New Loyalty Points Simplifies Earning Elite Status With American Airlines AAdvantage — But Is It Better?

In a bold move which arguably pioneers a simpler way of qualifying for earning elite status in a frequent flier loyalty program, Loyalty Points has been introduced to American Airlines AAdvantage and will be effective as of Saturday, January 1 2022 — which means that gone are the days of accruing Elite Qualifying Miles, Elite Qualifying Dollars, and Elite Qualifying Segments to qualify for elite status…

New Loyalty Points Simplifies Earning Elite Status With American Airlines AAdvantage — But Is It Better?

…but will the Loyalty Points way of earning elite status be better than the current process?

To start, you earn one Loyalty Point for each eligible AAdvantage mile you earn, which includes all base miles you earn from flying as a passenger aboard airplanes which are operated and marketed by American Airlines, JetBlue Airways, and all airlines which are members of the oneworld alliance — which includes Basic Economy tickets on American Airlines and all status bonuses earned when flying with American Airlines and eligible partner airlines — as well as elite bonus miles and cabin bonus miles which you earn from flying.

Additionally, each and every base AAdvantage mile earned from spending with partners — such as AAdvantage Dining, SimplyMiles, eShopping, and more — earn one Loyalty Point.

For American Airlines AAdvantage credit cardmembers, eligible AAdvantage miles include the base miles earned on eligible purchases using your AAdvantage credit card, and do not include any bonus miles or accelerators. Base miles earned vary by credit card type and issuing bank. For example, most AAdvantage credit cards earn one base mile per one United States dollar spent on eligible purchases, but some earn .5 base miles per dollar spent, others 1.5 miles or 2 miles, etcetera…

…but again, every base mile earned equals one Loyalty Point.

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.

AAdvantage miles which do not count toward earning Loyalty Points include:

• Bonus miles earned from special promotions
• Miles from Buy, Gift, and Transfer transactions
• Government taxes, fees, and other charges associated with buying a ticket do not count toward earning AAdvantage miles and do not count toward earning Loyalty Points
• Conversion of another program currency to AAdvantage miles
• For AAdvantage credit cards, “accelerators” or “multipliers” such as: extra miles for purchases in specific categories, with specific merchants — such as American Airlines purchases — or purchases made abroad
• AAdvantage credit cards new account or welcome bonuses, spend bonuses, etcetera

Elite Status Extended — and “Double Dip” in January and February of 2022

Instead of using a calendar year for qualifications, you will qualify for elite status based on the Loyalty Points posted to your account for the 12-month period starting on March 1 of each year. The AAdvantage status membership year will now be valid through March 31 of each year.

The earliest date on which you will see Loyalty Points in your AAdvantage membership account is Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Loyalty Points earned from eligible activity during January and February 2022 will appear in your AAdvantage membership account in early March of 2022.

Eligible qualifying activity in January and February of 2022 will count toward earning elite status in both 2022 and 2023 — which means that you have an extra two months to “double dip” by earning elite status for both years:

• From January 1, 2022 to February 28, 2022, members will have the opportunity to continue to earn Elite Qualifying Miles, Elite Qualifying Dollars, and Elite Qualifying Segments toward 2021 status qualification when flying on eligible airlines — American Airlines, oneworld, and JetBlue.
• During the same period, members will also earn Loyalty Points toward the new program. Loyalty Points earned in January and February 2022 will be deposited into your account in early March 2022 and will count toward reaching status for 2023.
• If you earn the Loyalty Points needed for 2023 status between January and February 2022, you’ll be granted status in early March 2022.
• If you qualify for AAdvantage Platinum or AAdvantage Gold status, your counter for earning 500-mile upgrades — which normally resets on January 31 — will be extended to March 31, 2022.

To thank you for your loyalty during this time, the current elite status of all members of the American Airlines AAdvantage frequent flier loyalty program will be extended through Thursday, March 31, 2022. If you have already achieved elite status in the 2021 qualification year, the end date of that elite status will update to Friday, March 31, 2023, sometime by the end of March of 2022.

