American's Elite Flyers Are No Longer Travel Pros

I think on holidays which were traditionally quiet and upgrades almost guaranteed in the past will be different.

The whining in this comment thread will be epic.

I'm curious how you discovered this: "I sat next to an Executive Platinum member who didn’t know how to work the tray table, or where the power outlets were, and also asked the flight attendant if it was complicated to make connections at DFW, and if there were multiple terminals."

Did you figure this out by chatting with your neighbor (as an introvert, I'm surprised you did this) or was the person greeted by the crew as an "Executive Platinum Member"?

Americkan Airlines is still number one when it comes to quality product, service and cabinned crews. This is a slight adjustment but in a few months they will be among the worlds top three airlines. Ask me how I know this? because I earned CK by dodgy methods and my wife is EP earned by cards so is my sonny boy.
Have faith my friends and keep following this number one blog.

The real tragedy I’m taking from this post isn’t that people with status don’t know the basics of flying, but that there are people who exist that put $200K on crappy cobranded credit cards.

@ nate nate -- While taking meal orders, flight attendant said "thank you both for being Executive Platinum members."

$200k a year on a cobranded credit card?!?! If you have that much spend you have to be really ignorant to put all of it on an AA card. Also what do you think the ratio is of miles traveled vs dollars spent elites is?

I'm surprised so many people are using that credit card to get status. Much better cards to spend on if you are spending $200k+.

In the meantime, chances are the newly minted Exec Plat nitwit who can’t figure out the tray table is occupying a seat that should have gone to a “traditional” Exec Plat or Plat Pro member who is a lowly road warrior sitting in the back.

Thanks for recognizing your real customers, AA!

This is right in line with my recent experience. I've also noticed the number of people in Group 1 boarding explode.

The coupon-clipping set is really leaning into the challenge to get to 200k LPs. They won't stop when they get PP. Booking on RocketMiles, signing up for the Motley Fool just to get 7000 LPs... AA status is so gamified now, and there are lots of people who will play the game even if they don't get a great ROI from the resulting benefits.

To be fair, it seems they are acknowledging that "traditional" Exec Plat members are not their "real customers".

One of the reasons I am putting 200k on AA cards is because I need AA miles

You do realize that the more people that put $200k on "crappy cobranded" cards, the less likely it is that AA will devalue miles, right? Barclays and Citi pay a ton of $ for the miles. Banks don't want too much devaluation to occur, lest people stop signing up for the "crappy" cards. Not everyone cares to play the points game. It's not a tragedy - it is better for us.

As Ben has pointed out many times, the newly minted nitwit who earned EXP by cc spend is not flying nearly as much as road warriors are, and are rarely taking upgrades away. They don't fly nearly as much. Sure, that one flight where you were #1 on the list and didn't clear, it may have been a nitwit. But more likely it is another road warrior.

Does your comment count as whining? 😉

I have seen this too. On a recent overbooked domestic flight out of DFW in coach, an FA apologized to the woman seated in the row in front of me that he wouldn't be able to offer her a free snack as an EP because no snacks had been loaded. She was totally bewildered that this was even a thing and actually seemed a bit embarrassed to have been identified as an EP. I actually thought it was kind of charming, the reverse of the entitlement over the most trivial perks that otherwise seems so rampant.

Oh the inhumanity! Having to sit next to someone who isn't a "road warrior".

Let us remember we were ALL new to flying at some point and had to learn the ropes. In fact, as things change, we find new ropes to learn.

I think this was inevitable but I seriously doubt that there will be many who have earned status entirely on CC spend and other non-flying options. Plenty will have higher status than they otherwise might, but purely ground pounding, no.

As to the AA staff, they will quickly work out how to pick the frequent flyers from the frequent spenders.

I'm seeing this on Reddit too. I was surprised a fellow AAdvantage Gold member needed to ask whether he'd get elite benefits on an AA codeshared B6 flight, even thought that was clearly spelled out (and no, not because of the NEA being dissolved)

Sigh...

