MAH4546

It's reality, and if you don't want to believe that the average demographics of a US FF don't compare to an AA/DL/UA FF, then fine, you can be in denial about that. It's the entire reason why US gives it away in the first place! It's an effort to attract that high-value frequent flier that it doesn't have.

CP's should be thrilled. You are about to go from a worthless program who's only real benefit is good mileage redemption rates, to what is widely considered the best U.S. FF program.

AA_EXP09

I would not expect it to stay that way for long, under Parker...
(especially given some of the statements that he made, that were included in the DOJ case against the merger.)

MAH4546

I have no doubt benefits will be devalued. I don't think it will be anything dramatic, and whatever it is, it's an improvement for anybody at US. It's AA fliers that will see the hurt.

AA_EXP09

AA flyers are the majority, though...

McFlyPHL

I don't really get the whining between CPs and EXPs... I really don't. In the last three years I've been CP, EXP, and 1K. Hands down UA 1K is the most worthless of the bunch.

AA and US accomplish basically the same thing. It's not like one airline is vastly superior to the other - different, yes, but not vastly so unless you're flying 3 class F. Both are reasonably good at providing what they say they will.

Too much travel

Being HKG-based, I'm probably a bit blase about the F lounges here. No, hands down it's the Qantas F lounge in the Sydney international terminal that is the best.

Anyway, looking forward to welcoming US Airways into the Oneworld family: it'll certainly give me more options out of DCA and LGA.

perseus11

It may be best to reflect on a track record here and elsewhere of making fact oriented statements that the merger will never happen and AA is just waiting to get out of the Agreement. Time to consider stopping the trashing of US Airways, it's FFs and it's management and either join the (new) club or move on to another carrier. Continuous Flame Baiting really doesn't reflect well on our impression of the AA FF community.

MAH4546

Trashing it's FFs? Please. Stop being so over sensitive. I have never trashed them. I'm absolutely trashing its management. If you were used to flying a premium-oriented airline and it suddenly merged with a low fare carrier, you'd be upset too. I'll stick with AA for now because I'm confident it will take steps to up US' game, like sending current FAs through a training course and introducing meals on US F in the coming months. If it doesn't, yes, I'll leave.

bkafrick

I'd really love to see what makes it the "best U.S. FF program". So far, in everything I've read, its been a yawn.

tom911

8 systemwide upgrades without a copay or buy-up is probably the most significant benefit that stands out at the 100K level. I don't think any other U.S. carrier can touch those. Even UA, which offers 6 a year, requires a buy-up to a higher fare on international and no refund of the fare difference if you don't clear. I haven't missed an international upgrade with AA in 12 years and already have cleared two for next year to/from Madrid.

A second nice benefit at that level is first class international lounge access on any fare basis. The restaurant in the Sydney Qantas lounge and the buffet in the Hong Kong Cathay first class lounge are great benefits. I know UA flyers don't get that type of access on all fares so guessing the same applies to US flyers in accessing partner first class lounges on any fare.

Do US flyers get the same 50% bonus miles at the 50K level that UA flyers get? That level at AA gives you 100% bonus miles. Hopefully when the merger is done the merged tier will retain 100% bonus miles which would be a plus for US flyers.

ExpatExp

Yes, it would be nice if this came back. I used to fly AA from PVD-ORD-LAX back when I needed the cheapest possible fare

I've connected at FRA twice recently (Terminal 2 D and E, I think) from BA to EY and return, and found it to be one of the simplest, easiest, quickest and most pleasant connection experiences I have ever had. The terminal did seem quite new, however -- maybe the LH areas are older or more crowded?

People tend to have mixed experiences at LHR; some (like me) find it great, but others don't enjoy it at all. And as for MAD, well, you probably won't dread MAD, but you may well dread IB!

As I think someone mentioned earlier, you won't be missing an arrivals lounge, as they exist at T5 for BA passengers and at T3 for AA (and some other OW) passengers. Additionally, EXPs in any cabin on AA or BA can access the arrivals lounge in the terminal where they arrive after a TATL ^

BA runs all of the OW flights to the UK out of BOS now. AA only runs TATLs in the summer, and not to the UK.

Did AA stop the HEL flight? I admit I'm not up to date as I rarely go northeast of the North Sea

IIRC TW's lifetime club members did not receive lifetime membership in the AC. However, TW did not merge with AA. Hopefully, as US and AA are merging, the outcome will be more positive for those in your position.

ubernostrum

So, here's the thing. I don't doubt that if I were flying to Asia and Australia and Europe all the time, that stuff would be nice.

But I don't do that. Practically all of my flying is domestic or to Canada -- I'll likely hit Europe twice in 2014, and that's it. Mostly, I care about:

• Ability to consistently hit domestic upgrades. Telling me that I'm stuck with limited upgrade ability at anything except the highest tier is a non-starter. US is giving me an over-90% upgrade rate on my domestic segments, and unless I always hit EXP AA would not be able to match that.
• For the times when I do fly outside North America, ability to easily redeem miles for travel. And US' award chart is pretty undeniably one of the best in the industry.

And I strongly suspect that I am not the outlier here; people who have the vast majority of their travel on domestic-only or US-Canada routes are probably the majority of US-based frequent flyers. And for that type of traveler, US' program is simply better than AA's.

tom911

When AA came out with that program, back around 2005, it was revenue neutral. They stated that the cost of the EXP/100K upgrades was balanced out by the sales of upgrades to other flyers, including flying partners of those EXPs who have to support their upgrade. If you extend free upgrades to all, there's going to be a loss of revenue, so if the merged carrier offers that, they're going to take a hit and have to balance out the revenue loss somewhere else. Not sure where that would be - more baggage fees or change fees or raise prices for snacks? When US came out with the changes to their domestic upgrade program, did they say where they would recoup the loss of revenue from upgrade sales?

Even if AA offered every elite in the merged program upgrades, I wouldn't expect that 90% upgrade rate to hold. Just not enough seats. Some EXPs do not clear as it is on elite heavy routes/days, so you're going to have a lot of competition at the top tier let alone midtier.

Can you give me 2-3 examples of the best US awards? I'm curious what they charge compared to AA for a similar award. AA's best Europe/South America award, for example, is 40K RT in coach. The season to Europe from North America runs six full months. Another is their 10K one way awards on Qantas within Australia or between Australia and New Zealand.

moondog

Business class US to Asia for 90k RT (v. 110k on AA and A LOT more on UA/DL).

jspira

I don't see why not. From the conversations that I had, it is my understanding that there is no question that US will still be in *A in January as well as in at least part of February