footballfanatic

one well-planned round trip = done. easier than a year of credit card games.

jcatman

Depends on your ultimate goal. Spending $50,000 on a Barclays credit card to receive $6,000 EQD and 10,000 EQM and a $99 companion certificate = my favorite card game.

dulciusexasperis

Do you listen to yourself? You want Platinum status, how will more competition get you that? Oh wait, you think if there is more competition, the airline will give out Platinum status easier. Uh huh, but if you get to maintain your Platinum status, who will be flying on the competing airlines? You won't, you don't want to just have say Silver status on 2 airlines do you?

I suggest they do away with all FF programs and just compete on the quality of their product itself. That is the actual 'in flight' experience only. So then, If I pay $500 I get no legroom and pay for a drink or meal. If I pay $750, I get a free drink, meal and a little more legroom. If I pay $1500 I get a free drink, meal and movies with adequate sitting up legroom. If I pay $2500 I get a lie flat seat. If I pay $4000, I get my steak cooked to order by an actual chef on board and a limo pickup from my home. In other words, every passenger gets exactly what they paid for.

This idea that if you fly more times you should be entitled to more than the next guy is all about Elitism. If I buy a quart of milk do I get every 10th quart free or do I pay the same price for the same product each time? Is there any reason why I should get a 10th quart free? The answer is no to both. I got what I paid for each and every time. Having a 'tier system' that rewards one person while denying another always results in the 'other' person paying more for what they get. It is fundamentally unfair to those people. But then, those getting more than the 'others' aren't bothered that it is unfair, are they. They just want more than the next guy without paying more and if you don't think that is true, just think about what would happen if everyone who flies were Platinum, where would the airline's revenue come from? All 'reward' systems of any kind, punish some while rewarding others. They are not intended to treat all equally.

Whatever happened to the much vaunted second paragraph of the US Constitution? "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights"
Do you see anything in there about some should have more rights than others?

So where would my system leave all the FT 'status' seekers? Most likely, the majority would find themselves flying in the $500 seat and never experiencing the $4000 seat because they couldn't afford it personally and their employer wouldn't pay for it. But in terms of airline 'competition' which you claim you want, it would certainly stimulate that since you would have no reason to continue flying with the same airline every time as there would be no 'status' benefit for you to gain.

Competition can only flourish when there is a level playing field. You claim antitrust regulations erect a barrier to competition. I suggest that you are equally as guilty as any other party. You and those like you who chase status, make it clear to anyone thinking of starting a competing airline, that a huge barrier will be getting you to use their airline when you are clinging on to your 'status' on the existing airline. The only way to get you to change would be to offer you more for less money. Does that sound like a real exciting opportunity for someone thinking of starting an airline, to you? Unless they give away a 'free' Platinum status with every Economy booking, you aren't going to help an airline get into competition against the airline you now fly. You say one thing and mean another.

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TXguy

C17PSGR

I've been flying a long time and remember things like the TWA Worldport, TWA and Pan Am internal European flights, paper tickets, stickers you'd physically buy and put on the bottom of the boarding pass for an upgrade. I've also been an EXP on AA for 10-15 years. So far this year, I have almost 30k spend year to date (so I'm guessing its close to 40k annualized) and 175,000 miles. Almost all has been paid Y. I've been cheating lately and have flown another 50k this year on AS, DL, and UA.

Somethings are worse but many things are better. AA has a much better international business class and the flagship lounges are excellent. Remember the three across business class that is like premium economy today? My SWU's clear most of the time. I change flights from the app seamlessly. My flight cancelled the other day -- I called the EXP line and was on a United flight within a few minutes.

On the other hand, people are traveling a lot! Upgrades don't always clear. I was on a LAX-JFK redeye a couple of weeks ago. When I booked a couple of days before, it was J7 ... when I got to the airport, I was no 3 on the upgrade list (with 40k spend!) and noone cleared! Fares aren't logical on any of the carriers ... short trips can cost $800 round trip while longer trips cost $250. Legacy US planes still don't have power. AA agents have a lot less flexibility on changes than they used to. Many FA's on long flights don't care.

The change to mileage on spend is mixed.

All in all, there has never been a better time to travel/. And, of course, if you're in NYC, there are certainly options for cheaper fares -- some without perks -- and WN, Spirit, B6 are all competing with AA, DL, and UA.

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moondog

To expand on this point, it's possible to fly anywhere in the world from NYC without setting foot on AA, DL, or UA. These two facts shatter the notion that there is no competition.

E55

They're making you pay for something that you value. What's different here than anywhere else? They've obviously priced it correctly if you're planning to pay it.

stewlevine

One more time we need to remind anyone who feels they are owed anything by an airline

Frequent flier programs are intended to incent future spending, not to reward past spending. Your value to any airline is solely based on your willingness to select them for your next trip.

JonNYC

The people have spoken!

Spending money on flights just to meet EQD requirements, and angry about it

Often1

They do. It's called CK. No artificial barriers. Just an assessment that you are of sufficient value to AA to warrant specialized treatment.

There may well be places where AA is the only carrier and thus it can charge whatever it wants and set whatever conditions it wishes. But, even outside of hubs, pretty much every major metro area has alternatives. Whether they make sense for you is an individual assessment.

5mm

PaulInTheSky

To further expand on this point, it is worth noting you don't need to fly AA to get EQDs. Do yourself a favor. Travel somewhere fun on partners.

Dave Noble

No it doesn't'; you can buy a ticket for a flight having no status and it will get you to your destination

Even without throwing $700 at AA, it sounds that you would have gold status anyway which provides 1 checked bag , ability to standby for an earlier flight and priority boarding


You didn't have to pay, you chose to pay - if you are so annoyed about spending the money, it sounds more like buyers remourse and that is not AA's fault

If you are not attaining platinum by virtue of travel which you are doing, then could just accept that AA does not view that travel as enough to earn Platinum status and live with Gold status