JonNYC

Gotta agree. And this available too:
http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_...challenge.html

LDVFlyer

Pretty much...

It appears they don't ask the same questions and give the same answers to everyone.

ijgordon

Yes, having used miles for your honeymoon, hopefully in First Class, you are now free to go to Delta, where you'll never see the inside of an Int'l first class cabin unless you pay $$$ for it!

(Seriously, that and the 72 hour rule are the two main things keeping me away from DL, although I am in most cases a free agent. )

flyerCO

I know a lot of DL FFs that credit to AF/KLM FB for award purposes. No GUC/RUC however get treated the same by DL except for UDU, where they come after DL elites.

BTW DL allows next day cancellation of all tickets, even awards booked within the 72 hour cutoff. No one week prior cutoff to get a refund next day on revenue tickets.

236Dakota

In the last two days I have received 2 calls from AA asking me about my recent flight experiences. I told them, "Well no one has dragged me down the aisle and broken my nose lately, so not too bad".

They also asked how they could improve and I told them that they should go back to making reasonable saver award availability for business and first class seats.

Also, go back to checking through luggage on One World flights, regardless of the flights being on the same PNR.

ajklink

+1!

anabolism

The "Executive Office" (also known as the "Executive Liaison") is a group within AAdvantage Customer Service that focuses on EXP members. (It's not part of the corporate executive team, as you might think from the name.)

Sounds like you were the perfect customer to be called. Kudos for plainly and clearly explaining to them why you did what AA senior management has told us to do: stop paying attention to loyalty and instead choose the flights, carrier, and cabin you want.

Of course AA didn't think customers would enjoy the cutbacks; they calculated that we'd put up with them because there were only two other major worldwide airlines to choose from, so even without AAdvantage offering a reason to choose AA, they'd maintain revenue from non-loyal free agents choosing them.

Time traveller

Some good points. It would be nice if AA made additional saver award availability for J/F to elite members like UA does. With the proliferation of credit card programs, loyal AA FFs have to compete with infrequent flyers who signed up for credit card just to be able to fly F/J. I think UA does this right by reserving additional saver awards for their elite FFs.

hdporter

Came home Wed pm to find a message from AA Exec office, saying they wanted to chat to ensure my AA experience was satisfying and provide the opportunity to voice any concerns, feedback, or suggestions.

I was surprised because I tend to retain EXP by my "fingernails" (just stretching over the qualification thresholds).

Just returned the call (busy travel over an extended weekend trip). Pleasant conversation that afforded the opportunity to vent a little about a frustration earlier this spring (denied same day "move up" when booked on a "through" flight, with counter saying only a similar through flight or direct itinerary would be eligible; refused ticketing via cnx at same airport as "through" airport. 99%+ itineraries between CLE/ATL are cnx).

josmul123

I had an awful weekend Vegas trip on AA. My FNT-ORD segment was showing delayed to the point where I'd miss the last ORD-LAS for the night due to weather in ORD. The system didn't rebook me, and I took my chances that the ORD-lAS segment would be delayed as well (It was). When I boarded the regional jet, I ended up next to a passenger of size who immediately sat down with no concern for how much he pushed me up against the window. It was nowhere near as bad as the Australian guy who's suing, but I did have to turn and put my shoulders into the window well to breathe.

Eventually, our flight delay turned from weather to mechanical. We pushed back from the gate a few hours late (after AA updated the departure time in 20 minute increments for 3 hours), then immediately returned to the gate for another mechanical issue. We ended up waiting another hour and getting a new plane. I sent a tweet telling AA that updating delays 20 minutes at a time was frustrating, and was told "Sorry about the confusion." (Very helpful )

AA automatically sent me 5,000 miles for the trouble with the delays, which I thought was a nice gesture considering all-in, it was only about 4 hours. However, I did write to customer service about the issue with the passenger of size. I feel like the policy wasn't enforced, and the fact was there were a few open seats that could have been shuffled around to accommodate him even if they didn't want to charge him for XTRASEAT.

Today I received a call from a very nice woman at AA CS. She wanted all the details about the passenger of size issue and apologized profusely for the issue, citing that she indeed thought it was a violation of their policy and steps would be taken to make sure the policy is upheld in the future at FNT. I explained to her that I didn't want to make a scene and a 45-minute flight wasn't the end of the world. She proactively offered me 15,000 miles or a $200 voucher. I took the voucher.

However, I got something that I think is much more valuable: She gave me contact info and told me not to hesitate to reach out to her directly in the future. She told me I was a high-value customer, which kind of shocked me, since my spend wasn't even $10k last year. My guess is my helix score is abnormally high because I've literally had an issue with every ORD-FNT segment so far this year and in the second half of last year. I haven't had the best of luck flying out of FNT.

Anyway, I know it's a long story, but I really think having a direct line to someone who's really helpful at AA customer service is going to be very valuable in the future.

869

Deleted

pbuntrock

I'm a long time US/AA CP and EXP. For many years I commuted to Asia and did lots of miles; 250k to 300k per year. In the last couple of years it slowed down a bit but always over 100k.

My company recently did a preferred deal with EK and most of my long haul is now on EK. The net is I'm currently looking at GLD for next year, just booked a BA J to India so maybe PLT.

This weekend I received a call from AA, answering machine did actually talk to them. They thanked me for being an EXP and asked that I call them back to provide feedback.

I have a trip to China planned for September. SWU cleared at booking. Waitlisted for return on Sept. 25th. This weekend my SWU cleared. I've never had a waitlist clear prior to 48 hours. I check my reservations every weekend. Did dummy booking, no SWU availability. No notification from Expert Flier on C space availability.

Interest coincidence? Or did they clear my SWU.

fotographer

was on a trip to China last year, both outbound and return SWU cleared while I was paying for the flight. I think that for that particular market it might be time of year that you are traveling.

Rukes

I'm flying from LAX to PVG Sept 6th and back from HND on Sept 22nd. PVG SWU went through at booking and HND by itself a week later (this was done in mid July). So it's just the particular market and time of year.

Often1

Maybe a coincidence, maybe AA is wising up and using BA software, just as BA uses AA's for ticketing fraud. Now way to know until either AA speaks up or there is a real pattern out there.

If it's the latter, UG's can become a good carrot for customers who have been HVC's and have dropped off or who are likely candidates to become an HVC if shown a little love. Stuff like this is cost-free to AA as it's a SWU either way. AA, of course, has no way of knowing that you aren't dropping to Gold because you are dissatisfied, but because your employer has cut a deal with another carrier.

We really need more than one example and the key is not whether the SWU cleared but whether a specific SWU cleared when there was no availability showing, meaning that RM/IM shifted a slot.