I wonder how the Million mile program will work out with the merger. will balances from US add to the count to MM or will it be the current rules and the just treat them like RDM and not count towards MM status.

This has been a disaster for the business traveler. With the US Airways c-suite-team taking over the responsibilities of pricing, marketing, operations, service, and product that means that this is a US Airways acquisition.

If you had asked me 3 years ago what my two least favorite airlines were I would have said US Airways and Continental. Flash forward and the only remaining airlines are US Airways, Continental, and Delta (who has since completely destroyed their FF program).

Delta's empty husk of a FF program is of no use to me which means my two most hated airlines are my only two options. It's really a shame how this played out for the business traveler.

If they don't restart PHX-NGO, I'll be majorly disappointed.

2014 will most likely be my last year of Elite status. Enough is Enough. Business Travellers have endured too much.. and the Airlines think we will keep flying them no matter what they do. I will still fly but my loyalty should not be taken for granted.

Oh boy... Let's hope Agony Air does not ruin the good times over @ AA..

What part of any of the announcements led you to believe that this wasnt a US Acquisition...

Physically where the headquarters is located has no bearing on who is in charge. After all, US is - legally and financially - acquiring AA.

UA proved that. CO is running it despite still being a Chicago airline. :td:

And if the govt. had kept out of it, and didn't try to pick winners and losers, we would've had a CO/NWA merger years ago. 2 airlines that maintained some semblance of customer service.

Of course, no one knows. A CO/NWA may have ended up destroying customer service just as badly as DL/NWA did. (Hard to believe, but maybe)

Still, I'm not nearly as gloomy as some of you. Considering what bad shape AA was in, what better outcome were you hoping for? Put another way: think of how bad the AWA balance sheet was when Doug Parker arrived: one small step ahead of the grim reaper. I'm more willing to give Parker a shot at turning around AA than anyone else in the current crop of CEOs.

I'm sure they'll turn around the balance sheet but I fear it will be one 28-inch-Y-seat-pitch airplane with 4 business class seats at a time.

Yes the US team will be running the new american but it's just legally and financially UNTRUE it was an acquisition. Far from the case. Parker played the game better no doubt. But lack of understanding to call it in any form an acquisition. AA creditors get over 70% of the stock in the new entity.

Come on. US has even gone as far as installing F cabins on most of the Express fleet - I think it's just some CRJs that don't have it now. But to echo what others have said, what outcome were you looking for? Airlines aren't making money. Whatever they were handing over to their elites wasn't fixing it. In the meantime, US is pretty healthy and still probably has the best upgrade rate of any of the domestics.

Maybe this is the perspective of a bottom tier elite who's happy to have anything (me), but what are you really giving up here? US has 4 tiers with solid benefits. The only thing I like better on the AA side is using certs/SWUs instead of automatic upgrades, just so you can prioritize and have a better shot.

If there's anything I'll miss, it's the US *A award chart, but life will go on.

As an AA elite I certainly haven't been excited about the upcoming merger... but I doubt you'll find many AA elites who, while agreeing that elite benefits and the FF program on AA have been outstanding, won't acknowledge that over the past decade, AA's management basically drove the airline into the ground and really didn't seem to have any plan to turn it around other than their ridiculous strategy of 5 cornerstones and leaving a good deal of international flying to their partners.

What Areas of AA would you like to see filter to
 

US Air. AA does have some programs, customer service practices that are not only worth preserving - but could be welcome additions to US Air flyers.

What are these?

I would have started a new thread -

When Northwest and Delta merged, the surviving card was AmEx, not US Bank. WorldPerks cardholders kept their US Bank accounts but were moved to a generic rewards card.

Last year, in a move that may or may not have been related to hedging its bets about losing the US Airways affinity business, Barclays introduced a generic travel awards card called Arrival. I would guess that US cardholders will be switched over to Arrival.

Partner flying is better for me as long as I get low fares and 100% mileage.