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2016 Program Year Elite Status Buyback / Renew / Boost (consolidated)

Old Nov 17, 2015, 10:51 am
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Last edit by: JDiver
2016 Program Year Elite Status Buyback / Renew / Boost (consolidated)


In previous years, AA (and US) has offered those who failed to requalify for elite status the opportunity to buy back or "boost" status for the following status year. AA offers the program once again for c/y 2015 - status year 2016 (29 Feb 2016 - 28 Feb 2017 <sic>), as shown in a new FAQ on aa.com.

Q. How long do I have to purchase the offer?

Offers must be purchased by July 31, 2016, unless otherwise stated.

(2016) American Airlines Elite Status Offer Program

Secure Your Elite Status for 2016
(Link)

Frequently Asked Questions (Link)

Chart with requirements and costs (Link)

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2016 Program Year Elite Status Buyback / Renew / Boost (consolidated)

Old Dec 28, 2015, 9:32 pm
  #256  
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: DCA
Posts: 818
Yeah neither of the flights is showing up with available tickets for sale at AA.com - I assume that means both flights are pretty booked. Flying back from TPA to DCA (via CLT) next week though and that route (as well as a direct TPA-DCA flight which I hope to do same-day standby for) have tickets for sale, so maybe I'll have better luck then
bodiddely is offline  
Old Jan 1, 2016, 5:50 pm
  #257  
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Chicago O'Hare
Programs: AA EXP, LT PLT 2.6MM, HHonors Lifetime Diamond, Hertz Presidents Circle
Posts: 678
Originally Posted by Chewie
Interesting offer... I was 1503 miles short of renewing EXP on Monday and they wanted $1,199 to renew. I was lucky to take a same day RT ticket PHL>FLL yesterday for $151. I'm now a renewed EXP for next year.

AA's calculations are way out of line.
In this case, yes. MR's that I've done in past years (made it legit this year) have also proved that to be true. But the boost is all about convenience. If you don't want to spend the time flying all over the country to qualify, then the boost is worth it. If you are willing to spend the time and can find a better offer (like the disparity you found!!!!), go for it.
akarneboge is offline  
Old Jan 3, 2016, 9:37 am
  #258  
 
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 56
Hit over 95k miles on December 31st and went to my offer page to boost to ExP but it was still showing the $1799 price. I assumed it would take some time for my new miles to process to get the $1199 price, and I read in the ToS that the deal is good until mid-year, so I left it alone. Now the page to boost is not showing anything -- anyone else have this issue?
marketmaker is offline  
Old Jan 4, 2016, 1:09 pm
  #259  
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 13
2016 Program Year Elite Status Buyback / Renew / Boost (consolidated)

I can't get it to show anything for me, either
wave828 is offline  
Old Feb 5, 2016, 12:31 pm
  #260  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Seattle, WA
Programs: AAdvantage Gold, AS Gold, SPG Gold, Emerald Club
Posts: 237
Smile Odd offer: Insta-jump from Gold to Platinum?

I reached Gold late last year (my first status ever, woot!) and a couple of days ago, I received an interesting email from AA.

Basically, it offered me the ability to instantly jump to Plat status for a lump sum of $1199. Now, I doubt I'll have enough sustaining flight activity in the next 12-13 months to keep Gold going past early 2017, so I'm obviously not looking at this offer with 100% seriousness.

But, I'm curious: Has anyone else received offers like this before? All context aside, is this even worth it? OR could you easily reach Plat for less than $1199 on your own?

Thanks!
GrandMoffJoseph is offline  
Old Feb 5, 2016, 12:37 pm
  #261  
FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Juneau, Alaska.
Programs: AS 75K;BA Silver;AA G;HH Dia;HY Glob
Posts: 15,750
See this thread:
[points to this thread]

Last edited by aztimm; Feb 5, 2016 at 12:47 pm Reason: merged thread cleanup
jerry a. laska is offline  
Old Feb 5, 2016, 1:03 pm
  #262  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Seattle, WA
Programs: AAdvantage Gold, AS Gold, SPG Gold, Emerald Club
Posts: 237
Originally Posted by jerry a. laska
See this thread:
[points to this thread]
Ah, my apologies. I did not see there was a central thread for this topic already. Thanks for the assist!
GrandMoffJoseph is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2016, 1:49 pm
  #263  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 14
I received this offer. I'm am currently Platinum, and was offered the same $1199 to renew Plat for 2016 until Feb 2017. Didn't travel enough in 2015 to re-qualify.

I think it's impossible to achieve Platinum from Gold and only spend $1200 on flights. You need to get 60 total segment, or 50K miles. And with the EQP points going away, it becomes even harder. If you want Platinum, this is bar none, the easiest and quickest way to get it if you are not close to earning Platinum. If you are closer, then a MR maybe better.

Originally Posted by GrandMoffJoseph
I reached Gold late last year (my first status ever, woot!) and a couple of days ago, I received an interesting email from AA.

Basically, it offered me the ability to instantly jump to Plat status for a lump sum of $1199. Now, I doubt I'll have enough sustaining flight activity in the next 12-13 months to keep Gold going past early 2017, so I'm obviously not looking at this offer with 100% seriousness.

