puntamita

I read the CNN article pertaining to AA winning the award for ff program. I went on AA site to read about Executive benefits( I am diamond and not happy). Very impressed with what they are offering. If they are able to maintain their program after the consolidation with US Air, I believe they will gain market share away from Delta. Delta has made too many changes, too quickly. Also their top tier Diamond program is not competitive. Everyone on here can talk about their profitability and stock. I can list a lot of companies that are now in the hole that had the same type of run.

phenobarbital

Err... ok. Now what? What are you trying to get across that hasn't been communicated in the other threads on the exact same topic?

xliioper

Link to article -- http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/05/travel...ams/index.html

PainCorp

Does anyone kind of stop at the fact that CNN announced the winners of the FlyerTalk awards before FlyerTalk did? Isn't that kind of like TMZ announcing the winners of the Oscars before the Academy?

puntamita

Err... article made me finally look at aa.com and what they had to offer. Is that ok with you

cfw

I find this kind of insight very amusing. Some of us long time lurkers/posters remember when Flyer Talk was actually a community of frequent travelers helping each other get the most out of an airline.

However, these days, it's a lot of yelling exactly this, share prices and profitability.

Go read the AA board, it's quite an "upgrade."

yohanson

I read it earlier and found it interesting that Delta wasn't even mentioned except for once negatively. Perhaps Delta has adopted a cyclical strategy where they lure in fliers for a couple of years and then drive them away while profit taking for the next couple of years. Perhaps we'll see a lot of DMQM and RDM+25K flights in a year or two.

puntamita

That is my point actually. It says you fly aa as well. Do you like aa or not? All I am saying is I am concerned. Delta is not very competitive, Executive vs. Diamond. I have read all the other post about this issue but had never really looked into the aa program. I find it amusing how other people like yourself don't think other peoples opinions should be shared. I flew Delta today and last week as well. I believe their product has been downgraded due to profitability concerns. You have your opinion and I have mine. That is also what is good about Flyer Talk.

SFO777

It's not rocket science. Two years ago I was both AA EXP and DL DM.
Now I only fly DL as a last resort... a mediocre product with a useless FF program.

hearna

Hertz won? LOL as if

matthew64832

I have looked at AA and I don't really see that much difference between them. The biggest difference is that DM requires more miles, and DM comes with a club membership (albeit limited individual).

There are some obvious inherent differences (OW partners vs ST) but regarding the actual list of benefits they seem comparable.

What are the specific differences you noticed that makes you feel they are so far apart?

HatAndJacket

just awaitin' for them status matches

MAH4546

A better award chart that requires less miles, for one thing.

Not to mention zero restrictions on earning miles and using upgrades.

AA also still serves meals on short flights in first (including RJs). DFW-COS is barely in the air for 80 minutes, but it has a full dinner service. I flew LAX-DEN not long ago - served a pre-departure beverage, fruit plate, breakfast sandwich, yogurt, leige waffle and mixed nuts. On an 80 minute fight. On a 54 seat CRJ-700.

Both the above are possible because AA protects the integrity of its product - there is no American Express Rewards equivalent where just anybody can magically make their credit card points into AA miles. And unless you are EXP (and only yourself as the EXP, not your companion), you don't complimentary domestic upgrades, which makes upgrades easier for lower tiers who value them, and allows AA to continue an industry leading domestic first class product by making domestic elite upgrades a revenue stream (and AA clearly reinvests that revenue stream into the product).

Don't get me wrong, it's still a far cry from two decades ago, but while other airlines continue to cut benefits and reduce service, AA simply hasn't.

Dawgfan6291

in one area sure.....but Delta's hard product on its international fleet blows AAs away in both classes. (okay, its arguable for 10 aircraft in the AA fleet(77W))

I will take a Delta 330 or 767 over a AA 772 or 767 any day of the week.

us2

AA right now probably has the best frequent flyer program going and they really do have a good F product.

That said, the unstated assumption in this thread seems to be that AA under new management will continue as is. Whether that will pan out or not is an open question. There are a lot of merger issues to sort out and the biggest question of all is whether the new AA will wind up looking much like it does now or whether it will more resemble HP d/b/a US, whose management will be taking over and who presided over a debacle of a merger between US and HP. Maybe they learned something from that and it will work out reasonably well. I hope it does, but the notion that AA will continue on its present path is not assured. I'm taking a wait and see approach to it all as I think it is possible that a lot of things over there could change. The grass may be greener over there for now, but whether it will stay that way remains an open question.