Well, it was quite a morning! It all started by this tweet by One Mile at a Time:
American to impose fuel surcharges for all international AAdvantage awards(!!!): I wish this were an April Foo… bit.ly/16OTOKI
Well, Ben has quite a quirky sense of humor so at first I thought it was a joke…but the tweets kept coming and pretty soon it was a full scale anti AA orgy on twitter! You just can not believe how bad I felt being caught with over 1 million AA miles in our five accounts (yes I handle my brother’s AA account too). Complete humiliation! I felt like flogging myself to eternity. I posted deranged tweets like these (why are you not following me on Twitter?)
My comments in brackets [ ]
MY TWEETS:
@PointsToPointB can I move in w/ my bro in Sao Paulo & book awards starting in US & avoid being raped? Or applies for trips ex-Brazil? [in denial, looking for a loophole]
@PointsToPointB ok I am just going to shoot myself now then, have over 1 million aa miles. Too busy to book, freaking blog #theendishere [ lowest of the low, suicidal tendencies, AA rage taking over (not as as bad as DL rage mind you, how can I be so stupid!!!!]
@PointsToPointB This is the easiest way to implement rev based system.DL is doing it w/ 3 tiers. I am so depressed. Travel is free NOT! [of course I will blame Delta, they always start it]
@awsolar Next one justifying SPG card to transfer to AA, I swear, I will burn in my blog so badly he/she will quit blogging:-) [warning bloggers not to set me off tonight!]
@PointsToPointB This is why I don’t want the merger to happen.But it’s all irrelevant. Situation on ground is changed. We are sitting ducks [trying to console myself and rationalize it all. About to accept bleak fate]
@PointsToPointB The AA elite promo was no accident/mistake. Confirmed now [conspiracy tendencies and instincts take over. This hobby can drive you insane. Proof? Read these tweets!]
@PointsToPointB Is it all aa awards or just international? Desperately looking for a way out:-) [We always look for a loophole…always lol]
@PointsToPointB I need to book my trip to Maui asap for next year then. Any tips on 4 award seats appreciated:-) [always looking for free advice. Can’t help it]
RT @haontran: The only positive I can find out of the devAAl is that I have an excuse to burn miles for domestic travel now. [You know, there are so many places in the US I would like to see. Alaska too!]
@Romsdeals Not yet. Just wasted 1/2 hr on phone w/ AA. No availability to HKG or Maui w/ my miles. This is beyond atrocious, so DL like. [I kid you not, the nice AA phone operator sounded like Delta “no availability in F for this month” Had nightmarish flashbacks”]
No fuel surcharge was showing up for AA awards on Cathay Pacific a few minutes ago, fyi [always giving back, trying to be helpful. I don’t rant all the time!]
I think I should interview Chris Elliott who does not sound as crazy as everyone thought #justsaying [Ok, scratch that, it was a mistake. I was not well by this time]
Looking to burn AA miles on F on Cathay Pacific in HKG and/or BKK to get massage. Gone for a week or so. Need help in finding space, anyone? [Still trying to find some free help!]
@foofiter Been playing with BA and Quantas websites for 2 hrs., not good at this thing. Calling confirmed no workable dates [Calling the experts, they say “you know our rates”, ouch]
@foofiter @Romsdeals Found space over Thanksgiving,not willing to bolt from family though [Briefly thought about it “bump chances look excellent” but, come on, I am not so cruel!]
@foofiter I don’t like paying fuel surcharges or any fees.I want to fly for free:-) Trying to squeeze some free advice, help a brother out:) [I am always very honest, TBB does not do BS!]
@dwhotz Been doing that for two hours. Run out of patience. always sucked in burning until I got totally burned like today:-) [It is true. I excel in earning and suck in burning]
Fuel surcharges should be declared ILLEGAL…Period! It’s just a money grab from customers [Yes, yes. Take that AA, revenge mode now!]
Exhale! RT @OneMileataTime: And it appears it was all one big mistake.Here’s an official statement from @AmericanAir: boardingarea.com/onemileatatime…[Suddenly, just like that, bang…Read it three times. Confirmed it with others. We won, we won!]
@OneMileataTime Dude, I want to kick your ass so bad right now. Just kidding. I need to keep exhaling now. Next time they will give notice:) [ I was not kidding actually…Still felt great. Not as good as the Fairmont Lifetime Platinum deal but still…]
RT @RKouba: Was adding fuel surcharges to AA award tickets a mistake as claimed by AA or did they backdown due to the huge backlash? [I think it was a test for the rollout of the new AA-US loyalty program so BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURN!]
I am on hold with the Consumer Protection Bureau. Should I still speak to them? I think I should:-) [I think this tweet did it. You should all thank me. And buy a banner ad on my site!]
I sure would like to see the AA memo then. #memogate [Until this memo is produced and the person who wrote it fesses up, please don’t tell me it was an innocent mistake. It was as innocent as the AA Elite status challenge showing up on…Linkedin!]
