I'm in a slightly different boat. I'm a 1MM++ with AA. Do about 120k miles per year. I am also a small business owner. This means I have to watch my pennies - $1k saved means I can bonus out my employees $1k. Every dollar DOES matter. So pushing me to buy higher fares just to keep my tushy happy only causes me frustration. Also, my employees fly who I tell them to fly -- and many of them do 25-50k/year. So my satisfaction is worth about $25k/year, and 300k miles / year. But AA, UA, DA, will never see it that way.

If AA thought about the SMB market at all (and they should, it's the fastest growing market), they'd wrap some sort of status cookie into the Business ExtrAA program for SMB. IE: Keep your personal flight spend/miles at a certain level, and your cumulative company flights/spend above a level, and you get ExPlat. They do this for large corporation. But nobody does it for SMB. And by evaluating me, individually, they're going to lose the 300k miles / $25k altogether when I start forcing my team to fly Alaska (which offers better routes for us anyway domestically).

Probably doesn't matter to them. But I keep thinking that the airline that figures this out is going to be the darling of the SMB / startup market.:

Yep. but as I point out in my reply above - it isn't just those traveling on their own dime who strive to control cost. Startups and SMBs do too.

Free agency is an awesome path to take :)

Not sure I follow how "thinning the heard" helps anyone...the upgrade priority is already based on EQDs so those that barely make it are already at the bottom of the EXP pile so those that spend more already get priority. If there's some delusional thinking that AA will somehow improve service for EXPs after this I have a lightly used bridge for sale.

I wonder how many people from DL or UA were contemplating the "Switch" due to the $12K requirement only to be thwarted today?

Haha.

No worries - I read the AA email first and it was confusing too.

Same for me as well -- this was easily doable when I was traveling on business/OPM for the last several years, so I can see why AA would be targeting that segment of traveler. But for me this year with no business travel, I'll barely qualify on 12k EQD on personal travel, so 15k EQD will be a bit of a stretch as I don't expect much business travel next year either. And as 2MM/LTP, not sure it's worth it for the bump to EXP. I guess I have to find a new job with more travel now, or wait for the next recession and a possible double EQD promotion... :D

Wish there was a pathway to LT EXP or better MM milestones beyond 2MM. I may as well keep going for 1MM on UA instead, since *A Gold is nice to have as well.

Actually true. I guess I've never looked at S. Africa flights. Most of my flying is US-Europe, US-Asia.

It’s ironic AA chose to add the image of 737-823 N908NN, a leased in (Wells Fargo) 737 that will soon be graced with Project Awaysis “MSTC” (More Sardines Throughout Coach”), minilavs and less.

I’m sure glad I decided to get off the merry go round with lifetime Platinum effective 2019 Status year. This just reinforces my decision. ”Good day, JDiver out.”

let me add the remaining 10%

"i buy $15K F fares before I eat breakfast in the morning"
"not a problem I spend $1.5MM with AA last year".

Good decision. Where are you putting most of our flying these days?

It's amazing to think that just 2 years ago one could get EXP with a bunch of cheap mileage runs. I bet there were EXPs with EQD's less than $5K then. I see what AA is targeting. Too bad their higher spend thresholds don't come with anything better for the EXP.

Increased EQM earnings on partners don't offset higher EQD thresholds..

Not about upgrades. Not about any one benefit on any one flight. Not about expecting improvements. About retaining existing benefits and the "cost" of those benefits based on how large the population is. I've been a management consultant...I know how they think.