I crossed the 1MM mark in Feb 2011. Called in to exchange 8 upgrades for the 35,000 miles. A couple of days later 4,000 miles post to my account! I called AA and they said it was their mistake. 35,000 miles showed up the next day. And yes, they took back the original 4,000 miles they had given me.

I don't recall him being granted LT EXP, just being presented with a special silver card by a pilot in clear violation of SOP by going from the flight deck to the passenger cabin during a flight. Or am I remembering wrong?

And as an aside, did I not read (possibly here?) that said pilot was actually AA's chief pilot?

Said "pilot" was actor Sam Elliott. :D

They should make it so. If someone does 10MM BIS miles they deserve it.

I agree with this. But even in the movie, Clooney's character wasn't racking up 10 MM BIS miles. There's even a scene where he orders three dinners he can't possibly eat because he's maxing out his company's expense allowance and racking up as many miles as possible. He explains that he accumulates every last mile he can, in any way he can, because they all count towards the 10MM lifetime status he is seeking.

This got me to thinking-- perhaps the movie Up in the Air was responsible for a huge surge in people playing the mileage accumulation game, which drew AA's attention, which ultimately has led to the demise of the old, more generous Million Miler program.

Can we all agree to blame Hollywood then?

To: Maya Leibman
 

Since I try to contact you on aa.com and never get a response I will write you here. I have flown 5.5 million FLIGHT MILES and have maybe written ten times in 20 yrs. I cannot get a decent response from anyone at "contact AA". Always "canned", rehearsed answers, that say nothing. Very terrible.

You have nothing pure any longer, for those of us who fly. You've diluted the program so much. I know contractors, dentists, who charge supplies monthly, who can now attain million mile status, get one way upgrades. You don't have to fly that much anymore. For those of us who are your real revenue passengers, we're losing faith in AA. The Priority line is the same as the general public line. You create the perk, then dilute its worth to your top tier. So, what do you have to offer people like us who are you true frequent flyers? Additionally, I have to be "extra" loyal as AA doesn't fly to one International location from SFO, (unlike United). I have to fly to a gateway. I wrote you on Aug 24th and am awaiting a response. Hopefully, you'll read this on Flyertalk and advise.
EPtraveler

:confused:

I see only tangential correlations in this post to the subject of this thread. It seems to be a stream-of-consciousness jumble of complaints in a wide variety of areas, some of which are beyond the scope of AA's ability to change (like SFO presence/market). I'm also not convinced that this poster understands how the MM program is changing, given the comment about dentists and contractors.


(oh, but welcome to FT anyhow)

You waited 2 years to vent it out?

Just...fantastic. Especially funny is the rather hysterical belief that simply because the AA release regarding the MM program in the first post of this thread has Maya's name on it, that she is the actual one who's FT handle is American Airlines. Quality stuff. :)

The two sentiments are wholly compatible.;)

Sam Elliott is no Bruce Dickinson.

(And Astraeus is no AA)

Yes and that's wholly in line with my point.

JumboD stated that JumboD read somewhere (possibly on FT) that it was the chief pilot of AA.

2millionquest stated that it was not the chief pilot of AA.

In other words, JumboD's claim was about reading dubious things on FT -- not a claim about the world or the movie directly whereas 2millionquest made a claim about a fact in the world. If you clip off the bolded part, then there's a contradiction in there. Otherwise, they can both be true.

I'd say that a dentist or contractor that charges a large amount monthly on an AA-affiliated credit card and redeems the miles only for SAAverPass flights qualifies as a "real revenue passenger" - they generate income from the bank when the miles are purchased on their behalf, and use a seat only when AA cannot otherwise sell it and it would have gone out empty. This type of passenger might actually be MORE profitable than the "BIS" passenger that only flies on deep discount coach.

Somebody better tell the airlines to stop blocking first class seats for pilot rest then (which would have the positive side effect of opening up more upgrade space {though perhaps negative saftey effects}).