As a true road warrior who splits time between homes on two continents, I can empathize with the fact infrequent fliers are not as adept at seamlessly navigating airports or understanding the dizzying array of rules, protocols, and subtleties regarding air travel as myself. That being said, it has been apparent to me for decades now that the average air traveler is, quite frankly, stupid. From refusing to read signs inside the terminal, to asking “What is the gate for the flight to California?”, to demanding why “Flight DL 045 is late” (“Flight 45, ma’am?”; “No! Flight ZERO-four-five!”), just when I think I’ve heard and seen it all, someone again proves they shouldn’t be allowed out of their house unattended.

I'm officially whining about Super's whining about Never In Doubt's whining about the whining in this thread.

It’s actually a great move, corp level.
Only if you travel, AA pays for travel perks for your status. But now, those who doesn’t send the same money to AA to gain some social status over airline status while doesn’t (that) need earned perks which AA will pay for.
On our side, we may need to reconsider the meaning of an airline status. Is it just a byproduct of your passion for travel / continued business trips, or something to show off at a bar?

Hey for we million milers, me Delta & wife 2 mil AA, trust me they know. Usually get a thank you at ticket/bag/gate. Also gray hair on we men is a spot on.

Interesting read obviously the road warrior vs the cc nitwit as some label. I'm both sans the nitwit. Retired and million miler with Delta (butt in the seat flavor). Now I don't travel near as much. International usually once a year half dozen domestic. Usually fly 1st domestic and business, sometimes 1st international. Now I'm in the cc camp. It get's me a lot of perks and usually more than status ever would (did) by whatever the means. So for me who cares on status. Give me the miles by whatever the means. Can't fly status.

I know it’s a commonly made mistake, but “observation” isn’t the same thing as “complaint”.

Some “lowly road warriors” have the attitude that even once is too much.

The flip side is since new EPs are probably flying more domestic routes than complicated intl routes, the airline should find it easier to manage their problems.

I fly enough on AA and BA to earn 200,000 points a year from flying and their Executive Platinum status. However, sometimes I fly on planes with which I am unfamiliar. Recently I was placed on a flight from DFW to CDG which had no first class cabin. I had to ask the flight attendant how to use the seat, where the shoe was (there wasn't one) and the electrical sockets were hidden out of sight. With the increase in variety of planes and the changing of business classes etc., I think you'll have more questions about things. Additionally, we were asked to use the Admirals Club instead of the Flagship Lounge. I had many questions as I had never really been in an Admirals Club before. I prefer the feel of certain planes so I usually only book routes that feature 777-300 or the A380. Now with the world coming to pieces and all kinds of planes flying on all routes, questions will be more frequent.

It's an odd thing of the frequent flier community that sheer amount of flying is viewed as being worthy of benefits versus actual spend/profit. Nights spent in a hotel, number of cars rented, and numbers of miles flown have long been disconnected from actual profit for companies. And they are increasingly recognizing that fact by rewarding those who spend large sums of money versus those simply booking low profit travel on their companies dime. Even cruise ships have recognized this fact by providing the best perks for those staying in the most expensive cabins, versus reserving perks and spaces for those who travel frequently on interior staterooms.

Remember, airline status/ff programs, are not reward programs, but marketing centers. UL, DL, and AA can attribute all their corporate profits to their ff programs where cc companies pay for miles

Who said complaint?

Anyone spending $200k+ to get EP would have to completely ignore all the other opportunities. Up to 10k LPs/night for booking hotels on RocketMiles, for example. AAdvantage eShopping, AAdvantage Dining, SimplyMiles, BookAAHotels, etc. all offer LPs for spending, sometimes at multiples of 15x or more. There's a whole new cadre of status-hackers with Reddit threads to prove it. And yes, they occasionally earn miles from flying!

Have the EXP ranks really swelled much? My observation of Zone 1 boarding this year and last has seemed like the numbers have gone down since prepandemic days. I haven’t noticed any ignorance among the known EXP passengers I’ve been seated next to on domestic F flights.

I operate from the premise as an EXP I'm on my own and usually figure things out on my own and then get a telephone agent or Admirals Club staff to make the change. Sorry but now in the days of credit card income driving profitability and more monetizing the premium cabin as an EXP you're pretty much just another face in the crowd.

