Those on FT who would take flights just for the sake of earning miles are a v small percentage of actual travellers I posit. Even on FT, There are plenty who are interested in maximising earnings etc from travel which is going to be taken anyway and not interested in throwing money away

In relation to the post being replied to, I do not think that the change to flown miles only counting towards LT status in December that a promotion offering double qualifying miles would entice many to take flights just to get LT status; those who are close enough to the next threshold to gain anything from it are close enough that they are going to get it soon enough anyway

I think you're underestimating the number of FTers who don't have an employer who pays for their trips, travel solely for leisure, who are just more budget-conscious, or who have a dream trip in mind and want all the miles they can lay their hands on to make that dream a reality.

I'm on target to finish up 2011 at about 1.96K, and I need just 1100 more miles to requal for EXP. Another DEQM promo really won't make all that much difference to me, but if one is offered and the fares are good, I'll take it. Getting double miles for the cost of a single trip this year versus having to take and pay for two trips next year represents a pretty good value to me; I certainly don't consider it "throwing money away."

I also think you're underestimating the number of FTers who truly enjoy the occasional MR. It's the 21st century version of taking a drive in the country. It can be a lot of fun to hop a plane in the morning, fly halfway across the country, have a nice lunch or a walk in a different city, and then fly back home in time to sleep in your own bed. Getting to sit up front, even on the cheapest fare, is the icing on the cake.

To each his own, of course, but I think there are a lot more FTers who are like me than you realize ...

Why "unfortunately"? MRs are fun! :D

I think that the FTers who do this are a v v small percentage of AAs customers overall and that offering double qualifying miles in relation to enticement towards getting lifetime status before december when the scheme changes ( as was suggested ) would have low interest. I still maintain that those that would be close enough to make it worthwhile would be those that would get there soon enough anyway and would not be taking flights purely based on this

As far as "fun" goes, we will have to disagree that there is something fun about sitting in a plane for several hours just for the sake of it

Dave

As a UA flyer about to hit 2,000,000 miles BIS(over 24 years)I have been reading this thread with great interest. I too think you underestimate the numbers of us who fly just to fly. All of my miles have been on my own dime in my spare time and most come from pure mileage runs. I just love to be on a plane (and to go to the places I end up) and I love my hometown airline(UA).

CFC as a mileage grabbing tool?
 

This may initially appear to be slightly OT, perhaps, but I think mostly not given the race to hoard miles before Dec 1 (if the following idea is viable, it could be a useful strategy for many of us here to employ):

If I am booked, say, LAX-DFW as a PLT, can I stand-by for free on a more circuitous routing (i.e., LAX-MIA-DFW) or does confirmed flight change mandate replacing a nonstop flight with another nonstop flight? What if I were flying LAX-ORD-JFK, could I replace that via CFC with LAX-DFW-JFK for extra miles?

(Obviously, this presumes availability.)

Me, me, me. I'm post response #1000! :mad:

No. You're 1001.

Yeah, but because I edited within five minutes, you're the one that looks silly. ;)

I do not think I underestimate it on ALL AA travellers. I am not looking at it based on the atypical group that frequent this forum. If basing it on people who actively participate on the forum, the percentage of those that would travel for sake of it , I would expect to be disproportionately high

Given that AA, to date afaik, has not had promotions targetted specifically at the forum, I think my analysis is probably pretty sound

I also think that in the general populace, the interest in LT status is probably pretty low with few having any realistic expectation of ever getting there.

Dave

Oh I agree! If it were 1-2 short/semi-short MR's I would love it, but I have to do either 2 TPAC's or 4 TCONS...of course, with the "clock ticking", I have to do it soon otherwise the extra elite miles won't count towards MM Program...I also have a busy schedule until the end of September/early October so it will be more of a "rush job" more than anything else...hence the "frown"...:)

Gotcha! Well, here's hoping you'll at least see a celeb or have an interesting conversation with somebody to make it a little less dreary! ;)

Thanks 2millionquest!

I agree...I wonder if there are any celebs in the Bay Area willing to chat with me...:D

(Sorry if any of this has been mentioned before; I haven't read through 1000+ posts)

AA may have given us 3 months notice about the change, but you could make an argument that JonNYC and richarddd gave us EIGHTY-TWO MONTHS notice that this was going to occur:

See bottom of post #401:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...1dec04-27.html


-and-


http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...me-status.html


(I believe those [both 10/8/04] were the earliest dates of "FT speculation" that "AA lifetime status qualifying terms" were going to change)


Also, has anyone thought about and/or mentioned here all the countless marketing opportunities (ie...the Citi Executive MasterCard) this now opens up for AA by simply tacking on phrase "these miles WILL count towards lifetime status" on any future promotions ??

Just saying.

- MJ

Sure. I did mention it about 2 weeks ago in this thread. Some people replied they thought AA would not do that type of promotion. I still think it will likely happen. At least once a year. In fact, one has already started (Executive MC miles counting until Dec/2012).