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[edit] AAdvantage Elite Status
[edit] Elite Status Qualification Period
AAdvantage Elite status is granted when the requirements are met in one calendar year (January 1st - December 31st). Status earning is cumulative and you do not "reset" to base zero on achieving each level of status. There are 3 levels of Elite Status: Gold (GLD), Platinum (PLT), and Executive Platinum (EXP).
A status level can be attained at any time during the year and will carry you through the following year and January and February of the next.
So if for example you qualify for Platinum in October 2008:
- You will be granted Platinum for the remainder of 2008
- You will continue as a Platinum for 2009
- Your Platinum Status will continue until the last day of February 2010 unless you have requalified
In prior years, AA has had a "Soft Landing" feature which means that if you fail to requalify for a given status level, you will only drop down one level at a time. This is not a published aspect of the program and at this time (September 2008), it's not known how long this will continue.
[edit] Qualifying for Yearly Elite Status
There are three ways to qualify for yearly AA Elite Status: by the number of flight segments, Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM), or Elite Qualifying Points (EQP). Do not confuse EQM with miles that you may earn from Non-Air Mileage or bonus miles. EQM are earned by flying. The AA.com Elite Status Qualification Page has the official rules.
| Qualification Method | Gold | Platinum | Executive Platinum |
| Flight Segments | 30 | 60 | 100 |
| Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) | 25K | 50K | 100K |
| Elite Qualifying Points (EQP) | 25K | 50K | 100K |
Your new status is calculated based from when the flight segment is completed. Your qualifying flight will accrue the bonus mileage in accordance with your new Elite Level. Subsequent mileage bonus calculations will be made in the proper sequence even though your new status may not yet be processed and is not showing on AA.com. Call AA if you need to use your status in the days before it has been processed (to request an upgrade for example).
[edit] Gold and Platinum Challenge
A popular way for individuals to quickly get status when they start flying with AA is to take either the Gold or Platinum Challenge. There is no Executive Platinum Challenge. See the following Wiki article for more details:
[edit] Benefits of Elite Status
There are many benefits to having Elite Status documented at AA.com.
| Benefit | Gold | Platinum | Executive Platinum |
| Hotline | 800-848-4653 | 800-843-3000 | 800-843-6200 |
| In-flight Reservations Hotline | *044 | *055 | *066 |
| Book Exit Row | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 4 Domestic Upgrade "Stickers" every 10K miles | Yes | Yes | No |
| Complimentary Domestic Upgrade | No | No | Yes |
| Domestic Upgrade Clearing Window | 24 hours | 72 hours | 100 hours |
| Check-In (AA) | Business** | First | First |
| Check-In (oneworld) | Business | Business | First |
| Admirals Club Discount | $50 | $100 | $150 |
| oneworld Tier | Ruby | Sapphire | Emerald |
| Lounge Access based on Status for Int'l Travel* | None | Business | First |
| Boarding (if seated in main cabin) | Priority AAccess | Plat/EXP | Plat/EXP |
| Mileage Bonus*** | 25% | 100% | 100% |
| VIP Systemwide Upgrades | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Waived AAdvantage Award Fees | No | No | 21 Days in Advance |
| Expanded MileSAAver award availability | No | No | Yes |
| Guaranteed Economy Seating on Sold-Out Flights | No | No | 24 Hour Notice |
| Priority Waitlist for Purchased Business/First Seats | No | No | 24 Hour Notice |
| Luggage Tags per Year | 0 | 0 | 2 |
*Must be departing on a oneworld operated/marketed flight that day. Excludes AAdvantage members traveling on solely North American itineraries. North America is defined as U.S. (including Hawaii and Alaska), Canada, Mexico (except Mexico City), Bermuda, The Bahamas, and the Caribbean.
**In airports without Business Class check-in, AAdvantage Gold members may use First Class check-in.
***Elite status bonus miles on all eligible American Airlines and codeshares, as well as Alaska and eligible partner airlines. Exceptions: Japan Airlines, Malév, and effective March 1, 2008, British Airways.
[edit] Lifetime Status
An undocumented benefit of the AAdvantage program is the ability to get lifetime Gold and Platinum status. Before you ask - there is no such thing as lifetime Executive Platinum status. Unlike the yearly status qualification where only EQM/EQP/segments qualify you, for lifetime status all miles count - including the ones accrued by credit card purchases. See Non-Air Mileage for ways to earn miles without flying.