That is charming. Less charming is the operational failure that is AA. Catering, crew scheduling, handling weather, it's all a sloppy mess. For maybe a 90 min flight out of DFW catering might not be that big of an issue, but on LAX-PHL, I find that catering is often forgotten.

Lol...road warrior...what a stupid term.
Call it what it is, a person whose job requires to put in hours outside their work hours for free.

Do you think there are more or less Executive Platinum members under the new loyalty points system?

It's not about the shifting demographics.
People who think like that are dinosaurs stuck in the past.

The program itself had shifted. It's not a frequent flyer program anymore, it's a loyalty program. It rewards your loyalty not your frequent flying.

Just like airport lounges are no longer a quiet and calm oasis in the airport anymore, it's a credit card holder room with free food. It's about time they should rebrand them as Centurion cafeteria, Admirals chow, Delta SkyBuffet, United canteen.

These people gamifying an AA credit card and then flying a handful of times a year are just dumb. That they value status more than 200k (more or les) AMEX/Chase/Citi/Capital One points is just utterly irrational.

Looks like “bookaahotels.com” has been replaced by aadvantagehotels.com. The new program offers nowhere’s near the loyalty points and bonus miles that bookaahotels offered. Somewhat surprising given the bookaa room rates with very high loyalty point offerings were considerably more expensive the the rates for the new program. Seems there might be a limit as to how many loyalty points AA is willing to shell out after all.

Always amazing to me how many people are willing to donate so much time for the enrichment of their corporate overlords.

Everyone is missing one other way infrequent flyers can be AA EXPs... by working for a company that buys expensive business class tickets. I requalified for EXP in April this year based primarily on two trips -- one that cost $12K and another that cost $8k. Sure, I did a couple of cheap domestic trips in between and earned a handful of cc miles but they were a drop in the bucket. I'm sure there are people who take a handful of expensive trips -- or even one in full fare first -- and get to EXP. That's different than DL where you have to spend the dollars and earn the seat miles.

Some of those new AA EXPs may have very little understanding of how the airport, airline or program work.

While there may be some increase in EXP members because of credit card spend - I don't think it's a huge number of people. I have spent years as a AA Gold, Plat, and even PlatPro but never had quite enough flights to cross the EXP threshold. Now with credit cards, I can make it to EXP, but I am already familiar with the AA ecosystem. The followers of travel and points blogs may chase status via spend, but unless they really get a benefit out of it, they will move on to the next thing. I am the go-to person for travel advice from friends and family, but I still have to constantly check airline websites for updates to their policies. Confusion happens because the airlines are always changing policies and airline to airline things are different (for those of us who fly more than one airline). And let's not get started on whether or not airline staff are properly trained on all the new procedures. On a recent SFO - MIA flight, asked the FA do you have food onboard? He just handed me small bag of pretzels without responding and moved on. I was too sheepish to ask about the EXP food benefit, so never received the benefit.

Maybe to some extent there are less experienced travelers as executive platinum members, but if you rarely travel, I’m not sure you would find acquiring a fee credit card and spending $200k a worthwhile pursuit. More likely, with more paying first passengers, people that can’t operate the first tray may rarely be upgraded and not know how. American also has an inconsistent first class hard product.

You clearly don’t know anything about Corporate America…

It works both ways, too many times.
Agent : This is a Delta lounge not a (insert SkyTeam airline) lounge, you must use their lounge.
Me: But I'm an ElitePlus on a business class ticket.
Agent : This is for Delta passengers only.
Me: But the airline logo is right there. (pointing to the logo displayed)
Agent : That's just for show.

Then I left before they called the cops.

They typically will reward highest loyal spenders. I fly now maybe 4 times to Europe and few domestic flights all in paid business / first on Delta and paid first on Air France. I have lifetime Gold on Delta bc million miler status on flying before I slowed down. I qualify for platinum annuall now vs Diamond bc miles earned. But I can’t think when my Delta 360 hasn’t been renewed. It’s the fact they are making lots money off me because of types of ticket. I knew a person( sadly passed away ) who flew just twice a year on delta. From lax-Sydney. No credit spend, but full fare business in Delta One. She was given delta 360 and American instantly matched her too converge key

I’d be willing to bet the majority of non-frequent flying EXPs mentioned in this article did it based on lack of knowledge/poor credit card strategy. There are TONS of ppl out there who spend hundreds of thousands a year on co-brand cards. They’re dealing with so much money that targeted credit card spending doesn’t even cross their mind, or “miles are miles” to them. The .005 cent added value of a MR point vs AA mile seems big to us, but is a complete nothing burger for them.

