American AAdvantage is making some major changes in 2016-2017, which largely reflect the changes that have been made to Delta SkyMiles and United MileagePlus in previous years. American's changes came a bit later due to their merger with US Airways, where the focus was on integrating while changing as little else as possible. However, we're…
Continue reading: Here Are All The Changes Being Made To American AAdvantage In A Few Days
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Ben:
What will the Platinum Pro level equate to in OneWorld terms? Will it be sapphire, or emerald?
Thanks, and Happy New Year!
@ Frank -- EQPs are no longer being used as a metric of qualifying for status. They do earn more EQMs, though.
@Susan
He'd already answered that question in the post:
"Platinum Pro comes with all the benefits of Platinum status, plus the following perks:
...
oneworld Sapphire status"
Greetings, per the AA.com program updates webpage, carrier-imposed feed do count toward EQDs though Gov't taxes and fees don't. Have they issued mixed messages?
Sad how AAdvantage transformed from one of the best FF programs to one of the worst programs.
Off topic, I have 250k miles with AA, I want to book e. plus on JAL, Alaska charges 40k per seat, sfo/nrt
I hope that's the same/similar amount since both charge 60k for bizz
Free upgrades on award tickets? It's near impossible to get an upgrade now! The F tickets on domestic flights are relatively decent. It's better to buy one and not worry about clearing for an upgrade.
My prediction. In two years time, these complimentary upgrades unless it's an operational upgrade will be a thing of the past.
How many companions inherit the status? Will both my wife and daughter inherit my EXP status for SWUs?
Thanks for the summary, its helpful to have it all in one place. The companion inheriting the status of the elite member is interesting to me - I've upgraded a companion about a dozen times as a Gold the past two years, and she is always adjacent to me on the list.
FWIW this EXP still regularly clears domestic upgrades at the 100hr window. Success here is highly route, time and aircraft dependent. I was at about a 90% success rate overall on domestic upgrades in 2016.
Now domestic upgrades are second only to redeemable miles on my list of the least important aspects of the program (and I say that even though I buy nothing but discount coach tickets) so I don't particularly care when my upgrade clears.
Will regular plat still have OW sapphire status as well, or will it downgrade to ruby?
And one more negative change is:
There will be only 4 "VIP/systemwide upgrade" deposit into your account after you made Executive Platinum in 2016. You will earn 8 VIP/systemwide upgrade if you made Executive Platinum in 2015.
Thank you American Airlines, for punishing your most loyal customer.
Happy New Year Ben. Any idea if AA will be able to show us EQD from 2016? I made it on EQM and EQS but it would be nice to have an idea where I was on EQD.
@JOEDIVER I spoke to Advantage Customer service and even got a follow up from a Senior Manager confirming there will be no data on EQD given out to members for the 2016 year. She said agents were still being trained and they have not calculated EQD's for partners in 2016 nor will they.
Ryan are you sure about that? I know some time in 2017 that EQD will be a secondary priortization for upgrades (first being status level) and it will be based on rolling 12 month EQD. So the EQD's earned in 2016 will be part of the rolling 12-month total.
This is key to me since much of my travel is for biz and high revenue for AA. I'm hoping AA implements this ASAP even though I know most people hate this...
Upgrades are entirely route and time dependent. As a Plat since September, I've cleared 5 out of 6 upgrades requests. Typically my upgrades have been on weekend, leisure routes, on business routes at favorable times (ORD to LGA at 8 PM, for example). Luckily, my travel policy allows me to book business/first on flights over 4 hours, so that takes care of NYC to SFO, LAS, PHX, SFO when traveling on business.
Upgrades are tougher on hub to hub flights and on key business flights during peak hours. Book around those, and you can get upgrades, even as a God
@ Rebecca -- Yep, they sure will. Platinum members continue to receive oneworld Sapphire status.
$12,000 to be EXP with only 4 SWUs (used to be 8) or $13,450 to fly Etihad AUH-JFK 1 way in Residence Class. Hmmm, it's a tough choice now, American Airlines (who are desperately trying to weed out the unearned EXPs from the unpopular US Airways merger).
Oh well....more room in the 1st class lounges for me.
I am Plt for Life on 2M+ miles flown. Will I now enjoy Plt Pro status, rather than Plt? I rarely fly AA anymore, as they've eliminated virtually all the short haul flights from my local airport.
Melissa, just want to congratulate you for making a post that didn't somehow twist this into politics. One step closer to being a grown up.
I consider myself lucky - we were able to get two FC seats on AA from Miami to Buenos Aires in February while getting our friends two Business Class seats. We did this many months ago. But look now for two BC seats and you will find this Friday and Saturday and NOTHING ELSE for eleven months out.
The stuff you write about is important but it pales in comparison to a situation where no seats are being made available. I consider it disgraceful. Boy, has this game changed!
So here's something that's always puzzled me: "AAdvantage Aviator Silver MasterCard accounts can earn up to $6,000 EQDs by spending $50,000 on qualifying net purchases each calendar year..."
Does the EQD credit happen on the date the charge posts to the account, or is it on a billing period basis? In other words, if I have a charge that posts on December 28, 2016 but appears on the statement ending January 15, 2017 -- do the charges count towards the 2016 or 2017 EQD total?
I had one flight clear at 100 hrs recently - RDU-DCA on a weeknight. When I cleared I was the only person in the cabin. But usually my upgrades clear the day of flight. Occasionally on longer flights I even clear on the plane. But lately I'm finding I clear almost every flight. It's great, but I think EQDs are going to reduce my luck a great deal, as I don't fly internationally for business, so none of those really big dollar flights for me. I just grind it out 135K EQMs and 99 segments for me this year!
With the intro of platinum Pro and CK, what does this mean for priority boarding ? It's a zoo at the gate with platinum ( half the plane) boarding after First. Hopefully AA implements some logical changes to thin out the crowds trying to board
Is it not same as Delta and United Airlines for waived MDQ(dollar spend) outside USA address people?
For as long as I've been flying with Alaska or US Air/American, as I board (whether 1st Class or Exec Premier, I could bring my companion along my boarding process. I'd just say, "He/she is traveling with me." Today I was boarding with first class and my colleague bought a last minute ticket so we was in group 3. He doesn't travel much so no status. While boarding the agent denied my colleague and actually made a little scene, creating a rather embarrassing moment. I seldom write on these forums but have been practicing this for 15 years on both Alaska and American. I'd like to know what the official policy says. I can't seem to find any language on the matter.
On American's site they have charts for EQM earning. Some are clearly older, but one says its for flights on or after January 1, 2017 and one is for flights on or after May 4, 2017. They are fairly similar but fair class P earns 2X EQM's on the January chart and 1.5X EQM's on the May chart. Which one is the current chart?
https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/partner-airlines/american-airlines.jsp