Dec 18, 2015, 12:53 pm
Last edit by: Prospero
American Airlines ConciergeKeySM / "CK" Program (by invitation only)
(Includes Executive Platinum status and Admirals Club membership)
NOTE: For questions such as "How can I get Concierge Key?" or "This is my spend: will I get CK?" Please refer to the How do I make / making AA Concierge Key / ConciergeKey / CK?thread
Also see AA Concierge Key invitations / renewal for 2019 status (out early 12/2018).
13 Apr 2020: AAdvantage extends CK status is extended automatically until Jan 31, 2022.
"The ConciergeKey Program is an exclusive program that American Airlines has for our very top customers. This is by invitation only and a very exclusive club." (Billy Sanez for AA)
ConciergeKey Services are provided to a select group of VIPs to facilitate travel on AA. The program is offered on an invitation basis only and is targeted at customers who control travel policy for large organizations. Customers who generate a high amount of revenue for AA may also be invited into this program (possibly those who spend upwards of US$60k a year on travel with AA).
Services provided include airport escorts and pre-boarding (seems variable, more likely during OSO?); assistance with flight changes, seat changes, and upgrade requests via their own dedicated telephone line. In addition, there is the ability to communicate directly with ConciergeKey associates via a dedicated email address. ConciergeKeySM representatives will also monitor day of travel of ConciergeKey members and will proactively reroute or rebook travel when necessary. ConciergeKey status allows check-in at First Class counters, as well as access to elite lines through security at certain airports. Miles and copay upgrades with copay waived.
ConciergeKey is now a distinct elite tier, above Executive Platinum. ConciergeKey benefits include membership to the Admirals Club, international miles upgrades with copayment waived, as well as two additional System-Wide Upgrades (SWU's) as part of CK membership.
CK members have access to Flagship Check-in on any flight, and CK will have Flagship Lounge access when flying a OneWorld airline.
As of 1 Jan 2017, Concierge Key members have upgrade requests prioritized over all other tiers: CK members have an upgrade window of (up to) 120 hours (Executive Platinum member's will retain the 100 hour upgrade window). CK members will board ahead of other passengers.
Regarding Concierge Key tier benefits coming in 2017, please see: New Concierge Key Benefits for 2017: New CK Elite Status Tier
Please: do respect members' privacy by refraining from asking for overly personal information and details relating to ConciergeKey membership or nomination. If your question receives no response, consider the member chooses not to reply, as is his/her right.
Boarding Area's AAdvantageGeek's blog shows the card and documents here.
Previous threads:
ConciergeKey AA Premium Service (ARCHIVED)
ARCHIVED: AA Concierge Key / ConciergeKey / CK (2014 consolidated)
Updated 18 Aug 2019 by ikwia to reflect CK being a distinct elite tier and to clarify the FL access requirement
Updated 25 Jul 2017 by JDiver
(Includes Executive Platinum status and Admirals Club membership)
NOTE: For questions such as "How can I get Concierge Key?" or "This is my spend: will I get CK?" Please refer to the How do I make / making AA Concierge Key / ConciergeKey / CK?thread
Also see AA Concierge Key invitations / renewal for 2019 status (out early 12/2018).
13 Apr 2020: AAdvantage extends CK status is extended automatically until Jan 31, 2022.
"The ConciergeKey Program is an exclusive program that American Airlines has for our very top customers. This is by invitation only and a very exclusive club." (Billy Sanez for AA)
ConciergeKey Services are provided to a select group of VIPs to facilitate travel on AA. The program is offered on an invitation basis only and is targeted at customers who control travel policy for large organizations. Customers who generate a high amount of revenue for AA may also be invited into this program (possibly those who spend upwards of US$60k a year on travel with AA).
Services provided include airport escorts and pre-boarding (seems variable, more likely during OSO?); assistance with flight changes, seat changes, and upgrade requests via their own dedicated telephone line. In addition, there is the ability to communicate directly with ConciergeKey associates via a dedicated email address. ConciergeKeySM representatives will also monitor day of travel of ConciergeKey members and will proactively reroute or rebook travel when necessary. ConciergeKey status allows check-in at First Class counters, as well as access to elite lines through security at certain airports. Miles and copay upgrades with copay waived.
