American Airlines’ AAdvantage program has just rolled out some status buy up offers, for those who are short of requalifying for status. As a reminder, with American AAdvantage’s Loyalty Points system, the carrier no longer uses the calendar year for status qualification, but rather status is earned between the beginning of March and the end of February of the following year (and status is then valid through the end of March).
American’s current elite year ends on February 28, 2023, so we’re seeing buy up offers for those who want to extend their status through March 31, 2024.
In this post:
Buy up to AAdvantage elite status for 2023
If you log-in on this website with your AAdvantage number and password, you can see what kind of a status buy up offer is available to you, if any. This allows you to buy up to the next status level for this coming qualification year, compared to what you’ve already requalified for.
You can potentially buy up to a different status tier than what you currently have. For example, if you’re an Executive Platinum member but have only requalified for Gold, you’d get an offer for Platinum. Meanwhile if you’ve only requalified for Platinum, you’d get an offer for Platinum Pro.
You can find the offer FAQs here. There are some basic things to be aware of:
- If you take advantage of one of these buy ups, your status should be updated within three business days
- Whatever you spend on a status buy up won’t count toward your Loyalty Points total, other than what you earn with credit card spending if you use a co-branded AAdvantage card
- This purchase is non-refundable
If you were to take advantage of this, it could make sense to wait until the end of the month, to see if you have any more opportunities to earn Loyalty points in the traditional way, since this buy up offer is still valid even after the qualification year ends. I’d only recommend taking advantage of this if you’re sure you won’t be able to earn the status you’re hoping for otherwise.
What’s the cost to buy AAdvantage elite status?
With American’s elite tier offer you can buy up to one tier above what you’ve currently qualified for (in other words, if you’ve already earned Platinum status, you can only earn Platinum Pro status this way — there’s also no way to earn Concierge Key with this).
People are likely to see vastly different offers, which are based on how far you are toward qualifying for status, and also what status you’re going for.
Ford and I have both received offers, since we’re not doing all that well when it comes to requalifying for status. I’m currently at 104,788 Loyalty Points (so I haven’t even qualified for Platinum Pro, let alone requalified for Executive Platinum).
I received an offer to buy up to Platinum Pro for $2,219. As a reminder, I’d need ~20,000 Loyalty Points to earn that status.
Ford is currently at 58,787 Loyalty Points (so he hasn’t even qualified for Platinum),
He received an offer to buy up to Platinum for $1,449. As a reminder, he’d need ~16,000 Loyalty Points to earn that status.
Should you buy up to status?
This is something everyone has to decide for themselves, as there’s no universal right answer:
- Whether or not this makes sense depends on your anticipated travel plans over the course of the next year
- If you’re not absolutely sure it makes sense, I’d recommend not making a purchase; money in your pocket is usually worth more than constantly devalued airline status
- American’s new AAdvantage elite program that uses Loyalty Points as the status metric makes it easier to earn status (at least for those with access to eligible credit cards), so I might just put my effort into qualifying in the next year
Bottom line
American AAdvantage has launched its typical promotion that allows members to buy up to a higher status tier than they qualified for. This is for those who haven’t yet requalified for status in 2023.
I’d only use this feature as a last resort, as the cost is typically excessively high. I’d only take advantage of this if you’re absolutely certain it’ll be worth it based on your upcoming travel patterns.
Are you eligible for an American AAdvantage elite buy up offer? If so, how much is American asking for, and how close are you to earning the status you’re being offered?
Exec Plat for $4,979
I've been trying the link since I received the flyer with no luck and on both Chrome and Edge. Also, received a phone call and offer to buy up to Platinum for $1,589 as I'm short of the required loyalty points for 2022.
I'm also getting the blank page when I try to access status.aa.com & I've tried different browsers, all w/ the same result, A BLANK PAGE...WTH A/A ???
My link wasn't working either - called and they sent me to status.aa.com. Logged in and saw my offer.
