Whoa: American Airlines Is Treating Executive Platinum Members Like It’s 2007

a large concrete sign with a logo

What a long, strange trip it’s been.  American Airlines is treating some of their best customers like they did a long time ago.  The airline industry has been through so much the past 20 years.  I traveled a bit here and there for work in the 90s.  I never really traveled enough to earn elite status until 2000, and then started chasing status in earnest in the wake of 9/11 as business travel returned.

Leading up to 9/11 my father was a road warrior who traveled almost exclusively with TWA.  TWA was acquired by American Airlines in 2001 and my dad started flying AA on a regular basis.  His habits became my habits.  As I started traveling more for work I earned elite status on American Airlines. At first it was just Gold status, but I quickly worked my way up to Platinum and finally top-tier Executive Platinum status.

Let’s fast-forward to today for a bit.  View From The Wing wrote an article earlier that I read with keen interest.  Apparently, American Airlines Admirals Club employees have started contacting Executive Platinum members ahead of their flights to advise them of potential complications.  In some instances they’re also blocking middle seats to give Executive Platinum members a bit more space onboard.  To understand why this is significant, we need to look backwards.  2001 seems like a good place to start.

What Executive Platinum Status Used To Be

If we look back to 2001, we’d see an airline that treated it’s top elite members very differently.  My father would tell me stories of upgrades on long flights and of special gifts like Baccarat crystal when he hit milestones like 1 million miles flown with American Airlines.  Though my memory is a bit hazy of the exact details, suffice it to say that those early memories of American were quite positive.  My best friend had a job that, at the time had him traveling the world.  His airline of choice was frequently American.  As an Executive Platinum member, he was treated wonderfully.

Those early experiences etched in my memory, I chose American Airlines when I booked flights.  And, in 2007 when I earned Executive Platinum status for the first time, their experiences became my experience.  I got to know the Admirals Club employees by name.  They knew when I was coming and would always save a newspaper for me in the old Admirals Club at the end of the D concourse of Dulles Airport.

I was flying to Denver on a pretty regular basis along with Las Vegas.  With my home base Washington-Dulles, United Airlines would have been the logical choice with nonstop flights to both of my primary destinations.  Instead, I took connecting flights on American Airlines, mostly through DFW.  I logged a bunch of extra hours on the road to take those connecting flights. But, it was worth it.

In most years, when I was logging anywhere from 50 to 100 flight segments, it was a big deal if I missed an upgrade.  Over the course of a year, missing two upgrades was highly unlikely.  More than two?  It just didn’t happen.  On those lone flights when I didn’t clear an upgrade, one of the folks I knew in the Admirals Club would block the middle seat next to me in coach.

With that much time on the road, things happen.  Whenever I was away from the family and I needed to get home, those same folks in the Admirals Club or the agents that answered the Executive Platinum line made sure it happened.  There were plenty of rules back then, just like there is today.  But, there was a solid recognition of the value the top-tier Executive Platinum members brought to the airline.  It’s why for years I started my searches at aa.com, not an online travel agency or any other airline website.  Those “soft benefits” may have come with a cost for American Airlines, but that cost was minimal.  In exchange they got a loyal customer.

two men standing in front of an airplane

As the years blended together I remember my fellow road warriors criticizing me for my loyalty to American Airlines.  Most of them were loyal to United Airlines, some by way of Continental Airlines prior to their merger with United.  They pushed me to give United Airlines a try.  I agreed, but only if they gave American Airlines a try.

The timing would turn out to be almost perfect, depending on which side you were on.  American Airlines was on the way up, focusing attention on their top elites.  Those fellow road warriors kept telling me how impressed they were with AA’s onboard service, the attention by Admirals Club employees, and especially how Executive Platinum phone agents worked hard to get Exec Plats to those important appointments, especially if that appointment was home with a sick kid.

At the same time, the service levels on United Airlines were degrading.  Upgrades that used to clear stopped clearing.  Instead, those upgrades were sold cheaply to non-elites.  Planes were in a bad state of repair.  Phone agents increasingly had less ability to help customers.

The story doesn’t have a particularly happy ending.  American Airlines entered bankruptcy and got acquired by US Airways.  The majority of those soft benefits went away.  When the loyalty program became less loyal, so did I.

A New Beginning?

More than a few people have accused me of having blinders on when it came to my feelings about American Airlines.  There’s some validity to those critiques.  And, maybe I’m falling back into that same pattern when I wax nostalgic about the similarities these new soft benefits have to the time when I enjoyed air travel quite a bit more than I do today.

