opdateret: 10/10/19 | 10. oktober 2019
Jeg gjorde det. Jeg gik frem og tilbage på beslutningen i lang tid. Ligesom en person, der bare ikke kunne slippe, fortsatte jeg med forholdet, selvom jeg vidste, dybt ned, det var forbi.
Men der er altid et tippepunkt, når du skal stå over for virkelighed – og det punkt var, da jeg indså, at jeg bare ikke ville flyve alt så meget i år.
Så jeg gjorde det: Jeg splittede endelig med American Airlines.
Efter mange års viet til dem og Oneworld Alliance, betaler ekstra for flyvninger for at sikre, at jeg holdt min status og mester dem på nettet, er det på tide at møde sandheden: de har ødelagt deres engangsstelliske loyalitetsprogram og givet mig (og generelt alle andre) intet incitament til at flyve dem over nogen anden (crappy indenlandske) flyselskab.
For nogle år siden devaluerede både Delta og United deres tildelingskort – tildelt færre miles pr. Fly (medmindre du har fået billetpriser), der kræver meget mere miles, når de forløser dem til en flyvning, hvilket minimerer fordele og kræver, at kunderne bruger en visse beløb for at opretholde deres elite status. Deres besked var klar: “Vi værdsætter kun dig, hvis du bruger masser af penge hos os.”
Alligevel (delvis på grund af deres fusion med US Airways) American holdt ud – ofte øger fordele. Amerikansk AAdvantage var en skinnende juvel i luftfartsindustrien, bøjede af journalister, insidere og forbrugere.
Jeg gik ud af min måde at flyve amerikaner, fordi jeg følte min loyalitet blev værdsat. Jeg blev ofte opgraderet, deres medarbejdere var venlige, kundeservice problemer blev ofte rettet hurtigt, det var let at finde prissæder, og de var ofte generøse i deres fordele.
Men i det sidste år har de ladet deres program gå til helvede.
Hvad er der galt med American AAdvantage?
De kræver nu elite-kvalificerende dollars (EQDS), men i modsætning til United og Delta tilbyder de ingen fraje, hvis du bruger meget på American’s Branded Credit Scores-kort.
De har oppe omkostningerne ved prisbilletter – meget.
De har alvorligt minimeret besparelsesbelønninger tilgængelighed. Det er generelt umuligt at finde sparer belønninger i disse dage.
Bekræftede opgraderinger til enhver person, men de øverste eliter er generelt umuligt. Jeg kan ikke huske sidste gang jeg fik en opgradering.
De har slashed miles indkomster på deres partners flyvninger.
De prioriterer nu opgraderinger baseret på status og udgifter (tag det, million-mile status folk!).
Hvordan de beregner EQD’er er uigennemsigtig og ikke ligetil. En Dollar brugt er ikke en EQD tjent, selvom du køber FULL billetpris og førsteklasses billetter.
Listen fortsætter. Der har været så masser af blogartikler skrevet om Demis of AAs loyalitetsprogram, som jeg bare vil linke til dem her, her her, her, her, og her. Og her og her også.
American AAdvantage var det eneste, som amerikanske virkelig havde på vej til det. Det var den eneste grund til at jeg fløj dem. Sikker på, at deres nye 777 og A321T fly er rart, men selv når de renoverer deres gamle fly, har de stadig masser af sorter, du aldrig ved, hvilken slags fly du træder på. Det kunne være et godt og nyt interiør, eller det kunne være noget sidst renoveret i 1987. (Og du vil aldrig komme på et gammelt amerikansk Airways fly – ingen magt, ingen tv’er og et modbydeligt interiør) plus, maden i deres lounger er forfærdelig (såvel som udlønninger selv), deres partnere er ikke så stor som United’s, og deres in-flight service / pladser / mad er ikke så gode som Delta’s. Jeg forløste miles for en business-class fly fra Paris med AA, og dette er den mad, jeg fik:
Hvad fanden er det? Jeg angiver alvorligt. McDonalds ville have været en bedre mulighed. (Det smagte som ulækkert som det ser ud!)
