Management of the post-merger AAdvantage program was announced last week, and news that Suzanne Rubin would remain as president of the combined loyalty program was met with widespread applause….and relief. From my not so lofty perch, AAdvantage does a better job of rewarding elites (and every other category of mileage earner) than any other domestic airline program overall. MileagePlus is a close second for me. As a certified Atlantan I rarely fly American anymore, but I have a nice cache of miles between AAdvantage and Dividend Miles, and look forward to a combined balance in the future.
I take this news as another good sign in my faith that senior leadership at the new American realizes that a combined airline will be very different from the US Airways that they’ve managed quite well over the last few years. A key contributor to a good airline is an equally good loyalty program. Notably, I do not think this means AAdvantage won’t join the move towards a more revenue based program. I do, however, have high hopes that this may be a positive step towards a balanced approach to loyalty vs profit vs reward for American and its customers, and maybe even the entire industry. YMMV.
-MJ, July 24, 2013
Definitely good news! I was relieved to see that she’s staying.
Good news, indeed.
Ever since AA dehubbed SJU, where I live, remaining active with them has been a decision I review every December. I have had to take mileage runs to assure my 100K miles every year since the loss of flights has forced me to sometimes use other airlines. Having said that, their good treatment of Executive Platinums and their new equipment (including lie flat business class in some 757’s and the extraordinary business class seats, or should I say suites?, in the 777ER’s will be strong factors to remain loyal to AA through, at least, next year.