Changes Coming to AA Frequent Flyer Program

[Archphoto]

Not sure if this has already been posted, but landed in my inbox this morning:

American Airlines making changes to frequent flier program
American Airlines President Scott Kirby has announced that the airline is planning to innovate its frequent flier program in 2016. Kirby has also confirmed a policy of price-matching to better compete with low cost airlines. "It’s all about giving our customers choice," Kirby said

Apologies if it has - the search I did drew a blank before posting.

 

[andye]

Sounds like news for a Dislike button

 

[baggyred]

Not sure if this has already been posted, but landed in my inbox this morning:

American Airlines making changes to frequent flier program
American Airlines President Scott Kirby has announced that the airline is planning to innovate its frequent flier program in 2016. Kirby has also confirmed a policy of price-matching to better compete with low cost airlines. "It’s all about giving our customers choice," Kirby said

Apologies if it has - the search I did drew a blank before posting.

Sounds like simpler and fairer...

Expecting an award chart devaluation

 

[Deleted member 26544]

So is innovate the new enhance?

 

[drron]

Well at least they are announcing that changes are going to be made this time.Nearly 2 years ago MilesAAver Aawards in longhaul premium cabins virtually disappeared,Occasionally they do now appear but usually at the last minute.
It already has been made fairer and simpler.my concern is that they make it the fairest and simplest loyalty scheme.
Oh forget that WOW have beaten them to it.

 

[RooFlyer]

So is innovate the new enhance?

My thoughts exactly. Glad I blew most of my miles on an EY F apartment / J trip recently.

 

[JohnK]

Another 70,000+ miles from the good old days remain in my account. Need to use those quickly before these enhancements.

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Sounds like simpler and fairer...

Expecting an award chart devaluation

Dunno. It may be that new fares to compete with LCCs might not earn points etc, or be eligible for free upgrades to domestic first class.

 

[CPMaverick]

Most likely it will be matching UA and DL so that earning is based on spend. It may only impact US based travelers if so.

For those programs, there wasn't a significant devaluation of miles already earned, which is good news if you have a lot banked.

 

[Austff]

subscribed

 

[amaroo]

Looks interesting.

 

[Mattg]

Oh oh......

 

[trippin_the_rift]

subscribing

 

[smit0847]

Uh oh.....

 

[seritonin]

Shall wait and see... Hopefully not United style devaluation with higher miles on partner awards...

 

[v8Statesman]

Sitting on 480K AA miles. Trying to work out what to do with them.

 

[NM]

I am hoping the higher level of competition for FF loyalty in the USA will keep the value delivered by the AAdvantage program. They cannot afford to devalue the program to the level where their customers will walk to the competition. They would need to significantly devalue to approach the value floor that others have achieved. My biggest fear is requiring large cash co-payments for redemptions as is required when redeeming flights with QFF. The biggest benefit I get from AAdvantage today is the low cash component paid on most award flights and the low uplift from economy/coach redemptions to premium cabin redemptions.

 

[bismarck]

Oh dear. Subscribing for info

 

[candyb]

On the jimmy fallon tonight show, they just mentioned the changes to aa to compete with Lcc by way of offering no snacks, no seat selection and 'no destination selection'

 

[wandering_fred]

While I fully suspect changes will happen, I hope that they will appear a bit later in 2016.
The only rumor I have heard was on a CX thread where the speculation that CX long haul premium cabins would likely cost more. Or perhaps would go to rates like fly anytime.

Oh well, and alas the next major non-flexible flying dates for me are May 2017. Best laid plans... etc

Happy wandering

Fred