Jeg flyver meget – over 100.000 miles på over 50 flyvninger sidste år. (Måske mere. Jeg mister sporet.) Jeg er en hyppig rejsende – men jeg er en billig hyppig rejsende. Jeg får altid de billige økonomiklasse billetter og bruger min status og miles til at opgradere.
Det gør mig en lavindtægter flier. Jeg bruger sandsynligvis $ 6.000-10.000 om året på flyvninger. Det er meget ved hverdagsstandarder, men når det er dit job at rejse, er du ude til konferencer hele tiden, og har teammedlemmer til også at bestille flyvninger for, jeg tror, jeg rent faktisk kommer i ret lavt. Og jeg spredes også omkring flere flyselskaber.
Amerikansk kræver nu, at jeg bruger $ 6.000 om året på Amerikansk alene for at få Mid-Level Platinum Status (den slags, der får dig international loungeadgang). I don’t remember the last time I spent that much money on one airline.
And thus the current dilemma: If you are a low-spending but still frequent traveler, does it make sense to stay devoted to an airline in this day and age?
Svaret er et rungende nr.
As someone who likes the concept and perks of loyalty, it saddens me to say this, but unless you are spending a lot of money on one airline, loyalty — at least to airlines — is an antiquated concept.
The major airlines in the united states do not value your loyalty anymore. They are only satisfying their high-spending clients with deep pockets — not their frequent clients. travel 100,000 miles a year, but on just a few cheap tickets? great — that will earn you a pat on the back. spend $20,000 on a few high-priced tickets? The red carpet is rolled out for you!
Hvorfor? because (a) they are flying fuller planes so don’t need to deal with customers as much, (b) people are shelling out for perks, and (c) they are assholes and don’t give a f**k….because they know you don’t have any lots of options, and (d) when X% of profits comes from higher spenders, why must they care about low spenders?
I used to say that if you can fly 50,000 miles or more, it’s worth focusing on one airline and alliance because the perks are worth the extra price (especially the international lounges). but now, with the heightened spending requirements, minimized benefits, and overall “F U” attitude airlines have, it doesn’t make sense to be devoted to an airline if you aren’t a high spending traveler.
As we get close to the midway point of the year, I realize that, for the first time in a long time, I’ll end this year with no elite status. a lot of of my flights for the rest of the year are long-haul international flights — the kind I always use points on so I can fly for complimentary in service class. a lot of of my paid, status-earning flights will be cheap domestic flights. With the new spending demands, I’m simply not going to be able to meet the status requirements – for any airline.
This has changed how I fly.
Now, it’s all about price.
I’m not going to bother spending an extra $20, $50, or $100 for a flight to maintain my elite status. Why must I? Airlines aren’t giving me a reason to.
Just give me the least expensive flight.
I’m flying Alaska/Virgin, JetBlue, and Southwest a lot more. These airlines don’t have baggage fees, they do have friendlier staff, and better in-flight products (hello, complimentary gate to gate Wi-Fi on JetBlue!).
I still believe in the art of travel hacking and as such will continue to collect credit scores card points and airline miles so that when it’s time to fly overseas, I can redeem those miles for great business-class seats. I mean, when you are flying premium, you’re treated well — paid ticket or not!
Additionally, I’ll keep all the airline credit scores cards considering that they come with the perks of basic elite status, like priority check-in and boarding and complimentary bag checking. When you’re being charged for bags and required to go all Hunger Games for overhead space, those perks are worth the yearly credit scores card fee.
Airlines always say that, considering that consumers fly on price, they have no incentive to offer better service or amenities. And, that’s true to an extent. a lot of leisure travelers fly only on price. They just want to go from A to B on the least expensive fare and have mostly accepted that service will be terrible.
But when you cut loyalty programs, you make frequent travelers like me also only care about price and you shoot yourself in the foot.
Because now I have no incentive to go out of my way to fly you. And the first policy of service is that is always more affordable to maintain a customer than acquire a new one.
So, simply put, in this day and age, there’s no reason to be devoted to any one airline. collect frequent flier points and miles for premium seats on those long-haul flights (free flights are the best flights) and fly short-haul flights based on price. opt for whatever is cheap!
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