Your mileage may vary. It’s used in the auto industry to state the miles per gallon a car gets, but "your mileage may vary," depending on the way you drive and the conditions under which you drive. On boards like these, it’s shorthand to say, this is what works for me, but it might not be the same for you.
Sep 25, 2018, 5:48 am
#47
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: BOS/UTH
Programs: AA LT PLT; QR GLD; Bonvoy LT TIT
Posts: 12,753
Sep 25, 2018, 6:12 am
#48
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: BNA (Nashville)
Programs: HH Diamond
Posts: 6,227
Even maintaining status makes sense for a lot of people. Not for me.
But, loyalty for loyalty's sake is not something I am going to chase.
Sep 25, 2018, 9:10 am
#49
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: SAN
Programs: AA CK, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 839
I think everyone can agree that the ‘good old days’ of AA are gone. I’ve moved around over the past ten years between United (actually Continental) and Delta and I never found things to be substantially better on the other side. However, many of my AA friends have switched to Delta and are happier now. With your flying patterns, and annual spend, free agency may be the way to go. I can live without most of the perks of status but I still use my miles and SWU for award flights and upgrades. For me, it’s still working but it ain’t what it used to be. Sadly, it will probably take a turn in the economy to get back some of the old AAdvantages that seem long gone.
Sep 25, 2018, 10:55 am
#50
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Roswell, GA
Programs: AA EXP 2.8m,Lifetime PLT, Hilton Diamond, IHG PlLT, SPG Gold
Posts: 3,191
I am very happy flying AA out of ATL. (EXP)
I fly 99% overseas for work, typically 8 to 10 times a year. sometimes more but hey who's counting
The prices in J or F to where I need to go, on the most part are much cheaper then other alliances
My success rate for J to F upgrades this year as been 6 of 6. (all confirmed at least 2 months out)
Success on using miles to go places where I wouldnt travel otherwise has been very good (and yes it takes time to find the award)
I understand for those you who travel within the US, and do an amazing amount of segments, yes having to deal with delays, lack of service etc, may not be pleasant, but that choice is yours to stay with AA or move to another airline
My wife who did a PLT challenge from DL (PLT) has loved the change, 8 /10 upgrades and will make EXP by December
I fly 99% overseas for work, typically 8 to 10 times a year. sometimes more but hey who's counting
The prices in J or F to where I need to go, on the most part are much cheaper then other alliances
My success rate for J to F upgrades this year as been 6 of 6. (all confirmed at least 2 months out)
Success on using miles to go places where I wouldnt travel otherwise has been very good (and yes it takes time to find the award)
I understand for those you who travel within the US, and do an amazing amount of segments, yes having to deal with delays, lack of service etc, may not be pleasant, but that choice is yours to stay with AA or move to another airline
My wife who did a PLT challenge from DL (PLT) has loved the change, 8 /10 upgrades and will make EXP by December
Sep 25, 2018, 11:01 am
#51
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2004
Location: DFW/DAL
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, AS MVPG, HH Diamond, NCL Platinum Plus, MSC Diamond
Posts: 21,422
MrsDallas49er and I just completed our 1st "free agent" trip.DAL-SFO-DAL on Alaska (albeit, the artist formerly known as Virgin America) in F. It was an eye opening experience.
It was a welcome change to be appreciated from start to finish, instead of the usual slow, torturous, death march, that sucks the life out of you, which seems to be every AA flight. We're tired of AAttitude. From the Corporate suite, to check-in, to the gate, to in-flight, to OUT!
On AA going forward 2018, I only have left DFW-HKG in "f", LHR-DFW in "j", and we only have DFW-SAN-DFW and DFW-CDG-DFW.
2019 plans include 6+ trips to CDG, 2-3 trips to NRT, 1-2 trips PEK/PVG, 1 trip to DEL, all in PAID J (by me) . Plus monthly trips to SFO, and quarterly trips to NYC. Half are already booked away. In most business models, I/we would be HVC .
We have both re-qualified as EXP through 1/31/20 and will have 16+ EVIP's and all that "faux availability", and it will be the ONLY driver to AA for us.
If you wish to throw rocks from the safety of sitting behind a screen, DON'T BOTHER.
However, if I had to travel the way I used to : 175+ segments/yr x 25yrs, plus vacation travel, I would suck it up. Because, when everything goes to poo poo, after the CKs get the red carpet, the limo, the lobster with his/her steak, and gets home, and EXP's are left with the ... I pity PLTs that still think they are special.
Fly safe!
It was a welcome change to be appreciated from start to finish, instead of the usual slow, torturous, death march, that sucks the life out of you, which seems to be every AA flight. We're tired of AAttitude. From the Corporate suite, to check-in, to the gate, to in-flight, to OUT!
