Guide To American Status Match & Challenge (Instant Status Pass)

It’s common for airlines to offer some sort of status challenge or status match program, in order to lure frequent flyers who are loyal to competing airlines, but are considering a switch.

In the United States, most major airlines offer some sort of a status match challenge opportunity, including Alaska, Delta, JetBlue, Southwest, and United. In this post I wanted to take a look at the program offered by American, which works a bit differently than the rest.

American has a unique status match and challenge program, which is branded as “Instant Status Pass.” It’s not necessarily as straightforward as the programs offered by some other airlines, but that also has its benefits (like that you can qualify through credit card spending, for example).

AAdvantage Instant Status Pass program basics

Instant Status Pass is the name of American AAdvantage’s status challenge program. Ordinarily a status challenge requires completing some activity during a limited window (usually a few months), and then receiving the status for an entire year.

American takes a slightly different approach, clearly emphasizing that people stay engaged over a longer term, as the airline requires members to complete challenges in three consecutive phases, each lasting for four months.

Let’s first talk about how American’s Instant Status Pass program works, and then we’ll talk about how you can qualify for it.

American’s three phase Instant Status Pass program

Nowadays American AAdvantage elite status is based on the Loyalty Points system, as that determines the elite status you earn, plus it determines the Loyalty Point Rewards you qualify for. Loyalty Points can be earned in a variety of ways, from flying, to credit card spending. So you could qualify for status without even stepping foot on a plane.

When you enroll in American’s Instant Status Pass, you’re given elite status in four-month intervals, and it’s a three-part challenge:

• In phase one, you’ll receive elite status for four months, and during those first four months you have to earn a certain number of Loyalty Points in order to maintain the status for another four months
• In phase two, you’ll receive the status for another four months, and have to earn a certain number of Loyalty Points to maintain the status for an additional four months
• In phase three, you’ll receive the status for another four months, and have to earn a certain number of Loyalty Points to maintain the status for an entire additional year

While it can vary, you can generally expect that each elite tier requires earning the following number of Loyalty Points during those periods of four months (roughly translating to one-third of the typical annual requirements):

• The AAdvantage Gold status challenge requires earning 10,000 Loyalty Points in four months
• The AAdvantage Platinum status challenge requires earning 25,000 Loyalty Points in four months
• The AAdvantage Platinum Pro status challenge requires earning 42,000 Loyalty Points in four months
• The AAdvantage Executive Platinum status challenge requires earning 67,000 Loyalty Points in four months

In terms of trying to incentivize ongoing business, I’d say American’s program is actually pretty smart, since it keeps people engaged, and doesn’t give away stays for too long.

Note that you can drop to a lower elite tier throughout the Instant Status Pass challenge. For example, if you start an Instant Status Pass challenge for Executive Platinum but only earn 50,000 Loyalty Points, you’d then receive Platinum Pro status for the next four months.

Who qualifies for American’s Instant Status Pass program

Who is eligible to participate in American’s Instant Status Pass program? It goes without saying that this is going to be most popular with those who have elite status with competing airline programs.

As flagged by View from the Wing, nowadays you can request an American Instant Status Pass challenge directly through aa.com. Go to the “Contact American” page at this link, select “AAdvantage account service,” and then select “Status match (other airlines).”

There you’ll see how status maps over. Currently American is offering Instant Status Pass challenges to Delta SkyMiles, Southwest Rapid Rewards, and United MileagePlus elite members, and status maps over per the below chart.

Again, if you’re eligible, you’d have to complete the Instant Status Pass program, so you would receive status in chunks of four months.

However, it’s worth noting that other people can be eligible for American’s Instant Status Pass program as well:

• Sometimes AAdvantage members will be targeted for Instant Status Pass promotions by visiting the “Promotions” tab of their AAdvantage account
• If you’re enrolled in the American AAdvantage & World of Hyatt partnership and have elite status with Hyatt, you may be eligible for a special challenge certain times of the year
• Others can call AAdvantage customer service at 800-882-8880 to ask about availability for an Instant Status Pass challenge, as it may be open to others at a cost

Bottom line

If you’re looking for a status match challenge with American Airlines, then the Instant Status Pass promotion is for you. The idea is that you have to complete certain activity in chunks of four months, roughly equating to one-third of the standard requirements. The good news is that it’s entirely based on Loyalty Points, so even credit card spending would allow you to qualify for this.

Delta, Southwest, and United elites are eligible for Instant Status Pass on a complimentary basis, while others can potentially qualify through promotions, or even pay to enroll. The program is a bit complicated, but I think the structure is pretty fair.

What do you make of American’s Instant Status Pass program?