Charlotte-Douglas Airport (CLT) Expansion

[PuppiesandKittens]

2 hours ago, LKN704 said:

Um no, not basically anyone with an AA credit card can get lounge access. 

There are currently 9 co-branded cards AA offers with Citi and Barclays, only one of which offers an Admirals Club membership, the Citi AAdvantage Executive Mastercard. The number of people (even amongst those who travel) who have an appetite to spend $450 on a credit card annual fee that has poor earning + redemption benefits (non-co-branded cards are usually far superior) is smaller than one would think.

Amex caters to an entirely different demographic than Citi/Barclays do. 

If AA felt that there was a need for another club in Charlotte, they would have built one long ago. 

Really grasping at straws here. 

Barclays is constantly giving out Admirals Club day passes to its cardholders.  

Pretty much anyone with an AA credit card can finagle a way into an Admirals Club.  

And if you don’t have an AA credit card, you may be able to cash in loyalty points to get access, or get access as a bonus once you reach a minimum number of loyalty points per year.

I visit Admirals Clubs hundreds of times per year (due to credit card access) and it’s a low barrier to entry.  Really, based on the spectacles at the CLT ones, most anyone can get in somehow, with some effort.  It’s not an exclusive place.

Edited April 12, 2023 by PuppiesandKittens

[LKN704]

30 minutes ago, PuppiesandKittens said:

Barclays is constantly giving out Admirals Club day passes to its cardholders.  

Pretty much anyone with an AA credit card can finagle a way into an Admirals Club.  

And if you don’t have an AA credit card, you may be able to cash in loyalty points to get access, or get access as a bonus once you reach a minimum number of loyalty points per year.

I visit Admirals Clubs hundreds of times per year (due to credit card access) and it’s a low barrier to entry.  Really, based on the spectacles at the CLT ones, most anyone can get in somehow, with some effort.  It’s not an exclusive place.

I truly don't mean to cause offense, but you appear to be truly out of touch with reality if you think airline clubs aren't an exclusive place...maybe not for someone who visits "hundreds of times per year." Unsure what you mean by "spectacles"...that's kind of classist...poor behavior can be found in all classes of society.

It costs 65,000 miles to buy an AC membership with miles. To receive a gratis AC membership via Loyalty Choice rewards, you have to amass 200,000 Loyalty Points and have 30 qualifying segments.

I've had an AA Barclay Card since the card shifted from being a US Airways card, and I've never been offered a day pass to an AC, and I used to have decent spend on the card.

If you truly visit ACs that many times a year via your Citi card, you must have high enough status with AA either via Loyalty Points via credit card spend or actual flying (given that you are required to present an AA ticket to gain access to the AC with your Citi) that AA would probably listen to customer comments from a high-yielding customer as yourself...maybe you should contact AAdvantage Elite CS about the lack of club locations in Charlotte versus hashing out wild claims on an online board? 

[PuppiesandKittens]

1 hour ago, LKN704 said:

I truly don't mean to cause offense, but you appear to be truly out of touch with reality if you think airline clubs aren't an exclusive place...maybe not for someone who visits "hundreds of times per year." Unsure what you mean by "spectacles"...that's kind of classist...poor behavior can be found in all classes of society.

It costs 65,000 miles to buy an AC membership with miles. To receive a gratis AC membership via Loyalty Choice rewards, you have to amass 200,000 Loyalty Points and have 30 qualifying segments.

I've had an AA Barclay Card since the card shifted from being a US Airways card, and I've never been offered a day pass to an AC, and I used to have decent spend on the card.

If you truly visit ACs that many times a year via your Citi card, you must have high enough status with AA either via Loyalty Points via credit card spend or actual flying (given that you are required to present an AA ticket to gain access to the AC with your Citi) that AA would probably listen to customer comments from a high-yielding customer as yourself...maybe you should contact AAdvantage Elite CS about the lack of club locations in Charlotte versus hashing out wild claims on an online board? 

Your post is offensive, but to respond in part:

1. I’ve gotten multiple day passes from AA credit cards, even though I already had Admirals Club access.

2. Except when day pass sales are limited, if anyone doesn’t meet any of the criteria we have posted, anyone can pay cash for a day pass, or find a day pass on eBay.  Anyone, literally, can gain access.

I am Executive Platinum with AA and was Chairman’s Preferred with US Airways.  

If you think that the Admirals Clubs in Charlotte are exclusive, then what isn’t exclusive? 

You may wish to read “The Democratization of Airport Lounges” from the New York Times last summer.  Generally, they are  no longer exclusive places, say lots of others.

