Question: How Will My Current AA Status Chasing Roll Into New Program?

American Airlines Status Qualification Through Feb. 2022

The first part of Doni’s question involves the current pursuit of American Airlines Gold status. The qualification are outlined here.

For Doni and anyone else seeking Gold status with the current (old) system, you need the following:

• Mandatory item:
  • $2,000 Elite Qualifying Dollars — “awarded based on ticket price (includes base fare plus carrier-imposed fees, but excludes government-imposed taxes and fees) on American Airlines-marketed flights. Flights marketed by oneworld^® carriers will earn EQDs based on a percentage of the flight distance and the fare class purchased.”
• Pick 1 of these 2:
  • 20,000 Elite Qualifying Miles — these are earned as “a percentage of the actual miles flown (including applicable minimum mileage guarantees) based on the airline and the booking code purchased.”
  • 20 Elite Qualifying Segments — “segments you earn on eligible purchased tickets for flights on American or partner airlines” (you must actually fly the segments, obviously).

2 Month Double-Dip Timeframe

There is currently a 2-month opportunity for double-dipping AAdvantage status as AA moves from the old program to the new program. That’s because the old program ran on the calendar year: January 1 to December 31. And then the status you earned in that time was valid for the remainder of the year plus the whole following calendar year.

Now, the new program will run from March 1 to the end of February in the following year. And your new status that you earn during that period will run until March 31 of the following year. Thus, the new program will start March 1, 2022, and you have until February 28, 2023 to qualify for some type of status. It will be valid until March 31, 2024 (March 31 of the year after the qualification period).

Since the new program effectively starts 2 months later than the “start” date of the old program, there is a 2-month overlap in which American Airlines will count all qualifying activity twice. It will count for your 2021 qualifying year (which gives you status in 2022) and also count it for your 2022 qualifying year (which gives you status in 2023).

How This Applies to Doni

Let’s get back to Doni’s question, now that we understand the big picture. Doni has these elements:

• 1,200 of the required 2,000 EQDs
• 13,000 of the required 20,000 EQMs
• 14 of the 20 required EQSs

Doni’s question also asks how this will transition to Loyalty Points, and I want to be clear on this point for anyone reading. None of these metrics will matter after March 1, 2022. Your EQMs and EQDs and EQSs that you’ve previously tracked will not matter. After March 1, all you need to care about is Loyalty Points.

Actions Doni can take

If Doni wants to secure AA Gold status by the end of February (remember, these actions count back toward the previous year and forward to the coming year in the new version of the program), here are some options:

EQDs — need to earn 800

• • AA says EQD requirements are waived for qualification for “AAdvantage Gold^®, AAdvantage Platinum^® or AAdvantage Platinum Pro^® status if you spend $30,000 on net purchases with an eligible AAdvantage^® credit card that post to your AAdvantage^® account between January 1, 2021 – January 31, 2022.” If you hold multiple AA co-branded credit cards and spent $30k across those cards, this counts.
  • Earn 3,000 EQDS if you spend $50,000 in a year on the AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver Mastercard®.
  • Earn 3,000 EQDs after spending $25,000 in a calendar year on the AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard®.
  • Take an American Airlines flight that costs $800 before taxes.
  • Take a partner flight (miles needed are total, so round-trip that adds up to it or a single one-way flight):
    • 4,000 miles flying on Alaska Airlines in Y, B, H fare codes in economy.
    • 2,667 miles flying on Alaska Airlines in C, D, I fare codes in business/first class.
    • 3,637 miles flying on British Airways in W fare class in premium economy.
    • 4,000 miles flying on British Airways in E, T fare classes in premium economy or Y, B, H fare codes in economy.
    • 3,200 miles flying on British Airways in J, C, D, I, R fare classes in business.

EQSs — need to earn 6

• • Buy a cheap American Airlines ticket with horrible routing and multiple stops. If you can fly something terrible like JFK-CLT-DFW-ORD, spend a night, then fly the next day on the return leg ORD-DFW-CLT-JFK, you will be set. That’s 6 segments. Check sites like Flyer Talk or just search on Google Flights then set the preference as “oneworld” for your alliance, then look for itineraries with 2 stops. Before this, find cheap flights ANYWHERE, and then try to add extra stops.

