@scenery_guy wrote:
@Open123 wrote:
@CreditScholar wrote:
@Open123 wrote:
Right, throws a monkey wrench into my planned Sept app spree for the Citi AA 50K offer.
I wonder if there are any links to the Barclay's offer with the 10k annual bonus? That's worth more than the AF itself.
This is the one I have and it was earmarked for purging in a couple of weeks, but after today's news, I may hold on to it.
PS - I assume this will delay US Air's transition into oneworld.
I know, I had mine on schedule to close in a couple months. I have the 10K bonus offer as well so I guess I keep it and get the bonus. Yes, the Oneworld transition should be on hold now as best as i can tell. I'm not sure I am happy that I hedged bets and have both the AA card and US Air card. No harm done but I was hoping to combine the miles on both cards for an upper class redemption next summer. Same applies to Mrs. scenery_guy as she is holding both AA and US Air cards too.
Always prudent to hedge, especially in M&A, when there always exists a high degree of unpredictable regulatory risk. However, this I didn't see coming, especially since the DOJ didn't raise any objections to the UA/Cont, or the airline mergers before it.
All things being equal, I eschew mergers, and favor a more competitive environment. This is a time where even with all of it's detractors, I think the DOJ made the right decision. If consolidation continues unabated in the American airline industry, the consumer will eventually lose from the potential collusion, price fixing, and increased power of labor unions escalating labor costs even higher.
In my estimation, those of us with US Air miles (given some of the best in class redemption to AUS and SE Asia as CreditScholar has alluded to) accrued will benefit more without the merger, especially since whatever we're missing from US Air can readily be filled by UA in the west, and Delta in the east.
