How do you figure that? Didn't you receive elite status bonus miles that are counted in your total as well - 100% for Plat? Or did you accumulate all of the almost 1MM without ever reaching elite status? Even the fliers that didn't accumulate miles outside of flying still accumulated about half their miles via elite status bonuses (assuming elite status, of course).

Yeah I will be dropping my Citi card...I do understand this. Having been a member of both DL and AA, I achieved mm on DL first, but that was for miles flown no credit card or anything else worked. While I hate this because it will put my next 4 SWUs out of reach for a long time, I do think it makes MM more valuable. Now if they will only give out LTEXP for 3MM.....

I'm having a hard time adjusting to the idea of having to requalify as EXP from 2012-2017 just to lock in LT Gold and from 2012-2027 just for LT Plat.

Isn't there supposed to be an apocalypse before then? I'm sure I was also just given a book about the oceans rising and swallowing all the major cities before that.

These requirements might be more consistent with what other US airlines do for LT status, but I believe other OW carriers are far more generous with LT or pseudo-LT status. Plus they give lounge access.

No shockers here with this announcement, though personally I think they should have made it based on EQPs not BIS to reward class of service and/or spend levels.

I'm 250k short of 2m so will probably take up the buy 40k get 10k bonus before it expires 8/31 and transfer some SPG to get me that bit closer. In theory I could jig things around a little and do some mileage running to get me over the hump I'm just not sure it's really worth it for me

The BankDirect CD has suddenly become appealing.

Long term, it earns fewer miles than the checking account, but they post up front.

Open an account now and lock up $200K for 2 years (at 0.1% interest), and you should have the 200K miles post before the 11/30 deadline.

(Earn 1 mile per dollar up to the $200K level).

I know others have said it, but the only really counter-intuitive component is the lack of recognition of higher fare classes. Using a modified version of the elite qualifying points system would make much more sense. I know everyone is looking out for themselves, but as someone who typically travels on last minute Y or J fares, there should be recognition that I contribute a hell of a lot more revenue than someone who travels on deep discount. That doesn't mean leisure travelers shouldn't be recognized, only that there should be a correlation between the economic value to American and the benefit to the traveler.

Finally. Thank you for the update and coming to your collective senses.

This is a huge disappointment for me.

Well, I'm at 1.68M and can probably get to 1.8 before the change. That certainly puts 2M within reach.... I guess I'm luckier than many. Sadly, my employer "temporarily" did away with our business class policy the year before last and I did almost no flying last year. I had been banking miles hand-over-fist for a while and, now that I'm back in the saddle, was hoping to do so again.

Oh, well... time to see if I can pre-pay for this winter's heating oil on the SPG card.

I think most folks who have been following the "other" thread these past couple of months are not surprised at all with these changes. I want to thank AA for giving us 3 months notice for the change instead of the 2 months mentioned in the other thread.

You are correct, I have to make a correction. It was BIS+Bonus of BIS -but a lot of it has been as Gold.

I should have stated that 90%-95% has been w/out the use of credit cards, shopping, transfer miles, etc.

I still like the fact the only way to achieve LT is to get on a plane.

From what it seems, one can still earn "non-LT" points on AA from various credit cards, dining, etc. Ostensibly, it seem only the "LT" award/achievement will by via flying..I'll be more than glad to stand corrected however..

I'm happy with this decision since I should have no problem hitting 1 million by Dec 1st. I might even wait and do a quick MR to push me over 1 mm for the 35k miles.

But honestly, this seems like a stupid decision for AA. It seems like a lose-lose to me. They decrease cc spend, decrease incoming mile transfers, decrease eshopping, and decrease loyalty (as anyone who doesn't fly enough for status but has gold from million mile is likely going to choose to fly on AA - even if it's a bit more expensive).

I also don't see how it dilutes the product that much. Either the million mile elites fly a lot and use their benefits (in which case they would be elite anyway) or they fly rarely, in which case it's not causing much dilution at all to the elite program.

It seems to me the smart move would have been to make the program semi-public (but don't advertise it) and either lower gold to 500k from any source or make a silver tier @ 500k. and make plat or above BIS only.

So you would get a ton of low level elites. Probably flying mostly for vacation and loving the novelty of having status, so they would be incredibly loyal to AA. In addition you'd get them to "earn" 500k miles somehow which would probably be a combination of flying/transfering points/cc spending/eshopping all of which are good for AA no?

In a market where AA is shrinking, doesn't have the international routes of it's peers (with the exception of Caribbean/South America) and is usually on the high side of pricing, loyalty seems like exactly what they would need.

Yes, but you need twice as many miles on AA to get lifetime Plat as you do on UA. So at least now, if you fly half or more of your miles on the carrier itself, AA or UA, the UA program is better. I fly 80% of my miles on AA rather than Oneworld carriers. I suspect that is the case for most AA members. So it is a big disadvantage over the UA program.

WoW! Interesting tone from a corporate representative responding to a customer's comments.

Anyways, to address your specific question,

Yes, the revised AAdvantage MillionMiler structure is far less attractive than the United MillionMiler program, given that it requires twice the number of BIS miles to attain the same status. Most of us who are AAdvantage elites and working towards MillionMiler+ status fly American 80%-90% of the time and an AA partner airline only occasionally.

Truly speaking, you should not use the CitiCard extension in this equation as that is a temporary (CYA?) extension.

Yeah, that does sound like a crappy deal for us. I've had my AAdvantage card for 19 years next month...why should we be excluded?