@kziel @PointsToPointB I respectfully disagree. Spent too long to find award seats. And fuel surcharges have nothing to do w/ fuel. Enough! [I still agree with myself that Fuel Surcharges are illegal and confiscatory]
@AmericanAir You guys in twitter are great.Sorry for going beserk on u, we are emotional w/ our miles:-) I still would love to see that memo [I felt sorry for the great folks in the AA Twitter team. Oh, they still did not send me the memo lol]
@kziel @helixcardinal @PointsToPointB Resort fees, fuel surcharges should be illegal. Weed should be legal. We disagree, its ok. [Legalize weed, abolish Fuel Surcharges. ALL TOGETHER NOW!]
To portray what happened here, here are three pics that clearly explain:
For additional reads on this exciting subject you can read the following:
Travel Summary – My Thoughts on the American Airlines Devaluation Fiasco [I agree with most points!]
View from the Wing – Here’s Why Today’s American AAdvantage Fuel Surcharge Award Glitch Shouldn’t Scare You [not buying it, Gary has been so soft towards AA lately]
One Mile at a Time – Some more thoughts about potential fuel surcharges on American AAdvantage Award Tickets [pondering why this is happening] and then Salvation with “Official Statement from American regarding the fuel surcharges on award tickets”
The Points Guy – The American Airlines Award Surcharges Mistake Is A Good Reminder Why Transferable Points Are Best – Finds a way to sell more credit cards…Shaking my head. Talk about aggressive marketing, makes FTG (the blog) appear so mild in comparison!
There were many other epic tweets about the subject but I need to wrap this up so I can get on to the Buzz blog post next! I feature my own tweets because, let’s face it, I think they are entertaining. Or at least I think so. If not tell me my tweets suck in the comments. Heck, tell me I suck in the comments too. I just want you to feel better after you express yourself and “let it all out of your system”…my therapist says that to me all the time. I want her job, I can say “Tell me about this and that” and then send an invoice!
Points Guy is a pimp.
That looks like the Janesis bear.
Lol, I get the joke!
The end is near
Well, nearer for sure!
For some reason I thought you would find a way to DP us(the verb, not the blog) into FTG (the blog, not the angry) hate speech and MMS hand job again with this story. Good to see that isn’t the case.
OK, OK you have been a good boy recently.
I am who I am. Call it like I see it. Until they buy a banner ad, lol.
I’m sure that DOJ is also extremely interested in seeing the memo for their suit against the merger. Along with all other internal correspondence on this matter. Even if it’s a mistake, it doesn’t help.
I am starting to think this merger may be one that failed because of both management’s stupid actions and arrogance…
so so love to see the memo!
We would all be better off if One Mile at a Time had not started this avalanche. He should have a better feeling for how this community responds to these types of “information” and waited with spreading the mistake ( and it is irresponsible to state “…… book those award tickets now!”) . It is clear that corporate social media units may not be very informed. And we certainly know that award booking agents are not well informed (rule #1 is hang up and call again if you don’t get the award you’re trying to get). Sure these bloggers aren’t journalists and do not adhere to classical journalistic method, however, I can only hope that bloggers will learn a lesson from this, especially Lucky. => talk to the right folks with actual authority over these types of issues.
Flyertalk moderator was more reasonable stating “Thread title updated as we have not yet had confirmation of this”.
You basically echoed my sentiments from yesterday, ABC:
http://first2board.com/whatsyourpoint/2013/08/28/sometimes-it-is-not-always-best-to-scoop-a-story/
I offer no apologies for the shameless plug, George. I hope you do not mind — but then, I would do the same for you.
Now if I can just get that Jackson 5 song out of my mind — not that I really mind it…
Yes I think we can agree that he jumped the gun just a little bit. I sure wasted time trying to burn. Will I sue about this. Of course not 🙂
I do get your point What’s Your Point (this just sounds crazy) and no problem about the plug at all, so relevant to the discussion here!
For the record, I did say I wanted to kick his behind…but I would be willing to settle for Janesis’s bear instead!
Agree – esp since Lucky has had “scoops” not pan out before (the whole 1K revenue based non-controversy that he raised a couple years ago).
Gosh, I sure am glad to be traveling with not-so-dependable Internet such that I decided pre-trip that anything fabulous or terrible would just have to happen without me. Hence my ignoring the SPG offer and then just deciding I’d worry about our AA miles on my return. Thanks for the twitter summary cause I missed that too! Sorry you all wasted so much time trying to burn.
Speaking of burning, things seem to be heating up here in that people are starting to talk about the possibility of getting hit by Syria should Obama decide to do anything. One friend said that people have an unwritten code to just not talk about it while the level of tension increases, but they do feel the stress. Another said that he noticed a run on buying food, and the press has more and more articles about Israelis running to get gas masks. We do not have these accessories and won’t get them. I nevertheless remain rather unconcerned; even when I have been here during very dangerous times I never seem to worry much. Kind of strange but I always feel quite safe here. I think it comes from reading a study years ago that the odds of being in a serious traffic accident in the US were much higher than getting hurt from terrorism in Israel.