Amount of Loyalty Points Needed to Earn Elite Status

The minimum amount of Loyalty Points which are needed to earn elite status — keeping in mind that one Loyalty Point equals either one AAdvantage mile or one United States dollar — are as follows:

• AAdvantage Gold — 30,000 Loyalty Points
• AAdvantage Platinum — 75,000 Loyalty Points
• AAdvantage Platinum Pro — 125,000 Loyalty Points
• AAdvantage Executive Platinum — 200,000 Loyalty Points

Status Bonus Miles

AAdvantage members who have earned elite status will earn additional bonus miles on base flight miles earned when traveling with American Airlines and its partners as follows:

• AAdvantage Gold — 40 percent bonus
• AAdvantage Platinum — 60 percent bonus
• AAdvantage Platinum Pro — 80 percent bonus
• AAdvantage Executive Platinum — 120 percent bonus

Opportunity to Earn Loyalty Choice Rewards

Starting in March 2022, if you qualify for AAdvantage Platinum Pro elite level status or higher and fly as a passenger on a minimum of 30 flights, you will unlock Loyalty Choice Rewards — with benefits such as day passes to an Admirals Club, bonus AAdvantage miles, systemwide upgrades, and more — at the following levels:

• Level 1 — 125,000 Loyalty Points required
• Level 2 — 200,000 Loyalty Points required
• Level 3 — 350,000 Loyalty Points required
• Level 4 — 550,000 Loyalty Points required
• Level 5 — 750,000 Loyalty Points required

The structure of Loyalty Choice Rewards means that even though you can earn AAdvantage Executive Platinum elite status with Loyalty Points solely on the amount you spend, you will not be able to enjoy such benefits as systemwide upgrades.

New Upgrade Priority Process

With Elite Qualifying Dollars going away, Loyalty Points will be used to determine your upgrade priority as follows:

• Effective as of March of 2022, your 12-month rolling Loyalty Points value will be used to determine your upgrade priority.
• 12-month rolling Elite Qualifying Dollars will continue to determine upgrade priority through February 2022.
• To thank AAdvantage members who earned Elite Qualifying Dollars in 2021, your starting rolling 12-month Loyalty Points will be composed of a combination of your 12 month rolling Elite Qualifying Dollar value as of March 1, supplemented with Loyalty Points as you earn them. As of March 1, 2023, the rolling 12-month Loyalty Points value used for upgrade priority will be solely composed of Loyalty Points.

Final Boarding Call

What is important to note is that Loyalty Points only affects how you earn elite status in the American Airlines AAdvantage frequent flier loyalty program. Earning and redeeming AAdvantage miles are not affected and have not changed — for now, anyway.

Moreover, earning lifetime Million Miler status remains unaffected, as only flight activity contributes to earning Million Miler status. Neither AAdvantage miles nor Loyalty Points earned through your credit card contribute to Million Miler status.

Reaction has been mixed in the frequent flier community, as you can now earn elite status without ever stepping foot aboard an airplane — for example, use a qualified credit card to purchase items through eShopping and you can start to rack up the Loyalty Points — but unless you do fly enough times as a passenger, you will not earn miles towards lifetime Million Miler status or enjoy certain benefits…

…and if you earned elite status on a few long-haul flights, earning elite status will become more difficult to achieve.

I believe that although potential benefits do exist with the introduction of Loyalty Points — which is sort of a misnomer — an exodus of a number of members of the American Airlines AAdvantage frequent flier loyalty program will abandon the quest of earning elite status and simply go with the best overall deal which is offered by an airline, as I am not sure greener pastures exist with the frequent flier loyalty programs of most other airlines.

Many people have called the Loyalty Points aspect of the American Airlines AAdvantage program as a credit card company which also happens to operate an airline and rewards the biggest spenders — who are arguably the best customers — rather than those customers who have earned elite status the “hard” way by flying as a passenger aboard airplanes…

…so is Loyalty Points a better way of earning elite status? The answer to that question depends on who you ask…

All photographs ©2018 and ©2019 by Brian Cohen.