Nov 17, 2015, 2:47 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
AAdvantage Program Changes for 2016 - Just the Facts
as announced 17 Nov 2015 in FAQ on aa.com
as announced 17 Nov 2015 in FAQ on aa.com
PLEASE READ BEFORE ASKING YOUR QUESTIONS: we are seeing the same questions come up time and again, and those are often addressed here. NOTE: this thread is being closely monitored and moderated as needed to ensure it stays within the narrow remit of its topic.
Please see and post to AAdvantage Changes for 2016 - Discussion and Reaction all reactions, speculation about next steps, opinions, discussion, praise, complaints etc.
Link to AAdvantage program updates and FAQ links (17 Nov 2015)
New related threads:
FAQ: Award changes after 22 March 2016 - which incur redeposit, which not (Award changes 22 March 2016 or after may incur award miles redeposit (fees) and significant increases of miles required to issue new ones - but some changes may be made without doing so.)
See Earning AA Elite Qualifying Miles / EQM on AA, oneworld, partners 2016 for more about earning EQM.
See Earning AA Award / Redeemable Miles / RDM on AA, partners later 2016 for more regarding AAdvantage Award ("Redeemable") Miles.
FAQ: Award changes after 22 March 2016 - which incur redeposit, which not (Award changes 22 March 2016 or after may incur award miles redeposit (fees) and significant increases of miles required to issue new ones - but some changes may be made without doing so.)
See Earning AA Elite Qualifying Miles / EQM on AA, oneworld, partners 2016 for more about earning EQM.
See Earning AA Award / Redeemable Miles / RDM on AA, partners later 2016 for more regarding AAdvantage Award ("Redeemable") Miles.
Also: brp has revised his spreadsheet for 2016 conditions - now named Miles Tracker v. 8.0. It can be downloaded from Gargoyle's page linked to in the OP, or here: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...Tracker-v8.xls (NOTE: due to technical problems, the proper spreadsheet was not uploaded.)
AA reducing some checked baggage allowance tickets pchs on / after 29 Mar 2016
Elite Qualification and Earning Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) - Change 1 Jan 2016
In 2016, there will be two methods to qualify for elite status:
EQM will continue to be calculated based on distance flown (base miles). All EQM on AA marketed flights ("AA codeshares" / "AA coded flights") will earn at least 1 EQM per mile flown, with bonus multipliers for higher fares (regardless of operating carrier, AA itself or another carrier):
AA Marketed Flights LinkAA Elite-Qualifying Partner Airlines
Link to aa.com Partner Airline Miles Earning Charts as of 1 Jan 2016.
The is no minimum dollar spending requirement to obtain status.
- Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) or Elite Qualifying Segments (EQS)
- Elite Qualifying Points (EQP) no longer exist (EQM replaced them).
- Thresholds for elite status qualification remain the same as 2015.
AA Marketed Flights Link
- 3 EQMs/mile – Full-fare First or Business / F, J
- 2 EQMs/mile - Discount First or Business / A, P, D, R, I
- 1.5 EQMs/mile – Full-fare Main Cabin / Y, B and W when AA marketed on airline partners
- 1 EQM/mile - Discount Main Cabin / all other Main Cabin fares
- This applies to all AA marketed flight numbers, regardless of operating carrier.
- Elites continue to earn 500 EQM minimum per segment
Further confirmation of above from inside AA. He (JonNYC) got a message from AAdvantage
Originally Posted by JonNYC Vie
That's what I'm told as well-- fix on the way, system not operating as intended at present.
Further confirmation of above from inside AA. He got a message from AAdvantageCheers.Originally Posted by AAdvantage
Thanks for your questions on EQM earning. There is a glitch in how the minimum mileage guarantee for EQMs is being calculated. The calculation should credit the 500 mile minimum before applying the EQM multiplier. Beginning in the next few weeks, we will be running a retroactive process to “true up” any accounts where the member did not earn the proper number of EQMs. This process will continue to run until the calculation can be reprogrammed in the AAdvantage system.
So, they will do an adjustment for those that were shorted so far and the system will soon be fixed for real.
So, they will do an adjustment for those that were shorted so far and the system will soon be fixed for real.
Cheers.
