American AAdvantage 2016 Changes (Including Award Chart Devaluation)

Terrible.

Does this mean a pre-devaluation trip, like "the last aeroplan hurrah"? 🙂
That seems to be the only positive thing about this devaluation... is there anything I missed?

Sad indeed, BUT I'm glad we get a good amount of time to book flights.

Sorta in line with what the others have done in this space so not surprising, though.

BTW, who on earth would book BA first using AA miles now? It was bad enough when you included the fuel surcharges before, now it's just insane.

At work so didn't have time to delve into the entire post but are these changes in place now for awards booked after March 22nd or will the new redemption rates be applied after march 22nd?

@ Dawk -- They're for awards booked on/after March 22, even if travel is on a subsequent date.

It was fun while it lasted!

Bye bye Cathay to HKG in F. Geez. Glad I didn't waste much time looking.

They even copied the most ridiculous 75k mile cap.

Damn, and I just shifted to AA. Got any suggestions for which One World partner to move to next?

No more offpeak to Japan....

Really crappy. But they can't even invent crappiness, they had to copy it.

Hey Lucky,
How do you deduct that F Transcontinental on the 321t stays at the existing level? It would seem according to the new award chart that it would raise to 50,000. Other blogs are saying it goes up to 50. I am crossing my fingers you are right!

Ben,

1. Do the new EQM rates apply to partner airlines?
2. Prior to revenue based kicking in, do we know if the award miles earnings are changing as well?

@Tom

Was confused at first too, but the 321T will be on the AA award chart which is 25k in biz +7.5k for F for lower 48.

So with the new revenue model short haul flights (lets say 300 miles) on a $300 economy ticket would earn nearly as many miles as an economy cross country flight under current model?

@ John -- For partner airlines they'll award a percentage of flown miles, so I'd expect earnings rates to be cut. There shouldn't be changes to redeemable mileage earning prior to the revenue based program kicking in, aside from changes like what we've seen to British Airways earnings rates:
https://onemileatatime.com/reward-programs/airline-rewards/aadvantage/

So if I book a trip 330 days from the 21st of March 2016(early 2017) do I pay the old or new rate?

@ alexisonsmith -- Old rate.

@ Chris -- Correct. Revenue based mileage earning is good for those who primarily fly shorthaul and on full fare tickets.

@ Tom Davis -- The 50K pricing is for partner airlines, so would apply to Cathay Pacific from New York to Vancouver, for example. The chart for travel on American metal is different.

40,000 off peak economy round trip N America-Europe going away?

No more reason to be loyal to any one of them. I'm going to use my heard earned $ to buy discount 1st class fares.

so AA's award prices are a little less than UA's partner award prices, yet AA still has their silly routing restrictions. I kinda think UA has a "better" award chart now.

man, AA had the chance to do something different...were they really losing passengers to DL/AA that forced them to copy exactly what they did? Their earning calls showed they were doing FINE.

Hey Lucky,

Used your service to book ORD to BKK recently in F!!!! Thanks! Do you see any transfer opportunities into AA before March 22 from credit cards or hotel points? I have Hilton, Marriott, SPG....

@Tom @Lucky

JK think I am wrong. the 7.5K is a business class surcharge for 3 cabin J not F. Oof. Think it is 50k for 321T F and 32.5k for J.

@ Ben -- The way I read it, A321T transcon awards go up to 32,500 miles one-way in business class and 50,000 miles one-way in first class.

Also, what is the rule for partner award chart when the overwater segment is on AA. Say DFW-LHR in F on AA then LHR-CDG on BA in European J. Does that trigger partner award chart?

The award chart change isn't half way bad. 80K for a F award to Asia beats out UA and partner awards price the same level as AA. I bet because of YQ it doesn't cost AA nearly as much in BA F redemption as LH F redemption has costed UA in the old times so not surprisingly the rates didn't increase astronomically. It's all driven by microeconomics and in my book all make perfect sense.

This also shows that AA coordinated with BA in BA's change of award of 4500 avios Y awards in NA.

