Originally Posted by
beachfan
forbidden sole proprietors is what I was told, and the showed me some wording to that effect.
there is definitely more of a formal set of criteria to qualify now than there was when the program was young. From their
FAQ's, it doesn't ban sole proprietors, but they do want at least 2 people traveling to qualify.
(
Who is Eligible:
Companies with 2 or more travelers that do not have a corporate sales agreement, discount, or other agreement with American Airlines, American Eagle®
, British Airways or Iberia. Travel agencies, wholesalers, consolidators, and other sellers or re-sellers of travel may not have their own Business Extra account but may book travel for members."
Originally Posted by
beachfan
they sent me an email saying show x, y or z to show you are a real business (tax return wasn’t sufficient).
I was on my wife’s account before I opened mine, but probably the last year or two, almost all travel on the account was by the owner. But might have been 90%, not 100 %.
As far as documents to verify you're a business, it's easy. Any one of these work as proof they say.- Employer Identification Number (EIN) | Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) | Federal Tax Identification Number
- Articles of Incorporation (S corp or C corp) | Articles of Organization (LLC)
- Partnership Agreement (General Partnership) | Certificate of Limited Partnership, Limited Partnership Document (LP, LLP)
- Valid Business Name Registration certificate issued by a government agency (e.g. Business License, DBA / Doing Business As Name, Assumed Name, Fictitious Business Name, Registration of Trade Name)
- Seller's Permit or Vendor's License issued by a government agency such as a local taxation department or tax commission
- Utility bill issued to the business within the last 90 days (e.g. electricity, water, phone, natural gas)
I mean, if you can't produce any of these, you're not a business and you really aren't supposed to be in it, but it was looser in the past and many individuals did sign up (lots of bloggers encouraged) to milk some extra bennies they weren't designed to receive. Nice that they allowed you to cash out rather than just shutting you down and DQ'ing.