donnde

It's not always wise to blindly kick out BA. Last fall I was booking BCN-ORD in J and would exclude BA (through LHR) as I wasn't going to pay the exorbitant fee. One time I happened to look beyond page 1 and found a good flight that was BA to LHR and AA TATL, thus saving the fee. Not sure why it sorted downstream as the times and layovers were optimal.

Recently I was searching for ORD to Italy as I am heading to Florence in August (which is not serviced by AA). I tried every AA city in Italy (and beyond). No luck. I happened to enter ORD to FLR and an Iberian connector through Madrid came up for 57.5. Sure it's 3 legs, but otherwise it was likely 2 legs plus a train ride. So it's worth trying different combinations.

bse118

IF the planes are full and the profits are high, where exactly is the problem?

IF the above is true - then FT believe in a loss of "loyalty" doesn't seem to having any real world significance.


Someday I might understand why people get emotionally invested in frequent flyer programs...

scubadu

I doubt that, I sure don't.

And some posters in this forum seem to be perpetually dissatisfied, but prefer to just constantly complain rather than actually changing their behavior or voting with their wallets. Then the just call anyone that challenges them to do that an "AApologist"

There seems to be small percentage of posters in the AA forums that just frankly enjoy playing the role of the victim, pretending there are no alternatives, and pining for the "good ole' days"

Regards

bitterproffit

No doubt. The difficulty in finding open bookings and not jumping through some of the ridiculous routings the system would suggest to get any awards really soured me on the program. I didn't pick AA specifically to earn those miles and over half of those miles were earned flying Cathay, Finnair, and Iberia. I was fine with my status dropping from Platinum to no status this year. But I am happy I found a use for those miles I accumulated.

enviroian

I see you’re based out of a non AA hub.

I’d like to see your thoughts overall on you’re love for AA if you lived in Dallas.

JonNYC

Achieve serenity; take the words of this great wise-man:
Spending money on flights just to meet EQD requirements, and angry about it

bse118

I have no "love" for AA. The program just happens to work for me. I am not emotionally invested in it.

I regularly connect through DFW. Hasn't made a bit of difference in my upgrade success rate. Not sure what point you are trying to make there. If anything living in DFW would mean more non-stops, less connections.

enviroian

I’m not in any way emotionally attached. The advantage program just has degraded and it sucks, that’s all.

linglingfool

At issue is that the 788 is making up an increasingly large portion of the AA fleet, and with only 20 J seats for that type come this summer, it's going to become much harder to find award space on AA metal from places like ORD that used to see the 763.

eponymous_coward

3Cforme

I have never found two long haul saver business awards 90 days before travel and entering peak season to be easy - and I have been redeeming miles for a long time. That said, the OP is welcome to redeem for AAnytime awards on any route served by AA metal, and that's a lot better than useless.

I don't see much value in letting people unfamiliar with the AA route network, partners, and AA redemption rules frame an exaggerated argument.

wobbly wings

I do sympathise with the OP. I am also in the same predicament. I'm based in London and fly AA/BA quite a bit both east and west. I used to credit everything to AA to redeem TATL segments. Now the lower mileage accrual (at least as a PLAT) and the fact that the TATL segments, particularly in J but Y is not easy either unless one is flexible and I often cannot be, are harder and harder to find makes me wonder whether I should switch back to BA.

scubadu

Then why don't you simply move to an airline/program that delights you and better meets your needs? Serious question, not sarcastic at all. You seem to just want to constantly complain. Many of us, myself included, would certainly prefer "the good ole' days" but at some point, you have to make peace with the fact that the field of play has changed drastically and it likely is not going back. What is the value of being continually frustrated/disappointed? Seriously?

I completely agree with JonNYC that many here are in a "self-created prison" and I just can't for the life of me figure out why some here seem to almost take joy and relish in that reality.

Regards

enviroian

I don't constantly complain--I give kudos where applicable all the time. There is no where else to go. I know the old days are gone. You are right and I'll agree with you....I need to make peace with this fact and move on. Perhaps I haven't. Thank you for showing me the light

^

scubadu

From literally 45 minutes prior to this post...

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...l#post30777264

That is patently false and I suspect you know that. Many have made changes, you just for reasons I don't fully understand, choose not too. Furthermore, let's assume there really isn't anywhere else to go for a moment. In a capitalistic, profit driven economy, if there is truly nowhere else for you to go, doesn't that in fact actually say something regarding whether the FFP you seem to seek is economically viable or not? I mean if there is a true, profitable market for the program you seek, shouldn't competitors be literally lining up to court your business? Why do you suppose they are not? I mean you constantly knock AA, but what airline out there has the FFP you seek? With easy availability in business class to Europe in July and oh by the way, for a number of miles that you are willing to pay for it and that you perceive to be "fair" Which program is that? If its truly out there, you should be running to it at full speed man!

I sense a bit of sarcasm here, but honestly, making peace and/or making change is actually the only thing in this game YOU can actually control. FT almost seems to encourage the collective "gnashing of teeth and tearing of clothes" but honestly, at the end of the day it accomplishes absolutely nothing other than driving the signal to noise ratio down very rapidly...

I truly hope you find a program or airline that meets your needs and delights you. As for my wife and I, we are moving towards the "free agent" model. Much less stressful than chasing status on one airline, etc.

Regards