@ Lucky - on AA's own chart for J/F they have a bunch of categories marked by * (valid only on non-stop flights). Are rates going to be different if we have to fly through an AA hub, e.g. IAH-DFW-xxx?

P.S. This is not unexpected but still blows. I guess the only positive thing is they are giving a lot of advanced notice.

Actually never mind those are the save price if there is saver award space.

@AJ: Good idea. Any leads on where to buy discount 1st for international travel?

I think we all reasonably knew that 1st Class redemptions to Asia and the Middle East would be a bloodbath. Just had to. I mean, when I booked a flight to Tokyo for back in October my options at the time were 70k United miles to fly ANA in Biz or 62,500 AA miles in JAL First.

For my immediate travel plans, I am actually somewhat relieved. I was focusing on Biz to the Middle East and India. So, given what it could have been, an additional 5,000 miles roundtrip is not too bad. Assuming I am reading these changes correctly.

Disappointed by the steep increase in Biz to Australia, though. Not that I've often been able to find availability. But, capacity to Aus/NZ is increasing so that one is going to sting.

On the whole, as someone who doesn't differentiate all that much between Biz and First, I am reasonably relieved. Disappointed, but not devastated.

What about changes to awards? say something booked already, but changed after 3/22? do I get the old rate or the new? I have J booked on EY but planning on moving up to F when/if they release the seats last minute. Would I have to pay the new rate or the old?

Also, don't understand the + notation on the partner awards. How can you have an F award on a non-3-cabin plane, unless they mean the surcharge for only business class.

@ Szulcm1 -- Thanks for using our service! With a specific use in mind it could absolutely make sense to transfer Starpoints to American, but it's not something I'd do speculatively. Will have more analysis on the best options over the coming days. Stay tuned.

As someone who buys miles, I suppose the amount of pain will depend on how cheaply they sell miles in future. Some premium fares may still be a good deal if they start selling at less than 2 cpm.

I wonder if they'll remove some of their archaic routing rules at the same time (e.g. no Australian via Asia) to soften the blow. Lucky, anyone at AA you can reach out to about that possibility?

@ AdamH -- It shouldn't really make a difference one way or another, since it's 85,000 miles either way. That being said, when a partner is involved it would go by that award chart.

Ah figured out the + notation, it is just a weird way of calling it Business/[2-cabin] first.

@ Ivan Y -- That should only apply for flights of under 500 miles, where it does have to be nonstop.

Are they changing the ability to earn EQM through credit card spend?

We currently earn 10K EQM through Citi Executive card & another 10K EQM through Barclay Aviator Silver.

@ Arcanum -- Unfortunately no plans to do that, as far as I know.

I understand that it would be the old rate if I book a later flight before March 2016. But what happens if I change the date of a booked flight after March 2016? Would I need to top up the difference in miles?

I.e. Call AA before March 2016 to Book Cathay First class for a flight on 1 Dec 2016. Later in April 2016, if I need to change my flight from 1 Dec 2016 to 10 Dec 2016 - is it still free change/without top up in miles needed?

Thanks.

The devaluations should have gone further . Business and especially First class should be for paying customers only. Economy Mile receptions are reasonable.

Jackie

Ben, another part of AA making it easier to earn status is that they are the only one of the big 3 to not have a revenue requirement for earning status. Is this correct?

Oil's cheap and planes are full. Just wait until the economy turns again and they will be throwing miles at us to fill up seats.

I hope...

saw this coming so on the whole am not surprised but jesus, they really took aim at CX F redemptions. looks like my last trips on cathay first will be my next two bookings in jan and feb.

after march of next year i plan to use my AA miles for transcon J, that's it. will purchase AS miles for first cabin redemptions from here on out.

So is there any indication whether changes post March 22 will be at the old rate or the new rate? I have 5 CX business and 1 CX first in June of next year. Will I be able to change one or more of the business to first in June next year for 12,500 miles or will they be looking for 55,000 miles?