On AA going forward 2018, I only have left DFW-HKG in "f", LHR-DFW in "j", and we only have DFW-SAN-DFW and DFW-CDG-DFW.
2019 plans include 6+ trips to CDG, 2-3 trips to NRT, 1-2 trips PEK/PVG, 1 trip to DEL, all in PAID J (by me) . Plus monthly trips to SFO, and quarterly trips to NYC. Half are already booked away. In most business models, I/we would be HVC .
We have both re-qualified as EXP through 1/31/20 and will have 16+ EVIP's and all that "faux availability", and it will be the ONLY driver to AA for us.
If you wish to throw rocks from the safety of sitting behind a screen, DON'T BOTHER.
However, if I had to travel the way I used to : 175+ segments/yr x 25yrs, plus vacation travel, I would suck it up. Because, when everything goes to poo poo, after the CKs get the red carpet, the limo, the lobster with his/her steak, and gets home, and EXP's are left with the ... I pity PLTs that still think they are special.
Fly safe!
Sep 25, 2018, 11:45 am
#52
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: The FT AA forum, until it no longer wants me.
Programs: CK or bust
Posts: 1,913
You must have put some real BIS time (to get 200,000 EQMs for the eight each or perhaps 100K EQM plus a million-level milestone at two million or beyond).
Hats off to you, that system-wide count is quite very impressive!
Sep 25, 2018, 1:03 pm
#53
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Austin, TX
Programs: AA LT Plat, UA 1k/1mm+, National EE, IC Plat, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 2,605
Agreed...the trips above even in bargain basement paid J would have to be around $35k-40k. Either way, I fly domestic paid F only with an annual PQD of roughly $33k and I consider myself nowhere near HVC territory...I wouldn't make CK on AA or GS on UA...which is where it is at.
Sep 25, 2018, 1:23 pm
#54
Join Date: May 2012
Location: DCA
Programs: AA EXP Marriott Ambassador
Posts: 229
My 2 cents here, I was exclusively DL for many years and vacillated b/w PLT and DM with them, my only reason to change was that for my travel DL had very few direct flights for my travel needs and the cost of staying loyal was untenable. That said, I'm now Plt Pro with AA and will be EXP by end of the year. So far all my 12-15 flights this year have good to great with flight attendants being equally good and attentive. I usually flight F or MCE with them and upgrades aren't all that important to me which I acknowledge is a big gripe for others. I may bounce again if AA starts to disappoint me..but who knows....so far so good.
Sep 25, 2018, 7:54 pm
#55
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Bay Area
Programs: WN A-List, AA good-riddance, Safeway Club Card Extraordinaire
Posts: 3,851
Sep 25, 2018, 10:42 pm
#56
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: SBA & LAX
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold, BA Lifetime Blue, Marriott Gold, and many others
Posts: 1,152
Over the years I have seen an awful lot of threads like this here in the AA forum as well as in the BA forum, the two that I look at regularly since that's where the majority of my travel is. I'm curious and have a question for those of you who are familiar with both UA and DL forums -- are these "I've had it with this airline" threads just as common there? Is it that basically we all get frustrated sometimes and look for greener pastures? Or do you think for some reasons that many of us are familiar with that AA and BA get more derision on FT?
Sep 26, 2018, 6:12 am
#57
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: ROC/NYC/MSP/LAX/HKG/SIN
Posts: 3,212
MrsDallas49er and I just completed our 1st "free agent" trip.DAL-SFO-DAL on Alaska (albeit, the artist formerly known as Virgin America) in F. It was an eye opening experience.
It was a welcome change to be appreciated from start to finish, instead of the usual slow, torturous, death march, that sucks the life out of you, which seems to be every AA flight. We're tired of AAttitude. From the Corporate suite, to check-in, to the gate, to in-flight, to OUT!
On AA going forward 2018, I only have left DFW-HKG in "f", LHR-DFW in "j", and we only have DFW-SAN-DFW and DFW-CDG-DFW.
2019 plans include 6+ trips to CDG, 2-3 trips to NRT, 1-2 trips PEK/PVG, 1 trip to DEL, all in PAID J (by me) . Plus monthly trips to SFO, and quarterly trips to NYC. Half are already booked away. In most business models, I/we would be HVC .
We have both re-qualified as EXP through 1/31/20 and will have 16+ EVIP's and all that "faux availability", and it will be the ONLY driver to AA for us.
If you wish to throw rocks from the safety of sitting behind a screen, DON'T BOTHER.
However, if I had to travel the way I used to : 175+ segments/yr x 25yrs, plus vacation travel, I would suck it up. Because, when everything goes to poo poo, after the CKs get the red carpet, the limo, the lobster with his/her steak, and gets home, and EXP's are left with the ... I pity PLTs that still think they are special.
Fly safe!
