Dear American Airlines,
You and I have had a close relationship for a couple of decades now, and it has been mostly wonderful.
In the beginning, as we were getting to know one another, I was OK with being herded to the back of economy as I worked hard to gain favor with you. I was committed to loyalty.
The day that I reached 25,000 frequent flier miles in my account was a big deal for me. Wow. A free trip. But I wanted more. I wanted 50,000 miles for two free round-trip tickets. So I persevered. I flew and flew and flew. And finally, I made it. And you came through, just as promised. My husband and I loved that vacation in New England with free airfare and all.
I was hooked. I made sure that all my trips were booked on AA. You loved that too, didn’t you?
Over the years you and I have logged nearly 1.3 million miles together. You may not know this, but I am known in some circles as Miss American Airlines. And I thank you for my lifetime elite status.
Remember when we were together on that flight from Los Angeles to St. Louis on Sept. 11, 2001? I’m still grateful that even though we'd taxied out and were sitting there in No. 1 position to take off, you aborted delivering me and all my fellow-passengers back to the gate. Whew! Just one of the heart-pounding events we’ve been through together.
But things have changed. I haven’t seen a first-class upgrade in years. I notice you are booking the flights to (crammed) full; not an open seat anywhere.
I was one of your fans who enjoyed the food service in economy. It was edible and often quite good. When you discontinued that, I lived with nuts and pretzels for several years. Where have all the snacks gone?
Oh, yeah. You now charge $12 for those nuts. And something like $19 for a stale sandwich. No, thanks. And $8 for a pillow and blanket? Oy!
I do need to talk to you about baggage, and I’m not talking childhood experiences that color my adult life. I’m talking about Samsonite or, in my case, Kirkland. While I appreciate you not charging me for checked luggage now that I am lifetime elite, what on earth are you doing charging others $35 for the first, then $45 for the second bag? Yikes! Have you considered using that money to perhaps improve the baggage service?
As you may recall, my husband and I enjoyed a vacation in South Carolina on frequent-flier-mile-rewards tickets. We arrived, but our luggage didn’t. L-O-S-T two bags, the sum total of everything we brought with us. You told us the next flight in would be 24 hours hence, but we would be too far away for your delivery service. WHAT?!? Obviously you forgot who I am. Million-miler ... loyal flier ... Miss American Airlines. Imagine spending your first day of vacation with nothing more than the clothes in which you arrived.
Yes, you found our bags and delivered them outside of your delivery area but only after I whined and carried on about being so put out.
Earning miles (and by that I mean the old-fashioned one mile earned for every mile flown) has become quite challenging, and I mean in the area of mathematics. I can’t make heads or tails of your newfangled process. How can I fly 948 miles and earn a paltry 72 reward miles? Must be a mystery algorithm. And just try using accumulated miles (points) to fly anywhere. Ha! That’s where you try to rook me into buying more miles to make up the difference, as I never seem to have sufficient.
I don’t mourn so much for myself because despite all the downgrading you’ve done, I retain my lifetime elite status. But I have to warn you that my eyes have been wandering.
In a few weeks I'll be flying to Philadelphia. On Southwest.
Sincerely, Your Gal