 

Edited April 12, 2023 by PuppiesandKittens

[Vitamin_N]

On 4/12/2023 at 2:00 PM, PuppiesandKittens said:

Your post is offensive, but to respond in part:

1. I’ve gotten multiple day passes from AA credit cards, even though I already had Admirals Club access.

2. Except when day pass sales are limited, if anyone doesn’t meet any of the criteria we have posted, anyone can pay cash for a day pass, or find a day pass on eBay.  Anyone, literally, can gain access.

I am Executive Platinum with AA and was Chairman’s Preferred with US Airways.  

If you think that the Admirals Clubs in Charlotte are exclusive, then what isn’t exclusive? 

You may wish to read “The Democratization of Airport Lounges” from the New York Times last summer.  Generally, they are  no longer exclusive places, say lots of others.

 

I'm a credit card buff and I've had the Barclays Aviator as well as multiple versions of the Citi AA cards. I have never once received a day pass. The only way I've ever had lounge access was from the Citi AA Executive card (speaking of which, I knew someone who figured out a way to get the 100,000 mile sign-up bonus on that card 15 times or so without paying the hefty annual fee, those were the days)... but then, I've never been EXP like you. I've also followed travel/points/miles blogs and websites for years and I've never heard of AA randomly giving out day passes to the average Joe, but maybe I've been reading the wrong sites.

But yes, anyone can technically get access to the lounge if they're willing to pay the $50 or whatever it is. I think you both are arguing over semantics, specifically "exclusive" and "anyone".

[CltFlyer]

No official sources for this yet, but according to a supposed internal email at American.

CLT-Madrid will be going year round starting this upcoming winter 2023 along with a few other non Charlotte routes.

It will load late tonight for booking.  Most certainly with a Boeing 777-200

 

 

[LKN704]

2 hours ago, CltFlyer said:

No official sources for this yet, but according to a supposed internal email at American.

CLT-Madrid will be going year round starting this upcoming winter 2023 along with a few other non Charlotte routes.

It will load late tonight for booking.  Most certainly with a Boeing 777-200

 

 

Good to see!

FWIW  “through Winter 2023” usually means that the flight is being extended through the end of the W23 season, which ends on 13 December, not necessarily year-round. 

We will have to see what is uploaded this evening.

[BarrenLucidity]

34 minutes ago, LKN704 said:

Good to see!

FWIW  “through Winter 2023” usually means that the flight is being extended through the end of the W23 season, which ends on 13 December, not necessarily year-round. 

We will have to see what is uploaded this evening.

Hoping this is a sign IAG and AA have decided to increase routing through MAD vs LHR. 

[CltFlyer]

It's officially loaded for this winter

 

 

 

[Temeteron]

11 minutes ago, CltFlyer said:

It's officially loaded for this winter

 

 

 

Damn prices are insanely high!

[CltFlyer]

13 minutes ago, Temeteron said:

Damn prices are insanely high!

Don't worry.   The prices you see originally are high (however don't be surprised by prices in the high 1000s to low 2000s)

Edited April 23, 2023 by CltFlyer

[LKN704]

Prices are high because not all fare buckets are currently available for purchase. Prices will dramatically drop once AA releases further inventory.

Edited April 23, 2023 by LKN704

[KJHburg]

how big is Iberia's network in Europe as they are a code share partner with AA? we should have year round service to their Madrid hub as another place to connect to the rest of Europe without going through London/British Airways. 

[LKN704]

13 hours ago, KJHburg said:

how big is Iberia's network in Europe as they are a code share partner with AA? we should have year round service to their Madrid hub as another place to connect to the rest of Europe without going through London/British Airways. 

Unfortunately, Iberia's European network is pretty poor:

I suppose it isn't the worst, but many cities (like Athens) are only served once daily in the off-season, which could potentially pose problems in the event of IROPS or a misconnect. They have a nice network on the Iberian peninsula, but that's about it. 

The reality is that Oneworld is simply weak in Western and Central Europe since the loss of Malev several years ago. Air France/KLM (SkyTeam) and Lufthansa/Swiss/Austrian/Brussels (Star Alliance) offer a superior network. Plus, both other alliances have smaller, "niche" members on the continent, like SAS, Aegean, and ITA. 

Obviously, geography is a big factor in this...SkyTeam and Star Alliance hubs are more centrally located to capture intra-European connecting flows without backtracking, like Oslo to Naples. 

[Rufus]

What's the demand here for Amsterdam-Schiphol? I know it's a Delta hotspot with KLM, but I've always found it interesting there hasn't been a flight there. I know the airport has seen better days since the pandemic with the majority of the line craziness we saw across Europe last year, but I wonder if there is potential for it one day soon. Then again, I bet it also being smack in the middle of LHR, CDG, and FRA really screw its potential. 

