What part of AA could give a rats a.. if we are happy or not. They went so far off the track here to only count BIS miles that it was clear they don't care. And for all you who think they do and are warm and fuzzy...I bet all of you have LT status or will have 900+ miles by 12-1. Anyone with less is slapped across the face by AA for being loyal.

Those that have, have....those that don't, will in 10-20-30 years.

LOL @ AAvios..hahaha...:D

Fortunately I hit the 900+ mark just this week. I will have 950+ by 12/01 so I need to qualify for PL for 2013 next year to hit LT Gold.

If I was at say 500-600k I probably wouldn't even bother. I would either accept being a "yearly PL or GLD flyer" or switch to UA and purchase a yearly service for Y+.

I liked the BIS+Bonus part but it did make things a lot "easier". I guess we'll be seeing a much slower rate of 1MM/2MM flyers.

I'd say an almost non-existent rate of 1MM/2MM after the attrition of folks that were already in the hunt ... considering that a

Perpetual Gold member (25K) ~ 40 yrs for 1MM / 80 yrs to LT Plat
Perpetual plat member (50K) ~ 20 yrs for 1MM / 40 yrs to LT Plat
Perpetual EXP member (100K) ~ 10 yrs for 1MM / 20 yrs to LT Plat

and considering Gold would be a shock to the system of an EXP member ... the real timing of consequence to me is:

.... 20 yrs to get to LT Plat - that's just WAY too long to consider

So why do I bother myself with checking this thread, I don't know ... hard not to be disappointed at the timing. I do wish the previous years of travel were with AA so I could have broke the tape before this.

I was/am excited about reaching EXP, and plan to stick with it for the time being, but this took a lot of wind out of the sails. It's mostly discretionary travel we're doing, so this makes it that much more of a challenge to remain with the game plan.

The "sails" have been taken out of me to become LT PL as well. Even 10 years of Ex PL is pushing it-forget about 20 years of yearly PL. . My goals will be to fly enough to become yearly PL - if that. At least once I hit LT GL, I will have a "sigh of relief" in that I can switch over to UA/VX (I live in the Bay Area) and still get an exit row, 2 checked-in luggage, etc. on AA if I choose to fly AA randomly.

That being said, as long as AA doesn't end SJC/SFO-ORD/LAX I think I'll probably stick with AA for a while.

+1, but I'll still prolly fly AA over UA, VX or WN unless it takes me to BUR. Plus, AA/VX's new digs are way nicer than UA.

I have flown out of Terminal Two 4 times the past 2 weeks. Its definitely quite nice. ^

The architecture is nicer than the old T3 location, and the AC is very nice. I wish the dining options were more like T3.

Ok, so I just hit 1 million miles and became lifetime gold. However I do not see any 500 mile upgrades that I can trade in for 30K miles. Do they post sometime after or what?

I actually like the sushi place in T-2 so for me it works. I really like the tables with the electric plugs, its much easier than having to deal with garbage @ LAX.

IIRC, you will need to call AA.

Give it a few days...

Mine took about 3 days to post.

i'm at 550k american and at 180k united (pre-merger). my instincts tell me that lifetime mid tier (UA premier gold) is better than lifetime Gold... but god I hate united and don't think i can make it thru 800k BIS miles on united...

though it also seems a waste to fly 450k BIS miles on AA just to get lifetime gold... any advice guys? ex-LAX and I'm turning 25 this year... I hope to get lifetime status SOMETIME before i die...

that is... if either airline doesn't go bankrupt before that...

Hoping to get lifetime status before you die??? Is that happening sometime soon? If not, then you might want to take advantage of the bonus offers AA is having between NY and London, but that requires consecutive mileage runs. You could also xfer hotel points if you have them in sufficient quantities, but I would advise against this as they tend to be more valuable. A third way is to load up on partner transactions. Sign up for a bunch of Citibank AAdvantage cards and churn the signing bonuses, but you don't have too much time left. YMMV.

Yes. No point going after status on airlines you hate to fly.

Keep your money.

Whenever you have to fly, just buy whichever one appeals to you, for quality and price.

There are many maverick options, both domestically as well as internationally. (Southwest, Virgins, Emirates, Etihad, etc.)

OK, so you are obviously upset by the change to only count BIS miles. Why though? Did you want to get to LT Gold/PLat just with CC spend and without BIS miles?

How is it off-track to only count BIS miles? Seems like others do it that way already? Is AA really differing that much?

AA didn't slap anyone for being loyal. They simply adjusted their program. And, unlike other program changes around, they gave plenty of notice of the upcoming changes. It's not like they just changed it overnight and said "deal with it".

I think AA is perfectly within their rights to change to BIS only miles. Sure, i wish they'd count Elite bonus miles in there. But I don't see why they should be the only carrier to allow for Lifetime benefits based on CC spend. I think it's good they got rid of CC spend and instead give lifetime benefits to those that give their business and miles/flights to AA. No other carrier was as flexible as AA in terms of lifetime programs. AA made it too easy. They've now adjusted to bring themselves in line with others. Sure, for me, I wish it was still easy, but I don't begrudge AA for doing something reasonable and in line with other carriers.