@ SamuelH -- We don't know for sure yet, but my guess is that you can make changes as long as the award doesn't have to be repriced. A reprice would be triggered by changing the award type. But I suspect a simple date change wouldn't trigger an increase in mileage cost. Keep in mind a ticket has to be flown within a year of the date it was issued, though.

@ Jackie -- Heheheh.

@ AFlyer -- Yep, that is indeed true.

It was completely unsustainable for AA to have redemption rates that much cheaper than everyone else. Obviously, if you're comparing it against today's award chart, the huge increase in F pricing looks devastating. However, I'm honestly not that upset for a couple reasons. First, with all-aisle access the new normal for business class, the hard product just isn't that much worse in C than F (business class on cx isn't exactly slumming it). While some put a high value on the champagne, I tend to sleep whether I'm in F or C. Second, it could have been much, much worse. We still have award charts, and they're still better than the competition. What's going to hit a lot harder is the revenue-based earning, especially the double-whammy platinums get. What remains to be seen is whether revenue management is less stingy once the new redemption rates are in effect. Given the routing rules, Asia 1 availability has always been limited to what JL offers, with award seats on AA itself almost as rare as Qantas.

@ farnorthtrader -- Not 100% sure, but doubt they'll let you change the award type from business to first without repricing.

Ouch - my plans of using LAN SCL-AKL just got gutted. From 50K to 82.5K in business. That is terrible.

Time to email: sean.bentel@aa.com and kerry.philipovitch@aa.com and let them know that their product just is not good enough to be the same as UA/DL... I switched to AA before the merger, they were great, now with the merger I hate flying them more than UA.. now with a crappy programme they become the airline I'd least fly of the 3.

I hate that they say 2nd half of 2016, means I have to assume that I will switch to another airline before that... at least give us the Quarter it is happening in.

While I don't like these changes, I don't think AA had much choice here. They've printed way too many miles and there aren't enough award seats to go around for the number of outstanding miles, unfortunately. I remember reading about Cathay executives complaining about too many AAdvantage members redeeming for Cathay F back when there was talk about Cathay restricting F redemptions for their own members.

Cathay and JAL availability are not as good as it used to be even at last minute right now. Hopefully they'll be more available seats after March because I think that cheap award prices and no availability is worse than an expensive award chart with some availability.

Was planning to travel late feb 2017 (honeymoon) to Asia 2. Seems it should be possible to book earlier in feb before the devaluation and then change the date of travel when tickets become available 330 days out. Will be gold so $75 fee should be waived. Is that possible?

@ Michael -- That should work, as long as you keep in mind that tickets are only valid for a year from the date they're issued.

If I booked one of the $1400 J fares NYC-Europe that would have earned me about 30k+ RDM will now only earn 15k for me and 11k for my platinum wife. Will I earn under the old chart if booked before the change happened?

Does this mean we can book at the old rates until March 21st for future travel?

@ Jorge -- Correct.

@ Angus -- When are you traveling? If during the first half of 2016, old earnings rates should still apply.

Etihad Residence alert/spoiler - Middle East to South Pacific changes from 60k to 100k one-way.

Etihad Apartment alert/spoiler - Middle East to South Pacific changes from 60k to 100k one-way.

Since AA doesn't charge a fee to change the dates of an award flight as long as the origin and destination stay the same, if someone wants to travel say Summer 2017, can they simply book an award flight with the desired route for a dummy date now under the current rates, then change the dates for free when Summer 2017 becomes bookable without having to pay the increased mileage amounts?

@ Rich -- That wouldn't work because award tickets are only valid for a year from the date they're issued.

It's good that LHR-AUH stays at 40,000 🙂

The more I think about this, the more I keep coming back to the same conclusion: my alaska miles increased in value today.

Two travel currencies (SPG, AA) die in as many days.

Time to collect more Alaska miles.

It's even worse for flying with partners. For example, all non-full-fare economy tickets on Alaska and British will only earn 50% EQM starting January 1. What a mess.

And even Business only earns 1.5x EQM on partners (vs. 2x or 3x on AA).

