It is a shame that AAdvantage miles earned with Bask Bank won't count towards Loyalty Points. You can find the original post here.
This is huge, so make sure you sit down. American AAdvantage has completely changed the way elite status is earned. Say goodbye to elite miles and dollars.
It will be simpler to earn AAdvantage elite status if you account for how much you fly with American, but also how much you engage with American's partners. If you want, you can earn top tier status through credit card spending.
I don't know what to think of these changes, they are just such a departure from what we're used to. I want to hear what OMAAT readers think after I share the details.
You can earn American Loyalty AAdvantage elite status with points.
The American AAdvantage elite status will be based on how many Loyalty Points you earn. You will get one Loyalty Point for every A mile earned. The requirements for AAdvantage elite status will be the same in 2022.
30,000 points will be required for Loyalty Gold status.
75,000 points is required for AAdvantage Loyalty Platinum status.
A Platinum Pro status will require a lot of loyalty points.
200,000 Loyalty Points is required for AAdvantage Executive Platinum status.
Status will be earned between March and February of a given year, and will be valid through March 31 of the following year. Status is no longer based on the traditional calendar year.
What miles qualify as Loyalty Points is a big question. Spending $200,000 on a credit card would earn you Executive Platinum status, but buying 200,000 AAdvantage miles wouldn't. Let's take a look at those details.
How to earn points for flying.
You can earn Loyalty Points for flying. If you were to fly American Airlines.
You can earn 5x base miles per dollar spent.
If you are an Executive Platinum member, you would earn 11x miles per dollar spent, and all of those bonuses would qualify as Loyalty Points.
American basic economy tickets can be used to earn loyalty points.
When flying partner airlines.
You can earn miles at the same rate, but you can also earn Loyalty Points.
The loyalty points for elite status bonuses range from 40 to 120%.
Loyalty Points can be earned by flying premium economy, business class, or first class.
If you are an Executive Platinum member booking an I class ticket on Alaska Airlines, you will earn a total of 2,700 Loyalty Points, and you can find the earnings chart here.
You can earn points for travel on partner airlines.
How to earn loyalty points for credit card purchases.
The majority of AAdvantage credit cards issued by Citi andBarclays earn Loyalty Points.
The rate of one Loyalty Point per dollar spent is what you earn for every base mile earned on the card.
Welcome bonuses are not Loyalty Points.
If you spend in a category that is bonused, you only earn Loyalty Points for the base spending, meaning one Loyalty Point for every dollar spent.
You can learn more about bonus points for credit card spending here.
Credit card spending can earn you American status.
Loyalty Points can be earned for other partner activities.
You can earn Loyalty Points by participating in non-flying activities beyond credit cards. All base miles earned from spending with AAdvantage Dining, AAdvantage eShopping, and SimplyMiles count towards loyalty points.
There are still options being worked out with some partners. I asked about Bask Bank, the World of Hyatt partnership, and Rocketmiles, and was told to "stay tuned."
You can get Loyalty Points for dining out.
What activities don't earn Loyalty Points?
There are a number of activities that don't earn Loyalty Points.
Transferring miles, buying, or gifting.
Government taxes, fees, and other charges are associated with buying airline tickets.
For example, Marriott Bonvoy points can be converted to AAdvantage miles.
Welcome bonuses,pliers, and accountants are not eligible for AAdvantage credit cards.
I am not surprised that buying miles does not count towards loyalty points. I don't follow the logic of that because it seems that when American sells miles directly to consumers, it's higher margin than when they sell them in bulk to a partner. I guess the logic is that American thinks that it would be hard to earn status.
Buying miles does not count towards loyalty points.
A loyalty choice rewards program by American AAdvantage.
The concept of Elite Choice rewards was revealed by American Airlines in 2020. The idea is that both Platinum Pro and Executive Platinum members can choose the rewards they value the most. The new program will have a slight change.
When earning Platinum Pro and Executive Platinum status, members of American AAdvantage Loyalty will be able to choose rewards. There is a major catch. You need to log 30 segments on American or a partner airline in order to earn Choice Loyalty rewards. American Airlines marketed award flights.
This is a way to avoid giving perks to people who don't fly a lot. There will be perks at the following tiers.
Level 1 has 125,000 Loyalty Points.
Level 2 has 200,000 Loyalty Points.
350,000 Loyalty Points is level 3.
Level 4 has 550,000 Loyalty Points.
Loyalty Points are at Level 5.
Platinum Pro Loyalty Choice rewards.
Platinum Pro members will be able to choose one of the following:
One systemwide upgrade.
If you have an AAdvantage co-brand credit card, you can get 20,000 AAdvantage bonus miles.
Up to two travelers on any oneworld airline in any cabin can take advantage of a 15% AAdvantage award savings.
