AAdvantage Elite Fast Track Results
Last week I wrote about a supposedly targeted promotion offering a fast track to elite status for AAdvantage members. While the terms said the promotion was only for targeted LinkedIn members, the registration page was open to the public. I registered for the promotion and so did many others.
The promotional page only lasted a few hours and eventually went away. Since then a lot of people have emailed me to ask if American is honoring the promotion. Some people were able to call into the airline and confirm the promotion was added to their account, however the airline hadn’t sent out any confirmations. That is until now.
My Fast Track Acceptance
I just received the following email from American:
Hello Shawn,
AAdvantage Number:Thanks for registering for our fast track to American Airlines AAdvantage elite status promotion.
Here’s a reminder of how it works: Fly on American, US Airways and other select airlines* and earn the required elite-qualifying points between September 14 and December 23, 2015, and you’ll receive status through February 28, 2017.
Required elite-qualifying miles or points
Once you qualify, you’ll enjoy the wide range of elite benefits that come with status.It’s that easy.
We look forward to welcoming you onboard soon.
Success! I am enrolled in the fast track. You can see the chart below, but basically to earn elite status I need to earn 5K EQPs for Gold, 9K for Platinum or 25K for Executive Platinum. While I am really happy, it isn’t good news for everyone.
A few people have told me that American says they are not eligible. Since the terms did say it was for targeted accounts only, there really isn’t a fight here, but I wonder what disqualified certain people. A good friend of mine who is an AAdvantage Gold received the following email today:
Hello,
AAdvantage Gold Number:Thanks for your interest in our fast track to American Airlines AAdvantage elite status promotion.
Unfortunately, you are not eligible to participate in this promotion. The most common reasons for ineligibility are:
The AAdvantage account number you provided at registration is not valid
You already hold AAdvantage Gold, Platinum or Executive Platinum status
You are already registered for a different fast track promotion
See offer terms and conditions »
In his case it was a long shot since he was Gold, but I do know of a couple non-elites who were denied as well. For those who earned their status the hard way, I know promotions like this are a bitter pill. My AAdvantage Gold friend who was denied said something that I know a lot of you are probably feeling, “I should stop flying American so I can qualify for these things.”
My Plans
I did an elite fast track back in 2013 and decided only to go for Platinum. While it is definitely more of a low hanging fruit, Platinum status isn’t nearly as good as Executive Platinum status. While it will take some looking, I’m confident I can find some cheap fares to get me the 25K I need for Executive Platinum. Unlike my first fast track, this one is based on EQPs though, so it will be harder to meet.
It is sort of crazy to me that a couple of months ago I was looking at my soon to expire Alaska MVP Gold status and thinking of strategic ways to extend it. Now I have been matched to SkyTeam Gold thanks to Alitalia, matched to Star Alliance Silver thanks to Copa and soon will have some sort of OneWorld elite status thanks to American’s fast track. Wow!
Conclusion
If you registered for the AAdvantage fast track then I suggest checking your email, because you should either have good news or bad news. My friend and I both received our emails within the past hour, so it seems like they are going out in bulk. Did you get in on this fast track deal? What are your plans? Let me know in the comments!
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I called and asked about not hearing anything yet. FWIW, I signed up from the cached page, not the original link that was posted (which was gone almost immediately). The person I spoke to said “I don’t see anything on your account.” She kept asking me about whether I received an email or not, and I admitted I didn’t have an email but that “I signed up on the American website, it told me I would receive an email with more information, but I never did.” Entirely true. She said she would send over a message to some other department to inquire and “have the offer resent,” but it would take three days. She also said, “maybe they’re just backed up and you haven’t received the email yet” – so, it’s not clear what “I don’t see it on your account” really means. Anyhow, I didn’t come away with much optimism.
Hey Steve just out of curiosity did you ever get the email and werr you enrolled?
[…] know a lot of you were accepted into the AAdvantage Elite Fast Track and have a lot of questions. For that reason I am creating this post to answer some of the more […]
Hi! I have about 4,000 miles booked with LAN and TAM in 0.5 EQP per mile booking code such as A O B G. Will this count toward 5,000 EQP required for Gold ? I booked these before but these are between 09/14 ~ 12/23.
LIM-SCL (A)
SCL-EZE (O)
EZE-ASU (B)
ASU-LIM (G)
Fast Track to Elite Status confirmation Email I received does not list LAN/TAM but AA says LAN/TAM fiight will earn at least 0.5 EQP per miles flown. http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/earnMiles/airlines/lan.jsp
VERY CONFUSED.
Please save me!
Data point: I tried signing up through the cached version of the page, which seemed to work, but I haven’t received any emails.
Shawn! You are my lucky guy! I have received the email!
Can you suggest long routing on between 11/05 ~ 11/08?
I am kind getting toward HKG or Kota Kina Balu but
if not going to Platinum, why sweat 9k eqp?
I think I would appreciate 5k eqp routing please.
Please advise.
Sorry I forgot to mention ATL is the departure city!
Thanks always!
Curiously, when booking AA flights, when/where does it tell you how many EQPs the flight will earn?
You have to look at the booking code of the flight then go to this page to see how many EQPs that flights will earn. http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/earnMiles/airlines/american.jsp
Sorry, I mean that when looking at a booking on AA, I really cannot see the number of miles a flight is. I don’t mean the multiplier according to class… I mean, if I fly Atlanta to Hawaii going through JFK, is that 5,467 miles distant or 7,236 or 10,528? I don’t see what to multiply the 1.0 or 1.5 or whatever fare class number with. I know Delta gives that number in their booking process before you hit purchase, but I don’t see it on AA anywhere up to the point of purchase.
I signed up but have received no email.
This fast track deal is so ridiculous dude..
But Shawn. Do you have a RocketMiles ref link?? Didnt see one on your support page so I was surprised.
Gonna sign up to get miles that hard way so I wanted to go through your link first!!
Let me know.
No disrespect Scott but I see that you haven’t answered yet. If you don’t have one then I do.
Who is Scott??
Scott… Shawn… Horace… I mean, who can keep up with all these names? 😉
LOL…correct.
I meant Shawn…my fault.
no worries. i was just confused.
https://www.rocketmiles.com/refer/SPCOOMER
If I receive 20K from credit card spending – 40K each on aviator and citi platinum , would it be count towards the elite status in this scenario ?
No. This promotion is for EQPs. The only way to get those is from flying.
I called them and the challenge started on September 9th for me. They just had not sent the email yet.
Did they eventually send you an email? Or did you check with them?
Like Steve and others, I have not heard either way yet.
Got my confirmation as well.
Will you consider a post suggesting routes, or maybe outlining what to look for when booking flights?
I rec’d a confirmation, as well, but I’m not exactly sure how to maximize the EQPs…and I have a few upcoming flights I’ll be shifting to AA.
Will be interested in this as well
i second this. Thanks in advance.
Seconded
I got this too!
Dumb question. I can’t earn EQP through credit card spend right? Those select few credit cards only accrue EQM?
Correct. EQPs can only be earned through flying. Here are the details as to how much each fare earns. https://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/earnMiles/airlines/american.jsp
Yep, it’s on. I’ve been looking for mileage runs for the last hour. It seems like there were a lot a week ago – now not so much.
Happy to get the email as well, I was waiting for this before further booking flights
I got it! Thanks for the initial post to register.
Remember AA is also double EQP for first and business till Dec 31st. 2EQP for discounted and 3EQP for J,F fares.
I believe the terms of that promotion state the bonus EQPs don’t qualify towards status challenge promotions. I would assume they wouldn’t work here either, but who knows.