Two comments: 1) AA has always being a copycat of Delta. Delta is the big brother than takes the risk and move first. AA is the scared little brother that is always afraid of the consequences but at the end wants to follow the big brother. In sum, they follow what Mr. Anderson decides. 2) Why in the world would someone want to fly AA international first class? The only reason would be to brag to friends you flew first class. If your friend knows a little bit about travel hey would laugh at you. Keep your miles to fly real first class and not this joke that AA calls first class.

The rates for certain premium cabin travel originating outside the USA go up 50-80%!!!

For example LHR-AUH-SYD in J/F on EY (A380 routes). Used to be 30k/40k for J/F on the first leg now jumping to 42.5k/62.5k for a blended increase of 49%.

On the AUH-SYD sector the cost increases from 45k/60k to 80k/100k for a blended increase of 72%.

Thanks AA. Sounds like I should avoid flying you and if I do, credit the miles to AS, which hasn't (yet) devalued their program. The extra bonus miles you're offering until mid 2016 don't make up for this massive devaluation.

So currently if I buy a $450 LAX-DCA ticket (2,300 miles flown) I get the 4,600 EQMs r/t + 4,600 bonus miles for being platinum or EXP. 9,200 total Advantage miles.

2nd half of next year that same $450 ticket earns 2,250 miles for no status, 3,150 miles for gold, 3,600 miles for platinum or 4,950 miles for EXP. I would need to buy an $836 ticket to get the same amount of FF miles.

To me this kills the deep discount mileage earning, specifically the big mileage runs some of us have done to accrue AAdvantage miles. With redemption rates going up, we're going to have to either buy higher priced flights or find other ways to earn miles.

You know what is bizarre, travel from Canada/Alaska to Asia 1 in business is 65,000 yet only 60,000 for US. For Europe it is 62,500 and 57,500. Those are huge differences! Are there other airline charts that charge a "surcharge" for departures from Canada? It is usually the same for both Canada and US is it not?

Yes they seem to have hammered the 1st class rewards, but for me I use miles to avoid coach, so the business class awards are still ok for me.

So here's my optimistic approach: American isn't that great anyway. I think everyone ran to it because "yay not revenue based," but really, the service doesn't inspire me to stay loyal. So I'm not devastated that the three loyalty programs offer little differentiation in that regard. The award chart, on the other hand, is nuts and I can't help but feel bummed.

I think I'll be looking at Alaska now...

Is there any plans to change the routing rules? Hopefully they will be more flexible like UA is with routing to Asia via Europe.

Lucky, any changes to redemption on Air Tahiti Nui?

@ pw -- Yep, just like the increase on all their other partners. Business class between the US and South Pacific (which includes Tahiti) goes from 62,500 miles to 80,000 miles.

@ Jorge -- Haven't heard anything to that extent.

@ jim -- That is indeed quite odd.

@ Mateusz -- In first class? It doesn't. It increases to 62,500 miles.

Sri Lanka is moving to Middle East zone, which means no more awards to fly there via HKG.

So under the new regime, does the AA flight JFK-LHR in discount business earn more EQM than the BA flight JFK-LHR in discount business?

Traveling in July but booked several months ago. Hope I earn under the old chart or I will be mighty pissed.

@ deelizzle -- For the first half of 2016 it does, though after that it depends what the fare would otherwise be.

@Ben, It's weird, the award chart you posted on here only displays off-peak for Europe and no other awards. On the website I found a chart with off-peak asia 1, Hawaii, etc... (with an increase of course). Which is correct? Is Europe the ONLY off-peak available with the new changes? I find that hard to believe...

I stockpiled all these AAdvantage miles and now for what! These changes really piss me off.

This is the nail in the coffin of the mileage run/mileage game.

@ Joe -- Whoops, not sure why that is. Updated the post to reflect the correct chart. Sorry about that.

I can't find if they are changing any fees (like change fees) or policies (allowing you to move around for free to another dates). Some of BA's policies are really good, especially cancellation fees, so this would impact significantly the value of AA miles to me. I hope that doesn't change especially now that they are charging more.

