9 Things American Airlines Does Well, From AAdvantage, To Oneworld

This is a great reminder of the value AA provides.

It's just too bad that operationally and service-wise, they remain sub-par when compared to the other Big Two legacy US carriers.

Areas for improvement in the ground experience: 1) private TSA at Flagship check-in locations (like Delta One and BA's First Wing), 2) follow Delta's lead regarding lounge look and feel, and 3) do something about the LHR International First Class lounge.

Oneworld is the smallest, least useful alliance of the three. At the vast majority of outstation airports they'll send everyone to the same lounge (if they even have a contract in place) while many, if not most, of their hubs don't have a first-class lounge either.

They can offer the moon on a stick as an elite benefit, but that still wouldn't change the fact that there are lots of places to which they just don't go. This isn't just a function of having fewer members- many of their members don't fly to lots of places. As an example, there are 13 mainline Lufthansa destinations in Spain while the entire oneworld alliance combined serves just 8 German airports.

... and of course their elite benefits aren't that good either when you consider that Skyteam offer ALL elites free baggage on ALL fares. Unlike the sporadic availability of oneworld first class lounges, the baggage benefit is something that can be used on every single Skyteam flight.

@ Lee -- Agree the International First Class Lounge London isn't great, though in fairness, travelers are spoiled with choice when it comes to T3 LHR lounges, so I can hardly complain there. 🙂 Agree regarding the other two points.

BA flies to 15 places in Spain? WTF are you talking about lmao

youre being modest on the points value. Being choosy about redemptions I've averaged closer to 2.5cpp. With Delta tough to get over 1.3. As much as this blogs comments gets sidetracked with weird snipping between airline fanboys, at the end of the day its a points blog. and AA's are worth double. So i dont care if they spit in my face every flight I'll still fly them if the price is right

Not BA, Lufthansa!

Do Lufthansa even fly to more than 8 German airports? It's not a huge country!

You forgot to mention Lufthansa's great service. Silly goose.

I can see some conflicting stuff in the wikis, but I know for a fact they do fly to NUE and DRS, both major cities without oneworld service.

@Lee mediocre service is better than no service! I don't really enjoy most of my flights on Lufthansa, but they're far better than not being able to fly where and/or when you need.

I maintain tier status in both One World and Sky Team. I have many points vested in both alliances. So, no bone to pick here. It is also possible to get 2.5 cents out of Delta points by being choosy about redemptions.

let's also be clear that, AA does buy loyalty as a result of not carrying the number of high value passengers that DL and UA do - which is why their redemptions are more costly.
Given that DL has been at a premium strategy with a focus on domestic size in the biggest corporate markets for the longest of the big 3 which means that a higher percentage of their revenue is negotiated and points are a bonus for alot of their passengers with companies picking up the tab, it is not a surprise that DL's formula works for it.

Non-AA Oneworld Sapphires and Emeralds (such as BA Silver and Gold) can access Flagship lounges even on solely domestic itineraries, including in Basic Economy!

Furthermore, I like how easy it is to shower at most AA hubs. Plenty of showers in all Flagship lounges (and most Admirals Clubs), rarely have to wait at all, even during peak hours. Meanwhile UA hubs either have horrendous wait times (was quoted 1hr at IAD Polaris once) or no showers at all (DEN). Yes, I know, the old US Airways clubs in CLT and PHX don't have showers either, but UA built three brand new huge United Clubs in Denver and didn't include a single shower?! I know they are constructing a Polaris lounge there, but AA is reportedly planning a huge new CLT club, too.

I don't fly AA internationally often enough to have a firm opinion. However, I do fly them a lot domestically (mostly in first class) along with United. I hardly find any difference in their domestic service. But then, I don't knit pick.

yeah, over the past few years it has become clear that, while UA is really more premium in terms of reliability and intl destinations, AA is generally going to be the move for US-based flyers who can afford to be discerning

Good read. Agree completely that, at present, American's loyalty program provides the most bang for your buck for American carriers. I just had five SWUs clear for a Friday flight from PHL to LHR on a 787-9P. That's an incredible value. Living in Nashville, I do wish AA would add more European flights from CLT and build out a Flagship Lounge there, but that's really just a nitpick.

100% agree with Harold. Unless they are offering a fare sale, accruing / redeeming anything on DL or UA makes little sense (even DL management knows this and had to concede a guaranteed discount to the Amex cardholders to entice people to keep renewing). Ben's 1st point is spot on, AAdvantage is a strength and AA knows what they got ($30bn valuation of AAdvantage, in fact, vs $27bn for SkyMiles). As an Atlanta based flyer with comped Royal Jordanian status, I'm lucky my routings don't force me to be hub captive and I can use the flagship lounges domestically b/w ATL and JFK / MIA. And no lines down the terminal to get in 🙂

Absolutely agree, Master Dunn. Delta’s premium strategy really shines, especially when I get to board in Zone 8 with no carry-on and redeem 57,000 SkyRubles for a Tuesday flight to Des Moines.

