One would think the FAs would have the brain cells to realize that it would help to sell those credit cards, that are tied to the airline's loyalty program, if they didn't treat the very customers they're trying to essentially sell a loyalty program to like crap.

...Guess not. Treating the very customers that fund their paychecks with dignity and respect makes too much sense.

I doubt they would devalue the domestic web specials (which I love). Those are already fully dynamic so they don't need an announcement. What is more likely to devalue are partner awards.

Didn't know AA sold LAX-BOS A321T as Flagship F, very cool. I feel 17.5k J on the A321T is a better deal than 30k F though. You could book almost 2 J seats!

Also in terms of dates, the annual TPG Loyalty Awards that AAdvantage sent an email asking everyone to vote for closes voting on Friday Oct 15, 2021. One would think they'd hold off devaluing before then to avoid a torrent of hate voting.

Although domestic web specials are "dynamic" they really aren't well tied to revenue (in a cents-per-mile sense) -- there are still "deals" to be had by spending 30k for a $1300 F ticket rather than spending 50k for a $500 Y ticket or whatnot. One devastating move that AA could pull would be to make miles worth a flat value or drastically reduce their redeemable value for domestic premium cabins (a la DL). Of course, no idea what AA will actually do, but buying a bunch of no-risk flagship tickets made sense.

As for 17.5 J vs. 30k F, F comes with FFD and no neighbor on the 321T which is easily worth 12.5k to me, though maybe not for everyone.

I want to correct them when they say "you get 25% on inflight purchases."

My preferred limit is actually $400. Unfortunately I only got that the one time, on a mistake ~$400 J fare to PEK.

[PREM FARE GONE] AA DCA-PEK sub-$450 a/i rt in J

Honestly - if this rumored devaluation is a just a devaluing of RDMs, I don't care one bit.

Miles just pile up in my account unused and ridiculously easy to earn. They don't have anything to do with why I fly or why I fly AA.

Does this mean the credit card pitches will have to be changed because you won't be able to get a round trip ticket for less than 60,000 miles anymore.....

$400-$1k is indeed the right range, but these days $1k-$2k is more likely (on the lower end ex-Europe, on the higher end ex-US). Crossing the $2k mark just doesn't feel right....

As we are about to face the double whammy of the impending likely harsh devaluation, and the re-opening of the US, we would likely look back at this past year, year and a half, as a really good year of travel opportunities, and perhaps the last one....Think about it, half-empty planes, good saver availability and lower fares, and easy cancellations and redeposits. Not to mention that many people could live and WFH from anywhere in the world. An unprecedented opportunity in modern history, for some.

Enjoy the last month.

Some of the "generosity" was so that airlines could grease the wheels for huge government bailouts. With the bailouts "possibly" going away airline management must wake up to the cold fact that they need to actually generate positive cashfllow from operations-not government handouts. At that point you can fully expect to see change fees reinstated, higher fares, even more packed planes, no more "enhanced cleaning" (albeit most of that is total bs), etc.

Am I the only person here who keeps checking this thread multiple times per day to see if the hammer has dropped�.???

AA likely won’t do it before Oct. 15 for the reason mentioned by someone else about 10 posts above.

In addition to award trips already ticketed for next year to the French Polynesian islands, the Maldives, and Tanzania/Zanzibar, I'm planning to reserve additional awards this week with the remaining ~ 350K miles in my account. Just to mitigate the possible massive devaluations to partner awards.

It's with a feeling of resignation however. First, I have to figure out if I can afford the time and $$$ for all of these additional trips crammed into a relatively short amount of time. If I "have" to take them all, I doubt they'll be the way I'd normally want them to be for once in a lifetime type trips. Second, award tickets aren't readily available yet for the experiences and destinations I'd like to use them for. Like the A380 Etihad first class apartment flight. Many destinations still aren't open or have gone by the wayside, at least with AA award tickets. Like my trip Tasmania/Australia and Easter Island trips planned for 2019.

Worse though, is wondering if award mitigations will prove futile to a certain extent anyway. i.e., how many trips ticketed now will actually happen? My last three attempts to book Qatar award tickets to Africa have basically been cancelled due to schedule changes so significant they couldn't be mitigated. If this continues to happen after devaluations rescheduling due to IRROPS, closed destinations, or other reasons might not even be possible. I'm not sure how that works, but I'm guessing business RT award tickets for 160,000 miles won't be honored if the current rate is 320,000 miles. (??)

Oh well.... First World problems indeed.....

Am I correct that there’s no downside to speculative bookings right now? Cancellations and miles re-deposits are entirely without penalty? Thanks.

Yes, I think so, as of now. That's why I'll go ahead and commit the miles sooner rather than later, even if none of the trips work out in the end. I'd be kicking myself hard otherwise.