The new American Airlines - not sure if I like it already

At least its mileage program.

We all know that there is a new AA, emerging from the ashes of its bankrupcty, and now supposedly stronger, in the aftermath of its merger with US Air.

I always liked AA's mileage program, AAdvantage. I found the interface easy to use, and no tricks. The rules were always applied.

Having acquired a substantial number of miles, including use of an AA credit card, I decided to use my miles to book a trip to Brazil. Simple math - AA's prices to Brazil had been historically very expensive as of late, so I used to travel to Europe and elsewhere, accumulate flights, and use them in my Brazilian expeditions.

To start, the new AAdvantage interface is cute, however, not very practical. It took a while to get a working knowledge of it. Then the nasty surprise...

Unfortunately, my trip involved an off peak initial date, and a peak return date. Rules are rules. So while I was expecting to spend 40k miles on the trip, I realized I had to spend 60K.

I continued on the booking process, and then, suddenly, both departure and return required 125K miles each, that is, a total of 250k miles!

I was quite furious. The only explanation I could find for such absurd requirement was  that the US-Brazil corridor is a hot one these days, and perhaps, seats came at a premium. I gave up on using my American Airlines miles to travel to Brazil.

Then I called a travel agency specializing on Brazil, at the lowest price for my intended travel dates was on TAM, US$925.00. Just to get this off my chest, I asked what was the AA price. Unbelievably, it was US$955.00, the lowest AA price to Brazil I have got since around 2005!!!!! So, the hefty mile requirement was not due to high demand, after all.

I ended up booking on AA, for if AAdvantage has become a little difficult, TAM's mileage program is impossible to use. You have to travel like 10 times before you get something useful out of it, besides being allowed one additional bag per flight.

American Airlines, please note that I do not accumulate miles to get subscription magazines or buy crummy products. For that matter, I am not at all interested in traveling to San Pedro Sula or Guatemala. I expect to use the miles to travel to premium destinations, and expect the peak-off peak rules to apply at all times.

So, I am giving it another shot. However, AA, if this does not work on my next booking, forget about my loyalty.  I will just begin booking the lowest priced carrier.