TravelBloggerBuzz

An eclectic journey through the Travel Miles/Points blogosphere

American Airlines AADvantage Devaluation Anger, Kalach, Zoolander 2

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We cover more details on the American Airlines AADvantage devaluation which turns to anger, visit remote Kalach in Russia, laugh at the Zoolander 2 trailer and so much more!

 

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I am getting to prepare this post late at night and not sure if I can finish it before I collapse. I have been up since 5 am and drove to the other side of Michigan to see a client in an incredibly sucky day for driving. So excuse me if this does not meet my incredibly high standards cough.

Well, all day I could see how fellow bloggers and other travel hacking hobbyists were digesting the mAAsive devaluation of the American Airlines loyalty program. Mood changed gradually from “well, this was not that bad” to extreme disappointment and anger. Well, it wouldn’t be if you were reading TBB all along as I have been warning about this for a long time. What I found surprising is the speed they came out with the news, almost right after they killed US Airways, wow! AA CEO Dougie Parker is killing it! Unfortunately, at our expense…

Here are some collection of the AA news by Loyalty Traveler who did a great job covering the changes while many “experts” were too busy inserting credit card affiliate links in every opportunity they could find. Use these to get educated about the changes and remember the source is not on a first name basis with any AAdvantage executives!

AAdvantage 2016 Business and First Class American Airlines Award Chart changes

AAdvantage 2016 Changes to Off-Peak Seasons for discount economy awards

Table with AAdvantage OneWorld and Partner Airline Award Changes March 22, 2016

AAdvantage Earn Miles Oneworld partner changes on January 1, 2016

 

Now a few other AA devaluation posts that caught my eye with my edgy no BS commentary in brackets.

Full thoughts: American Airlines “innovates” AAdvantage by destroying it – Andy’s Travel Blog    [Funny how he came around to…”destroying it”! You expected real innovation from these guys, really? Hey, everyone is copying Delta, they just want to receive the same size bonuses too lol. I could go on…]

The AA Mega Devaluation + 7 Of The Worst Changes – Running with Miles   [ These are just seven mind you. I hear Australian based AAdvantage members also got rocked big time as well. It now takes two credit cards at the very minimum to fly Cathay Pacific in First Class one way…Ouch! ]

Elite Status on American Airlines Will Be Easier to Earn, but More Competitive – Travel Codex    [Easier to Earn…More competitive…Yeah, good luck with them upgrades lol! “I’m not happy about it, but I also don’t believe we can undo these changes.” Undo? Come on! “I’ll be thinking carefully about where I credit my American Airlines flights in the future, and whether I stash them with a partner like Alaska Airlines or just switch entirely to flying another carrier.”  Yeah, like Alaska will not follow eventually! And switch to which one? There are not that many left and they are all so alike now!

Pure Mileage Running was over and this pretty much nails that coffin shut. Except for the die hards who just can’t sit still and feel more comfortable in a metal tube going…nowhere!

Only a dozen people live in this Russian village at the end of a railroad — here’s what their lives are like. Love these obscure places where not even a Motel 8 will ever be based 🙂

Kalach is at the end of a roughly 180-mile-long railway extension built in 1898 to transport lumber from the region's dense forests.
Kalach, Russia. Source: Forestry Railways in Russia

 

Aspen the Mountain Pup. Instagram account of a dog. And it is too darn cute!

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If the Zoolander 2 trailer is as good as its trailer, it should be another classic. Bieber dies, Will Ferrell is Mugatu….or is it Mugabe and more! I have watched it a few times and I find myself on the floor rolling and have stomach aches from…too….much….laughing. “She is hot, I trust her”…
 
To be great, you must first learn to be good. This is a must read if you are into personal finance. The guy is reading my mind or what? 🙂
 
The most ridiculous post of the day was One Mile Credit Card at a Time where he predicted a transfer partner for the ThankYou Points program and then proceeded to sell all credit cards that earn Thank You points. Unbelievable…low! But it gave me an idea…I could pump my Amazon link to infinity by predicting another product to be sold to Amazon. OK, I thought that was funny, maybe you didn’t. But I hope my point got across. I bet my Amazon link that if these credit cards would not be compensating the blogger that post would have never seen the light of day.
 
Maybe I should bring back The Shameful post of the day or something to show what ridiculous levels The Hobby has reached. You can nominate your favorite in the comments (NO LINKS, I can get to it lol). And don’t be mistaken. All these mega commercial blogs are in a major way responsible for hooking some people with debt for life and proliferating all the gazillion miles out there that in a way force the airlines to take matters in their own hands the only way they can…keep hammering/devaluing us! I feel better now #catharsis
 
To the guy who snitched my site about including a word describing a body part in a completely entertaining and non sexual way, well thanks a lot %$#hole! Your wish is almost granted and don’t have to deal with all the BS you are swimming in. You are actually doing me a favor turning this site back into its root ranting days calling out all the ridiculous BS your kind has turned our hobby! #morecatharsis #needsleep bye bye

 

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TBB
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Comments

  2. Brenton says

    Part of me wonders if I’d be willing to pay the extra 30-40k miles for Cathay F if it meant I’d be able to book any day I want as opposed to 330 days out or last minute… It’ll be interesting to see how the increase in price effects the supply.

    • TravelBloggerBuzz says

      You can take the Godfather out of an Italian but you can never take the spaghetti out of an Italian…

      Just made that up. Just came back from the gym and I had ramen noodles for dinner man. Wife is out to a dance thing with daughter and they neglected me. I wish I had spaghetti, it’s been so long. Pizza too.

    • TravelBloggerBuzz says

      That.Is.Criminal.

      Where are the AA fan boys to really tell readers what is going on but, you know, conversions will go down.

      As the blogger who started it all once said:

      “It’s all about conversions”.

      I am so sorry.

  9. John says

    Zoolander 2 just watched the trailer, Seeing Penelope Cruz will take your mind off all this credit card stuff…

  10. Raj says

    I absolutely love the idea of a shameful post of the day. It’s even more relevant in light of the constant devaluations, which I’m sure are a one-and-done mention on those blogs.

  11. Scottrick says

    Funny, no one asked “which one” in the comments. The likely answer is United. After American’s changes, United miles will be the more valuable option and status will be as good or better up to the 75K tier.

    • TravelBloggerBuzz says

      I think this is all a stopgap phase for the burning to be revenue based. If not, the devaluations will just get steeper.

      I hope some bloggers who are doing this full time will have something to fall back to…like you 🙂

  12. John says

    The question is, are these a-holes bloggers going to lower their miles and points valuation when they pump their cards?

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