So everyone?has heard?the?news?of?American?and?US?Airways?merging, but?how?does?that?affect?you?personally?? From?the?view?of?a DoD/ Government?traveler, I see?both?plusses?and?minuses?to the?merger?and?specifically?to those?of?you?who?are part?of?either?carrier?s?frequent?flyer?programs.? As far as the?GSA?Program, I expect?you?will?see?both?carriers?again?bid?routes?for?FY?14, but?be combined?after?that.? What?may?surprise?you?is that?in FY?14, your?flight?is supposed?to be on?US, but?you?end?up?boarding?an?AA?plane?and?vice-versa as the?carriers combine.
Most?of?what?I am?speculating?on?is based?upon?the?previous?merger?of?UA?and?CO?and?I expect?this?will?be very?similar.? If?you?want?to compare the?differences?in the?programs?for?yourself, I suggest?you?go to Randy?Peterson?s?Web Flyer?page.?The?Aadvantage?program?will?be the?program?going?forward, but?the?management?team?will?be from?US.? So look?for?the?program?to be initially?like?AA, but?slowly?morph?to be much?like?US.? This?is exactly?what?happened?with?CO/UA.? Don?t?be surprised?if?some?of?the?changes?they?make?cause an?uproar?and?they?backpedal?if?enough?elites?object.? Your?voice?does?matter!
Here?is my?analysis?of?the?changes:
- AA?has?three?levels?of?elite?with?bonus?miles shown?in parentheses?25k(25%), 50k(100%), and?100k(100%).? US?has four?25k(25%), 50k(50%), 75k(75%), and?100k(100%).? My?prediction?is that?they?will?make?AA?four?levels?and?match?the?bonus?miles to US? program.? This?means?a loss?for?the?50k level if?your?were?in AA, but?by?gaining?a 75k level, you?may?get?upgraded?before?the 50k level.
- Domestic?upgrades.? This?is the?major?difference?between?the?programs.? Most?FF?programs?have?gone?to the?method?of?upgrading?all?elites?based?upon?their?elite?level?if?first?class?is available.? AA?is the?last?holdout?here?and?only?upgrades?their?top tier?elites?for?free.? I predict?a major?bonus?for?current?US?elites will?be the?adoption?of?US? policy?of?upgrading?all?elites.? I have?seen?some?commenters?say?that?this?is a major?loss?for?the?top tier?of?AA, but?I don?t?agree?as they?will?still?be upgraded?first.? They?will?just?have?to live?with?the?fact?that?they?may?be sitting?in First?Class?next?to a ?mere Gold?.? Oh the horror!
- International?upgrades.? This?is where?AA?really?shines.? Top tier?AA?get?eight?Systemwide?Upgrades?(called?e-VIPs) that they?can use to upgrade?any?flight?domestic?or?international?much?like?UA?s?program?(but?UA?only?gives?six).? US?does?not?fly?very?many?international?routes?so that may?explain?why?they?lag?far behind?and?only?give?four?upgrades?to be used?for?flights?to Europe?or?Hawaii.? I am?predicting?that Doug?Parker?will?keep?the?higher?AA?amount, otherwise?they?may?lose a lot?of?their?top tier?flyers?who?could?defect?to UA?and?receive?about?the?same?thing.? If?true, then?top tier?US?flyers?stand to gain?a great?deal.
These?are the?major?differences?that?I see.? Another?aspect?that?may?affect?you?is that?US?will?leave?the?Star?Alliance?and?effectively?be One?World.? So if?you?live?in a US?hub, like?Philly, and?were?racking?up?miles on?both?US?and?UA?to get?status, you?may?have?a problem.? I expect?that?by?early?summer?you?will?be informed?that?Star?Alliance?miles will?no longer?count?for?status?on?US.? It?s?still?early?in the?year?so go?ahead?and?start?steering?your?miles to both?US?and?AA?and?they?will?likely?combine those?totals?at?year?end?to determine your?status?for?2014.? At?least?that?is what?happened?with?UA/CO.? One?last?thing?that?I consider?good.? I have?both?US?and?AA?miles left?over?from?long?ago.? They?were?too low?to use for?anything, but?I kept?them?active by?occassionally?crediting?a car rental?to each?of?them.? When?they?combine the?programs, the?miles will?actually?add?up?to a free?ticket!
Anyone?else?see?other?big?discrepancies?between?the?programs?? Let?me know?how?you?think?this?will?affect?you?personally.
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