Sure, some folks are “gaming” it via RocketMiles and Motley Fool kinda shenanigans, but the high-spenders are definitely the majority here

People show off their frequent flyer status at bars? Yikes.

Uh....sorry, but you're comments reflect the content of this blog post.

By the way, in economy the benefit is a free meal and alcoholic beverage if they happen to offer the "buy onboard" menu on your flight...and they don't always do for shorter segments. They have the pax data on their handhelds and therefore know who the EXPs are, and would have offered the benefit had they actually had the "buy onboard" service on your flight.

I tried bookaahotels for my travel for about 6 months. I wasn’t impressed. Almost half the time my miles never posted, and when they did it was only after a lag of several weeks.

I’m not gamifying anything. I have a corporate Citi AA card which we use for the rando stuff that needs a a card on file, but adds up to $10K many months. So I get more than half my loyalty points without even thinking. It allows employee users easily which has been a big help.

Easy to get the rest of the loyalty points with flights and other spend.

I don’t travel as much but appreciate the accelerated earn and higher priority if something goes wrong. Many of the agents in my home admirals club know me.

All that said, I’m taking far fewer upgrade slots than I used to, and I often try to buy F at booking to ensure my seat. Fewer trips, but more $ for the trips I do pay for.

I agree, but how much of that is that holidays no longer seem to have an off time? Used to love booking a Saturday afternoon on a 3-day weekend and come back Tuesday late. Doesn’t work anymore…still a sold out trip.

Now that you mention it, I saw something like this once earlier this year. I was on a short domestic flight sitting next to a guy in first class who had an EXP luggage tag on his bag. I'm not EXP and was a bit envious of his EXP status. But he didn't act like a seasoned traveler who had status. He asked the FA a question about his connection that few travelers would need to ask. He also seemed to be trying to get as many free glasses of scotch as he could. He even acted with surprise when I declined the FA's offer of a second G&T.

That said, I doubt many people are going to go from zero status to EXP. I think people who want to rack up the loyalty points (myself included) will end up being one maybe two tiers higher than they normally would have been. And I also can't see anyone doing $200k of spending on an AA card just to get status, because there are so many ways to earn more than 1 loyalty point per dollar now.

Covid ruined everything

I am EP. Seats and equipment are not infrequently broken so I understand why I would need to ask. Wake up ppl: EP is a joke. It’s like you get 11x AA spend but that’s it. SWUs don’t clear at booking and no one really cares about you on AA.

Was on AF 90 seat 3 A today. So relieved not to have to fly AA any more with their grandmotherly services and food which is a metaphor for their culture. It is such a pleasure to fly AF and it is goodbye AA after a decade of being EXP

Have friends who have never been Elite, but based on Spend they achieve EXP in six months.

I think for now on the airline's getting carried away so I'm hoping that the flyers show no loyalty to any of the airlines. Start losing dollars in the air they'll wake up and smell the roses but it takes a group of people to stop spending money and flying their particular airlines take power back into your own hands people not airlines

Let's give these poor souls a fun name like "road warrior" to make them feel good about themselves.

Then they can fight it out like the guy in the comments who claims to be a "true road warrior" not some fake one!

It's a great thing we have "true" road warriors to educate the masses.

I mean the glamor of 5am flights, stale airline food and chain hotels. Maybe even working on Sunday. The dream.

So glad not to be a road warrior. I love to fly for work if absolutely needed, but certainly not regularly. Is there really a need for road warriors in this age? One of the perks of not having to fly employees around frequently is that the few times that we do fly to the other side of the world, the company flies us in first or business depending on our preferred route. This just makes for a happier relationship between employee and employer.

