richarddd

There's a long thread featuring churners on this very site. AA accounts restricted (Nov/Dec 2019)

Global321

The OP in that thread is the perfect example... One of the other posters stated "OP seems to do a lot of card churning based on previous posts.".
Later OP had his account reinstated and deleted all his posts.

So another data point... AA went after churners - big churners! And even some churners are having their accounts reinstated. While one can debate whether that is right or wrong, it is pretty clear the target was big churners.

Antarius

An activity that purportedly happened on a Saturday. So, I'd discard that data point as rubbish.

richarddd

The latter posts in that thread indicate that AA is going after churners who used codes from mailers not addressed to them, rather than those who churned in other ways. Using even a small number of mailer could trigger a shutdown. There may be exceptions, but according to posts there, those exceptions are extremely rare.

Global321

All the data we have points in one direction - big time churners.

Agreed. However, it seems like many are adding an 'exception' that may or may not exist. (i.e. a small number of mailers, 3 or less SUBs, etc.)

hhdl

If that's the thread I think it is, I recall that the OP claimed (after a not-entirely-sympathetic response from FT) that his account was reinstated on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and then deleted his posts. There's definitely reason to be skeptical in that case.

Antarius

No doubt. My point about discarding the data point was in regard to the reinstatement. I would not use that particular case as a data point that indicates AA is reinstating accounts.

mvoight

Yes, they don't act that fast and certainly would not have done anything over the 4 day holiday weekend.

richarddd

The exceptions I was thinking of went the other way - claims that AA was shutting down some who hadn't used mailers (although that could be for unrelated or for "normal" reasons). There have been posts that they're only going after 3 or more (or maybe more than 3) SUBs in a two year period. And, as discussed, it only seems they're going after those who used mailers addressed to others, such as from opening multiple AAdvantage accounts, buying mailers or using mailers from friends and family.

As always, who knows and AA may change its targets.

Global321

Fair enough.

We agree.

(bold, red mine)
And I think AA wants exactly that... live in fear if you violate any rules.

ricohitman

Absolutely no one is afraid of AA.

Often1

People traveling on sketchy tickets who are mid-trip and worry that they may wind up having to purchase one-way tickets home at walk-up prices?

Global321

I think most - if not all - AA FF are afraid of the email from AA corp security saying your account is suspended/revoked for 'violation of T&C' without further explanation, no way to appeal, etc.

AA100k

Not me. Only got one card and one sign up bonus from Citi.

QueenOfCoach

Here's my 2 cents:

I work for a company not unlike an airline. I have never worked for any airline. I am a database administrator, and very good at my job if I do say so myself.

I've seen questions in this and similar threads to the tune of "We got away with this for years. Why are they cracking down now?".

In my opinion, it boils down to lack of human capital in the form of competent data analysts. If the airline industry in anything like the rest of the world, they probably have more openings for competent, experienced data analysts than they have people to fill those jobs. It takes human brains to look at a given situation and make the human judgement to go after the perp, and it takes experienced supervisors to review the analyst's recommendations. Folks, it's not just an algorithm, although algorithms and well-designed queries are key.

I've often said that my most important tool is a pad of paper and pen next to my keyboard, where I make notes as to what I'm seeing. Circles, arrow, highlights, etc., assist me in seeing patterns that are not evident from just looking at a computer screen. I go through a pad of paper almost every week.

My story: I am now 65 years old and thinking of retiring. Until about 5 years ago, I always few Economy, as I was paid for the entire job and took travel costs out of my invoiced payment, thus netting maximum money in my pocket. When I developed arthritis I told the guy I work for that I could not continue traveling, as it is too painful for me to sit 10 hours in Coach to Europe from Los Angeles and back. "Find a younger, healthier person.", I said.

That's not what happened. The guy went to his management and made a counter offer. They would, from now on, pay for premium seats for me to fly plus my full invoiced amount for my time and other costs. (And a 10% increase in my hourly rate, BTW.) In other words, their overhead for my job went up by _thousands_ a year because finding and training a younger person for my job is so difficult.

Some may see it differently. More power to them. They might work in a situation where data analysts are plentiful. Yay. OTOH, I know a 10-year old fourth-grader who likes numbers and is learning Sudoku. I told my boss to get her resume.