- 1.5 EQMs/mile - First, Business, and Premium Economy
- 1.0 EQMs/mile - Full-fare economy (typically Y and B, but varies by partner)
- 0.5 EQMs/mile - All other mileage-earning economy fares
- This applies to partner-marketed flights which are eligible to earn AAdvantage miles (typically meaning operated by oneworld carriers and affiliates, though this varies by partner), even if operated by AA.
The is no minimum dollar spending requirement to obtain status.
AAdvantage Miles Award Charts - Change 22 Mar 2016
Link to American Airlines Award Charts as of 22 Mar 2016 (Note: some region descriptions were updated ~10 Feb 2016.)
See this post by Smiley90 for a compilation of new mileage redemption charts and changes.
Link to oneworld and other airline Award Charts as of 22 Mar 2016
Link to tool for old and new award chart comparison by bgriz18.
The number of miles required for many awards changed effective March 22, 2016. Award flights ticketed on or after March 22, 2016 will be subject to the new award charts.
In addition, off-peak (OP) periods have been sharply reduced. For example, Europe OP has changed from Oct. 15-May 15 to Nov. 1-Dec. 14 & Jan. 10-Mar. 14.
See this post by Smiley90 for a compilation of new mileage redemption charts and changes.
Link to oneworld and other airline Award Charts as of 22 Mar 2016
Link to tool for old and new award chart comparison by bgriz18.
The number of miles required for many awards changed effective March 22, 2016. Award flights ticketed on or after March 22, 2016 will be subject to the new award charts.
In addition, off-peak (OP) periods have been sharply reduced. For example, Europe OP has changed from Oct. 15-May 15 to Nov. 1-Dec. 14 & Jan. 10-Mar. 14.
NOTE: Region changes
- Bolivia and Manaus, Brasil: changing from South America 2 to South America 1
- Venezuela: changing from South America 1 to South America 2
- Guam: changing from Asia 2 to South Pacific
- Sri Lanka: changing from Asia 2 to Indian Subcontinent/Middle East
- Kiribati, Palau, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu: added to South Pacific region
For the first part of 2016, RDMs will continue to be earned as they are today. Sometime (most likely later) in "the second half of 2016" RDMs will switch to spend-based model, akin to Delta and United.
RDMs earned will be the base fare plus carrier-imposed fees (excluding any government-imposed taxes and fees) times the following multiplier based on status level:In the example below, in Costa Rican Colones so used only for illustrative purposes, the airport and countered fees and taxes would be excluded from RDM calculations:
As it states in the thread specific to this issue, it appears ~01 October is the likely start date for revenue-based Award Miles earning - and they'll announce one month in advance.RDMs earned will be the base fare plus carrier-imposed fees (excluding any government-imposed taxes and fees) times the following multiplier based on status level:
- 5 miles/U.S. dollar – non-status AAdvantage member
- 7 miles/U.S. dollar – Gold Member
- 8 miles/U.S. dollar – Platinum Member
- 11 miles/U.S. dollar – Executive Platinum Member
Earning AA Award / "Redeemable" Miles / RDM on AA, partners later 2016
(2 May 2016)
Hi everyone,
This is what I´ve read on a Brazilian blog.
The blogger met Suzane Rubin on the T-Mobile Arena, and posted that she told him that they would not change before September, and probably only in October, with a 1-month notice.
I have a booked roundtrip Sao Paulo to Dallas in August, so I hope he is right and this information helps !
I don´t know him, but I follow his blog. You can check it (in Portuguese):
http://www.mestredasmilhas.com/2016/...ards-2016.html
(Reformatted for wiki use.)
Hi everyone,
This is what I´ve read on a Brazilian blog.
The blogger met Suzane Rubin on the T-Mobile Arena, and posted that she told him that they would not change before September, and probably only in October, with a 1-month notice.
I have a booked roundtrip Sao Paulo to Dallas in August, so I hope he is right and this information helps !
I don´t know him, but I follow his blog. You can check it (in Portuguese):
http://www.mestredasmilhas.com/2016/...ards-2016.html
(Reformatted for wiki use.)
"Agora vamos ŕs novidades. Tive o privilégio de conversar particularmente com a Suzane Rubin, e a equipe do AAdvantage, e já posso adiantar algumas informaçőes aqui. Eles me confirmaram que a mudança para revenue năo irá ocorrer antes de setembro, mas com data provável em Outubro deste ano, e com pelo menos 1 męs de aviso prévio. Também o crédito de pontos será na data do voo, ou seja, se vocę compra uma passagem agora, e voa somente em dezembro, provavelmente irá receber pontos, e năo milhas pela distância voada."
