American AAdvantage has announced some program changes for 2023. While there are a couple of positive updates, I’d say they’re pretty negative overall, as this marks a significant devaluation for Platinum Pro and Executive Platinum status. I’ll cover most of the details below, and then in a separate post I wrote about how American is introducing “fully dynamic” award pricing.
American changing mileage earning & elite requirements
To start, American is adjusting mileage earning on both its cheapest and most expensive fares, and is increasing the requirements to earn entry level elite status. Let’s go over those details.
Basic economy mileage earning reduced by 60%
Over the past few years, American has made basic economy fares more rewarding and less punitive for AAdvantage members, but that’s a trend that will reverse. As of 2023, American basic economy fares will earn only 2x AAdvantage miles per dollar spent, rather than 5x AAdvantage miles, which represents a 60% reduction in mileage earning on these fares.
This will apply for all tickets issued on or after January 1, 2023, and for travel starting March 1, 2023.
Cap of 75,000 miles per ticket being eliminated
When airlines shifted to revenue based frequent flyer programs, they started awarding miles based on how much you spend. However, there has been a cap of earning up to 75,000 miles per ticket. That always seemed a bit odd to me, since it penalized elite members (who earn up to 11x miles per dollar rather than up to 5x miles per dollar), and you’d think you’d want to incentivize really expensive tickets.
American will be removing this cap on mileage earning, that those on very expensive fares can earn more miles. That’s good news for those who regularly book tickets costing five figures (eek).
Gold status requirements increasing by 33%
As of March 2023, American AAdvantage will be increasing the elite status requirements for AAdvantage Gold status. This currently requires earning 30,000 Loyalty Points, while next year it will require earning 40,000 Loyalty Points, so that’s a 33% increase.
There are no changes to other AAdvantage elite thresholds — Platinum will require 75,000 Loyalty Points, Platinum Pro will require 125,000 Loyalty Points, and Executive Platinum will require 200,000 Loyalty Points. However, as I’ll cover below, some of the perks associated with the status will be changing.
The new AAdvantage Loyalty Point Rewards
With American’s Loyalty Choice Rewards program, elite members can select certain benefits when passing any of five different thresholds (ranging from 125,000 points to 750,000 points). This program will be changing significantly as of March 2023:
- The program will be rebranded from Loyalty Choice Rewards to Loyalty Point Rewards
- You’ll no longer need 30 qualifying segments in order to unlock Loyalty Choice Rewards; you can earn these without flying a single segment
- The program will go from having five thresholds to having 11 thresholds
- The lowest threshold will decrease from 125,000 Loyalty Points to 15,000 Loyalty Points, and the highest threshold will increase from 750,000 Loyalty Points to 5,000,000 Loyalty Points; this means you can start earning some perks before you even qualify for status
- Most crucially, you’ll no longer be able to select these benefits at 125,000 Loyalty Points and 200,000 Loyalty Points (the requirements for Platinum Pro and Executive Platinum, respectively), but rather you’ll earn them at 175,000 Loyalty Points and 250,000 Loyalty Points; if you value those perks, that’s indirectly a pretty significant increase in elite requirements
What are the new benefits? Keep in mind that these are all based on how many Loyalty Points you earn, and you can earn those exclusively through credit card spending, if you’d like.
Loyalty Point Rewards at 15,000 Loyalty Points
When earning 15,000 Loyalty Points, you receive Group 5 boarding for the membership year, and can select one of the following:
- Priority check-in, security, and Group 4 boarding for one trip
- Five preferred seat coupons
Loyalty Point Rewards at 60,000 Loyalty Points
When earning 60,000 Loyalty Points, you receive:
- Avis Preferred status
- A 20% Loyalty Points bonus on spending with AAVacations, AAHotels, AAdvantage eShopping, AAdvantage Dining, and SimplyMiles
Loyalty Point Rewards at 100,000 Loyalty Points
When earning 100,000 Loyalty Points, you receive:
- Avis President’s Club status
- A 30% Loyalty Points bonus on spending with AAVacations, AAHotels, AAdvantage eShopping, AAdvantage Dining, and SimplyMiles
Loyalty Point Rewards at 175,000 Loyalty Points
When earning 175,000 Loyalty Points, you can choose one of the following:
- Two systemwide upgrades
- 20,000 bonus miles, or 25,000 bonus miles for AAdvantage credit card members
- Six Admirals Club day passes
- A $200 trip credit, or $250 for AAdvantage credit card members
- A $250 donation to a partner charity
- A 15% AAdvantage award rebate
- The ability to gift AAdvantage Gold status to two people
Loyalty Point Rewards at 250,000 Loyalty Points
When earning 250,000 Loyalty Points, you can choose two of the following:
- Two systemwide upgrades
- 20,000 bonus miles, or 30,000 bonus miles for AAdvantage credit card members
- Six Admirals Club day passes
- An Admirals Club membership (this requires both choices)
- A $200 trip credit, or $250 for AAdvantage credit card members
- A $250 donation to a partner charity
- The ability to gift AAdvantage Gold status to two people
- A selection of Bang & Olufsen products (this requires both choices)
- A Flagship Lounge single visit pass, or two passes for AAdvantage credit card members
Loyalty Point Rewards at 400,000, 550,000, and 750,000 Loyalty Points
When earning 400,000, 550,000, or 750,000 Loyalty Points, you can choose two of the following at each threshold:
- One systemwide upgrades
- 25,000 bonus miles
- An Admirals Club membership (this requires both choices)
- A $200 trip credit, or $250 for AAdvantage credit card members
- The ability to gift AAdvantage Platinum status
- A selection of Bang & Olufsen products (this requires both choices)
- Two Flagship Lounge single visit passes
- One Flagship First Dining visit pass
Loyalty Point Rewards at 1,000,000 Loyalty Points
When earning 1,000,000 Loyalty Points, you can choose one of the following:
- Four systemwide upgrades
- The ability to gift AAdvantage Platinum Pro status
- A mileage rebate of 100,000 AAdvantage miles
Loyalty Point Rewards at 3,000,000 Loyalty Points
When earning 3,000,000 Loyalty Points, you can choose one of the following:
- Six systemwide upgrades
- The ability to gift AAdvantage Executive Platinum status
- A mileage rebate of 300,000 AAdvantage miles
Loyalty Point Rewards at 5,000,000 Loyalty Points
When earning 5,000,000 Loyalty Points, you can choose one of the following:
- 10 systemwide upgrades
- The ability to gift AAdvantage Executive Platinum status
- A mileage rebate of 500,000 AAdvantage miles
Bottom line
American AAdvantage is making some major program changes as of 2023. The requirements for AAdvantage Gold status will be increasing, mileage earning on basic economy fares will be decreasing, and the cap on how many miles you can earn on a ticket will be eliminated.
The biggest changes, though, are to Loyalty Choice Rewards, which are being rebranded as Loyalty Point Rewards. Going forward, you’ll no longer receive these rewards at the thresholds for AAdvantage Platinum Pro and AAdvantage Executive Platinum. So while the requirements to earn these elite tiers aren’t increasing, you’ll need to earn a lot more Loyalty Points to receive the same rewards.
On the plus side, some will appreciate that you can unlock perks at lower and higher thresholds than before, and many will also like that the requirement to fly 30 segments is being eliminated in order to earn these benefits.
What do you make of these AAdvantage program changes?
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