EQMs — need to earn 7,000

• • Spend $40,000 in a calendar year on the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® to get 10,000 EQMs.
  • Earn 5,000 EQMs if you spend $20,000 on the AAdvantage Aviator Silver Mastercard in a calendar year. You can do this twice for a total of 10,000 EQMs.
  • Fly with American Airlines (total distance needed)
    • 2,334 miles in F, J fare codes in first/business class
    • 3,500 miles in A, C, D, I, R fare codes in first/business class
    • 4,667 miles in W, P fare codes in premium economy
    • 7,000 miles in Y, H, K, M, L, V, G, S, N, Q, O fare codes in economy (B for basic economy earns nothing here)
  • Fly with a partner (total distance needed)
    • 2,334 miles with British Airways in F fare in first class or J, C, D business class
    • 3,500 miles with British Airways in A fare first class or I, R fares in business class
    • 4,667 miles with British Airways in W, E, T fares in premium economy
    • 7,000 miles with British Airways in Y, B, H, K, L, M, N, S, V fares in economy
    • 14,000 miles (bad idea!) with British Airways in G, O, Q fares in economy
    • 4,667 miles with Alaska Airlines in J, C, D, I fares in first/business class
    • 7,000 miles with Alaska Airlines in Y, B, H, K, M, L, V, S, N, Q fares in economy
    • 14,000 miles with Alaska Airlines (bad idea!) in O, G fares in economy (X fares earn nothing here)

If It Were Me…

If it were me, what would I do? I don’t know where Doni lives and don’t know what AA co-branded credit card(s) Doni has, let alone spending activity. Let’s assume none of those thresholds are met/will be met in time. If it were me, I would look at a couple of possibilities:

AA flight that costs $800 and has a lot of stops

If you can get an American Airlines route that sucks, put up with it for 2 days to get out and back home, and it costs $800 before taxes, you should come home with the EQDs and EQSs necessary. Book direct with AA while logged into your account and you’ll see an EQM/EQS/EQD estimator during the booking process.

IF YOU DO THIS: make sure you have enough time during your connections. If you want to come home after flying 6 segments, don’t miss a flight and get rebooked onto something with less stops. You’ll be screwed on your status.

Inexpensive cross-country flights with Alaska Airlines

You can often find flights across the U.S. with Alaska Airlines for $300 in economy, maybe $400-450 round-trip. Seattle to Miami is over 2,700 miles, and Los Angeles to New York or Hawaii is around 2,500 miles. If you can get a good deal on an Alaska flight in Y, B, H fare buckets and fly 7,000 miles (cross-country, plus up to Alaska or over to Hawaii will do it) or fly 4,000 miles but it has 6 total segments, you’re all set!

Last option: British Airways to London

This would be my last option, since it adds extra logistics like passport control and Covid tests to what’s already a complicated situation. If you can get a good deal on a British Airways flight to London and back, you should be set. Boston to London is the shortest U.S. itinerary with BA, and it’s over 3,200 miles. That’s sufficient if you fly in these fare codes: W, E, T (premium economy). You’ll need to get to Philadelphia or further if you fly in economy. Book in these fare codes: Y, B, H, K, L, M, N, S, V. (NOTE: this doesn’t take into account a connecting flight domestically with AA, which would obviously add segments, EQD amounts, and some EQMs)

There are obviously other paths to reach Doni’s AA Gold status in the current status-earning system before the February 28 deadline / start of the new version of the loyalty program. However, these are what I see as the simplest and cheapest options.

Final Thoughts

While it seems like Doni has a lot of work to do, it’s not as complicated as it first appeared. There are some not-too-expensive options to ensure that AA Gold status is locked in for the current qualification year before the new program starts on March 1, 2022. And the good news here is that Doni will be earning Loyalty Points on flights at a higher rate when the new earning system starts, thanks to having Gold status.

In that new program, Doni will need to earn 30,000 Loyalty Points each year to retain Gold status. Read here for more information on how to earn Loyalty Points.