Translated:
Now for the news. I had the privilege to talk particularly with Suzanne Rubin and the AAdvantage team, and I can share some advance information here. It was confirmed to me that the change to revenue (based earning) will not occur before September, but with a probable date in October this year, and with at least one month's notice. Also the credit points will be for the date of the flight, or if you buy a ticket now, and fly only in December, will probably get points, but not (Award / Redeemable) miles by distance flown.
Translated:
Now for the news. I had the privilege to talk particularly with Suzanne Rubin and the AAdvantage team, and I can share some advance information here. It was confirmed to me that the change to revenue (based earning) will not occur before September, but with a probable date in October this year, and with at least one month's notice. Also the credit points will be for the date of the flight, or if you buy a ticket now, and fly only in December, will probably get points, but not (Award / Redeemable) miles by distance flown.
Business Extra changes
Effective 30 Nov 2015, European Business Extra members' accounts have been migrated to the joint AA-BA-IB "On Business" programme. (Announced 24 Nov 2015)
Apparently effective ~1 Jan 2016, BPX- upgrades become more restricted. See this post. (Remains unannounced!)
24 hour ticket hold gone as of 1 April 2016
HOLD ticket WILL change 1 Apr 2016 - 24 hr hold or / & cancel
Effective April 1, you will not be able to put paid bookings on 24-hour hold if making them by telephone.
The 24-hour hold (as well as "pay for extended hold") will be available online, though 24-hour hold will only be available for an indeterminate, interim period of time.
There will be no free cancellation if travel is booked less than seven days out.
Other key changes
- As of January 1, 2016, EXPs will earn 4 SWUs (down from 8) upon requalification with 100K EQM. Two additional SWUs will be earned at 150K EQM, and again at 200K EQM.
- As of March 1, 2016, Gold and Platinum elite members will earn 4 "stickers" for each 12,500 EQM flown (up from 10,000 EQM) in a membership year.
- As of March 1, 2016, the price to purchase a "sticker" (online, kiosk, agent) increases to $40 (up from $30 online/kiosk, $35 agent).
- As of March 1, 2016, the price to purchase 8 "stickers" using miles increases to 40,000 RDM (up from 35,000 RDM).
- Elite status earned in 2016 for 2017 will expire on January 31, 2018.
- No announcement about the rumored revised status challenge has been made
JUST THE FACTS: 2016 AAdvantage Program Changes Announced 17 Nov 2015
Nov 22, 2015, 5:31 pm
#302
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Usually in SAN or Central Europe.
Programs: AA:EXP/1MM. Accor/Radisson:Silver; HH:Gold; ICH:Plt Amb.
Posts: 22,307
No. Nothing about earning MM status changes. Which is that you earn one MM mile for each mile flown (with no 500 minimum and no class-of-service bonus). I suppose that with the new partner earnings of some fares only earning 50% EQMs that may not be the case. But I don't think AA has clarified that aspect yet.
Nov 22, 2015, 5:34 pm
#303
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Usually in SAN or Central Europe.
Programs: AA:EXP/1MM. Accor/Radisson:Silver; HH:Gold; ICH:Plt Amb.
Posts: 22,307
-7500 RDMs (25% elite bonus + 25% cos bonus) plus maybe a max of 2000 more RDMs based on the current bonus for long/short premium flights
-5000 MM miles
-5000 EQMs/10000 EQPs (using the current promo of a 0.5 EQP bonus for I-class tickets)
In addition, flying 2 5000-mile I tickets plus 1 5000-mile cheap coach ticket, earns/renews one's Gold status in the future. Currently, doing those same 3 trips doesn't, as you'd only end up with 15000 EQMs and 2250 EQPs.
Last edited by Fanjet; Nov 22, 2015 at 5:50 pm
Nov 22, 2015, 5:40 pm
#304
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,574
In the new regime there are EQMs , Redeemable miles, segments and million miler balance
I would suggest that for most people, the redeemable mile element is simpler , since there is no need to know the distance between 2 airports to know how much will be earned. Most members do not have status ( nor likely to attain it ) so distances for status earning are less relevent to them. All they need to do is multiply fare by 5 to get the earning
Ok, it does require someone being able to multiply by 5
Nov 23, 2015, 4:03 am
#307
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: London (~75% of the year).