But, I'm curious: Has anyone else received offers like this before? All context aside, is this even worth it? OR could you easily reach Plat for less than $1199 on your own?

Thanks!

Last edited by sidorg222; Feb 25, 2016 at 2:12 pm
sidorg222 is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2016, 1:54 pm
  #264  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 14
Here's what the T&C says. "You must pay the renewal fee, in addition to any applicable taxes and credit card processing fees, in full by July 31, 2016, unless otherwise stated. Elite status offers obtained through this program will not be authorized retroactively if payment is not completed before the Member's current status expires."

So, correct, you have until July 31, 2016 to renew it. But it also seems to say that you also have to have a current status, or the elite status offer will not be authorized retroactively.

Has anyone waited until July 31st, and had an expired elite status, and had the offer go through with no issues?

In my case, it says I can upgrade to Gold for $649 or Plat for $1199. And on the FAQ's, it does say that if I upgrade to Gold, and later change my mind and want to upgrade to Plat, I can do that. So, perhaps that last bit really means is that you have to upgrade to at least Gold before end of Feb 2016. And then you have until July 31, 2016 to upgrade to Plat if you so desire.


Originally Posted by MADPhil
The T&C are here: https://elite2016.aa.com/terms.cfm

I think that you actually have until July 31 on re-reading them. They speak somewhat ambiguously of the end of February but I think that just means that the qualifying status is that which you hold through then.
sidorg222 is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2016, 2:10 pm
  #265  
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: YYF/YLW
Programs: AA, DL, AS, VA, WS Silver
Posts: 5,950
Originally Posted by sidorg222
I thinksit's almost impossible to achieve Platinum from Gold and only spend $1200 on flights.
If you're starting from scratch (i.e. you didn't fly at all in 2015, the year you had earned Platinum status), sure. If you flew a fair amount but less than 50k miles, the marginal cost to get to 50k may well have been much less than $1200. And unless your travel patterns changed significantly, why would you pay $1200 for a status you didn't use last year?

And with the EQP points going away, it becomes even harder.
I don't understand this. Almost no one who qualified on EQPs in the past will be worse off this year; the only fares that earn fewer 2016 EQMs than old EQPs are partner-marketed flights in mid-priced economy (which have gone from 1.0 EQPs to 0.5 EQMs) and full fare Y/B on partners (which have gone from 1.5 EQPs to 1.0 EQMs). The fares that earned 1.5 EQPs all (except partner full Y/B) earn at least 1.5 EQMs now, and AA-marketed premium cabin fares earn more than that.

It's EQM qualifiers who had partner-marketed flights in economy who got really hosed with the changes, not EQP qualifiers.
ashill is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2016, 2:16 pm
  #266  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 14
I'm debating on doing the Plat offer I got for 2016. I'm not going to be flying a huge amount, so it feels like a waste to pay $1200. However, since it's getting much much harder to earn status with the changes in the program, I'm thinking that if I renew for $1200 this year, then I'll likely have the opportunity to renew again for 2017 for some dollar amount, if I fail to requalify the normal way. Does that make any sense?
sidorg222 is offline  
Old Feb 25, 2016, 2:37 pm
  #267  
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: YYF/YLW
Programs: AA, DL, AS, VA, WS Silver
Posts: 5,950
Originally Posted by sidorg222
I'm debating on doing the Plat offer I got for 2016. I'm not going to be flying a huge amount, so it feels like a waste to pay $1200. However, since it's getting much much harder to earn status with the changes in the program, I'm thinking that if I renew for $1200 this year, then I'll likely have the opportunity to renew again for 2017 for some dollar amount, if I fail to requalify the normal way. Does that make any sense?
I really don't get these claims that it's harder to earn status, unless you're flying partners a lot. However, the benefit in RDMs of Platinum status in particular is slashed.
ashill is offline  
Old Feb 29, 2016, 10:03 pm
  #268  
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 14
Maybe I should rephrase that. It's getting harder for me, due to the amount of travel I'm not doing right. Anyways, I just "bought" my Platinum for this 2016, hate to spend $1200, but for my circumstances this year, its worth it.

Originally Posted by ashill
I really don't get these claims that it's harder to earn status, unless you're flying partners a lot. However, the benefit in RDMs of Platinum status in particular is slashed.
sidorg222 is offline  
Old Mar 1, 2016, 9:36 am
  #269  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: DFW/LAX
Programs: HH Diamond, AA EXP
Posts: 534
When does boosted status show up in account?

Paid to boost my status to EXP after a frustrating mishap end of last year. Anyway, I have already paid for it but today logging into my AA account shows me as Platinum instead of EXP. Any idea how long it takes for the purchased boost to change your status?

Edit: Apparently FAQs say within 5 days, sorry.
ericgdukie44 is offline  
Old Mar 1, 2016, 10:34 am
  #270  
LTH
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Programs: AA EXP, HHonours Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Hyatt GP Diamond, SPG Platinum
Posts: 178
Anyone here boosting their status?

How many of you are paying to boost your status for the year? How much are you paying? Why did you decide to pay?

Debating if I should dig out $2500 to boost to EXP. I was slightly more than 15k EQMs short for qualification this year, but they are letting me anyway. I know the decision depends on my upcoming travel pattern for the year, but I'm just hoping to see other people's rationale.
LTH is offline  

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