Currently Platinum Pro, and I forget how many miles short I was of Exec, maybe 17k? Anyway, my offer is $1,949 or 195k miles. Considering it but probably won't, although I have the miles... Hmm
Im having the same issue that others are reporting - the link from the email I received just loads up a blank page, from my phone and computers.
I received the email offer to boost status but the link loads a blank page on multiple devices and browsers. Apparently, I’m not the only one. Okay American Airlines, do better.
This morning i received the same email. The link in the email is not working at all. I have tried from several different computers but nothing has changed. I only needed 6500 points and was wondering how much it would cost me.
RLH
I received the mail offer from AA and very much doubt I will be tempted to pay for a status upgrade from Gold to Platinum but was curious to learn about the deal. They must have read my thoughts since it seems I can't even log onto the site to find out. Anyone else experiencing this?
I also cannot login to the site
When I first got this offer in the mail I was super ticked off because I just flew a $1,399 first class transatlantic JFK to LAX last weekend (simply for my EP Status) and had I known about this I could've saved some money. But not really... I was 14,000 points short, so I'm guessing they would've wanted around $1,200 from me. For the extra $200 I got to enjoy Flagship First dining Lounge and...
When I first got this offer in the mail I was super ticked off because I just flew a $1,399 first class transatlantic JFK to LAX last weekend (simply for my EP Status) and had I known about this I could've saved some money. But not really... I was 14,000 points short, so I'm guessing they would've wanted around $1,200 from me. For the extra $200 I got to enjoy Flagship First dining Lounge and around 15,000 miles I wouldn't have earned without my butt in the seat.
I tried calling to ask how much to keep my status before the end of the status year, but was told that I couldn't. A bit more transparency in advance might save some folks the hassle of the travel, give us these options 30 days in advance.
34k short of EXP…just got off phone with them since I did not get an offer email…”sorry sir I do not see a buy up offer for you”. WTH!? Is this happening to more people? I have been all in on AA for years. This is not sitting well with me.
I was 248 away and did not receive an offer
I did a hotel stay booked through aa as I only needed 4k points for Plat so I booked a hotel room for 1 night that snags me 4k loyalty points to push me over the top. However it is likely the points from my stay will post after the requal period date of 2/28. I cannot get a straight answer from AA but does anyone know if when the 4k loyalty points post in early March they will count towards this years status since the stay concluded 2/11?
Just got off phone w AA. I'm $2K short of Platinum Pro. I have enough credit card spending between last cc statement closing date (2/8) and today (2/28), but even though transactions posted to cc, AA said that they go by the most recent cc statement date (2/8) and not when transactions posted. That's not what it says on the AA website, but agent said I was wrong.
Per AA website:
"Purchases made with your AAdvantage® credit card will count based on the date the activity posts to your AAdvantage® account . All other flight and partner transactions will count based on the activity date of the flight or other transaction."
The date AAdvantage credit card activity posts to loyalty points is the statement close date. I had a statement date of Feb 9th but called Citi early Feb to have my...
Per AA website:
"Purchases made with your AAdvantage® credit card will count based on the date the activity posts to your AAdvantage® account . All other flight and partner transactions will count based on the activity date of the flight or other transaction."
The date AAdvantage credit card activity posts to loyalty points is the statement close date. I had a statement date of Feb 9th but called Citi early Feb to have my statement date changed to the 28th going forward. Too late to help you now but something to think about for this year's earnings.
Was ~7,000 miles shy of re-qualifying for EXP. Offer was $1,008 or 108,000 miles, which I took since I will not have time for a mileage run this year. Note that you can use a combination of dollars and miles (e.g. $560 and 56,000 miles).
Made Platinum Pro for the year and 60k short to requalify for EXP. They offered $2719 or 272k for buy-up to EXP status. We have at least 2 big trips to be planned for the year, but will prob fly with OneWorld partners and already have lounge access via co-branded credit card... figuring it isn't worth the spend or miles ♀️
I’m 12k shy of platinum pro. No offer has been extended and no travel for this month confirmed. Any idea how I can get the 12k I’m missing?
