For Canada based AAdvantage members only!
 

I copied this from the AA website as it would not allow me to hyperlink it to here and this piece of information only appears after a Canadian member signs in:





As an AAdvantage Gold member, you enjoy special benefits reserved exclusively for our best customers. To thank you for your loyalty, we're extending this very special offer:
Earn 18,000 qualifying* miles or points between now and December 31, 2000, and we'll automatically renew your Gold status through February 2002!

or

Earn 35,000 qualifying* miles or points by December 31, 2000, and we'll upgrade you to Platinum status through February 2002!
Normally, you would need to earn 25,000 miles or points, or fly 30 qualifying segments to remain a Gold member. And to achieve Platinum status, you would need to earn 50,000 miles or points, or fly 60 qualifying segments during the calendar year. But with this special offer you can get there quicker.

Offer applies only to members who reside in Canada.


** Has AA finally heard us?

I'm one of those Canadian AA members who was Gold at the end of last year and comped to Platinum to Feb/2001. The second part of this offer also shows up on my AA.com login.

Too bad they're not offering reduced qualification to EP. But then again, I think our American cousins are ticked off already that AA is being this generous with Canadian members (plus CX fare class offers, etc).

(Also, it does not state in the offer that you have to fly 4 AA flights to qualify, unlike the regular threshold requirements)

[This message has been edited by hsi.chang (edited 06-20-2000).]

And would you not expect U.S.-based members not to be pissed off?

A bit of discretion is also at play, and if we Canadian members plaster every variance of AAdvantage offers onto these boards, in the end who can blame AA for not extending considerations in the future. (It may not be worth pissing off their U.S. members who have received no breaks, other than the Challenges, to get their elite status.) I believe AA has been quite generous in their offers to us to date so as to get our business and move us into becoming active AAdvantage members. (Particularly when most accrual is coming on oneworld partners, and not on paid AA flights.) But all I seem to read on these postings is .....ing that all thi still isn't enough!

Sorry guys, but I have to depart from supporting your efforts for more, more, more. I find queue jumping is a distasteful activity, and we've had more than enough offers from AA to go to the head of the line. I realize Platinum is not like ExecPlat, but go out and earn the top tier and be appreciative of having been given a head start in the lineup to enjoy some perks while getting there.

As to the some of the specifics:

1. U.S. lounges have always been membership affairs due to a ruling by the Justice Department back in the 60s. This is based on anti-discrimination, not corporate greed.

2. The serving of free alcohol is a policy set from airline to airline. AA charges, which is a fact of life.

3. Lounges exist where the volume of members will make them viable. AA doesn't have enough volume at most Canadian airports -- and is unlikely to for quite a while -- to justify such facilities, so they aren't here. If we did not have pre-clearance of U.S. customs/ immigration, then sharing with CX/BA/QF would be possible at more airports, and a oneworld lounge might become feasible.

But, if you don't like these two realities, then get your oneworld lounge eligibility by earning Sapphire or Emerald levels on BA, CX or QF. That way you'll have lounge access on domestic AA (U.S.) flights too, and I believe two drinks coupons. (Yes, I know you will say one has to fly too many miles on higher fares: that's the price for such enhanced benefits. CP went broke giving us all those enhanced perks, not a way to run a business!)

4. There is "the Challenge" to get into the initial AA elite tiers on a fast-track basis. One trip across the Pacific to either HKG on CX or SYD on QF will get you Gold. Add a bit of domestic AA activity (afterall they are the ones making the offers) and you reach Platinum, and qualify after July and you have it until Feb 2002.

5. Those of us fortunate to have had active AA accounts -- and had demonstrated some actual business to that carrier in the past -- were comped to the next level of elite (save for ExecPlat), and so the lowering of renewal threshhold seems fair enough. Maybe it is "only" 2/3rds the normal level, but you can use miles instead of points and again, achieve it with two trans-Pacific trips (thanks to the generosity of CX which now makes their deeply discounted fares eligible to us for AA accrual). Is it worth $3K to you to have Plat on AA for almost two years? (I know, you won't get upgraded on CX or QF. It's the old "cake and eat it" syndrome.)

I'd best stop now. I expect the barrage will begin, but truly guys... what more can you expect to get from AA?

Wrong topic. This post should have belonged in Terenz's posting. Don't beat up the guys posting the latest AA promotions.

We do deserve easier qualification as we can only earn Q miles for international and transborder flights, and direct flights to Europe are difficult as we cannot fly BA. If one has to fly domestically, this means splitting up where the miles go to.

