chrisfwm

Just did a few searches through aa mobile app. Many flights from dfw to Mex, pek, hkg are showing less than 1cpp.

This is wrong and will destroy aa's award program, I hope they know what they are doing.

enviroian

CPP?

MiamiFlyer

This makes me glad that I quit flying American 2 years ago. The advantage program at one time is the best it is now quickly getting down to be the worst

FlyingEgghead

Really CPM -- cents per mile.

Dave Noble

Seems to be closer to being in line with other schemes - it is a lot more generous than many redemption programmes out there - have a look at airlines such as QF and NZ annd compare earning/redemptions and other benefits. Wouldn't call it close to being the worst

fotographer

I have been using miles for overseas this year... a lot.. just booked a trip to Europe using miles for my wife and myself...
I use to save them for trips to places that we would like to go.... but it worth it... often I can get there (in J or F) and can never get back

taxicabnumber

Cents per point.

mmgm

MSYtoJFKagain

This hasn't affected partner bookings with JL has it?

enviroian

I believe all partner award redemptions are exempt.....

ijgordon

I don't think AA would really have the capability to do dynamic pricing on partner flights, as the partners either do or do not make award inventory available on a given flight.

That certainly wouldn't rule out a devaluation of the partner award chart though, and I suppose they could have more peak/off-peak options, including maybe even different prices by day of week, but that's just speculating.

xliioper

DL has different levels for a number of partners based on how far in advance the award is redeemed. For example, an award on VS in UpperClass is 86K with 60-day advance purchase (CSMH860 award), 135K with 21-day advance purchase (CSMG1350 award), and 160K miles with no advance (CSM1600). This resembles their own levels which have various advance purchase requirements for the cheaper award levels. The main exception at this point seems to be VA where you can often find close-in awards in J on LAX-SYD for 100K miles. It seems to me that the term "dynamic awards" is largely meaningless as it appears to mean different things to different people. Some seem to think it means awards vary based on revenue pricing with a fixed algorithm. Others seem to think they are generated on the fly based on various parameters (demand, status level, mileage balance, etc.). Neither of these is the case with DL's program.

ijgordon

Well yes, it's a vague term, just as "yield management" was when it was introduced 30 years ago or whenever, but I suppose the idea is the same -- extract more miles from customers on flights where there might be higher demand. Saver/Anytime is probably the most basic form of dynamic pricing, then they added extra Anytime levels. Arguably it already exists.

Agree that advance purchase could come into play, that's another extension of peak/off-peak, day-of-week, etc.

javabytes

Well since we're into July, I suppose I'll add some more speculation.

1) PE upgrade awards become possible
1a) Complimentary DOD PE upgrades for EXP/CK come to an end altogether, or become restricted to high revenue passengers - meaning either EQD or fare class limitations, or restricted to CK only.
2) Upgrade award pricing becomes increasingly variable. More granular than the current structure where there are two prices, one for upgrades from full-fare and one for discounted fares. Different miles/co-pay requirements per fare class, or more fare groupings than just full-fare/discounted. Potentially some fare classes not upgradeable at all. Co-pay approaches $500 mark for cheaper fare classes. If award charts are pulled (see #6 ), these rates become secret. The other possible approach here is to eliminate traditional award upgrades altogether, and simply upfare between the paid coach fare and the premium cabin fare, and charge miles at a fixed rate like $0.01/mile, though that would be such a drastic change on long-haul that they may do this only for domestic flights and preserve traditional upgrades on international.
3) SWU upgrades become single-cabin; no restrictions on fare classes
4) Changes to domestic upgrades, such as:
4a) Treating MCE as a separate cabin, with capacity-controlled upgrades (a la DL) - gulp.
4b) I'm torn whether it makes sense to double down on the 500-mile cert approach and start removing unlimited comp upgrades, or if it makes more sense to ditch the certs and expand unlimited upgrades, but with the introduction of some revenue-based component (such as fare class restrictions).
5) Partner PE award bookings become possible
6) Expansion of dynamic award pricing; removal of award charts is perhaps the logical next step even if no execution happens at this juncture and Saver awards still exist for the time being.
7) Changes (read: increases) to elite qualification requirements for 2020 qualification year.

Again, just pure speculation. What are others anticipating?

nk15

This is a good hefty load of crazy enhancements you got over there, the only thing it's missing is 1-5k miles saver award redemptions for flying on the Max, when it comes back.