Today we head to Modi’in, between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, to spend some time with my niece and her kids. Bob’s been conducting a few interviews which is great; makes his portion of the trip partially deductible and he is happy when doing research. Had a fabulous dinner at Mizrachi last night. It is a restaurant right in the middle of the Jerusalem shuk. We went with a friend’s daughter in part because the friend’s son’s SO works there. We were treated royally. The place is well known and lines are long when the shuk is busy, but we hit it right. Best restaurant meal I have had here maybe ever.
Made plans to see more of this favorite family on the weekend. We’ll probably also head to Tel Aviv to see another friend who studies the intersections of soccer and politics in Israel. All these folks are secular Israelis we got to know when they lived and worked in Portland.
A good day to you all!
You see what you miss when you leave the country?
Thanks for the update, sounds wonderful.
With all the craziness in the Middle East, I want to remind all of one of the most legendary Flyer Talk threads of all time: Dovster and BEYflyer reporting from inside Israel and Lebanon back when it was raining bullets and bombs. Two of the most gracious and peace loving people. Reading their accounts and the yearning for peace makes me hopeful that one day it will happen there. Will I bet on it? Heck no!
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/communitybuzz/563147-flyertalk-scoops-world-news-report.html
Wow, what a thread. We were actually here in 2006, arriving the day the hostilities quieted down. We knew many people up north and heard lots of stories, including from soldiers who participated. Thanks, very much, for the link. Here’s hoping we will not have another one describing Syrian related hostilities.
I believe the two guys met in Miami, maybe another time. There are pictures somewhere, can’t track them down. Maybe one here can help with the link.
I couldn’t wait to read what was happening in both countries every day. Deep down most people want peace. Darn fanatics everywhere.
It was at the Embassy Suites in Boca Raton, Florida — and yes, I do have photographs.
In all the pAAnic yesterday no one noticed that your favorite blogger catering to the TLV crowd gave away a fuel dump on an OTA to his avid followers who of course called the OTA, the Airline(s) involved etc etc. :p
Read the comment section… hillarious!
And no death threats for revealing a FD….. I guess he doesnt encounter a catch-22 that often. Or maybe the promised land is an exception.
Yeah, now saw that. I don’t think that is deserved of death threats 🙂
There is a downside catering to a specific community. The newbiness of the questions can be…incredibly frustrating!
Dan has a long way to go to even come close to the backlash of them folks at airfare watchdog 😉
Really good thoughts on what the AA fuel surcharge roller coaster says about the state of the travel blogosphere
http://efficientasianman.com/2013/08/29/non-thoughts-on-the-aa-devaluation-scare/
“So many blogs posted about the supposed devaluation, which I guess is fair since it would be major news if it were true, but so few added actual new information or perspective. Lucky was the one to break the news, and I think Gary has the best write-up, and those are two blogs that any miles enthusiast should follow. But I didn’t really get anything of value from any of the other countless blogs that wrote about it. Is this symptomatic of every blogger wanting to be a one-stop destination for travel news? Or maybe that many bloggers just don’t have anything new to say?”
Time to whittle down Feedly.
>>>>>>Time to whittle down Feedly.
Oh how I need to do that and I am going to so I can keep my sanity…a little bit!
Just like you mentioned, I noticed that Gary was very ‘soft’ on his discussions of AA. Very similar to TPG when it comes to DL.
They need to stay in good terms with these companies. I certainly don’t!
Perhaps he was a bit soft, but he was virtually the only one to chase down the substance behind American’s explanation. Aside from those taking AA’s statement at face value (i.e. TPG), countless bloggers were ripping apart AA’s fuel surcharge statement (example: MileValue proclaiming that his arguments had “eliminated the possibility the statement is true” with regard to fuel surcharges) — except, turns out it was true with regard to Malaysian, which coincidentally seems to be what started the panic in the first place. There’s a pretty detailed post in the FT thread about the fuel surcharge situation.
Sure, there’s the possibility this was just AA flipping the switch early — I think we all realize that’s a possibility. But Gary’s post at least helped explain AA’s position much better than AA seemed capable of doing.
And for what it’s worth, I think his first post in the morning was sufficiently hard on AA — Lucky’s known a bit for hysteria/dramatics, but Gary’s post immediately rang alarm bells.
>>>>>he was virtually the only one to chase down the substance behind American’s explanation.
Absolutely. While everyone was running around acting like their head was chopped off (including me) he displayed the cool veteran demeanor and got to the bottom of it, no doubt. Makes Lucky look like a kid…he is old enough to be a kid anyway lol.
I may give GL a hard time here (what, another Top 5 cc post already?, pancakes, caviar & champagne 1st class elitism, anti TSA libertarian rants, restaurant critic wannabe, the LOOK, etc etc) but he is the BEST industry commentator that can speak to common people (like me who is a follower of this space and definitely NOT an insider). I value those posts the most and this is why I have been reading VFTW since Day 1.
Thank you so much for reading and taking the time to comment!
Didn’t Gary just have a credit card filler post 2 days ago?
He’s back at it, and in true Gary form, a post titled “The 5 best credit cards….” has 8 credit card links in them
Losing battle. It pays well. It’s everywhere.
It’s long past due for an avalanche of “here are the results of my latest churn” posts
It may be preceded by tons of “SPG 30k amex deal ending soon!” posts