I'm not trying to hijack this thread, & I bet there are some other people with this same question. I've had an AA Amex card as my primary card for many years precisely because AA was the only program that counted card miles towards LT, now that that is off the table & being that where I live (Pittsburgh) American isn't a dominant airline keeping the card doesn't really have any incentive. Since previously I was happy with the AA card, I haven't looked around at other travel rewards cards for quite awhile......is the Starwood AmEx card still the best all around travel rewards card to get if one was looking to dump their AA card? Thanks!

I agree with the above. I have 4 AA mile earning cards in the family that will be getting shelved after 12/1. I'll also be much more likely to go directly to a merchants site to get the best deal rather than taking the miles deal through the AA shopping portal. This will also hold true for all of the deals with hotels, car rentals etc. I've often found myself passing on other savings to earn the miles, but that won't be happening in the future with this change. This will hurt overall revenue for AA, bottom line.

--wes

Well, yeah, kind of but not exactly. Iberia have the "Iberia Plus Platino 10" if you are one of their top flyers, and that grants you oneworld Emerald for ten years, limo service, 30 kg / 44 lbs more luggage allowance, VIP parking at MAD and BCN, 20% more bonus miles, etc. 95 top flyers since Iberia Plus came about have been awarded "Platino 10" status.

(Technically, you are right - it's still oneworld Emerald.) The "Platino 10" is not an Emerald for life program either, but ten years regardless of flight activity is not a bad perq.

Other airlines have "Emerald plus" type programs for their top flyers. Of course, AA has had no way of tracking these things, as one can only find miles information going back, iirc, six years (and it costs) - there's a thread, of course.

MM is changing, and MM status will become much more difficult - that is for certain.

Technically, there is a 4th tier: plain ol' regular AAdvantage. For many FTers, it's impossible to obtain because one has to fly 0-24,999 miles per year :D


Jokes aside, I believe JAL also has a strange program where usually it's:

• JMB Peon = nada
• JMB Crystal = OW Ruby
• JMB Sapphire = OW Sapphire
• JMB Diamond = OW Emerald

However, if one becomes a JAL Global Club member (invited to join upon flying 50k Fly-on points within a year and qualifying every year with relative ease), the status changes to:

• JMB Peon+JGC becomes OW Sapphire
• JMB Crystal+JGC becomes OW Sapphire
• JMB Sapphire+JGC stays as OW Sapphire
  a new 4th tier is added called JGC Premier which provides OW Emerald
• JMB Diamond+JGC = OW Emerald

Technically then, JAL would be next easiest one to obtain LT OW Sapphire; all one needs to do is:
A. Obtain 50k Fly-on points
B. Be invited to joing JAL Global Club
C. Open a JALCARD credit card (only available for Japan residents)
D. OW Sapphire for life (so long as you keep continue to pay the annual fee for the JAL CC)

Is it true that all of the AA cards will continue to accrue miles for AA accounts which can be redeemed for travel or upgrades? So the only feature now absent from the cards is that the miles won't hit the LT counter? Unless one is well on the way to LT status on *A, I'm not sure I'd make any changes to my cards.

Yes, it's true. There is still value to accruing miles by using cc's and other methods.

Just depends on where one feels the miles will be best used; given purely airline programs, from a quick read-through of others, AA still seems the best value to me.

OTOH, absent the lifetime earn, cash back cards or hotel points are starting to look more attractive, especially since lately I've been generating RDM faster than I use them.

Probably, yes, unless you switch to primarily flying UA/CO, which have 2:1 SPG transfer ratio as opposed to AA and others with 1:1. (25% bonus on transfers of 20k points still applies to all programs.)

Some people choose the Amex Premier Rewards Gold which gives 3x points on airfare, 2x points on gas and groceries, and 1x points on everything else. The Amex Membership Rewards points are less flexible than SPG points, however; but they do transfer to BA, Delta, and Aeroplan, as well as SPG (at a horrible ratio), HHonors (ditto), and Priority Club on the hotel side. So in that way the MR points are more flexible than SPG (since SPG can't transfer to any other hotel brand), but still the transfer ratios are not all that great, esp. SPG at 3:1 (i.e., $3 spend gets 1 SPG point when it could have gotten 3 SPG points with the SPG card) and HHonors at 1:1.3 (the HH card earns 3 points/$, so we're looking at about a 3:1 haircut here too -- the HHonors Amex is a no-annual-fee card with automatic Silver status, so I recommend it even if it stays in your drawer most of the time).

As for other options, UA/CO have a nice card(s) (they will be merged soon -- CO OnePass Plus and United MileagePlus Explorer) with a $95 fee that gives a free checked bag and priority boarding. Also, the majority of non-SPG hotel cards are either free (HHonors) or have good perks to make up for their yearly fee (e.g. a free Priority Club night every year in exchange for a $49 annual fee, plus automatic Gold status). IMHO it makes sense to load up on as many hotel cards as you can, even if you rarely use them, since for the most part the benefits outweigh the yearly fees.

Really it is kind of liberating not to use the AA card any more. I too have had (and used) my AA Citi card for many years, but comparing it to other cards it really is kind of crappy, especially for the annual fee (which I have paid many times in previous years before I knew about the retention offers). The card offers hardly any benefits other than massive sign-up bonuses and a bland 1 mile per dollar spent. Other cards with the same annual fee offer bigger earnings, more perks, or both. (To be fair, it is not hard to get Citi to waive the annual fee.) Citi needs to step it up and start offering more perks to stay competitive and give people an incentive to keep the cards once the fees roll around.

Thanks to the great posters on this board, I should go over the million mile mark shortly. THANKS!

Now, some questions - how long after I make the Million Miles will it take AA to notify me and more importantly, send me my new Gold Card? Also, if I already booked a flight for next month, so will I be able to use the Gold Card to get free bags when I check in or does this have to be noted on the reservation?

I received the email within a few days after my miles posted. It took about 3-4 weeks to receive my gold card and luggage tags.

Once they change your account to gold, I would think they would see that on your account when you check in and not charge for the bags.

You don't actually need the physical card to get your free bags. (and exit rows) As soon as it's in the system you are "golden" so to speak.

You have until 12/01/2011 to have cc miles (and eshopping and other AA miles )count.

Huh? Gold Card. Free Bags. Exit row. Huh?

I wonder if they will count shopping, point/mile transfers, etc., on the date the transactions are initiated or when they actually arrive in the AA account. I certainly hope it's the former.

I agree with you, and there's a conversation going on in the D-Day thread about this very issue. One person posted who stated with certainty that anything backdated to before the deadline will count, but several of us asked for some kind of substantiation of this assertion and haven't gotten it.

Unless AmericanAirlines wants to weight in on the discussion, I guess we'll all just have to wait until after 1 December 2011. ;)