I need less than 7,000 miles for Platinum Pro and my offer was for $1,229 or 122,000 miles. Puhlease!
Okay maybe I'm not feeling so bad about a $1,400 mileage run fare to get the 13,850 I was short. You'd think they'd make it LESS expensive then an actual flight since you know, you're just sitting at home giving them money? 7,000 Loyalty points would only be a $630 fair presuming you're currently earning at EP levels
22,500 LP shy of EXP. (I will make it with travel no problem) I got an offer to buy up for $2,989.
Does anyone know what this gets coded as by the credit card company? Try to figure out which credit card to use if I do decide to take up the deal. Thanks!
I'm 1100 miles short of Platinum right now, and my offer was $399 to buy up to Platinum (I'm currently PlatPro). I've got 50k LPs booked by the end of the month (to keep me at PlatPro) so I'm obviously going to decline this offer, but a data point.
Need 46,000 LP for EXP. No offer. One flight and cc spend will nail 25K but will still be short and not sure it’s worth the spend when I don’t fly that much.
Just got an offer from United for $2240 to move up from Silver..Think it is too much$$ to go up a tier!!Hubby was offered the same for $3200
I need 90 LP's for EXP (yeah ninety). I have 4 more flights though the end of February. They wanted $415 or 41.5K miles.
Buy something through the shopping portal now so it'll show up before the end of the month. Surely you can find some vendor offering 4 or 5 miles/$, then you'd only need something cost $25-$30 to get you over the top.
$1,350 to stay Platinum,, and I would in the past do something like that since retirement and fewer flights. Last year I paid for Flagship First MIA LAX MIA & requalified But since we fly First paid or award we get almost all perks. I’m spending $450 for Club card so AC membership and 60K miles Just Gold and that’s okay
I finally gave up on AA. ExPlat well over 10 years. But this time I folded and moved everything to Alaska. AA keeps raising the bar. If I keep jumping it they will keep raising it. I made it to Plat Pro level before I threw in the towel when I heard about 2023 qualifiers for 2024. And for this year you have to get the 30 segments unless they changed that. I would have...
I finally gave up on AA. ExPlat well over 10 years. But this time I folded and moved everything to Alaska. AA keeps raising the bar. If I keep jumping it they will keep raising it. I made it to Plat Pro level before I threw in the towel when I heard about 2023 qualifiers for 2024. And for this year you have to get the 30 segments unless they changed that. I would have had to make flights I don’t need to make, where I could have made it on hotel. No regrets. AA simply does not value my flying on their planes any more. And punishes me if I take a deal on an emptier plane. Oh well. Nice while it lasted. I will still have OneWorld Emerald and easily qualify 75k or 100k on Alaska.
Review the loyalty points via the hotel portal on AA.com. Over the holidays we were stranded so I looked at hotels via the AA website and was able to snag 26,000 Loyalty points at the Kimpton Rowan Hotel in PSP. That put me over the top for Plat Pro. While they don't count towards your hotel rewards program, for 20K points it was way better if you were planning a trip anyway before the end of February.
I accidentally qualified for Gold (barely) mainly through shopping portal points as I only flew AA once last year. No buy-up offer for me when I logged in.
Does AA not offer new parents the opportunity to have their status extended for a year when you have a baby? I thought that was fairly standard these days...
Buy up offers are rarely much of a value unless your travel patterns are going to change significantly in the near future. Moreover, AA would rather you make a big purchase on a co-branded credit card to get upper status than fly.
@Ben “I received an offer to buy up to Platinum Pro for $2,219. As a reminder, I’d need ~20,000 Loyalty Points to earn that status.”
SendFlowers is 15x AA miles/Loyalty Points per dollar through AA shopping portal. To get 20,000, you’d need to send $1,330 worth of flowers to people. It seems like for most people, using a shopping portal would be the cheaper route of straight up buying up to the next status. Plus a bunch of flowers.
If I needed 20k, I'd go book a night (or two) at rocketmiles hotel for ~$400.
Is there a way to sort by these deals? I never find anything for more than 3k base miles per night.