I find it fascinating that they are increasing the cost of upgrades while trashing the onboard product. One reason I didn't mind buying upgrades previously was because the product was good - better than the others. Now they want me to spend more money for a MUCH poorer quality onboard?

@ Lee -- No changes to AAdvantage fees.

For what it's worth, looks like business class award redemption on AA metal to Mexico have gone down from 30,000 miles one way to 27,500. I'm booked for a flight that leaves Jan 3. I wonder whether they'll agree to deposit some miles back although the chart doesn't go into effect until after my travel is complete.

Bummed about the huge increase for F. I will credit all my flights to AS now. Hopefully, AS will not change drastically anytime soon.

@lucky, thanks!. I wouldn't even consider it usually, but the change goes into effect 10 days before I can book for my trip (and can't really do honeymoon before wedding)

As one posted mentioned, AS earning is gutted at 50%

If you look, ALL partners now earn 50% EQM unless you book Y/B (though even Iberia B is 50%)

I hope everyone does take the time to email AA and let them know the only reason they fly them and deal with the bad service (post merger) was the AAdvantage program.

I can't believe the gutting of the partner EQMs

American moving to a revenue based system is a the biggest negative in the news to me. That means it will be difficult to earn miles through flying. For example, an $1,000 round trip LGA-DFW-HKG moves from earning 36,000 miles to 11,000 miles as an Executive Platinum. Brutal. I will seriously have to reconsider my allegiance to American in 2017.

When they switch to a revenue based system, won't that make it much easier to re-qualify for status? An exec platinum will need to spend ~$9,000 through the course of the year to get to 100,000 miles.. or am I interpreting this wrong?

@ Dits -- The revenue based system applies to redeemable miles and not to elite qualifying miles.

really bad copy paste.
but its seems like they didn't copy "elite status revenue requirements" am i right?

Here is a tricky question. I have a business award booked on Cathay under the current level, but travel is after the change. Can I still grab any F space that opens in the last week at the old rate or will the upgrade double my cost?

Any idea if they're changing the elite mileage bonus (i.e. 100% bonus for Plats)? I saw rumors that was going to happen, but nothing in the official announcement that I could find.

@ lagoon -- Correct.

@ Ken -- Nothing is changing regarding that in the first half of 2015. However, with revenue based earnings, Platinum members will earn 8 miles per dollar compared to 5 miles per dollar for non-elites, so I guess that equates to a 60% mileage bonus.

@ Bourbon -- Not positive, but since it's a change in award type I suspect it will trigger the new award cost.

*SIGH*.......

The only question now is "Do I quit my job and travel all next year in CX F"... ?

AA is now one of the worst reward program after doing away with stop over and now this award devaluation.

Time for bloggers to quit and time to use cash back cards cos the gov rarely ever devalues currency.

Love my 2% back on everything everyday card.

will be canceling my AA cards just like i have done with UA cards cos we all know these programs are a SCAM!

I agree with Scott about letting American know how lousy these changes are. Especially for Executive Platinums. As an alternative to emailing them, I'd suggest using Twitter so that the entire world can see our displeasure. Perhaps we can create a new hashtag #rAACe2thebottom or #Going4notgreAAt?

Lucky, it would seem like you have an opportunity to lead the call for real change and innovation through your blog. Will you?

SPG and AA were also my two main reward programs....sigh.

I just booked tickets YESTERDAY for April 2016 on Alaska assuming that I'd earn 1 EQM per mile flown. Now they tell me that they are changing the rules and I will only get 0.5 EQM? I'd think that entitles me to a refund - you can't change the rules after I've purchased a ticket...

Ben,

How can they say "second half of 2016" with regard to redeemable miles changing to the Delta/United model that kills us Executive Plats.

I have travel booked for 2016 and would like to know how much I am earning. When will they release exact date (July 1, October 1?)

The bloggers and its readers demanded award increase and you got it now from AA.

You have been saying, "please devalue advantage miles, "increase award blah blah but give me advance notice and if you give me advance notice, you don't mind devaluation! Remember"?