Programs: AA PPro
Posts: 474
Re: RDM treatment for tickets bought with outbound flown before RDM changes and the return flown after:
More fun would be a transit connection straddling the date of change.
That said, whilst I would be delighted to be wrong I thought it was pretty clear the treatment will be as per the rules on the date of travel. So the outbound and return would be treated differently. If this may not be the case it's a fairly big deal.
Changes often explicitly exclude tickets purchased before a certain date, that was not the case here. Without that exception: surely a ticket bought before the RDM changes to be treated no differently as one bought after them.
Like you, I see no particular difficulty in treating flights the same irrespective of when they were purchased.
You are correct that there has not been any mention so we can only guess at this point. It's conceivable that AA could treat the two halves of the ticket separately, since they know the fare component of the outbound and the inbound. This could allow them to credit the outbound under the old system and the inbound under the new system.
That said, whilst I would be delighted to be wrong I thought it was pretty clear the treatment will be as per the rules on the date of travel. So the outbound and return would be treated differently. If this may not be the case it's a fairly big deal.
Changes often explicitly exclude tickets purchased before a certain date, that was not the case here. Without that exception: surely a ticket bought before the RDM changes to be treated no differently as one bought after them.
Like you, I see no particular difficulty in treating flights the same irrespective of when they were purchased.
Nov 23, 2015, 5:35 am
#308
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2001
Location: MSY; 2-time FT Fantasy Football Champ, now in recovery.
Programs: AA lifetime GLD; UA Silver; Marriott LTTE; IHG Plat,
Posts: 14,517
Suppose, post-change, I buy a $1000 roundtrip (let's ignore taxes), outbound in January 2017, return in March. I fly the outbound, then in February, I pay the $200 change fee and use the residual value of the ticket plus $500 new cash to buy another future roundtrip, departing in May and returning in July. How many RDMs do I earn, and when will they post?
Nov 23, 2015, 6:57 am
#309
Moderator: American AAdvantage, Signatures
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: London, England
Programs: UA 1K, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador, National Exec, AA EXP Emeritus
Posts: 9,765
As a reminder, this thread is for the facts as we know them.
Some of the corner cases and intricate details of the switch to spend-based earning have not been announced, so let's not pollute this thread with speculation on this topic. Please take speculation to the discussion / reaction thread.
As a reminder, this thread is being closely monitored and moderated as needed to ensure it stays within the narrow remit of its topic.
~Moderator
Some of the corner cases and intricate details of the switch to spend-based earning have not been announced, so let's not pollute this thread with speculation on this topic. Please take speculation to the discussion / reaction thread.
As a reminder, this thread is being closely monitored and moderated as needed to ensure it stays within the narrow remit of its topic.
~Moderator
Nov 23, 2015, 6:58 am
#310
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: DCA/IAD
Programs: AA EXP/OW Emerald
Posts: 209
Apologies if this has been asked and answered, but I'm still confused. With the changes, will the 100K EQM I fly BIS to earn/re-qual for EXP count for anything other than earning status? Will those miles still be counted as part of my RDM balance as they are today - meaning I would earn a minimum of 100K RDM plus whatever additional at the 11X/$ rate as EXP, or would my RDM balance be just the 11X/$ and the 100K EQM are essentially "lost?"
Nov 23, 2015, 7:01 am
#311
Moderator: American AAdvantage, Signatures
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: London, England
Programs: UA 1K, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador, National Exec, AA EXP Emeritus
Posts: 9,765
Apologies if this has been asked and answered, but I'm still confused. With the changes, will the 100K EQM I fly BIS to earn/re-qual for EXP count for anything other than earning status? Will those miles still be counted as part of my RDM balance as they are today - meaning I would earn a minimum of 100K RDM plus whatever additional at the 11X/$ rate as EXP, or would my RDM balance be just the 11X/$ and the 100K EQM are essentially "lost?"
Nov 23, 2015, 9:02 am
#312
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: MCO/FLL
Programs: AA-gold(MM); Marriott-Lifetime Titanium Elite; Hilton-Gold;
Posts: 503
As an EXP, around August, I tend to see where I am with EQM and where my business travel will take me through December before deciding to add personal trips and/or mileage runs. I usually need to make up about 30K miles using personal travel. My family does love when I fly them places using awards. Family of four has big travel plans to Eastern Europe using award travel miles in November 2016. 
