My prediction, on 1/1/2012 after everybody has signed up for credit cards, purchased miles, transfered miles, done needless milage runs and lost a lot of sleep; Maya will will make an announcement. Probably start with something like "due to the overwhelming response from our most important customers...."

I'm not sure about that, but they are in for a windfall over the next three months. :)

AA has limited European and Asian routes, outdated business class seats, a complete lack of innovation, and is an overall lackluster airlines. However, AAdvantage is amongst the best frequent flyer programs out there. I hope they realize this and do not start chipping away at it even more.

I think the best we can hope for is an extension of some sort of exception through Citi...although my suspicion is that the 12/31/2012 expiration of the exception corresponds with the expiration of AMEX Platinum access to AC's.

I understand the change to the program. I think BIS for lifetime is the way it should be.

Being Gold is not what it use to be anyway. They sell all the Gold "perks" to anyone buying a ticket these days. If you want Priority Access boarding or a better seat, you can buy it these days when buying the ticket.

If AA had competition at DFW, I would be looking at them.

Not at all the lone wolf! I've decided this stuff is **crack**, at least as far as the LTG goes, and I am an addict.

It just seems to me that as long as you are in the position to BENEFIT from LTG (i.e., travel frequently enough to be annoyed by the line at security, etc) you are probably ALREADY gold. Anyway, this applies to me. Yet I'm still sad that it's going, and I won't make 1MM. See? I'm an addict.

LTP is another story...the added benefits are clear for the casually frequent traveler. I hope you all make it.

I will say that the chase has led me to understand a lot more about earning and using miles, and that's probably an education that was worth the price. I'll still likely do a mileage run here and there to accumulate upgrades and get over platinum each year. And...I have enough miles and upgrades now to last me for a long long time!

Eric.

It just preplexes me that people do a lot to get miles (by either flying, earning or buying them) in order to become PLAT and then not to use the benefit?

For me each year for the past 7 years it was a task to earn platinum so I can use the benefits offered.

I read that a lot of people on this post want to acheive LT status just to say they have it, like some sort of medal, and then go off an fly another carrier?

It is like saving all your money to buy a car, and then keeping it in the garage, while working hard to buy another car? (ok, bad analogy, at least someone has to get it, and if you have a better one please post)

A great deal of this discussion seems to be dependent on whether you think LT status is a reward, an incentive or some combination of the two.

Personally, I think LT status should be reserved as a reward for those pax who have shown "lifetime" loyalty to AA. In that vein, I would have liked to see AA award LTG/LTP to people who've achieved something like 20-25yrs of Gold/Plat level status. People already get benefits for being yearly Gold/Plat/EXP's, LT status is for lifetime loyalty.

I can also see AA giving out yearly (or even multi-year) Gold/Plat status to individuals or companies that generate a lot of revenue. Maybe my company shipping $500,000/yr of "Weeping Virgin Mary" statuettes should get me Plat status, maintained for as long as I keep up spending levels. Maybe after 10 yrs of $1MM+/yr spending I can get LT Plat (you can play around with the numbers but I'm sure you get the idea). But I doubt that most individuals CC spending would generate enough revenue to AA to warrant status.

Lifetime status rewards lifetime loyalty. Short(er) term status rewards short term spending and incentivizes future spending.

I think you are missing two things that life status grants. First is the AS issue. AS earns 100% miles on AA, AS, and DL. I fly primarily AA, but occasionally fly DL (DCA - BOS, DCA - ATL). I would rather get no credit for my DL flying than lose out on the benefits of AA Platinum status that matter to me: international lounge access, and preselection of exit row seats. If I were LT PLT, then I can use international lounges when I travel internationally, and I can preselect exit row seats, all while earning AS miles.

The second issue is the convenience/price factor. Although AA is more convenient for me most of the times, occassionally I find other airlines more convenient/cheaper. I will pay more/take less convenient flights when I need them to earn status. With status in the bag, I can take the cheaper/more direct flight more easily.

If I were gifted lifetime status, I would continue to fly AA more than any other carrier. But I wouldn't fly them quite as much, and I would be more apt to use an airline with a more convenient routing.

You're not the lone wolf.

I fly to get to where I need to go. I visit family, go see clients and go on vacation. I got a Citibank AAdvantage card years ago, just so I would accumulate miles making it cheaper/free to go where I would be going, anyway.

LT Gold was a nice surprise. I appreciate having it. I still fly about the same as I always have: visit family, go see clients and go on vacation.

I still accumulate miles by flying and with the Citibank Aadvantage credit card, just as I did before, to make it cheaper/free to go where I want to go.

I'm probably a decent representative of why you want Lifetime Platinum. Flew a lot when I was younger but for the last 10 years have averaged just enough miles between ccards and flying to earn 2 tickets to Europe every other year or so; I usually spend 160k, Business over, row 31 on the return, First Class check-in and Admirals Club access; it just makes the trip special. Add 2x miles and exit row seating for my normal domestic R/T's without having to worry about requalifing each year plus keep these benefits for the life of the program. What is this worth I have no idea, I'm obviously happy for all of us grandfathered.

To get PLT benefits, you need to have your AAdvantage number, not your Mileage Plan number, in the itinerary. Now it is possible to enter your AAdvantage number, select exit row sears and then to call AA to enter your Mileage Plan number or ask the GA to do so on departure (you can't do it on AA.com), but there's no guarantees that it will work every time or be sustainable. Technically, if you are earning AS miles on the flight, you are not eligible for AA PLT benefits.

In that case LT PLT wouldn't change my behavior that much.

Some of my behavior will change as 12/1 gets closer. My AA branded credit cards will vanish after all the milles post. I'll go for cash back.

I'll switch my eshopping to another method that gets me better deals.

Likewise with hotel programs.

The AA miles I get will be mostly for flying. I'm sure that I'm not alone in this.

No kidding. I may even get a ... Capital One card to go with SPG. Horrifying.

I don't know if, long-term, it's smart to discourage those seeking lifetime status from pursuing non-flying miles. It seems to me that AA would be better off counting them at a reduced rate - say 1 mile equals .5 for million miler credit, or .2, or .1, or whatever. It would slow the growth of elites while still encouraging people to chase those extra miles.