Yep, sort by cheapest price, then select a hotel, always select “add extra miles” and divide the miles by total cost. Look out for resort fees, they are no added into final price. Best value rates I’ve seen are 31.5pts/$ in orlando, 34 in myrtle beach and 40s in Las Vegas. Also factor in the time and gas to drive to the hotels. It’a cheaper to book multiple rooms for 1 night than 1 room...
Yep, sort by cheapest price, then select a hotel, always select “add extra miles” and divide the miles by total cost. Look out for resort fees, they are no added into final price. Best value rates I’ve seen are 31.5pts/$ in orlando, 34 in myrtle beach and 40s in Las Vegas. Also factor in the time and gas to drive to the hotels. It’a cheaper to book multiple rooms for 1 night than 1 room for multiple nights. Deals also fluctuate throughout the week and around holidays obviously.
You actually don't need to factor in the price of fuel, because you don't need to show up. As odd as it sounds (and as pointless as it otherwise might be), a pre-paid reservation earns the LP whether you use it or not.
Interesting , I have 64,419 LPs and my offer in comparison to Fords in relation to distance from Platinum.
My offer is $1,199 or 120K miles. Wouldn’t use my miles. Platinum won’t help much in terms of upgrades in Fords case because Miami is a hub. I’m based in Houston which is an out station so I believe I would still get the occasional upgrade with Platinum. 33%.
I could just stay at...
Interesting , I have 64,419 LPs and my offer in comparison to Fords in relation to distance from Platinum.
My offer is $1,199 or 120K miles. Wouldn’t use my miles. Platinum won’t help much in terms of upgrades in Fords case because Miami is a hub. I’m based in Houston which is an out station so I believe I would still get the occasional upgrade with Platinum. 33%.
I could just stay at the Four Seasons Houston for a night with rocketmiles boost and re qualify for $500. Decisions.
You don't even plan to make a last minute effort to qualify for Platinum Pro and keep OWE?
I'm 12000 short of Platinum and will try to do so.
@ Ethan -- Oh, I have plans to still requalify for Executive Platinum. Not giving up!
If the hope of an upgrade is the reason to buy up, I wouldn't. Since switching to Loyalty Points, upgrades are much more difficult to obtain since status has been easier to attain (think about all the people who own businesses and use credit cards for purchases). I have been EP for many years (via EQMs until this year and now via Loyalty Points). I currently have 286,000 Loyalty Points. Even with that, I have...
If the hope of an upgrade is the reason to buy up, I wouldn't. Since switching to Loyalty Points, upgrades are much more difficult to obtain since status has been easier to attain (think about all the people who own businesses and use credit cards for purchases). I have been EP for many years (via EQMs until this year and now via Loyalty Points). I currently have 286,000 Loyalty Points. Even with that, I have been upgraded on less than half of my recent flights. Where I almost always was number one on the upgrade list, I am now often 3 or 4. While Loyalty Points have clearly benefited AA's bottom line, it has devalued the benefits of achieving status.
Exactly why I switched to UA when all of this was announced. And after the Simply Miles insanity. Perhaps this will work for AA in the big scheme of things. But you are saying what I exactly predicted and everyone laughed at me for. Exec Plat is meaningless now. And for those who actually fly it's a real kick in the butt. I'm so happy I switched when I did.
Great Point. It does also depend on the routes you fly or if you're in a hub like DFW
Wow you guys must not have flown much One World paid J this year. Status was as easy as ever being an EXP flying cheap paid J on partners.
That's what happen when you plant trees for millions of AA miles but a few thousand short of getting CK.
You, umm, redeem miles?
@ Jerry -- It has been a busy year, being a new father while also trying to review new premium products. So yeah, there weren't as many good opportunities to requalify as past years.
Current at ~106,000 loyalty points and my offer for Platinum Pro is $2,059.
Curious what happened to your Concierge Key status you poached with mistake donation buys? You never talked about it afterwards.
Didn't the CK status end 12/31? I thought Leff said something like that.
