American Airlines Does Its Best To Make Sure Frequent Flier Miles Are Totally Worthless

American Airlines is revamping its frequent flier program to include a fee to upgrade economy class tickets to business and first class. In addition to 15k frequent flier miles, AAdvantage members will, starting Oct. 1, have to pay between $50 and $350 for an upgrade.

American Airlines blamed high fuel prices and rising airfares for the change.

“The disparity between discount and premium tickets is too great to be offset by miles alone,” an AA spokesperson said.

From the Dallas Morning News:

Timothy Sieber, an aviation consultant for the Boyd Group in Evergreen Colo., said the high fuel costs are to blame for the new fees, which may be reaching a tipping point.

“At some point, it becomes like a Saturday Night Live skit, where you’re paying for a seat belt and to use the bathroom,” Mr. Sieber said. “They’re running out of things to charge us for.”

American Airlines making more changes to AAdvantage program [Dallas Morning News](Thanks, Travis !)
(Photo: benh )

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