$200 American Airlines travel voucher.
Six passes from the admirals club.
Carbon emissions are offset.
$200 donation to a charity.
A Loyalty Choice Reward is a systemwide upgrade.
Executive Platinum loyalty choice rewards.
Executive Platinum members will be able to choose two of the following:
Two systemwide improvements.
If you have an AAdvantage co-brand credit card, you can get 25,000 AAdvantage bonus miles.
A gold status gift.
This requires two choices.
There is a choice of products from Bang and Olufsen.
Carbon emissions are offset.
$200 donation to a charity.
$200 American Airlines travel voucher.
We should expect some new benefits going forward as well, though the rewards will be the same for higher thresholds.
You can choose bonus miles as a Loyalty Choice Reward.
Priority upgrade will be determined by Loyalty Points.
This shouldn't come as a big surprise, but with the new program your Loyalty Points total will determine your upgrade priority within your elite rank.
The first thing you'll be prioritized by is your rolling 12-month elite qualified dollars total. It makes sense that Loyalty Points will be the winner.
Loyalty Points will be used to prioritize the upgrades.
What happens to the American AAdvantage Millionmiler lifetime status?
You can earn AAdvantage Gold or Platinum status for life if you pass one million or two million lifetime miles. The requirements to earn will not be related to Loyalty Points.
Base miles earned for travel on eligible partner marketed flights are used to calculate miles towards million mile. You can't earn lifetime status through credit card spending.
Double-dipping opportunity for American AAdvantage extending status.
American AAdvantage has made it easier to earn status in 2021, and there is more to come.
American is extending AAdvantage elite status through March 31, 2022.
The January and February of 2022. will count towards the AAdvantage status qualification.
If you want to decide whether to do a mileage run to earn status in the first two months of 2022, you should do it in the first two months of 2020. You will have 14 months to earn this year's status and 14 months to earn next year's status, and travel will count towards both years.
Travel in the first two months of the year will count towards two years.
I think I love these changes.
I think the program changes are great. In recent years airline loyalty programs have become too transactional and complicated, and have missed out on the big picture. The concept behind the program changes is brilliant, as members can be rewarded for their overall loyalty to AAdvantage, rather than just how much they fly.
It makes sense to reward people who earn airline miles through non-flying means. It makes sense to reward someone for how much they fly with American, but also for how much they use an American Airlines credit card, dine through the AAdvantage Dining program, etc.
The concept is one thing, but how is it?
The numbers on loyalty points are crunched.
I am still trying to do the math on Loyalty Points, but I am not sure if I think the thresholds are reasonable or not. For context.
Executive Platinum status used to require 100,000 and 15,000 miles.
Executive Platinum status requires 80,000 and 12,000 elite miles.
Executive Platinum status will require 200,000 Loyalty Points in the year 2022.
There are a few thoughts on the math here.
If you earn 11x Loyalty Points per dollar spent on American flights, you would have to spend over 18 thousand dollars per year to earn Executive Platinum, which is a significant increase.
If you start from scratch, you would have to spend over $27,000 on flights to get to Executive Platinum status, since you don't earn the same 120% mileage bonus from the start.
If you spend $200,000 per year on a co- branded credit card, you can earn Executive Platinum status, but only if you fly at least 30 segments.
If you are an Executive Platinum member, you could spend $100,000 per year on a co-branded credit card and spend $9,100 per year on flights to maintain your status.
Bask Bank offers AAdvantage miles in lieu of interest when saving money, and you can earn one AAdvantage mile for every dollar saved over the course of a year, so if you deposited $200,000, you would earn 200,000 AAdvantage miles.
I want to know what OMAAT readers think of the new requirements. I think that it might be easier to qualify if we put our heads together and figure out some of the more lucrative opportunities out there.
You can take a different approach to earning AAdvantage status.
There is no AAdvantage award chart devaluation.
There had been a lot of rumors about a big AAdvantage devaluation. Since no major changes have been made to the partner award charts for the past five years, many assumed that American would devalue them.
There are no plans to change partner award pricing at this time, and that is good news. This will be a huge relief to many.
AAdvantage is not devaluing partner awards.
The bottom line.
American AAdvantage is changing how elite status is earned. You will earn elite status based on how many Loyalty Points you earn, rather than other metrics. You can earn loyalty points by flying, credit card spending, or even with other AAdvantage partners.
I like the concept behind these changes. The new Loyalty Points concept makes it easier to earn elite status, and makes it easier to consider engagement in a loyalty program beyond flying.
The thresholds seem high at first glance. If you can earn status based on a combination of credit card spending, online shopping, dining, and flying, it might not be difficult at all.
What do you think about the new program?
