I was a beneficiary of this "almost but..." promotion to EXP last year. Much speculation why promoted last year in another thread - happy promotees, some unhappy regular EXPs qualifying under normal rules. From my perspective, I did in fact increase my flying and spend with AA in 2012 to retain EXP (I was a rookie this year) in part a thanks, and in part, the benefit of EXP is way above PLT (at least for me). So, as a marketing strategy, it worked for me, and I encouraged two of my colleagues on my staff to fly AA more. As a result, they went from the white card to the silver card.
I will say congrats, and I hope you are not competing for the same upgrades I am....
