AA Loyalty Point Rewards
American Airlines notified co-branded credit cardholders that Loyalty Point earning is now based on purchase dates, as I recently described. For status earners, it’s a net-positive change, where purchases more easily apply to the qualification year and statement dates aren’t involved. But for those seeking Loyalty Point Rewards, it may not be as simple. Today, I’m diving into that angle. But first, what are Loyalty Point Rewards?
Loyalty Point Rewards, Explained
American Airlines status chasers can earn Loyalty Point Rewards along the way. By crossing certain thresholds, these individuals can earn a variety of rewards. The ones on the lower-end are nice but relatively insignificant, such as priority boarding privileges or preferred seat coupons at 15k, Avis Preferred Plus status and 20% Loyalty Points bonus on certain spending with select partners at 60k, and Avis President’s Club status and a similar 30% Loyalty Points bonus at 100k.
Things get more interesting at the higher levels, starting at 175k, all the way through 5 million (you read that right). Big Loyalty Point earners get to pick from a variety of significant rewards, such as:
- Bonus redeemable miles
- Admirals Club, Flagship First, and Flagship Dining Passes
- Systemwide Upgrades
- Bang & Olufsen merch
- Gift status
- Carbon Offsets
What makes these rewards even better than their Loyalty Choice Rewards predecessor is that solely Loyalty Point earning determines the rewards, whereas the Choice version required meeting more stringent flight segment requirements which many chasers couldn’t meet.
Earning Late in the Qualification Year? Watch Out!
In my recent article, I joked that my previous efforts to optimally time credit card statement dates was now moot, since transaction dates now map to the qualification year. But those earning Loyalty Points later in the qualification year to hit Loyalty Point Rewards thresholds should still care about their statement dates. Here’s why.
As I explained in my past article, for American Airlines cardholders with March statement dates (just past the qualification year at the end of February), that statement’s February purchases may take up to 8-10 weeks after the statement date to post. That’s consideradble time, but still a good outcome for those trying to reach a given American Airlines elite status level toward the end of a qualification period.
But Loyalty Point Reward chasers have a different conundrum. AA notes that individuals must choose their Loyalty Point Rewards by 30 March 2024. Since it may take up to 8-10 weeks from the March credit card statement date to receive the remaining February Loyalty Points, they might not show up in time to reach a given threshold and select rewards. In that case, those earned Loyalty Points wouldn’t be worth anything beyond a member’s running 12-month total. That would stink.
Elsewhere in the email’s terms, American throws out the 8-10 weeks timeframe for Loyalty Points posting. What they referenced matched up with what I usually receive in a matter of a couple days, not 8-10 weeks. And, of course, American uses the “up to” verbiage, and it’s possible many of us would receive the Loyalty Points well before the 30 March Loyalty Point Rewards selection deadline. Still, it may be best to optimally align your card statement dates now to assure a more prompt posting. Why not set yourself up for success?
Conclusion
It’s a bummer American sets a relatively early deadline of 30 March to pick rewards, but hey, I won’t complain too much about such a generous scheme. Besides, I think doing big things in our hobby should require more time and effort. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. Obviously, now’s a great time to get your American Airlines house in order. Have fun along the way!
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In spite of hiccups like this, it is a thoughtful loyalty scheme that gives incentives to spend in all of AA’s revenue channels. And, AA customers like it. Delta and the other airlines need to study AA’s model. In particular, Delta needs to reflect on how AA has coupled its hotel portal and the Citi AA Executive Card. Delta’s Reserve cards have become irrelevant. I have zero motivation to keep, let alone use, *any* Delta cards.
Definitely an understandable perspective, Lee!