[The following are in response to "TWA - The Endgame."] As a long-term TWA frequent flier, I couldn't disagree more with your contention that, "For most of the 14 million members of TWA's Aviators frequent flier program, American's acquisition of TWA is a blessing. Not only will their Aviators miles survive, they will be converted into a more valuable currency, AAdvantage miles." What's more valuable about AAdvantage miles? Is it the fact that it would take 25,000 of them for me to fly to Atlanta or Chicago, instead of only 15,000 miles under TWA's Aviator program? Or should I be happy that I'll have to plan such a trip 21 days in advance under AA's program, instead of being able to make reservations up to four hours before the flight under TWA's program? Or will I be happier knowing that if I don't have any account activity for a 36-month period, I'll lose all my miles, as opposed to TWA's program where miles never expired? (I've already had AA mileage expire, whereas I've never lost a mile with TWA since 1981.) The real benefit of having frequent flier miles was that I could use them "in a pinch" to make last-minute reservations, and the tickets were completely flexible -- I could change the time of my return flight up to the last minute, with no penalty. I've actually used these tickets on three occasions to make reservations and changes to my flight the same day, avoiding the outrageous prices of last minute tickets for even short flights. I was also able to take my wife with me when my employer sent me to an annual meeting in France on short notice; TWA always seemed to have seats available when needed. At least when American takes over, I'll get to commiserate with my friends when they complain that they paid through the nose for a last-minute ticket...but that's the kind of new experience I could gladly miss. It's just a shame that people judged TWA without investigating the facts; the AAdvantage program may be bigger, but it is definitely not better. - Keith I concur with Keith. To add insult to injury, we had booked 2 Aviators trips to Israel for July. American has not taken over that route so Aviator miles to Israel (where we travel every year) are lost. - Claire I agree with the message posted. TWA treats their frequent fliers particularly Elite 2 and Platinum like they are important revenue generators. The same cannot be said for AA. With TWA all upgrades at the higher levels are automatic and don't cost miles unlike the AA program. My bonuses such as being able to take my wife on occasional vacations will be eroded by using the miles to upgrade myself to business or first class. Not only that, but you completely lost the fact the levels of elite status with TWA are not merely based on miles, but the total revenue generated as well. Each level requires fewer miles and or a fixed revenue base, whereas AA only looks at "base miles" and no consideration for those traveling the expensive routes. It is a real shame that AA cannot learn from the good points of what I consider to be the best frequent flier program in the travel industry. - Mel Re: "AAdvantage NOT", Keith is absolutely right. Consumers lose when there are fewer choices. Airline mergers mean fewer choices, and higher prices. The airlines "owe" consumers on billions of frequent flyer miles earned. The trend in their response to meeting these obligations is obviously to charge more and more miles to fly, and to increase blackout dates, restrictions, etc. They can't eliminate the miles earned, so they consistently devalue them and make them harder to use. I'm not a big fan of regulation, but the airlines deserve it. Their lobbying and PR efforts with congress to head off legislation protecting consumers got them more time to police themselves. It hasn't worked! Frequent flyers are fed up with poor service and treatment by airlines that don't seem to care...especially if their load factors are high enough. - Jim I enjoyed your article about conversion of TWA to American miles, but I do not understand how you can say that my miles will be more valuable at American. Here are some things that I have experienced thus far: TWA requires 0 miles to upgrade to first class for me. American requires me to use points. American has no lifetime Platinum member program ( I am 28000 miles away from this!). TWA does American has no lifetime Club membership. TWA does (I will lose mine!) If I want to travel less than 750 miles on TWA, I only need to redeem 15000 points. American is always 25000 or more. TWA occasionally gives 1st class tickets (not upgrades, but real tickets) for purchasing paid tickets during a window. American does not. TWA has many more seats available for Avaiator Awards users than American seems to have. As far as I can tell, American just gives me more places to spend my points, not more value. My points are actually worth less with American. Please show me how I am wrong. Thanks for your articles and keep them coming. - Michael