Another US-based BA emerald member looking at options for the year 2025. My BA status is valid until Apr 2026. My major goal is OW emerald with BA/IB/AY/QR for access to the AA flagship lounges and MCE when flying AA economy. AA’s policy of only dealing with emeralds in person at airports is another reason why emerald is preferred over sapphire. Maximizing avios is secondary since I have plenty of points with AA/BA and Marriott Bonvoy.

I earn status mainly by flying OW RTW in business class with domestic USA sectors on AA. For my flying patterns, IB plantino has an intriguing requalifying period that I want to clarify before I start my status earning in April 2025. If one earns 6250 elite points 1-April-2025 to 31-Mar-2026, one has platino status until 31-Mar-2028. My understanding is that I would have to earn 6,250 elite points from 1-Apr-2026 thru 31-Mar-2027 or 12,500 elite points from 1-Apr-2026 thru 31-Mar-2028. If I did not earn the 12,500 elite points by 31-Mar-2028, my status would be based upon the number of elite points earned in the 1-Apr-2027 to 31-Mar-2028 time period. Is this correct?

My other questions are 1-there must be 1 IB flight per year to earn status and 2-Only IB and BA award flights can be changed or canceled and avios returned. All other OW award flights are non-refundable. Correct?