Can it really be this easy?

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Feb 3, 2008 | 3:17 pm

#16

altaskier

Join Date: Jan 2006

Location: Dillon, CO

Programs: AA EXP 4MM

Posts: 496

Quote:

Originally Posted by THE soni

AA Gold and AA Platinum: Full Fare tickets (Y or B), cleared at 24 and 72 hour windows

AA EXP: All fares, cleared at 100 hour window

That's the soonest they MIGHT clear. No guarantees. See the AA forum.

Feb 3, 2008 | 5:27 pm

#17

bdemaria

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Apr 2006

Location: SJC/VCE

Programs: AA PLT (2.9+ MM), HH GLD, Hyatt Diamond, SPG PLT

Posts: 10,161

Quote:

Originally Posted by THE soni

AA Gold and AA Platinum: Full Fare tickets (Y or B), cleared at 24 and 72 hour windows

AA EXP: All fares, cleared at 100 hour window

This is not accurate. You are confusing "complimentary" upgrades with sticker upgrades and suggesting that that upgrades are guaranteed. This is how it actually works on AA:

EXP: all fares eligible for complementary upgrades, beginning at 100 hour window but will be actually processed based on availability

PLT: Y or B fares eligible for complementary upgrades, all others fares eligible for "sticker" upgrades, all upgrades for this category (regardless of fare) beginning at 72 hour window, but will be actually processed based on availability

GLD:Y or B fares eligible for complementary upgrades, all others fares eligible for "sticker" upgrades, all upgrades for this category (regardless of fare) beginning at 24 hour window but will be actually processed based on availability

Feb 3, 2008 | 5:28 pm

#18

bdemaria

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Apr 2006

Location: SJC/VCE

Programs: AA PLT (2.9+ MM), HH GLD, Hyatt Diamond, SPG PLT

Posts: 10,161

Quote:

Originally Posted by trueblu

Thanks THE soni: I don't suppose OW sapphire or emerald get any of these privileges?

thanks,

tb

No, OW doesn't make any difference in this situation.

Feb 3, 2008 | 5:30 pm

#19

bdemaria

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Apr 2006

Location: SJC/VCE

Programs: AA PLT (2.9+ MM), HH GLD, Hyatt Diamond, SPG PLT

Posts: 10,161

Quote:

Originally Posted by trueblu

Fairly naive question: how do "automatic" (i.e. not using 500-mile vouchers) upgrades work on AA? Do OW partners get any such privileges?

thanks,

tb

You can purchase certain full fare coach tickets that book into F or J. Usually called Y-up or K-up fares, these will automatically upgrade at the time of booking.

Feb 4, 2008 | 7:40 am

#20

sbm12

A FlyerTalk Posting Legend

Join Date: Apr 2001

Location: PSM

Posts: 69,232

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jumpfirst

Jaimito -
I'm in a similar boat. Do you find that being elite (gold/plat) on NW gets you upgrades on CO? I was plat on KLM and used to get upgrades frequently on NW, but never on CO. As a CO Plat I get them on NW, but don't find that CO seems to return the favor to other skyteams parters- hey it's rare enough that I get an upgrade on CO as a platinum. Would appreciate your advice - I too value battlefield upgrades - domestic and intl - on skyteam partners - the highest. Similarly, it's a royal pain to get only half Q miles on partner flights, so the ideal ff program would be a) one where upgrades are given on the airline and partner airlines and b) one where they actually allow you to fly and earn. Thanks!

Officially CO and NW have full reciprocity for elite upgrades, so you should get it going either way. As for the 50% EQM credit bit, that is mostly a CO thing.

To the OP, your best option for non-stops from NYC would be flying on CO, so you should consider CO/NW status. That being said, upgrades internationally are hard to come by and require either high fare class purchase (NW) or copay (CO) in addition to the miles. And if you're flying on low fare CO flights and crediting to NW you may end up only with 50% EQMs.

S.

Feb 4, 2008 | 8:51 am

#21

mikeef

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Aug 2001

Location: Finally back in Boston after escaping from New York

Posts: 13,684

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fornebufox

The website is currently showing H, K, M, L, W, and V fares as earning 1.0 points, with G, N, S, and some O and Q fares earning only half a point. Do you have newer information?

Good to know about the short flight advantage.

Here's the wiki site on inventory class mgmt. Hope it helps!

Mike

http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php...ligibility_(AA)

Last edited by mikeef; Feb 5, 2008 at 6:18 am

Feb 4, 2008 | 11:54 am

#22

Fornebufox

Original Poster

Join Date: Aug 2006

Location: NYC

Programs: AA LT G (1MM);DL G, UA GM

Posts: 2,028

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeef

Here's the wiki site on inventory class mgmt. Hope it helps!

Mike

http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php...ligibility_(AA)

The wiki link says:

There is no page titled "Inventory_Classes_and_Mileage_Eligibility_(AA ".

Feb 4, 2008 | 9:47 pm

#23

GreenFireflyer

Join Date: Jun 2007

Location: SAN & ORD

Programs: UA 1K

Posts: 252

^ for researching programs. Once you get hooked on one it is difficult to switch.