Non-Canadian AA members should be P.O.'d at CX as it decides whether to give miles or not. CX's move is purely defensive as it had heavily promoted being able to earn CPlus miles while flying on CX and was somewhat generous (M fares qualified).

When CP left oneworld, there was no loyalty programme for CX to push in Canada (they don't push Asiamiles) so they had to do something (otherwise those who accumulate miles would drift to AC and * carriers for intra-Asian flights) and this was it.

FWIW, I don't get this offer when I log in.

[This message has been edited by terenz (edited 06-20-2000).]

I am not "beating up" on Celestar, though I have suggested some discretion in where these things are posted and wonder if we are doing any favours by broadcasting such news (as with the CX policy on deeply-discounted fares and this one) on the AA site rather than here in the CP one which those most affected would be monitoring.

As for my other comments here and on the other forum: join CX, QF or BA if your travel is going to be 90% international since these programs actually offer superior access to AA's lounges than does AAdvantage, and those are the carriers you are most likely to be flying. Using AAdvantage as a "flag of convenience" is, to me, as odious as is the practice in the shipping world when companies register the ships in countries with much laxer employment and safety regulations to skirt those of the countries they most often operate to and from.

Hey guys - I don't feel beat up at all !

Actually I'm glad that AA has offered these offers to Canadian based members. But I'm even more glad that they even have a promo like the Challenges.

I got GOLD earlier this year, and when I acheived full GOLD asked to do the PLAT challenge. Now I know from my schedules that I will hit not only PLAT by now but also EXP by end of Sept when I concentrate literally all of my travels on AA (when it used to go CP). I did the challenge and am going towards EXP as a committment to AAdvantage for helping us when we needed it. It is a sort of peace offering when AA gave us reduced qualifications levels equal to that of CP's requalifications. But I believe that flying on 4 sectors on your home-airline (in this case, AA) is still the norm - that is the prerequisite for all oneWorld partners.

We also have AsiaMiles now who has recently extended its policy of awarding full miles to most eceonomy class fares on itself , BA and a few other oneworld airlines. I believe the occassion may be extended to most oneworld partners soon. So americans and canadians have a choice as to which programme that they would like to choose. However, the Marco Polo levels are a tad difficult to achieve.

AA is in a difficult situation now. It has lost not only it's 250 million investment, but also all its codeshared routes, and it itself has no aircraft flying frequent routes on the West Coast into Vancouver. But based on what it has offered us, maybe it's time we show them that we care enough to fly them once in a while.

I agree with Shareholder, the lounges regulations have been set long ago. Look at the other US carriers. I flash my CX Marco Polo Club Gold card (1w-Sapphire) to access the lounge now. But that might go soon if I am to just concentrate on AAdvantage.

[This message has been edited by Guy Betsy (edited 06-20-2000).]

Shareholder: I think you are quite right that Canadian AAdvantage members are getting quite a sweetheart deal from AA.

When CP was still a part of oneworld, CPlus members had the best deal going. For example, we could earn miles on both AA and BA transatlantic flights and we even got points for discounted economy on CX. The loss of the oneworld alliance in Canada was pretty tough for us.

Now AA is extending several concessions to its Canadian members and I have to say, they're being pretty generous. Reduced qualifcation requirements, miles/points on discounted economy CX. The gold/plat challenges are enticing too.

For people who travel more domestically (N. America) moving to AA probably makes sense, but as Shareholder pointed out, for people who travel mostly internationally, CX/BA/QF gives a better deal.

I would much prefer to have a oneworld carrier closer to home (i.e. Canada) but AA's offerings are tempting. Most of my travels are within N. America and I think I can make the plat challenge on AA, so I'll probably go for it.

FewMiles..

Oh yes, forgot KH's post a while ago that AA was offering a discount to Canadians who wanted to join the Admiral's Club, so there is yet one more thing they've done to make joining AAdvantage beneficial for us.

I'll go further and say that not only has AA made us some generous offers, they're also offering us vastly improved service. It's still not where CP's service was in the heydays of the last century, but it's a big improvement over a year ago.

'Course I can only speak for J and F classes, as I'm still automatically getting upgraded on every single flight, sometimes even only as a mid-level AA Platinum (= CP Gold.) But's that's instructional in it's own right. I like to think I've repaid the favour by booking on AA whenever possible, since February, to the tune of 26 flights so far, and 5 more in the next week.