Originally Posted by guv1976

If you always fly paid Business or First, status on AA gets you relatively little, except for a multiplier for redeemable miles and -- come January -- Loyalty Points. If Admirals Club access is important to you and you don't want to pay for it, I would investigate whether your flying patterns would get you oneworld Sapphire or Emerald status with a foreign oneworld carrier, like BA or IB; status in a foreign-based program would give you lounge access when flying AA domestically. Status in BA requires a minimum number of BA or IB coded segments each year; status in IB has no such requirement, but IB's qualification period runs from April 1 through March 31.

How much of your flying is short-haul, and how much is long-haul? Attaining status on BA or IB is based on distance and class of service flown; dollars spent is irrelevant.

Note that different FFPs have different rules, redemption rates, and fees, so consider those differences too when deciding which program to credit your AA flights to.