It was a welcome change to be appreciated from start to finish, instead of the usual slow, torturous, death march, that sucks the life out of you, which seems to be every AA flight. We're tired of AAttitude. From the Corporate suite, to check-in, to the gate, to in-flight, to OUT!
On AA going forward 2018, I only have left DFW-HKG in "f", LHR-DFW in "j", and we only have DFW-SAN-DFW and DFW-CDG-DFW.
2019 plans include 6+ trips to CDG, 2-3 trips to NRT, 1-2 trips PEK/PVG, 1 trip to DEL, all in PAID J (by me) . Plus monthly trips to SFO, and quarterly trips to NYC. Half are already booked away. In most business models, I/we would be HVC .
We have both re-qualified as EXP through 1/31/20 and will have 16+ EVIP's and all that "faux availability", and it will be the ONLY driver to AA for us.
If you wish to throw rocks from the safety of sitting behind a screen, DON'T BOTHER.
However, if I had to travel the way I used to : 175+ segments/yr x 25yrs, plus vacation travel, I would suck it up. Because, when everything goes to poo poo, after the CKs get the red carpet, the limo, the lobster with his/her steak, and gets home, and EXP's are left with the ... I pity PLTs that still think they are special.
Fly safe!
Sep 26, 2018, 8:52 am
#58
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Austin, TX
Programs: AA LT Plat, UA 1k/1mm+, National EE, IC Plat, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 2,605
Over the years I have seen an awful lot of threads like this here in the AA forum as well as in the BA forum, the two that I look at regularly since that's where the majority of my travel is. I'm curious and have a question for those of you who are familiar with both UA and DL forums -- are these "I've had it with this airline" threads just as common there? Is it that basically we all get frustrated sometimes and look for greener pastures? Or do you think for some reasons that many of us are familiar with that AA and BA get more derision on FT?
Sep 26, 2018, 9:10 am
#59
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2004
Location: DFW/DAL
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, AS MVPG, HH Diamond, NCL Platinum Plus, MSC Diamond
Posts: 21,422
Given your high ticket F and J travel, I would agree that AA's FF program might not be as useful to you as those of us who generally buy economy tickets. After all, you don't need elite status to go to the lounge for your international trips if you are not sitting in economy.
You don't need to worry about SWUs as much if you are not paying for economy. I consider AA's FF program to be at least as good as any of the other domestics, so I will stay here with my lifetime PLT status. This year, I have been on AS because of matched status and the 4 free confirmed upgrades. I don't really want to pay for an extra $25+ for baggage on other carriers, and I would rather have a confirmed exit aisle seat on AA than an unknown seat on WN, the only carrier I would fly that offers free baggage for all. I had a flight on AS the Friday before Labor Day. As an MVPG, I was upgraded that day to First Class on a Virgin American plane from DAL to LAX. I thought the seat was much better than AA's normal first class for the DFW-LAX routing. Of course, my audio did not work, and I am still wondering why they don't put the audio plug next to the video screen so you don't have to reach down to find it in the dark. (front row, so video screen was on an arm). Having traveled recently in AS' first class, the Virgin seat was a definite improvement. Of course, the AS route map is not really to my liking. I took the flight to get just enough AS miles to make a free roundtrip on AA. Of course, if I want to go to SEA, I will consider AS again. For LAX, I missed the moving sidewalk in AA's T4. I had no idea it was that far from the terminal to baggage claim.
Sep 26, 2018, 9:12 am
#60
Join Date: Sep 2008
Programs: A3 *G, AA exePlat, AS MVP 75k Gold, JL sapphire, UA silver
Posts: 4,035
Is AA less rewarding than other airlines? I am not sure.
majority of airlines in the world charge a YQ to use the miles. AA only does that on BA. Is AA award chart competitive, not as nice as some like JL. but probably around average with not YQ.
Comparing to major US competitor. DL and UA, neither have F lounge.
It seems that (assuming cost is the same), it is more rewarding to be AA top elite vs DL/UA top elite.
For UA/DL, I just use the miles to fly in premium cabin, and AA is actually worth to keep status.
I am not a earn and burn person, i have like 600k UA miles and over 250k DL miles in my bank and I dont even actively play the credit card game (just from previous flying).
majority of airlines in the world charge a YQ to use the miles. AA only does that on BA. Is AA award chart competitive, not as nice as some like JL. but probably around average with not YQ.
Comparing to major US competitor. DL and UA, neither have F lounge.
It seems that (assuming cost is the same), it is more rewarding to be AA top elite vs DL/UA top elite.
For UA/DL, I just use the miles to fly in premium cabin, and AA is actually worth to keep status.
I am not a earn and burn person, i have like 600k UA miles and over 250k DL miles in my bank and I dont even actively play the credit card game (just from previous flying).