As an undocumented bonus, it is subject to change at any time.
| Benefits | 1 Million Miles | 2 Million Miles | Each Subsequent Million |
| Status | Lifetime Gold | Lifetime Platinum | Lifetime Platinum |
| Luggage Tags | 2 Gold Tags (or current level, if higher) | 2 Platinum Tags (ditto) | 2 Platinum Tags (ditto) |
| Upgrades | 8 Stickers (or 4 VIPs for customers with 'international' addresses1) | 4 VIPs | 4 VIPs |
1When the million mile status is processed, members with addresses in Europe, South America, Asia, Australia/NZ, Africa will get VIPs. Members with addresses in Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, Bahamas, Caribbean and Central America will receive stickers. Changing your address may or may not result in the award of VIPs instead of stickers, and may violate the terms of the AAdvantage program.
It takes about 2-3 weeks after your qualifying flight for your million-mile status to be recognized by the system.
[edit] Prepaid Travel Card
In 2006, AA offered a Prepaid Travel Card declining balance card, where you could immediately get status by purchasing a prepaid travel card. The Prepaid Travel Card was reintroduced in 2008 (last date to purchase was March 31, 2008,) with the following details:
| Elite Level | Gold | Platinum | Executive Platinum |
| Initial Account Balance | $5,000 | $10,000 | $20,000 |
The 2008 card confers status through February 2009. A notable change in the 2007 and 2008 programs is formal assurance of a "soft landing," which has long applied to status earned in the usual manner, and which lets you drop down one level at a time.
See discussion of the 2006 program and discussion of the 2007 program.
It is currently (Sep 2008) unknown if the Prepaid Travel Card will be offered again in 2009.
[edit] Status Match
On occasion AA will do a status match to Gold or Platinum if a member has elite status on another airline. Typically, AA offers this to corporate travel desks as a perk. If your company has a travel desk, it is definitely worthwhile to inquire with them. If you have a travel agent who brings a lot of business to AA, he or she might be able to help as well. In addition, a status match is an official benefit offered with the Merrill+ Card at the +2 level ($20k in annual spend).
Based off of recent data points (09/2008), it appears that you will not be able to get status just by calling up AA and asking for a match.
Although there does not seem be any published rules, there is a FT thread with some anecdotal information. There is also a FT thread indicating that under extremely special circumstances, AA would match up to EXP status.
[edit] Buy-Back Program
NOTE: Link below has been updated to provide information on the 2008 Buy-Back offer which was available from January 24, 2008 to April 30, 2008. Pricing appears to be the same as 2007.
In 2007 and previous years, AA has offered a Buy-Back Program for elites who have failed to maintain their status.
Quoting the 2008 offer:
Who's Eligible
All current AAdvantage Platinum and AAdvantage Gold members are eligible to participate in this offer provided they have flown at least one elite qualifying segment during 2007. Members who participated in the 2007 offer are not eligible to extend their status through this offer for the 2008 membership year.
- Gold members pay $349 or $449 (depending on mileage flown in previous year)
- Platinum members pay $549 or $649 (ditto)
- Executive Platinum members are not eligible for the program (but will only drop to Platinum in any case)
- Members who participated in the previous year are not eligible
- Prepaid Travel Card members are not eligible
The Buy-Back Program can change at any time; it is unknown (09/2008) if it will again be offered in 2009, and what the pricing will be.
[edit] Exception Policy
There is an unofficial exception policy for members who come close to qualifying, but don't quite make it. The automatic exceptions have been as follows:
- 24,500 miles or points for Gold Status
- 49,000 miles or points for Platinum Status
- 99,000 miles or points for Executive Platinum Status
As well there has been a manual exception policy to get Executive Platinum if the member has flown 95,000 miles and has accrued 90,000 points. You will have to call for a manual exception. (Reports of this exception all date back to the early days of the points system, when only paid First and Business fares earned more than 1 point/mile. Since then the conversion has been liberalized. All fares from B (slightly discounted economy) up earn 1.5 points/mile. Six more heavily discounted economy fares now earn 1.0 point/mile. A 90/95 ratio of points to miles no longer indicates heavy spending as it once did. As of late 2008, nobody has reported obtaining an exception on this basis for years. There is reason to doubt it still exists.)
The Exception Policy can change at any time.
