Yes, American Airlines AAdvantage is transforming itself into a revenue programme… as you’ve read probably a million other places already.
This is as good as any time for me to wheel out some old psychobabble, along with some music videos.
Firstly, let’s look at the classic example of the Kubler Ross Change Curve.
This was hanging in my office a two years and a bit ago. I’m going through something similar presently… but that’s not the point of this discussion.
Or what some call The Seven steps:
- Shock
- Denial
- Frustration
- Depression
- Experiment
- Decision
- Integration
Let’s put Taylor Swift in talking about her Starbucks lovers to help discuss this (yes, I know a list of ex lovers. I hear Starbucks lovers):
What has this got to with flying? Well the example: You’ve been lured in with a good looking and slightly cute programme offering riches and travels beyond your wildest dreams. Then you cheat and the programme takes its revenge by going all revenue on you.
Hmm. Not the best example… but a breakup is as good a methodology as any to hand.
And no doubt, some of you are re-considering your relationship with American Airlines after today and going for an airline that doesn’t pay attention to revenue.
It sounds like you’re caught in a bad romance. Hmm. That’s a Lady Gaga song!
Contains more than enough product placement to make an airline executive happy.
The Kubler-Ross model talks about the 7 stages, and I think for those of you affected, you’ve passed Shock and Denial, with Frustration and Depression setting in.
And that’s natural. You’ve flown all the butt-in-seat miles you can, you’ve been loyal to American Airlines and oneworld (when there are sometimes better and nicer choices out there),
And it’s ok to go back and forth on this curve as you find out more about the new programme.
Eventually, you’ll hit Experiment, Decision and Integration. And this is the important bit, as you’ll be thinking about your 2017/2018 elite qualification.
And then you’ll be saying Hello. But not as classily as Adele does. No one is as classy as Adele when she starts singing.
You could be looking at other mileage programmes to see if they offer value for money, or if they’re the right fit for you.
Sometimes – you have to go your own way. Even Fleetwood Mac worked that one out… whilst they were ripping each other to bits.
Change is a natural force in the universe – and as humans, we adapt to change. We all have attachments to our own frequent flyer programmes – but at the end of the day, you can change if needed or you can live with the new rules.
Revenue-based frequent flyer earning has been a feature as airlines seek to reward the flyers who give them the most custom by way of counting the spend they make. Other airlines do it via fare bucket segregation, and others have their own formula.
And as flyers… and as a writer that occasionally writes about points and status (that’s a debatable subject these days… I’ll be honest there on this blog) – we’re here to guide you to ways that you can get better travel experience.
Hopefully, you’ll meet your elite qualification requirements on the way.
Kubler Ross Curve – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCbler-Ross_model
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