If advance notice is given, you were all for devaluation!

Some region changes in there too... Sri Lanka moves from Asia 2 to Indian Subcontinent :/

Well, this is crap that AA did this. Do you know if Concierge Key is going to be affected? With Concierge Key you get 2 extra SWUs for free each year so I hope that is not brought down to one. Hopefully they can bring it up to 4 extra 😉

So lucky what are the programs for next year? Since starwood and American have changed so much or is that a different post?

@ jim -- Yeah, no. American hasn't devalued their award chart in a major way in several years, and this was inevitable. This has nothing to do with bloggers or readers.

Hi Ben - do the eqm earning rates apply to partner travel?

By which I mean, flying on parter airlines

@ Tom -- Nope, they'll continue to have separate charts.

Lucky..Being an AA Plat... I bought the mistake fare ($1250) BA F from DXB - LHR - LAX for Jan 2. Shall I use Alaska to deposit my miles or continue with AA? Also, the deval happens on Jan 1st or the middle of 2016 for mileage accrual?

Well good thing I used my miles for CX J to HKG and CX F from HKG-US this past August. Just booked myself in J on QF DFW-SYD-MEL in July as well. I was originally going for JNB on QR but it seems that award has remained at 75K.

So..... looks like Alaska becomes the leader in terms of value? But like someone else mentioned, with SPG more than likely going away and now AA being devalued what program for airlines/hotels should we start focusing on for 2016 and beyond?

So when will the hammer really hit and Alaska follow the US3?

As I start looking for CX first class tickets for next year, is BA's site the best way to search? Is the week-by-week the only way to see partner flights, or does the month view work for that?

SPG yesterday and now this. Even as a current Plat100 with SPG and EP with AA, the point of traveling for work is greatly diminishing.

@ Andrew -- Yep, BA's site is typically the best place, and more or less have to go day by day.

@Lucky - Thanks.

Anyone seeing any availability early next year?

Concierge Key and lifetime "x" statuses will all be eliminated in the second half of 2016. You heard it here first.

@Andrew there is availability but it is very sparse. i'd shoot for CX J, seems to have better availability in march/april/may. what is especially troubling is i'm seeing no JL availability for late april/early may, even in Y+ and J.

I really want to yell when I read this breaking news. This is one of the worst news ever this year. I hate American Airline.

Man I've been busy at work so I don't' get to browse your site as much as I usually. I check in for the first time in a few weeks and this is what I see. FML

@Lucky's "Bottom Line" that "I was hoping the “new American” would want to do something to differentiate themselves from Delta and United post integration, given that both airlines have devalued their program to no end. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be the case, and instead American was just waiting for the integration to copy-cat the competition" says it all...

With AA joining DL and UA as their carbon copy, the transition of the US airline to a "collusive oligopoly" is now complete. How so? Because UA copied DL, the de facto cartel leader, and now AA just copied both UA and DL. Moreover, innovation is out of the window in a collusive oligopoly. Judge for yourself by reading the following scholarly description of "collusive oligopoly" and its "modes" or types (the type of collusion that the US airlines have adopted is clearly "tacit"):

------------------------------------------------------------------

Collusive oligopolies
Another key feature of oligopolistic markets is that firms may attempt to collude, rather than compete. If colluding, participants act like a monopoly and can enjoy the benefits of higher profits over the long term.

Types of collusion

Overt
Overt collusion occurs when there is no attempt to hide agreements, such as when firms form trade associations like the Association of Petrol Retailers.

Covert
Covert collusion occurs when firms try to hide the results of their collusion, usually to avoid detection by regulators, such as when fixing prices.

Tacit
Tacit collusion arises when firms act together, called acting in concert, but where there is no formal or even informal agreement. For example, it may be accepted that a particular firm is the price leader in an industry, and other firms simply follow the lead of this firm. All firms may ‘understand’ this, but no agreement or record exists to prove it. If firms do collude, and their behaviour can be proven to result in reduced competition, they are likely to be subject to regulation. In many cases, tacit collusion is difficult or impossible to prove, though regulators are becoming increasingly sophisticated in developing new methods of detection.