Does this mean we’re seeing a new beginning, a return to a time when airlines worked hard to earn the loyalty of their most frequent flyers?  I gave this quite a bit of thought tonight.  The easy answer is no.  The least likely answer is yes.  Somewhere in between is the truth, and I think it’s a bit closer to yes.

a group of airplanes at an airport

We’re not going back to 2007.  But, conditions are at least more favorable today than they were five years ago.  The biggest advocate for a cost-based approach to running an airline is Scott Kirby.  He was a key part of leadership at US Airways when they took the reins at American Airlines.  He has since moved on to United, recently becoming CEO of the airline.

Are these soft benefits here to stay for top elites?  Are there still enough folks hanging around American Airlines that remember the old playbook?  If history is any indicator, airlines have worked hard after lean times in aviation to earn the best customers.  The newest version won’t be as previous as the reruns.  But, I’m interested to see whether this is a passing fancy or the start of a trend.

I may not want to connect at DFW every week.  But, I’m still rooting for the latter.

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11 Comments

  1. Good post. Thoroughly enjoyed it! I’m working towards Executive Platinum this year for next year. I’m Platinum now. Looking forward to those SWU’s and other nice perks.

  2. I bailed on AA at the end of 2016 after a dreadful year of horrible customer service. I guess my 3.8 million miles and decade of ExPlat tenure didn’t matter much. My experience as UA 1K has been far superior, although I haven’t traveled much in the past year. Based in Dallas it is hard to avoid AA.

  3. As someone who has been both 1K and EXP back in 2009-2012, those were the days where there were plenty of waivers if you had the top status. I had one case on AA where they gave away my seat because I wasn’t able to check in online, and I did not get to the check-in counter until past the check-in cut-off time. The agent called the gate, got my seat back, got me checked in, and I made it onto the flight. Also, as EXP, I pretty much cleared all domestic upgrades, including in one case where UA endorsed the ticket over to AA due to an IRROP, and I took the last first class seat.

    The ability to use first class lounge on an international flight, even in coach, is superior. I got to use AA flagship lounges and BA and CX first class lounge in my crazy year of international travel (14 countries in 6 months). I was upgraded to business class randomly on Mexicana, and on every Cathay flight I had a flight supervisor greeted me on the flight, even in coach. On one flight in coach, I got Cathay playing cards (!) as welcome gift (this is 2010, and every seat had AVOD on seatback), and the Cathay FA pushed the meal cart to me, asked me which meal I wanted, and then pull the cart to the back of the plane to begin their service. Which, it was awkward, since I was the only person eating around me.

    The only downside about AA elite status is even elites need to pay co-pay for mileage upgrade on domestic flights, which is waived for non-p.s. flights on UA.

  4. I’ve been a long time 1k on UA and was an EXP on AA for one year (2015-2016) out of IAD/DCA. AA was a terrible experience at every turn. After less than a year as an EXP, I came running (literally) back to UA. I still cringe when I burn AA points because I truly hate flying on them that much. I also get accused of having blinders on with my UA loyalty, but I’ve always had great luck and timing with UA. I firmly believe that airline experience involves a high degree of luck. I was never once lucky with AA.

    1. A, you hit the nail on the head. There is some degree of luck when it comes to how the airlines treat you. I will say that in the 10 years where I was largely both EXP and 1K I felt like the staff at AA was more empowered. They’re all a long way from where they were.

  5. i always enjoy various articles about top tier AA and how service to those has been impacted. On Dec 15, 1982 I received a personal letter from Thomas G. Plaskett congratulating me on obtaining AAdvantage Gold, which was the only top tier level for their frequent flyer program at that time. This was a very select group of customers who obtained this newest level of top tier customer. In fact two months later, AA contacted me to invite me to a dinner with the local and area Management of AA. We had a wonderful dinner and were presented with additional gifts including certificates to travel on American Airlines to any Caribbean destination. After that dinner, when ever i flew out of my hometown airport, the ticket counter agents, had already upgraded my flight from coach to first class… no stickers, no charge… In addition if my wife was flying with me, she was upgraded too…. back in those days… Basically everyone in my hometown airport, knew who i was and would always have me upgraded. In addition the group even gave me the direct phone # to the airport ticket counter, in case if i ever needed help. So that first year of having the AA Gold Status… there would be times when I would be paged at the gate to be given an upgrade, or even the agents walking on the plane to give me a seat in First Class… It was amazing at the outstanding service that was provided to me in those early years. I have always held the top tier status on American and rarely did i ever not get upgraded to First .. i was a lifetime customer on American and have accumulated millions of miles and so many free trips that i lost count… Hopefully the new employees of AA will realize the importance of customer service and how they can create life time customers…

  6. Most of my adult travel was on Continental Airlines out of Houston Bush. I knew by name the front line staff (Wayne at the check in counter & Mary in The Presidents club). They treated me with respect and rare was the day I didn’t get upgraded.
    Than United took over. Nothing better than looking at their electronic board and realizing you were number 37 on the upgrade list!

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