UA-NYC

like many, IF E+ disappears (or they choose to go the DL route and offer only on int'l routes, which has no benefit to me).

NYC-based (yet far from Newark), hasn't always been easy to stick to UA/Star domestically. AA would give me a lot more nonstop options.

If Tuesday's devaluations are the end, I will stick it out.

halls120

While I fly mostly on UA, I spend a fair amount of time on AA. Both airlines have their own strengths and weaknesses. If the UA defectors think they are going to find the land of milk and honey with AA, I wish them good luck.

And I hope most of the defectors are 1K's from the IAD/DCA area - more room for upgrades for me.

gooseman13

Here is another 1K that is in for the switch. While I like the service and lounge access I can receive as a 1K the W fare requirement for SWU makes it pretty much useless to me, and more importantly the award availability I've seen on UA is pretty atrocious compared to AA. If I'm going to accrue all the miles I'd like to use them to places I'd like to go when I want to go (well at least within a month of when I want to go!)

LarkSFO

I doubt AA will offer a status match to EXP (but I'll buy blissworld a case of Marin Brewing Companies finest if you can pull this off!).

I just signed up for the status challenge to Plat, and yes, you need skin in the game ('demonstrate intent' as you put it izzy.)

$200 to sign up, plus earn 10,000 EQP in 90 days. Since EQP's are only fully earned (1 EQP for 1 EQM) in the non-deep discounted fare classes, let's say this will cost me .06 / EQP or $600. So, a total of $800, some of which I was going to spend anyway since I am just going to move some business trips to AA.

For EXP, what if they offer a challenge of say $1000 to sign up and you need to earn 25,000 EQP in 90 days to earn EXP for a year. Then would you do it?

Bottom line, at the end of the day we'll all still be 1K's too and most of these threats (to leave UA) are hollow and full of your usual amount of FT hyperbole...

AA, in return for the value of EXP, will certainly ask for some $$ and 'demonstration of intent' to make any offer to UA / CO 1K's...
Perhaps there are 50 high $$ GS'ers who AA will bend over backwards to attract - for these people AA will go to great lengths.

For the rest of us, I cannot imagine a scenario where they will 'give' UA 1K's anything...

vandalby

They sure do!

"As of November 2009, the MD-80 series has been involved in 60 incidents,[21] including 27 hull-loss accidents,[22] with 1,177 fatalities.[23]"

On only a 20 year production between 79-99! Wow!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MD-80#I..._and_accidents

SFO777

I didn't realize that pilot error, ATC error or bad weather in every corner of the world were the fault of AA maintenance.
Next time, you may want to actually read beyond the headlines of sourced material before embarrassing yourself.

Fanjet

This hyperbolic reaction is really funny. So people are moving over to AA because they're getting their number of CR-1s reduced... and AA doesn't even issue CR-1s!!! Then there's people talking about "waiting it out" to see if E+ goes away. Hello!! AA doesn't offer E+. Neither does DL. And aside from that, there's no guarantee that AA won't restrict some lower fare bucket classes from using a SWU in the near future-- that's the way it was up until a couple of years ago. Then who are you going to bolt to? Delta? Oh, and if you're worried about losing Star Alliance award availability, don't worry, you can use your miles on BA and pay a $260 fuel charge fee for your international ticket. Enjoy!!

And on a happier note: I do find AA's first class service to be better than UA's (but about the same as CO's).

cesco.g

Correct, but I read this, as people viewing E+ as a benefit to stay with UA. With it gone, the overall value of AA becomes more attractive than UA (without E+).

UA-NYC

While they don't offer E+, from what I read their EXPs have fantastic upgrade percentages. Compare that to CO (soon to be permeating UA...actually it already has), where between YBMs, mileage upgrades from kettles having priority over elites, and selling upgrades for "tens of dollars" the Plat percentages are much lower.

The future of UA in a best-case scenario has E+, but fewer F seats (as they'd never take out a row of E- to make E+). So you will be spending A LOT of time in those E+ seats if you don't buy YBs.

So why not AA? More F time, and exit rows/bulkheads if you don't get it.