Didn't read much from Gary either but I don't follow his blog every day. Was surprised that everyone went so quiet about it all after the initial hoopla and gloating. I was expecting reports of what it was like and if it actually has merit as a status. With the millions of miles obtained by this mistake buy-in I'm surprised there were not more reports as to burning some of them on AA metal and how CK felt.
@ Stuart -- I never got Concierge Key status. Not sure what hoopla and gloating you're talking about?
Gary was reporting that you were all given Concierge Key and awarded millions of miles for the buy in. That one, lol. The one you also posted about getting how many miles for a mistake donation scheme?
@ Stuart -- Gary was speaking on behalf of himself and some other data points he had, not on behalf of me.
Strange. You all got the same deal and same points for the buy in. Have you ever wondered or speculated as to why you "didn't get it" and "others did?" As an FYI, that was the turning point for me to switch to UA and Star A...after two decades as Exec Plat and three million miles with AA it was the last straw. I am so glad I did. I feel far more valued for actually flying rather than gaming.
@Stuart
Stop poking about CK.
It sucks that the qualification is unknown, and makes you doubt yourself that you should have purchased more.
If anything AA might just handing a few out to turn bloggers against each other.
Just like TPG likes to brag about the Centurion Card yet doesn't get extras for his writers.
I'm sure getting CK is on the bucket list for OMAAT.
@Eskimo Poking? Is that like poaching? I was actually curious as to the experience of the bloggers who got it via the Simply Miles program. Even more curious about how it all went quiet shortly after Gary and others were gloating about it for a few days. In fact, I never cared about CK or imagined qualifying for it. But I did imagine that I might be valued more at 200K miles butt in seat...
@Eskimo Poking? Is that like poaching? I was actually curious as to the experience of the bloggers who got it via the Simply Miles program. Even more curious about how it all went quiet shortly after Gary and others were gloating about it for a few days. In fact, I never cared about CK or imagined qualifying for it. But I did imagine that I might be valued more at 200K miles butt in seat per year (with many paid premium flights to boot) and that I just might deserve it more than a few people who lucked into a mistake donation scheme and who mostly write about how to get everything for free. I am offering nothing more than a perspective in how bloggers can, rather than attract business for a brand, drive away a good existing customer with shenanigans like this. And end up destroying the value we once had for loyalty by creating a cheapening effect that leaves a very bitter taste.
Not saying UA is perfect. Far from it. But I am ok with my move as a result of all of this (along with the absurdity of how easy status is with loyalty points now). While I hate devaluations (which are a cause and effect of too many miles out there for which bloggers heavily contribute to) the one thing I value the most is elite status and making my travel easier. It's something I feel UA and Star A gets.
Stuart, based on an unfounded assumption, you made a rude comment about Ben. Don't pack-peddle and say that you just want to know about bloggers' CK experience - it is disingenuous and transparent. If you want to "know" or to shame those who received it, go over to VFTW and do it. I have been a CK for a few years and received it the old-fashioned way and have nothing but congratulations to offer to those who received the opportunity (however received).
Excuse me? What was rude? How was I back peddling? Or "pack peddling" as you call it. I was very interested as to what the CK experience was going to be for them given the way they got it. I also found the whole thing to be a bit of gloating (mostly from Gary - but to a point from OMAAT) given that the offer was clearly not meant for this, AA/MC did nothing to...
Excuse me? What was rude? How was I back peddling? Or "pack peddling" as you call it. I was very interested as to what the CK experience was going to be for them given the way they got it. I also found the whole thing to be a bit of gloating (mostly from Gary - but to a point from OMAAT) given that the offer was clearly not meant for this, AA/MC did nothing to correct it, and many of us with butts in seats spending actual money to fly a vast majority of our flights (in comparison to bloggers) were left with a bad taste. Further, to make it clear here that it actually inspired me to switch to UA, which I did after two decades with AA, to show that there are repercussions in disenfranchising a core of its customers who had their faces rubbed in it.
I'm glad you found my comments to be transparent. That was the intention.
What is the deadline for this offer?