My carrier of choice is UA, and there is a thread on the United Mileage Plus forum page 10 called "Why are you flying United" that you might find interesting.

Feb 5, 2008 | 6:17 am

#24

mikeef

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Aug 2001

Location: Finally back in Boston after escaping from New York

Posts: 13,684

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fornebufox

The wiki link says:

There is no page titled "Inventory_Classes_and_Mileage_Eligibility_(AA ".

Sorry, I corrected it.

http://flyerguide.com/wiki/index.php...ligibility_(AA)

Mike

Feb 5, 2008 | 7:37 am

#25

IFE Wizard

Join Date: May 2007

Location: Close to Heathrow

Programs: Gold for Life, VS Silver, HHonours Diamond

Posts: 552

Quote:

Originally Posted by brockp01

You are right on BA...big time problems on the IFE.

Hi brock01 from Bothel,

I somehow bet you may just have a solution to BA's IFE problem.

Feb 5, 2008 | 1:04 pm

#26

Fornebufox

Original Poster

Join Date: Aug 2006

Location: NYC

Programs: AA LT G (1MM);DL G, UA GM

Posts: 2,028

Thanks, Mikeef. The link worked fine both times, there's just no text on the page.

And thanks, GreenFireFlyer. Seems like UA E+ would be the biggest draw for me. But MP members seem to seem to be numerous and dissatisfied.

After more studying it seems like no carrier meets my needs 100%, but I'm throwing in my lot with AA with a challenge. If it ends up not working out, oh well...

Feb 7, 2008 | 2:40 pm

#27

bobbysfca

Suspended

Join Date: Jun 2002

Location: San Francisco, CA, USA

Posts: 663

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fornebufox

.... UA has E+, but AA appears to treat its low-tier elites better and it looks like I could fast-track to Gold with a Challenge.

I'm based in NYC. Coming up at the end of Feb. is a trip to Oslo, with possible hop to Stockholm. Nothing scheduled till summer, which brings trips to DEN, MSN, SEA (the last two lumped together, but possibly not). Probably another trip to Europe in the fall. Another domestic trip or two (SBA, TUS) possible but not definitively planned.

So, if I throw in my lot with AA it looks like a challenge begun on Feb 16 could ring up the 5000 points for Gold right off the bat -- the L fares quoted earn 1 pt/mile, and it's close to 8000 miles RT. Is it really that easy? Is AA Gold worth the effort? Is it worth the discomfort of flying through (gulp) LHR? Or would I be better off buying E+ access now as I start a year with UA?

* Yes, status is worth it.
* 2nd tier status is really worth it. (double miles add up to TATL Biz awards twice as fast)
* If you're going the challenge route, I'd say suck it up, do some running and go for PLAT... there are lots of relatively cheap fares out there now with multiple segs for big accQmulation. A better value than buying E+.
* AA serves NYC a whole lot better than UA.
* AA has "soft landings" from plat - you'll drop to Gold if you don't re-qual. UA drops you into the sheep pen.

Feb 7, 2008 | 6:02 pm

#28

PDW5000

Join Date: Nov 2007

Location: SFO

Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP, SPG Plat

Posts: 171

Quote:

Originally Posted by skylane

Those 'L' fares will earn you 1/2 of a point per mile flown. So your roundtrip will earn you 4000 points and 8000 miles (only the points counting towards the challenge). The secret to the AA challenge, when booking cheap fares, is to pad in short flights since there is a minimum of 500 points per flight.

L fares will actually earn 1 point/mile. I'm not sure the secret is actually lots of short flights...long-haul travel at 1 point/mile makes it pretty easy to do a challenge.

Feb 7, 2008 | 8:03 pm

#29

samftla

Join Date: Jun 2007

Location: FLL & EZE

Programs: UAL Gold DL Silver Hilton GoldMarriott Gold

Posts: 917

[QUOTE=PDW5000;9211563]L fares will actually earn 1 point/mile. I'm not sure the secret is actually lots of short flights...long-haul travel at 1 point/mile makes it pretty easy to do a challenge.[/QUOTE

Correct, I am doing the plat challenge, RT FLL to BER via ORD and BRU all in L class and will net just over 11,000 points and instant Plat status all for $423.00 Not a bad deal thank you AA

SAM

Feb 9, 2008 | 5:40 am

#30

spartacus

Join Date: May 2000

Location: Lincoln, NE (OMA or LNK)

Programs: UA, AA, DL, Starwood/Marriott, Hilton, IHG

Posts: 1,345

Quote:

Originally Posted by tom.fagan

If you ever travel on BA send in a complaint about their seats or in flight entertainment. They are getting so many complaints they don't even bother to check if there was a problem. As long as you flew with them they'll add miles to your account just to get rid of you.

Most FTers tend to have a little more integrity than using that kind of tactic; you will find this to be true if you stick around here long enough. Don't want to sound like I'm flaming you, but at the end of the day they can take everything away from you, but only you can GIVE away your integrity. If you need miles that bad then maximize your LEGITIMATE activities to run up the mileage totals.

I would like to say 'Welcome To FT' but I'm not getting a warm fuzzy here, yet.

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