Any chance AA doesn't succumb to variable award prices?
Apr 5, 2019, 12:24 pm
#2
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Thousand Oaks, Ca., USA
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howe er, to answer your thread title question, no chance that they don’t follow suit, just a question of when.
Apr 5, 2019, 12:27 pm
#4
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Really sad that no airline sees a viable option other than "copy whatever DL does."
Last edited by JY1024; Apr 9, 2019 at 10:14 pm Reason: Merged consecutive posts - please use multiquote
Apr 5, 2019, 12:31 pm
#5
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: DAY
Programs: Rapid Rewards, Skymiles, Hilton HHonors, SPG/Marriott Rewards
Posts: 4,952
Just to be clear, I have absolutely no inside knowledge at all. But DL and UA went to variable prices. Nearly all the LCC's have that system. Hilton has variable prices and Marriott has introduced peak and non peak awards. I don't see any way that AA doesn't eventually follow suit.
Apr 5, 2019, 12:32 pm
#6
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Programs: DL 1 million, AA 1 mil, HH lapsed Diamond, Marriott Plat
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Just for Main Cabin they've already got four price levels + an unpublished level (select dates that require a higher number of miles (in addition to Level 1 and 2 awards) -- with lousy availability in the lowest level. I don't see how variable pricing could be materially worse.
Apr 5, 2019, 12:32 pm
#7
Join Date: Jun 2015
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Apr 5, 2019, 12:36 pm
#9
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Thousand Oaks, Ca., USA
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Apr 5, 2019, 12:53 pm
#10
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: DAY
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You can transfer just about anyone's points to BA. One could argue this incentives AA not to have much saver award availability.
Apr 5, 2019, 12:55 pm
#11
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 268
I think they will definitely go dynamic/variable, but probably not for a year or more. They'll need to get Citibank to tighten or get rid of the mailer codes first to cut down on the number of bonus miles you can get (like Delta does with Amex Lifetime and UA with Chase 2-year).
Not that I want any of the "dynamic" stuff to go in.
Hilton was a massive devaluation (IMO), Delta was the worst (IMO). I mean seriously, 280,000 miles for 1 round trip from NY to Hawaii compared to 100k on United and 160k on AA (I think that's what AA currently is now, but I could be wrong--depends on if you get lie-flats or not).
Not that I want any of the "dynamic" stuff to go in.
Hilton was a massive devaluation (IMO), Delta was the worst (IMO). I mean seriously, 280,000 miles for 1 round trip from NY to Hawaii compared to 100k on United and 160k on AA (I think that's what AA currently is now, but I could be wrong--depends on if you get lie-flats or not).
Apr 5, 2019, 12:58 pm
#12
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: BA
Posts: 954
I theorized that Economy Web Specials are AA testing variable award pricing here: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/30967779-post21.html
Apr 5, 2019, 1:05 pm
#13
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The AAwful airline’s program will become more AAwful the more it tries to mimic DL.
Apr 5, 2019, 1:32 pm
#14
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: DEN
Programs: AA EXP, AA Million Miles, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,586
Airlines hand out miles like candy...it's not a surprise that variable award pricing follows.
Good thing RDM earning/burning for flight awards is completely irrelevant to how I evaluate the personal utility of the AAdvantage program.
Good thing RDM earning/burning for flight awards is completely irrelevant to how I evaluate the personal utility of the AAdvantage program.
Apr 5, 2019, 1:38 pm
#15
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Austin, TX - AUS
Programs: AA Platinum, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott
Posts: 1,625
AA started moving towards variable award prices when they introduced multiple AAnytime tiers several years ago. Now that DL and UA have pulled their award charts, I think it's only a matter of time before AA follows suit. Don't expect any advanced notice on further AAdvantage changes, given Mr Parker's record on changes.