777 global mile hound

Thank You for this
So glad I tore up my Amex Plat Consumer & business cards after their massive price increases.
I love not having to speak to 3rd World country customer service reps with bad English
Much happier with Chase & Citi cards.
Amex is trash now with the exception of some of their select partner cards where the benefits are actually meaningful

VegasGambler

Centurion lounge access in PHX saves me from having to get the AA card that gives you AC access, so that's $450 savings and a definite upgrade in terms of lounge quality. Combine that with the IAP (which seems to have been expanded or something because I was seeing discounts on economy AA tickets to Mexico) and the travel credits and the card easily pays for itself.

But yeah I have the Chase CSR as well. The PP restaurant access is nice. That plus the travel credit easily pays for the card.

777 global mile hound

Funny as the restaurant @ SFO Lark Creek had 10 people in line to get in last night lol all PP guests dining for free.
Food was mediocre but tasted good for free

seigex

They were spending too much money giving free cheese plates to EXPs in the rear and COVID was the perfect cover to end the waste of giving good service to non-upgraded elites.

seigex

In the old days (2018ish), PDX was the place to be with PP since they didn't have a lounge. Before they put restrictions on it, you could hit up multiple places and get your $38 benefit. So, food at that restaurant near the live music, then hit up the whiskey tasting store, then a bottle of wine at one of the kiosks. Each of them had certain things that were exactly $38 to pull in the PP $$$$. That didn't last for long.

chrisny2

Of course, on Spirit, Frontier, and Allegient, you can purchase a cocktail and snack - which is what the OP wanted to do on AA but couldn't.

FlyingEgghead

This has been discussed here. While I found that all widebody LAX-MIA (and vice versa) flights became Flagship for a while, AA seems to have fallen off the wagon again with some 788 and 789 flights now marketed as only "lie-flat" and not Flagship Business.

VegasGambler

I haven't been through SFO in a while. I've never heard of Lark Creek. Is it new? When I lived in SF the choices were that SF Giants themed bar (which was terrible, though I guess a good choice if you just want to use your credits to liquor up) or that place right by the exit from the airside part of T3 which was decent if you ordered the right thing (breakfast or salad). And of course your can go to both on the same trip if you choose (dinner at one place, drinks at the other).

Anyway I got tons of value out of that when I lived in SF and flew UA semi regularly. Meals before takeoff and after landing (nothing like a hot breakfast after coming in on a redeye from Hawaii, before heading to work). There were better choices in other airports for sure (PDX is good with Capers and the whiskey flight place).

Anyway this is all highly dependent on which airports you frequent the most but I get good value from both cards. There's no reason for solvent who travels regularly not to have both. And let's not forget 5x amex pts per dollar on flights, which can transfer to ANA, which is the miles equivalent of the holy grail (with their ridiculously cheap charts, including RTW, and no other US-based transfer partners)

But hey to each their own. If you can't find value, cancel the card, obviously.

FlyingEgghead

It's in T2 -- sounds like you don't frequent that terminal.

VegasGambler

I used to, when I lived in SF. I was (still am, technically) an AS elite. It was my primary domestic airline, with UA as a backup to fill the network/schedule holes. It's been about a year though.

FlyingEgghead

Okay, you must have walked past Lark Creek Grill many times without noticing. It's been there for years, the big sit-down restaurant on the right side of the main thoroughfare heading from security to the gates.

VegasGambler

Ok I know the place you are talking about. That is PP? It didn't used to be. I was always mildly annoyed that there was no PP restaurant in that terminal; only T3.

sexykitten7

I used to do that. Esp for intl. But then I'd feel silly for taking 2 granola bars halfway around the world just for them to end up in my kitchen again!

Paella747

Ahhhhh yes... you bring back memories of the Panera scone which accompanied me from Silverdale, Washington, to SEA, to LAX, and then to Dubai in 2014. It finally met its fate in a DXB hotel room when I woke up in the middle of the night hungry. RIP Panera scone. You were loved.

Adelphos

I remember precovid that all the legacies provided a free meal in economy on transcons (basically a sandwich, but still). They also had other options for purchase. Will those days never come back? FWIW I was on a JFK to SEA transcon on DL recently and found the options (basically the same as posted above by the other Delta flyer, plus some snack boxes for purchase) inadequate for a 6 hour flight. On transcons, airlines need to bring back real sandwiches for purchase.