MIAman3

As Lifetime Gold, I got upgraded using 500 miles upgrades MIA-DFW on 77W so got full sleeper seat. Yes it was a Tuesday but its the 2nd upgrade ive gotten in 10 flights now. Im just happy my long since accumulated 500 mjle upgrades that I still had banked could be finally used .

The 24 hr window to switch free to MCE is also still a great feature, especially for international.

NYC Flyer

Given that $2,500 monthly spend on credit cards will earn Gold with no flying, I don't think it's highly speculative. I grant you it's not a certainty, either.

Will keep an open mind. This develop won't change my habits initially (with LT GLD I simply view AA as standby backup when price/route dynamics warrant), but could eventually steer me further away, or convince me to re-acquire the Citi Exec card and join the conga line with an eye on PLT or PRO.

carlosdca

[emphasis added]
No flying? Then why do you worry about people not flying taking your MCE seats? They are...not flying.

airb330

I would have agreed with this until my October flights. 0-2 MCE seats left and only middle seats. PHL-MCO & EYW. So a321s and a319s.

carlosdca

Do you monitor the seat map throughout the day?
I have found that right T-24 there may be only middles.
As the day goes by, 100% of the time (in my case) better seats open up (window/aisle), even a few hours before flight time.

airb330

I am a flyertalker, of course I do . 12DE did open up on the a321 but those seats shouldn't be MCE. These flights also had MCE booked up over the summer. For example, AA cut MCO flights from 6-7 to 4 per day during Disney's 50th celebration.

scolbath

Here's a question I've been unable to answer about million miler status. Does your million miler status start you at the 40%/60% bonusing level, or do you have to 'earn through' your status level as you did under the previous rules (meaning million miler only contributed to operational status)?

thatmikereed

You always start from zero for each new qualification period, but you're earning the status bonus for your tier because you have the status.

scolbath

So that's a pretty nice retained benefit of the LT status tiers, and just the info I was looking for.

boerne

That LT plat is very nice for us. YMMV

CMK10

I've been every AA tier and low tier with DL and UA as well. In my experience at least AA Golds have the best chance at upgrades vs. other low tier statuses. Also OW Ruby gives significantly more benefits than Star Silver or Skyteam Elite. So there is some value there.

fotoflyer88

But I Am A Diamond Guest.

bryanb

I’ve spent a lot of time at Gold, and while we’re at the back of the line for upgrades, I’ve had a decent enough success rate that I don’t write off the program completely. I find AA’s sticker system a slightly fairer way of allocating upgrades to people who value them than Delta where you have nearly no chance in their lowest tier.

Getting free checked bags is a direct benefit, of course.

But the most value I’ve gotten out of Gold has been in IRROPS. Last time I was forced to fly on United with zero status, I was stuck in Chicago on weather delays and realized how privileged I had been on American. It’s not that United is necessarily any worse than AA in dealing with the situation… they just didn’t have any reason to give me priority treatment.

Meanwhile, the same thing happens to me while flying AA, and even as a lowly Gold, I’m thanked by the harried agent for my loyalty, and rebooked ahead of the exasperated people around me who have been waiting hours longer, running from gate to gate with their failed standby attempts.

I probably got hooked on being Gold in college, when I was traveling with my teammates on an oversold flight. Two of us were being paged by the podium, and we thought there was going to be a problem. Instead, we were both issued new boarding passes. 2A and 3F. Turns out both of us had turned Gold, and they needed to bump us up to free up some economy seats. That’s not a common occurrence, but it did mean something that became addictive.

mvoight

Try it from DFW to another hub.
And on Jan 3, I saw how preboarding after group 1 can be a bit of a disadvantage as I watch planes unload many people in uniform in St Louis, bound for Fort Leonard Wood. There was a bunch in my STL- DFW flight, but nowhere near the percentages I saw getting off flights at STL



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nineworldseries

Please explain... what special benefits does an AA gold get on AS or B6?