[Temeteron]

19 minutes ago, Rufus said:

What's the demand here for Amsterdam-Schiphol? I know it's a Delta hotspot with KLM, but I've always found it interesting there hasn't been a flight there. I know the airport has seen better days since the pandemic with the majority of the line craziness we saw across Europe last year, but I wonder if there is potential for it one day soon. Then again, I bet it also being smack in the middle of LHR, CDG, and FRA really screw its potential. 

It would be nice to get CLT-AMS but even DFW has it seasonal.  PHL is the only one that is year round.  

[KJHburg]

Maybe KLM or archrival Delta fly to Amsterdam from CLT.   AA flies to London from RDU and that is not a hub for them and of course Delta flies from RDU to Paris.  I would love to see another foreign flag carrier come to CLT. 

[CltFlyer]

They have released the renderings for the new Airport Overlook!  This looks phenomenal.  It will instantly be one of the best, if not the best official airport overlook in the country.  I didn't put it in the respective thread, but this is a great example of creating unique culture in CLT.

https://www.cltairport.com/community/airport-overlook/

[JRCLT]

They have released the renderings for the new Airport Overlook!  This looks phenomenal.  It will instantly be one of the best, if not the best official airport overlook in the country.  I didn't put it in the respective thread, but this is a great example of creating unique culture in CLT.
https://www.cltairport.com/community/airport-overlook/

IICR correctly: UNC Charlotte Civil Engineering students did some projects about this overlook’s design. I’m sure some of their ideas got put in here. It looks really nice!

[LKN704]

6 hours ago, KJHburg said:

Maybe KLM or archrival Delta fly to Amsterdam from CLT.   AA flies to London from RDU and that is not a hub for them and of course Delta flies from RDU to Paris.  I would love to see another foreign flag carrier come to CLT. 

Delta and KLM aren't rivals...they are effectively the same airline across the Atlantic thanks to their joint venture. 

In any case, it is highly unlikely CLT gets service to Amsterdam. Amsterdam is a small market from the U.S. when compared to other major European cities.

Delta has large operations there because it is essentially its hub. United has decent operations there because Houston has oil traffic and the other three cities United serves year-round from AMS (Newark, Dulles, and Chicago) are among the top four largest metro areas in the country. 

Amsterdam was long the weakest European destination for US Airways and AA didn't even fly to Amsterdam pre-merger. 

[eastsider]

3 hours ago, CltFlyer said:

They have released the renderings for the new Airport Overlook!  This looks phenomenal.  It will instantly be one of the best, if not the best official airport overlook in the country.  I didn't put it in the respective thread, but this is a great example of creating unique culture in CLT.

https://www.cltairport.com/community/airport-overlook/

Looks great! Interesting that a bus stop is included in the plan, hadn't heard that detail before.

[origin.clt]

Here's the general location for the new overlook (might need to zoom in) and access road.  Much closer to 18R 36L.  According to the public plans, it will sit roughly 40 feet above that runway. 

[KJHburg]

9 hours ago, LKN704 said:

Delta and KLM aren't rivals...they are effectively the same airline across the Atlantic thanks to their joint venture. 

In any case, it is highly unlikely CLT gets service to Amsterdam. Amsterdam is a small market from the U.S. when compared to other major European cities.

Delta has large operations there because it is essentially its hub. United has decent operations there because Houston has oil traffic and the other three cities United serves year-round from AMS (Newark, Dulles, and Chicago) are among the top four largest metro areas in the country. 

Amsterdam was long the weakest European destination for US Airways and AA didn't even fly to Amsterdam pre-merger. 

Meant archival to American Airlines 

[allthingsplanes]

1 hour ago, origin.clt said:

Here's the general location for the new overlook (might need to zoom in) and access road.  Much closer to 18R 36L.  According to the public plans, it will sit roughly 40 feet above that runway. 

Unfortunately this means that we will have less views (at least the close ups) of planes departing.  It will mostly just be arrivals now.  That's unfortunate.   Once the new runway is built we might have a view of both, but that still will be mostly for arrivals.

[CLT2014]

Great enhancements and very family friendly with the park space for kids to play and get introduced to aviation.  The view is def a downgrade, but glad they are still including the space despite CLT moving to 4 parallel runways. 

Looks pretty well lit though for some overlook visitors. 

Edited April 25, 2023 by CLT2014

[TCLT]

10 hours ago, eastsider said:

Looks great! Interesting that a bus stop is included in the plan, hadn't heard that detail before.

I interpreted that as a drop off/parking space for private buses. For school field trips or group outings or something.