Originally Posted by
jerry90210
How would one have status on AA? You would need one of their AA credit cards right?
Wrong. Status is based on the number of "Loyalty Points" one earns. While credit-card spend is one way of earning Loyalty Points, there are many other ways to do so. You can find this information at aa.com under "AAdvantage."
Because I do not. I have a regular bank credit card that I been using since way back in the days.
If you are credit-worthy, there is no reason why you could not also obtain a Barclays or Citi AA card -- and earn 50,000 or more AAdvantage miles in the process, redeemable for award travel on AA and its partners. And while just having the credit card would not get you elite status, you would be in Boarding Group 5 -- instead of Boarding Group 9 -- when traveling on Basic Economy fares.
Does that mean if you have status and book basic economy, you have priority or not?
Basic Economy passengers who have status
or a qualifying credit card will have a higher boarding priority than those who do not. Holders of qualifying credit cards who do not have AAdvantage (or other oneworld) elite status would be in Boarding Group 5; passengers with status would be in a higher Boarding Group, depending on status level.