Nothing says corporate luxury like seat 35E and a Biscoff cookie

I think your point is that Delta points can be worth less because Delta converts a lot of its corporate travelers to personal travelers. Which is true - why fly AA if you are already flying Delta for work. And as long as you are building miles with their loyalty program, might as well go all in and get the Delta credit cards as well. Lots of spend on those cards earning a lot of miles that don't need to be worth as much because interacting with the brand is more powerful than the value of the Delta miles.

AA doesn't have that luxury and needs its value proposition with individuals to be greater.

For 3, I think AA’s best bet is to close the lounge and give that budget and lease to Cathay and Qantas, so they can provide great services to AA flyers 😉

The loyalty points program and the AA Executive card are terrific. OWE status is also terrific. AA's actual product is mid at best. But not everything has to be more than fine.

And while I know it's not your thing for lots of reasons, booking hotels through AA Hotels with the AA Exec card remains the single best way of earning AA miles/LPs and OWE status (other than flying of course). 10x miles per $ with the AA Exec card when booking through AA Hotels (1x base/LP; 9x bonus). And then whatever extra base miles are offered through AA Hotels which can be very significant (up to 15k miles/LPs per transaction), especially when traveling internationally, and those rewards are increased significantly 1) if you hold any AA card, even a $0 fee one and 2) if you have any AA status, even Gold which just takes 40k LPs. And if you are in the 20% or 30% LP bonus when spending with AA partners (earned at 60k/100k LPs) then it's even better.

AA is the best of the US3 for me in YYZ. Flying to/from Asia I nearly always get my "positioning" segment to NYC/ORD/PHL/CLT added to the itinerary for free. Consistent last-minute availability JL F, with a J segment home to YYZ, for 110k and trivial taxes/fees. It's amazing how little I fly on AC metal when AA has such an AAdvantage. Hub captive? Moi?

@TravelinWilly These frequent operational and service deficiencies alone justify significant criticism of AA as a carrier, and makes them a "terrible" airline. When an airline fails to execute basic services reliably and thus only primarily serves as a points accumulation platform for redemptions on partner airlines, they are not an airline but a points piggy bank.

Apologies for a post off-subject, but I have been trying to write it for several days and this seems to be the least bad place:

Is American starting to blur the lines between Executive Platinum and Platinum Pro, and if yes with what intention?

I was very surprised the other day, to be admitted to the Flagship Check-in zone in JFK on a flight to London, to which I normally should not have access. I was sent there by the bouncer monitoring the simple "Premium" check-in zone.

Seen recently on a AA advertisement for AAdvantage Elite (on their own website I am almost certain):
" Executive Platinum and Platinum Pro members receive free upgrades as early as 120 hours before their flights"

2 errors ? Possibly but unlikely. It crossed my mind that this might be offered to LIFE Platinum Pro as I am, but the second statement is for everybody to see...

Has anybody noticed the same thing or am I imagining things ?

I left AAdvantage for QR Privilege Club and the Avios alliance. It became too costly to attain PP since the transition to loyalty points. QR J BKK to JFK for 95k Avios works for me.

You definitely get access to Flagship "seated" check-in at JFK as Platinum Pro which is also Oneworld Emerald. If you have access to Chelsea or Soho (you get Soho on flights to Europe as Platinum Pro) you get access to Flagship check-in.

As for upgrades, AA website says 72 hours for PPro and 100 hours for EP. Not sure where the 120 comes from (CK may get 120 hours) although Elites at Delta/United start to get processed at 120 I believe. As a practical matter it's usually the day before / morning of at best.

All that said, PPro is definitely the sweet spot in the AA loyalty program for many, especially if you value OWE over the chance of a domestic upgrade.

let's be clear that the reason why DL can charge more for awards is because they are the largest carrier of corporate contract revenue in the US; many of the miles that are accrued on DL are on tickets paid for by businesses. DL gains loyalty passengers via corporate and business travel and does retain them for their personal travel.

AA simply is at the opposite end of the spectrum as DL and many of DL's gains in major competitive markets have come from AA.

UA is in between DL and AA.

It is not a surprise that AA is the discounter among the big 3 including in the "value" of their loyalty program

For years I have had oneworld Sapphire status. (As I mentioned elsewhere, I'll soon qualify for oneworld Emerald.) This has all been achieved by flying Alaska. The few AA flights I've taken are credited to my Mileage Plan account. When I do fly AA, their website tells me that my upgrades to Premium and/or First class have been requested. That may be, but not once have I been upgraded on American. OTOH, I've flown 17 times on AS so far in 2025, and I have been upgraded to F on 10 of those 17 flights

This reminds me of the statement (I forget from where) that the AMEX Gold card has become a metal coupon book.