ibrandsguest

Thanks for the suggestion about BA, Finnair or Iberia; I hadn't realized that and may well do it.

Before the merger, I had unlimited upgrades as a US Gold (50,000 mile level). Sadly, unlimited upgrades are long gone, so that has resulted in receiving a worse product in that respect.

I haven't done a full analysis, but my sense is that fares have gone up overall.

mvoight

Why do you need PLT to have a decent experience?
That said, there are plenty of flyers in PLT that have had not problem getting the min EQDs required.
As someone noted, the requirements didn't suddenly change this year. If it is harder this year, then that would indicate you paid less in fares.
I am not clear how AA getting less money is all their fault?

Uncle Nonny

And you started this thread because you were $700 short of EQDs?

Antarius

Except airfares haven't kept up wiith inflation. Its still the same cost (and often less) to fly to Europe than it was 20 years ago. So, while prices may have gone up, acting like its impossible to fly at a reasonable rate is a false position.

mvoight

Considering the airlines were losing $BILLIONS every year, did you expect that to keep happening? PRICES had to go up in order for airlines not to lose $BILLIONS per year.

Aroeder

I am in the same boat as the OP. I have decided it is worth it to spend the additional $850 in order to obtain PLT.

I know it is self inflicted but I could not justify going from PLT PRO to Gold. I understand if I chose not to obtain status you can basically pay a la carte but I chose to bite the bullet as I am very captive as my home airport is only served by American Eagle to DFW and having the status seems to be worth it.

I just wish AA would fall in line with BA and offer status freeze for major life events, i.e. paternity freeze, which is the situation I am in this year and will return to normal flying habits next year.

ibrandsguest

Your decision makes total sense; DFW is also an AA fortress and things like a better chance of clearing standby make it worthwhile, although we're both subject to a powerful near-monopoly and make this decision under duress and with our choice limited. Glad I'm not the only one, and glad that we both didn't have to fork out $1400 or whatever AA charges some people.

Aroeder

Antarius

This is one of the things that I think AA could benefit from. Short term flexibility and accomodation leads to long term customer loyalty. A PLT extension one time costs AA little but buys an enormous amount of goodwill; the Costco strategy.

Come on.. under duress?

You want the advantages of a major network carrier and benefits such as SDFC and Standby, but aren't willing to meet the terms to have these benefits. How is this a duress situation?

ibrandsguest

If you have only one viable choice, and when the terms were recently made more restrictive due to the counterparty's pricing power, that's not really a choice is it?

Dave Noble

You have a choice on whether to throw money at AA so that it says that you are special or to accept that your travel that you want/need to do only meet the criteria for Gold status

You are not being forced to pay AA anything in order to continue using it ( other than the fares which it charges - which are obviously so low that you don't meet the spending requirement for desired status )

You WANT to have Platinum status and seem to be moaning that you are expected to meet the required thresholds in otder to have that status

If it is so important for business purpose to have status, should be able to justify it to a company to pay higher fares in order to ensure it

ibrandsguest

So:

If your electric or gas company raises its rates, is it much of a choice to pay them if you want to keep your electric or gas service? Yes, you can buy a ceiling fan or build a fireplace; is that a valid choice?

If you don't have a car and commute to work on public transportation, it is much of a choice to pay more if the local provider raises its rates? Yes, you can walk or buy a car, but is that really a valid choice?

Etc., etc., etc.

What if AA gained even more market share and got rid of elite status altogether except for people who were willing to pay a $2,000 fee for it, it would be a choice to pay that or not, but would it be a real choice for plenty of business travelers?

BTW I sorted out my AA credit cards and other AA flights and will not have to do this in 2019 (I'll requalify by flying and spending on credit cards)...as long as AA doesn't change requalification terms to add in more stringent requirements. Let's just see what AA does before the end of 2019, though; I'm guessing that unless the economy goes south, we will have additional or more stringent requirements to meet due to changed requalification criteria by then.

Dave Noble

Except AA isn't raising its prices - if the fares were increased then this would, seemingly, be a benefit since the EQDs would be higher?

You can fly on AA without platinum status - many many people do so with no issue at all - you do not have to spend $700 to be able to travel with AA - you are CHOOSING to throw money to be special. If you choose to do this and you are unhappy then the only person to be angry about is yourself ; AA isn't requiring that you do so

If an electricity company was to say that it would call you a special elite customer if you used more than x KW per year and give you a super elite card for doing so and you chose to run airconditioning for a week when away just in order to reach the requirement, then again that would be your choice - would that be a sensible idea?

If AA decided to make its FF programme only available to those that were prepared to pay $2000 for membership and you then chose to pay it, again no grounds to be angry about it - if angry, simply do not join

All of your examples are completely flawed - AA is not restricting you from travelling with them and it isn't forcing you to pay higher fares and isn't forcing you to buy status

Very different to a bus company or electricity company raising prices - if AA raised its prices enough then you wouldn't have been short $700

Often1

Analogies never work.

Public utilities generally present their rates to a public body such as a Public Utilities Commission in return for being granted a monopoly. That is not the case here.

You have chosen to spend $ to keep a fictional status and to keep flying AA. It is that simple. You are NYC-based and may fly pretty much any carrier you wish. That is what you should do. You may then plow the savings, if any, back into purchasing F or perhaps living a better lifestyle or increasing your investment portfolio. It's all up to you.

tismfu

Bingo. I've asked twice, but OP either missed these queries or doesn't want to answer. The silence suggests OP paid less this year for tickets compared to 2017 which, if true, would be a good thing. I would think. Unless, again, your employer pays your fares and you're annoyed that you have to make up the difference from your own pocket to meet established EQD criteria.