BoeingBoy

Without knowing the ins and outs of leaving *A, I could see the possibility that at least *A flights in what will apparently be a month when US is in no alliance would be able to have miles deposited to US. I suppose that a grace period could even be longer than that if the other *A carriers were willing to allow it.

As I think I said up-thread, the majority of award/paid tickets US issues are undoubtedly on US metal, either domestic or international, so folks on those don't have to worry about getting miles posted. It's only the minority that could have a problem and there's no way to tell how big US considers them to be until announcements are made.

As I recall, and someone will surely correct me if I'm wrong, when CO switched to *A prior to the merger with UA, they said that ST tickets would continue to be able to accrue to CO until a certain date. However, I don't remember how long that was in the future at that point.

With US saying that "reciprocal FF benefits" would be available in early January, the safe thing would probably be to wait to book travel for after the merger until you could book it on AA. The AA and US miles will probably be merged at some point later next year so you'd still get the miles. The only question is whether you can book OW tickets through AA starting in early January.

Jim

dcpatti

When US ended their partnership with VS, there was a cutoff date after which new itineraries would not earn miles between carriers, but anything purchased before that announcement was made would be honored regardless of travel date. Pretty sure BMI flights were handled the same way before BA completed absorbing them. If there's a question over a specific travel date, I'd either email US asking for clarification, or at a minimum screenshot the partner earning rules on the day you purchase your ticket. If you're trying to fly on US and credit a partner, do the same on the partner site. US hasn't always been perfect about honoring earning for certain promos when the t&c were unclear or changed but they've always been good to about honoring the t&c and benefits in place when you buy that ticket.

AA_EXP09

I sure hope not due to LT status problems (though I'm not holding my breath.)

zkzkz

No, When BMI left *A you stopped being able to credit *A flights to BMI or credit BMI flights to any other *A airline programme pretty much immediately no matter when the tickets were booked. You stopped being able to credit to LH M&M even before that date for reasons that were opaque but probably had to do with the details of the sale.

Award tickets were still good (though difficult to change). In general airlines seem to be loath to renege on a valid ticket but absolutely happy to change the earning terms on existing tickets.

TheFlyingMan

Does anyone have an idea what really is meant by "reciprocal benefits" starting January 7. I am SP on US and will be traveling January 25-31st. US unfortunately is $200 more expensive than the same AA route (US through PHX, vs AA through DFW). Cannot justify taking US to the higher-ups. I can also take UA which is around same price as AA except I am nervous due to not knowing when US will exit *A and whether I will have benefits flying UA late January.

I am only SP - by reciprocal benefits... do they mean:

1) Will I still get priority seating, check-in, security, and first bag free when flying AA?

2) Would I have a shot at an UG? I am not going on a high-volume, elite-heavy route, so my chances even as US SP would be good if it was a US flight.

AZ Travels the World

At the moment, based exclusively on prior experience (and no information from these airlines), I would count on NOTHING at the end of January. Anything you get beyond currently established benefits should be considered a bonus.

ExpatExp

Yes, good question. And for those who are curious, one of the best AA awards I know is Europe to Hawaii including a stopover at the port of entry for 20k each way, during the winter. That's 8,500 miles of travel for 20,000 miles. Obviously not that comfortable in Y, but with MCE and advance planning it's a decent and very economical way to make the trip. I hope this award sticks around…

You're absolutely right, of course. AA service is indeed inconsistent, just like most US legacy carriers, and at a macro, general, overall level, the quality of service poor compared to KE, JL, EY or CX (at least in premium cabins). Compared to other US-based airlines, however, it's pretty good.

Rats. Is the Barclays CC going away? I didn't realize.

Yes, one should assume so.

TheFlyingMan

Well, does reciprocal benefits just mean only that I will accrue DM by flying AA?

Or does that mean I will get my current SP benefits incl checked bag, possibility of UG, etc?

FriendlySkies

Reciprocal benefits would mean that you would qualify for elite benefits similar to what you get on US.

Not sure how u/gs would work as we require everybody below EXP to purchase 500 mile stickers. Does US give comp UDU to everybody?

AA_EXP09

Yes.

eponymous_coward

Answered upthread.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/21826149-post2358.html

IMO, given some of AA's rules requiring published through-fares , and no Atlantic routings to South Asia, no Pacific routing to India, , and no routing through a higher-priced region even if you don't stop over , it is not a hard case to make that US offers better value in a lot of places on the award chart, especially given that US does not care if you do Pacific/Atlantic routing on the same award. The oneworld explorer award's pretty nice, given, but some of AA's rules are a real PITA compared to what you can get on a US award (and not everyone wants to have 46356536 stopovers).

superweak

A data point for people going to Europe: the LH codeshares apparently end starting March 29, and LX/SN end a day or two later. Right now it's not possible to book flights to anywhere in Europe that US doesn't fly to on its own metal; I hope they get some oneworld codeshare flights in ASAP.

Flyer78

What (coincidental?) timing that QR begins its PHL service one day into the reported OW join date...

username

I am pretty sure they will try to make it appear they are taking the best of both programs - to the extend that they want to keep people from going to other airlines. However, there will be some customer-unfriendly changes.

When US and HP merged, they quietly did away with the HP short-haul award - understandable since that would have included US Shuttle but the way they did away with it was not too nice (basically a new award chart without it - not any specific announcement for it).

With UA and DL already doing a whole bunch of customer unfriendly moves to their programs, the new AA won't be left out

jdvoigt

So I have an international itinerary leaving January 4th on Air Canada to CPH, and I return on January 18 on Austrian into IAD. Will I still accrue US miles, or should I switch mileage credit to my UAL FF#?