Fanjet

My upgrade success as an EXP on AA is 100% so far this year. Even a couple of JFK-LAX flights. I think the reason it is "easier" to get an upgrade with AA is that 1) you actually have to go into your reservation to request the upgrade (it's not automatic) so some people forget, or their travel agent forgets or is unaware; 2) companion upgrades are available to EXPs but not free (so some may opt out to sit in Y and not pay for the upgrade if the have no e500s in their bank); and 3) there's no UDU for Plats and Golds, so if you buy your ticket a couple of days before departure, many times the UDU process for EXPs hasn't even begun yet (even though it's suppose to at 100 hours prior) meaning that Plats haven't been given those open F seats yet, or that it might have begun but not every Plat put in an upgrade request.

PTahCha

Except for CX, only Y/B/H or higher fare basis earn AA mile. Anything below earn nada.

Yes, anytime you fly QF, to any destination. And actually, Plat get the same benefit as well, but only for business lounge and not first class lounge.

kcblakely

I'll do it. I'll be flying almost 200K miles / year for at least the next 2 years, mostly internationally. AA has clearly better award availability, so I'm in.

vandalby

Wow, certainly plenty of vitriol for someone that takes a position other than yours. Good for you. Good insight though, a number of those incidents were pilot error. So why is that? Does the MD-80 just have bad luck and gets stuck with a lot of incompetent pilots? Or perhaps, the bird is just tougher than average to fly, which likely leads to a number of those incidents.

Since you seem to have been displaying an inability to read between the lines, I'll draw my point out a bit more clearly. A number of UA flyers here have indicated a desire to switch to AA due to a perceived reduction of benefits to UA's Mileage Plus program - no argument there. My point is that before jumping over to AA, UA frequent flyers may want to consider the safety culture of both airlines.

Looking at incidents and reports in the last several years, the two airlines seem to be moving in opposite directions from a safety perspective. As many of the UA pilots that frequent the UA Pilot Q&A thread have stated, UA has an extremely strong, safety-above-all-else culture (a good enough source for me). AA, on the other hand, seems to be taking a 'bare minimum' approach.

Just going back 2 years to 2008, I see the following with AA mainline:

- Oct. 2010: AA 1640 loses a 1 ft x 2 ft section of fuselage at 31,000 ft
- Sept. 2010: AA 806 has a large enough engine failure and aborted takeoff to close a runway at PHX
- Dec. 2009: AA 331 skids off runway and breaks into three
- Sept. 2008: AA 286 loses four power buses shutting down systems including: elevator trim, spoilers, thrust reversers, and engine fuel cutoff valves

Yikes! No one killed, although a number of injuries. These are MAJOR incidents - at UA you just don't see the frequency and severity that we're seeing at AA. I think it's unsettling. Not to mention this report that ran in the WSJ among others:

"A probe has stirred concerns about American's willingness to properly
disclose potential safety flaws. Above, MD-80 jets at Dallas-Fort Worth
last year.

The probe, which began several months ago, has raised red flags at the FAA
about the Fort Worth, Texas-based carrier's willingness to properly
disclose potential safety problems..."

http://www.okairports.com/content/am...spute-with-faa

I'm as big a hog for miles as the rest of us around here, but not at the expense of safety.

JeffS

Dear Advantage,

There is a whole bunch of us over here on Flyertalk, maybe about 30 or 40 of us, and we are kinda mad at United cuz they are painting their planes in some ugly colors and now we don't get this upgrade we used to anymore. Well we still do get it but we not exactly the same way. Anyhoo we have a proposal for you.

We are 1Ks, well most of us anyway, and we want you to make us all Ex Plat. If you do that we really, really, honest really promise to fly you from now on. Well at least until we get mad at you over something later on.

Sincerely yours,

A bunch of really, really, honestly we are, loyal flyers.

akatuva

I think that folks that do domestic, short-haul business travel also looking at AA as an alternative because the same amount of flying that qualifies you as a top-tier EXP on AA may only yield you 1P or maybe 1P+ status on U-CON. Those folks probably could care less about the CR-1s but would rather not be in the fourth tier for upgrades on U-CON versus the 1st tier for AA.