Tack

This. I earned BAEC Gold this year because I don’t value upgrades as much as lounge access. Since AA devalued SWU’s, I had two expire the beginning of this month, EXP isn’t really worth it to me anymore. As this thread states I can buy up with TOD upgrades if I want. BAEC Gold gets me FL in LAX/DFW/ORD. Where I fly most. Since March I can say I’ve enjoyed the hell out of the FL. Even though I’ll make PP this year, I’ll keep earning to hold BAEC Gold. No reason to change. I get preferred seating, FL and priority luggage. AA ain’t great, but DL or UA don’t have anything I’d value more and I have no idea if they’d care about my business even equal to AA. In fact I feel like I’m taking greater advantage of AA then they are of me. I’m certainly eating and drinking my fair share of nice freebies! Cheers!

TWA884

I suspect that the OP misunderstood and misquoted the agent.

As an EXP, you can select an MCE seat for no charge at the time of booking, however, you already knew that.

writetorich

Just out of curiosity, If you cancel the underlying coach tix ( assuming non refundable) does the $247 "gone", a credit also> or refunded to original source of payment.
This is not the "traditional" cash upgrade offer of the past.
since the no change of cancellation fees never again policy ( that is until AA changes it''s definition of what 'never again" means, these are "uptick" offers. before concluding purchase.
Since tickets convert to E credits,anyway I've gotten offers of as low as $25 a ticket to make it refundable to original form of payment. This is just before purchase. Had I searched for refundable tickets, it would have been a lot more that an additional $25
Where as the J offer is usually non compelling.
you mentioned J7 down to J4 maybe some D, I bookings? what about awards?
I think $500 prorated RT on a non trans con narrow aisle s a poor value proposition and I doubt many coach buyers grabbed this at point of purchase.
Although who knows flying is so unpleasant these days , people may figure, it's only money, life is short.

But a week out , do you think it is unreasonable of AA trying to monetize some value from a premium seat?.
Or do you think a week out , AA should be resigned to free elite giveaways?

writetorich

A lot of rich people added a lot of wealth last 3 years.
Dow Jones? QQQ. ?S&P 500?
Plus carriers have gotten more realistic at pricing short haul domestic F
I've see NYC to MIA where F was only an extra $120-$140 and even a poor guy like me said "why the hell not"


It seems that sometimes AA prices short haul domestic at the difference at what the 500 mile sticker cost would have been, but you don't have to wait to see if it clears.

Amon_Ra_

it’s also such a short flight, if I decided to take the chance with the complimentary upgrade and don’t get it because people snap up the TODs upgrades, I usually don’t care.

long haul, most of my upgrades have cleared out of JFK recently. JFK-LHR has to be one of the easier long haul routes to get upgrades to clear. someone flying out of DFW regularly will probably have much more difficulty.

AsiaTravel2019

I’ve been elite on all 3 of the big 3, so here is my 2 cents.

right now, supply is not meeting demand. Even though the food in J (if any on shorter routes) is the quality of a frozen supermarket dinner, the US3 have figured out they can sell them for cash.

so as others have pointed out, cash on the barrel head is worth more than freebies.

Im back at UA and appreciate the free premium economy with my status and the extra miles.

jordyn

FWIW, as someone with 4 SWUs and 4 GUCs at the start of the year, I've managed to use all 4 GUCs but only 2 of the SWUs, and one of those was a J->F upgrade that I don't perceive as being nearly as valuable as an upgrade to business. The other 2 SWUs expired while if I would have had more GUCs I'd have another 4 months to use them. So only a data point of one, but I find the GUCs much easier to use, not least of which because they can be applied fairly easily on partner airlines.

shaumama

Thanks for answering the question for me. You are spot on. I have no sense of entitlement and was perfectly happy to wait and see if an upgrade would happen - until ... If the person was not my travel companion, I would never know this is how AA operates. I called EXP desk and they confirmed to me that they agree with my frustration but that is the way AA operates - AND, nothing they can do. I understand as this is a decision taken from the top.

shaumama

If you are out of Atlanta, you are out of luck with Delta as there will be too much competition for upgrade inventory with too many Diamond travellers. It seems to be a universal rule that the airlines always disadvantage the people that is out of their HQ location or their major hubs, as those people are captive audiences with sub-optimal choices. Ex. Cathay always charges the most for flights out of Hong Kong, and less than any American airlines out of New York as that is not their territory.

enviroian

Yes totally agree and it is what it is.

FWIW this week flying

dfw-chs. F sold out via app for both out and back already
dfw-cun. F cold out via app for both out and back already.

shaumama

Just to clarify, I did not misquote. AA did offer to me upgrade opportunity for 12K miles and $375 AND they end up giving the business class upgrade to my friend for just $315. We both have main cabin extra fare from JFK to London. So you can get upgraded for that kind of money, depending on inventory availability.

shaumama

Very fair comments on DL as I got the same impression after I talked to a number of Delta frequent flyers. Furthermore, Delta offers far better service in terms of on time departure and cancellations. AA has such thin margin for labor to cut cost that has resulted in the worst travel experience over and over again. I travel every month and will give Delta a try to make my own decisions. I will also join Delta's forum to see what their flyers are saying. I have over 1 Million miles on United so I know United is just so so from experience.

shaumama

Agree with Jordyn. My son is a Delta Diamond as well as AA EXP. There is no comparison to the treatment he receives from Delta and the service level of the flights. Delta is far superior. So I will match with Delta to give it a try.

MSPeconomist

However, you should be aware that DL service and DL operational reliability are not nearly as good as they were before COVID-19, nor are the meals (on flights that serve meals now). People in the DL forum claim that DL now is worse than UA or AA.

EXP100

A few things here. COVID sped up what would have happened over time with US domestic airlines. First was the rationalization of FF benefits, including EXP, for the income driven. Second, was repricing and monetizing the domestic F cabin to a price point attractive to many flyers, FF and non FF alike, and aligning the product (cold meals, no pillows and blankets) to the product repricing. The same thing had already happened with the Y product. Third, was more income being driven by non flying activities that have huge profit margins.

This is the new reality. I'm assuming CKs will continue to be top shelf because the revenue they generate for the airline. But an EXP spending $20K-$30K a year is no longer considered a customer to keep at all costs. And AA knows that it's primary 2 competitors, UA and DL, are doing same.

AA (and UA/DL) also know that business travel will never be what it once was. The savings of Zoom/WebEx/MS Teams are just to great, even if "being there in person" is a far superior experience. The reality is a greater percentage of paxs are leisure and price sensitive, but the understanding that some flyers will pay a premium to get out of the hell that coach has become. Right now I see advance purchase F is about 2x to 3x Y and for me it's become a no brainer unless it's a short flight, an RJ (where an EXP is still pretty much guaranteed an upgrade) or row 11 on a 321ceo-flight times 3 hours on less.