Yes, but my point was that we have some certainty that there will be little to no short-term impact from having a differing product now, due to the abnormally high demand. Why not take advantage of that certainty while you have it? Bear in mind, however, that this was not really my point. I don't buy the argument that introducing an improved product will somehow drive people away during the transition phase.

After reading all these changes I'm less than thrilled, however with 3 months to go I still can redeem rewards at the old rate

I have just over 300K in my One pass account that I was saving for a QF award (I have zero status on CO)

I have been searching the past couple of years (albeit not very hard) for a QF award that would fit my vacation schedule.

It appears that we are going to be told to bend forward with the next set of changes re: the QF awards

I wonder if I should try to be more diligent in finding a QF award (2 tix) now in J/F or just say screw it, use my One World miles (and EXP status on AA) to go down under, then use my CO miles for more simple trips domestically or just trade some, transfer some to AGR, and burn some domestically to get the most value for the mile?

just trying to get a gauge at what the OP experts would do

for the record, I have no interest in the series 4, 5a, or 10 awards that are being prepped for the bend foward factor. Ditto on domestic F class since Y is fine for me on award tix domestically.

These are cyclical changes in this sellers market. If there is a recession next year, and it becomes a buyers market, the customers will be the ones doing the squeezing. But I see the oil is $94 a barrell and I dont know where CO is hedged, but they have to be hurting, I guess?

I would see what I could find with QF and, if that fails, start thinking about other ways to use miles - AA is going to give you a lot more options on getting to Oz. Personally, I think the VS Upper Class awards are still decent value, as are the KL J tix for only 80k (though I wonder if they will be gone soon). And the BF service to Hawaii is definitely worth the miles. Myself, I wouldn't burn them for domestic rewards, but I know there are times when you have to get somewhere and the tickets are absurd, but I wouldn't plan around that, particularly if you have enough AA miles to cover such exigencies.