If I understand this correctly, if I typically buy typically discounted coach fares for personal travel and/or G fares for business, if I wish to continue it might behoove me to:
#1: Starting NOW - pay closer attention to flyer talk mileage run forums and jump when I see a great discounted fare in First or business in the first half of 2016 and receive my just due redeemable miles
#2: fly a nice coach mileage run on a discounted ticket using up my two evips that are set to expire in Feb.
Just sounds like I need to front load in 2016 if there is any hope to keeping my XPL status and enjoy redeemable award miles for butt in the seat.
Is this what most EXPs will be doing regarding their mileage runs?
If I understand this correctly, if I typically buy typically discounted coach fares for personal travel and/or G fares for business, if I wish to continue it might behoove me to:
#1: Starting NOW - pay closer attention to flyer talk mileage run forums and jump when I see a great discounted fare in First or business in the first half of 2016 and receive my just due redeemable miles
#2: fly a nice coach mileage run on a discounted ticket using up my two evips that are set to expire in Feb.
Just sounds like I need to front load in 2016 if there is any hope to keeping my XPL status and enjoy redeemable award miles for butt in the seat.
Is this what most EXPs will be doing regarding their mileage runs?
Nov 23, 2015, 10:17 am
#313
Moderator: American AAdvantage, Signatures
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: London, England
Programs: UA 1K, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador, National Exec, AA EXP Emeritus
Posts: 9,765
When you fly your miles next year will have no bearing on status, but it will impact redeemable miles. The change in redeemable miles accrual when it hits will change what you earn going forward, and the award chart changes in March will hit hard too, so when you earn your redeemable miles may need to change if you think you'll want to do some redemptions earlier in the year. All told, I think you've figured it out pretty well...
Nov 23, 2015, 10:26 am
#314
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: ELP
Programs: AA EXP/LT PLAT, Marriott Titanium/LT PLAT
Posts: 4,120
The short quess? Whatever works best for AA.
The speculation? Somebody forgot about OW tickets.
My guess? A single OW ticket (ie up to 16 segments - single PNR) can earn a maximum of 75K RDM. If the total traveled is 50K miles and 23K of that is on AA, the most you'll get in the AA program is (23/50 ) * 75K or 34500 points.
Best case? 75K to AA from a single PNR. What other airline programs?
Worst case? Do you remember the "other" OW mileage based ticket?
(Current dream) Happy wandering
Fred
The speculation? Somebody forgot about OW tickets.
My guess? A single OW ticket (ie up to 16 segments - single PNR) can earn a maximum of 75K RDM. If the total traveled is 50K miles and 23K of that is on AA, the most you'll get in the AA program is (23/50 ) * 75K or 34500 points.
Best case? 75K to AA from a single PNR. What other airline programs?
Worst case? Do you remember the "other" OW mileage based ticket?
(Current dream) Happy wandering
Fred
Does this mean maximum 75k EQMs or RDM which are calculated thru the amount spent?
My RTW ticket in J costs around 10k -- so I would earn approx 110k RDM's under the new system. The EQM is around 23k miles so with the discounted F/J bonus, it would come to 46k EQMs.
So, which do I follow?
Nov 23, 2015, 10:49 am
#315
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: MSN
Programs: AA, BAEC Gold
Posts: 3,926
I am confused about this maximum miles of 75k.
Does this mean maximum 75k EQMs or RDM which are calculated thru the amount spent?
My RTW ticket in J costs around 10k -- so I would earn approx 110k RDM's under the new system. The EQM is around 23k miles so with the discounted F/J bonus, it would come to 46k EQMs.
So, which do I follow?
Does this mean maximum 75k EQMs or RDM which are calculated thru the amount spent?
My RTW ticket in J costs around 10k -- so I would earn approx 110k RDM's under the new system. The EQM is around 23k miles so with the discounted F/J bonus, it would come to 46k EQMs.
So, which do I follow?
Is there a maximum number of base award miles that can be earned on a ticket?
Yes, a maximum of 75,000 miles will be awarded per ticket (inclusive of any class of service and elite status bonus miles).
It's curious that they mention bonuses!
Edit: this seems to be to cover partner flights which are calculated the old way.