---------------------------------------------------------------

One can only hope that the DOJ, which approved the mega-mergers that have now led to this oligopolistic cartel, will move quickly to undo it before it bankrupts the consumer!

Easy conclusion: next year, AA will introduce a new MEGA EXECUTIVE PLATINUM level in order to devalue again the executive platinum and of course to..."reward our most loyal customers"...
A pity. This program WAS great.

Hi Ben,

I use AA to book awards from Sydney, Australia to Europe (generally London) and back.

Will there be much impact for my J class travel?

Am I better off, henceforth, to buy points on Alaska?

Thanks very much!

Regards,

Darshak

DCS good quote. However, I am not sure what I want the DOJ to do exactly.

i am new to this. How does american airlines changing their redemption rate on a flight to thailand affect cathay pacific flight?
trying to get a first class ticket to thailand
I could not even find anything on AA to thailand.
does the aa miles required for the cathay pacific award go up too??

Ughh, this is terrible. CX LAX-HKG was my favorite flight since I could dine across from my wife. I think a 20k point increase for F and 10k point increase for J would have been fair. But I know they're just matching closely to the other two legacy carriers. And since we're in Denver the 500 mile flights are worthless to us; there's nothing within 500 miles except for SLC.

Whoever thought less competition would benefit the consumer was an idiot. It very, very rarely happens this way.

Seriously was anyone in their right minds not expecting these changes? The min the news about the leaked program came out I burnt my AA miles. Just hope Alaska does not change anything on their chart. Who knows maybe AA will bring in the 100% bonus miles purchase 😉

Just quit AA exec platinum and bought my own plane to travel. F the TSA, commercial air travel.

Hey Lucky,

A few questions...

Considering redemption rates are lower in many markets than United's partner rates, it is easier to obtain status than United because of the EQM system, giving you more miles, would you say that the new program is still better than both United and Delta?

If many awards cost more miles, do you think that people with lots of miles (like you) will have better chances of finding space since some people won't be able to afford the new rates with the same availability?

Do you think domestic upgrade ability for EXPs will still be better than 1Ks, because there are so many 1Ks on each United flight, especially out of places like Chicago? And are four systemwide upgrades without fare restrictions with the potential to earn more better than just six with restrictions?

While these changes aren't good, I'm trying to figure out whether they're better than United and Delta.

Flying Business Australia to NZ go up from 17500 miles to 25000 miles - that's not good.

Flying Business Australia to Sri Lanka goes up from to 35000 miles to 80000 miles.
Is this the worst miles devaluation by percentage with these changes?

@ ray -- You have to fly a partner airline to get to Thailand, and the price of that type of award in a premium cabin is increasing significantly. These types of awards have to be booked via American's call center.

@ Darshak -- Prices are increasingly significantly, though Alaska isn't really a good alternative, since you can't redeem miles for them for travel between Australia and Europe.

You're not an economy guy, Lucky, but UA's cost in E to Europe is 60K, not 70.

Lucky. You do know that there is a way to earn extra redeemable miles beyond the 11 per dollar for EXP's right? Definitely works on Delta as I'm Diamond and have done it for 2 years. Will see I'd it works on AA.

Hey Lucky,
Do you think there is a way that we can all get together and complain to AAdv about theses changes? After all we are customers, they should listen to us.

Lucky - which route is not allowed: US to Asia 1 via Asia 2, or Asia 2 via Asia 1?

@Cris - Can't tell if you're actually serious...

@mangoceviche - You cannot route USA-Asia 1 via Asia 2. So LAX-HKG-NRT is not allowed. It's too bad too, because that would open up CX to Japan. I've done BKK-HKG-HND-SFO before on a mixed CX/JL routing in F and it was wonderful. BKK-HKG was CX's old J and was very dated, but the other direction was in their new long haul J and was great.

Here's to hoping that Alaska sees an opportunity to sell some miles and does a deal with AMEX and Chase as a transfer partner.