I recently switched over to AA for business trips.
Thanks to this website, I took the fast track to Plat only in a couple months. (challenges)
I had about 30k expired miles in my account that I had let expire a couple years ago.
While i was signed up for the platinum challenge, AAdvantage services concurrently signed me up for their "Re-Engage" Challenge. I searched the FT forums and found no mention of this, so I thought some other people might be interested as well.
Once i met the challenges, they reactivated all of my expired miles at NO FEE!
The challenges were simple:
1) be subscribed to AAdvantage promotional emails for at least 3 months (already was)
2) fly one round trip of at least 750 miles in each direction
3) earn miles from some other third party (i.e. rental cars, dining, citi credit card, etc)
If anyone is interested, I can copy and paste the whole email I received from them detailing all the specifics of the challenge.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MODERATOR'S NOTE
The details of the Reengagement Challenge appear to have changed since this initial post. For the latest as of Dec 2010, see bearaway's post here.
Here’s the Info You Requested on Restoring Your Expired Miles:
We’re delighted that you wish to re-engage in the AAdvantage® program, and encourage you to keep up your progress. You are already opted in to the AAdvantage® eSummarySM email and the AAdvantage® Promotions email. The first requirement is to remain subscribed to these two programs for the duration of your challenge. These emails not only provide opportunities to earn bonus miles but also give you a monthly reminder of the date on which your mileage balance is set to expire.
For additional requirements, please refer to the chart below to automatically restore some or all of the miles that expired from your account:
Level 1: Up to 50,000 Miles
Choose 1 of the following:
- Earn 5,000 miles from 3 different partners
OR
- Fly 1 roundtrip on AA or any oneworld carrier and earn at least 750 base miles each way
1. Satisfy Level 1 to get 50,000 miles restored
2. If you satisfied Level 1 with Partner Mileage, then you must add another 5,000 miles from 3 different partners, making a total of 10,000 miles earned
OR
3. If you satisfied Level 1 with a qualifying flight, then you’re all set and you’ve also satisfied Level 2!
Level 3: More than 200,000 Miles
1. Satisfy Level 2 to get a total of 200,000 miles restored
2. Add either:
- An additional roundtrip on AA or a oneworld carrier, earning at least 750 base miles each way – making a total of two roundtrips
OR
- An additional 10,000 miles from 3 different partners, making a total of 20,000 miles earned
- Only miles that expired on or after December 31, 2002 are eligible to be restored.
- Partner Mileage Requirement: Earn a minimum of 5,000, 10,000 or 20,000 AAdvantage miles by using the products or services of at least 3 AAdvantage partners. For suggestions, visit the nifty Web site at aadvantageconnections.com. Or visit AA.com® for a complete list of partners and see how easy it is to stay active and retain your mileage balance. The only miles that will not count toward this requirement are any miles received through the shareAAmiles® program or the reactivateAAmilesSM program or through Customer Service
- American Airlines or oneworld Flight Requirement: Purchase a ticket and fly 1 or 2 roundtrips on AA or any other oneworld carrier, earning a minimum of 750 base AAdvantage miles each way. Go to AA.com for the latest fare sales and take a business trip or treat yourself to a weekend getaway or family vacation. With our online booking tool at AA.com, it’s easy to find the price and schedule you prefer!
- Deadline: You will have 6 months from the day you contacted us and we set up your challenge to complete all the requirements. Remember, in order to meet the challenge, you must still be opted in to receive the required emails, and all qualifying activity must have posted to your account
- Approximately 7 – 12 days after you’ve met the requirements for each level, we will automatically restore the applicable expired miles to your account and send you a confirmation email. That’s when you’ll know the miles are back in your account and ready for use!
Finally, keep in mind that anytime you need to use some of your expired miles quickly, the fastest way to get them restored is with the reactivateAAmiles program. For more information on the cost, validity period and procedures, please visit our
reactivateAAmiles page on AA.com.
Even though your miles have expired we hope this unique opportunity helps to reward you for becoming active once again. We want you to make the most of your membership, and we are always available to help.
dstan
AA Forum Co-Moderator