I agree. It's actually a double-compounding situation because not only are less FFs getting actual F experience, the people who simply pay for the F fare may be somewhat inexperienced travelers just treating themselves to a better service level. Let's face it, cash F fares are really not that bad these days compared to 10 years ago. I recently flew a 3-leg RNO-SRQ itin on DL in cash F for only $250 more than the basic economy price.

I also agree about the false logic with the credit card. If you have $200K/year to spend on a CC, then I would propose that you neither need to rely on status to secure front-of-the-plane seating, nor would you need to rely on a CC spend target to get status if traveling was something you enjoyed. You would earn status naturally, the old-fashioned way, by using some of that discretionary income to travel in the first place. Why would someone who doesn't care about travel hold not just a travel-oriented CC, but one specifically devoted to a single airline? Doesn't make sense.

And I don't think there are just these droves of people out there dropping $200K/yr on a CC when only 5% of the US even earns that much per year, total gross, before tax withholding and paying big expenses that are CC-ineligible (e.g. mortgage). I make twice that and struggle to find ways to meet my CC's 75K annual spend goal.

This is not a surprise given the only way to achieve EP status is throw credit card spend. I status matched with united last year as EP service, I mean from phone support to other customer service interactions were the final straw for me. Even on united for me the only benefit for 1k is better phone support, I really see very little benefit to status at all. I've been tempted to move to a foreign carrier to get US lounge access.

Some of us are road warrior on Cathay and we come to the US for our summer flights and are like "what is this absolute absurdity?"

"given the only way to achieve EP status is throw credit card spend."

Immediate sign you have no clue what you're talking about. Completley untrue.

I easily achieved EXP with just coach flying and hotels last year. And am 75% to requalifying this year (with more than 7 months to go) on just coach flying and hotels. No credit card required and I will never sign up for an airline credit card, it's a bad return.

LP program is great. And I'm people lazily refer to as a "road warrior"

My EP status was only worth it for me when I traveled internationally which is a lot more than domestic. Now I just don't see the value anymore from a domestic level and now its starting to affect my international trav. I've lost 6 of my flight upgrades because they barely work anymore internationally.

Even with a paid full fare Biz ticket so many exceptions are made to allow the masses to board before you.
I've seen such a large que of wheel chair wheelchairs queing to board early that it makes one wonder...
1. what happens if there is an emergency and we have to deplane lickiddy split...

This is why AA changed the plan.
Make cx spend $$$ on a cc and have no clue about the benefits. They are actually saving cost!

I was so happy to board a UA flight from BOS to IAH this week full of what appeared to be road warriors vs the usual mix. Yet none of them turned their carryons on their side in the larger overhead bins despite the announcements and instructions. And deplaning was a painfully slow shit show. Nobody but me had their shit together and ready to go. It’s so disappointing.

I think your examples are extreme. The tray table is very different than lounge access. Given how complicated AA's lounge access is, then it is not surprising people do not know. Further, we have seen this in hotels. Consider you could get Platinum Marriott without staying in a Marriott hotel and as a guest you could get confused with what you are entitled to at a specific brand or location.

This I completely agree with. Some people just do not play the credit card loyalty game well and lose out on a lot of money.

Agree

The AA reward program is being overrun at all levels. I was at the Admiral's Club lounge at CLT yesterday and could barely find a seat. The bar had a line 10 deep and the food service area looked like a it had been hit by a tornado.

More likely the person taking away the seat it the one who paid the "upgrade" fee offered several days before the flight. Rarely, unless a flight is wide open, am I upgraded as EP at 100 hours. Instead AA is going for the $$, then if no one takes the offers they start upgrading the passengers with Frequent Flyers "perks" they day before.

I'm not a road warriors but I fly enough to know to turn luggage on side. Recently flew and really amazed me how many people just threw their luggage up and not turning it to the side dispite the picture and multiple announcements by flight staff.

They’re all over Reddit. People with fairly high status that have no idea how Americans basic ops work or how to use SWUs.

They’re typically hub based business owners who earned via spend.

These people were always here before. Typically if they earned via flying to Asia 4-5 times in a premium cabin.

Ultimately, American makes the rules, and we play by them