Robl

Got to get down to 5/24 however.

bigshooter

I meant flying with United and SW. I don't churn with Chase, I have a load of UR and don't want to mess anything up with them.

Citi was the playground for me as they don't have any products aside from AA that I find valuable and I find them very difficult to deal with. I almost want to get a bunch of TYP bonuses just to stick it to them, but not worth it to me anymore.

Visconti

Agreed.

Far as I'm concerned, Citi is such a poorly run outfit and should have ceased being an ongoing business concern post financial crisis, I'd pillage these guys until they cry Uncle.

Jaunts

I don't think it was reasonable for AA to close accounts. However, based on past behavior, it was somewhat foreseeable that AA could do it.

I don't remember AA issuing warnings to its FF members to discontinue behaviors that AA wants to end. In the past, I remember AA going to the extreme of closing accounts without warning.

sdsearch

I think it would have been much more reasonable for AA to "claw back" miles from accounts than to close them, but then I don't know the details of the particular accounts which were closed (rather than so far just restricted) as to whether the miles that AA might have possibly wanted to "claw back" had been mostly used up already. In that case, what other other option would AA have, even if "clawing back" had been its preference?

Now, i have no idea if AA had a preference for "clawing back", I'm just hypothesizing here.

Some people say it's best to "earn and burn" because they think that "clawing back" is the worst that can happen, and that "burning" prevents it. Obviously, it's not the worst that can happen.

desi

This is a strange data point.

AA account of a 23 year old who has never applied for (let alone getting any bonus) any AA branded or for that matter any Citi card (has only ONE credit card total) has been" restrcited". (can login and see activity and balance but can not reddem miles to travel to attand best friend's wedding - very furious at AA)

Total miles in 50k-60k range. All from either travel since age 2 or more recently online purchases.

This didnt make any sense. So pressing further only thing I could determine was one of the parent (living at same address) has account restricted too.
But parent had not used mailer (physical or email) at all and applied only 1 citi card in last 2 years. Strange.
Possibly newly created blended family had two new recent AA account opened with no AA travel yet. (planned revenue AA travel to europe for which accounts were opened was cancelled)

23 year old (starts at most prestigious consulting firm in Fall) swears never to travel AA given choice by employer/client ever.

How is this a smart move by AA?
(they should have at least use some threshold like over 100k miles or at least one redemption in last two years)

One thing to go after abusers and totally other to piss off someone who has 30-40 years of lucrative (full fare economy) business ahead of them.

gumercindo

Perhaps this has nothing to do with the current locking? Why doesn't he call in and talk to customer service to see what the deal is?

mia

Mass market companies are not interested in individual customers. They know perfectly well that every algorithm they use will have some unintended consequences, and it truly is not important.

Holding a grudge against a mass market company is foolish. Unsurprising reaction at age 23, but those of us who are older should know better.

Robl

I would continue to hold the grudge in this case and use alternative airline wherever possible.

Happy

Sorry to hear what happens to the 23 years old, but I cannot help to point out -
Here is the DP of "guilty by association" that multiple AApologists insist never happens. Let's see what kind of defense those people could come up with to defend AA's practice.

We as consumers can only vote with our wallets. That is something we can control ourselves and something we should do if a company does not treat its customers fairly. It does not mean an individual customer who has not done anything wrong should accept the "fate" being a victim of unintended consequences of algorithm run amok.

I dont see why not, that he holds a grudge against a corporation with such problematic practice, especially this company is not in a monopolized business although quite fits into an oligopoly. I were him I would definitely not give another penny to AA if allowed by his employer and the firm's clients as you said.

notquiteaff

I am not anyone’s apologist and don’t think I commented in any guilty-by-association scenarios. Yet.

Are there a lot of data points where real documented AA travelers who never applied for multiple cards had their account frozen because they share an address with an actual churner?

I assume AA security shuts down people every single day, for a variety of offenses or suspected offenses. And I am sure they screw up in the process. Look through my posting history in the AS and UA forums and you will find posts where I am fairly critical about the process that usually bundles investigator, prosecutor, judge and executioner into one group at the company, with little opportunity to appeal. There is certainly a degree of unfairness built into the system when compared to civilized legal systems.

If the 23yo didn’t do anything (not just mailers/CC, but also buying/selling miles, upgrades, frequent skip-lagging, ...), then of course he deserves everyone’s support and sympathy. And hopefully AA security will come to the conclusion that it was a mistake. I am just not sure (without other data points) that the cause here is sharing an address with someone who recently applied for one or two (Citi and Barclays? Two Citi?) cards.

I understand the emotional aspect, but it may very well be a bit like cutting of your own nose... when I lived near SFO, boycotting United would have been a significant inconvenience, and unlikely made them feel bad about their behavior. Of course, if the 23-yo cannot get the AA account back and thus cannot earn status, not flying AA may be the best choice. For practical and economic reasons.

I hope we hear back with more details as they become available.


I think the problem is that regular customer service will not be able to answer any questions about the cause of the account lock.

84fiero

No they don't care, but if their criteria are such that it results in a lock on someone as described by desi, then their algorithm is so overly broad as to be useless. Probably the majority of FT'ers and a large percentage of the general public could be susceptible to locks or worse if that sort of "profile" is all it takes. That isn't targeting hardcore abusers, it's careless and reckless.

Given how terrible Citi is at record keeping, it's possible some incorrect data was improperly associated with the individual or their P2. But if so, that only further illustrates AA's hamfisted approach.

I have lost what little trust I had left in AAdvantage over their handling of this, even without personal impact. Not that I needed much prompting to book away from AA already based on product/operational reasons already. It's possible AA may redeem itself in my eyes at some point but not for awhile.

flightmedic

I have an award booked on a partner airline. I communicated with them and they provided their record locator number as well as my ticket numbers. The award does show as ticketed on the AA page although my account is currently locked. Have there been any data points on whether people have experienced the inability to use an award in these circumstances? I know that AA may eventually contact me but those far I have not heard from them so I do not know the reason that I am locked (I have a very good idea) nor have I had any opportunity to discuss this with them. Obviously I don't want to reach out to them directly.

Global321

Thanks for sharing. It would be great if you could provide more details about why you think you were locked, obviously without giving any PII. It would add a data point.

flyer4512

Is anybody else having trouble logging in to AA.com right now ?

Our system is having trouble

Please try again or come back later.