ConciergeKey is now a distinct elite tier, above Executive Platinum. ConciergeKey benefits include membership to the Admirals Club, international miles upgrades with copayment waived, as well as two additional System-Wide Upgrades (SWU's) as part of CK membership.
CK members have access to Flagship Check-in on any flight, and CK will have Flagship Lounge access when flying a OneWorld airline.
As of 1 Jan 2017, Concierge Key members have upgrade requests prioritized over all other tiers: CK members have an upgrade window of (up to) 120 hours (Executive Platinum member's will retain the 100 hour upgrade window). CK members will board ahead of other passengers.
Regarding Concierge Key tier benefits coming in 2017, please see: New Concierge Key Benefits for 2017: New CK Elite Status Tier
Please: do respect members' privacy by refraining from asking for overly personal information and details relating to ConciergeKey membership or nomination. If your question receives no response, consider the member chooses not to reply, as is his/her right.
Boarding Area's AAdvantageGeek's blog shows the card and documents here.
Previous threads:
ConciergeKey AA Premium Service (ARCHIVED)
ARCHIVED: AA Concierge Key / ConciergeKey / CK (2014 consolidated)
Updated 18 Aug 2019 by ikwia to reflect CK being a distinct elite tier and to clarify the FL access requirement
Updated 25 Jul 2017 by JDiver
AA Concierge Key / ConciergeKey / CK members lounge (master thread)
Feb 16, 2023, 7:42 am
#1801
Join Date: May 2010
Location: DFW Area
Programs: AA ConciergeKey; Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 392
I agree that it’s going to be mainly profitable spend on AA metal as it has always been. But I also think there are going to be people that make it just on LPs and some for which LPs count in some manner. AA is now encouraging and rewarding with status a more wholistic relationship and thus ways you can make them money.
Feb 16, 2023, 7:51 am
#1802
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: DFW
Programs: AA ConciergeKey, Marriott Ambassador Elite
Posts: 365
I agree with this. Bits and pieces I have heard drive to historical qualifying conclusions. Spend a lot of $ flying in premium cabins, predominantly with AA.
Feb 16, 2023, 7:54 am
#1803
Join Date: Jan 2023
Posts: 13
I strongly suspect that LPs will count at like a penny a piece so 1 million LPs is going to be roughly 10k of usd “credit” in the calculations. They likely won’t give credit for much more than citi buys them for.
it’s tricky though as those cc spend LPs are much more profitable per LP than most flying LPs.
I have 1.75m LPs (only 300k from flying a few trans Atlantic round trips in j ) so mostly personal cc spend. I also burnt like 2m miles recently on award tickets so not sure if that ever matters around the edges (positive or negative).
So it will hard for me to triangulate this year as I have several dials moving.
5m LPs alone should be a good chance based on the temp CK they previously gave for those levels and that it would be like probably 40k plus of profit in those LPs
it’s tricky though as those cc spend LPs are much more profitable per LP than most flying LPs.
I have 1.75m LPs (only 300k from flying a few trans Atlantic round trips in j ) so mostly personal cc spend. I also burnt like 2m miles recently on award tickets so not sure if that ever matters around the edges (positive or negative).
So it will hard for me to triangulate this year as I have several dials moving.
5m LPs alone should be a good chance based on the temp CK they previously gave for those levels and that it would be like probably 40k plus of profit in those LPs
Feb 16, 2023, 8:10 am
#1804
Join Date: May 2010
Location: DFW Area
Programs: AA ConciergeKey; Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 392
Feb 16, 2023, 8:35 am
#1805
Join Date: May 2008
Location: DFW
Programs: AA CK, Marriott LT Ti, Hertz 5*, Avis PC
Posts: 541
Not knowing your segment/fare bucket breakdown, I would be challenged to see how you wouldn't make it this year
Feb 16, 2023, 8:46 am
#1806
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: DFW
Programs: AA ConciergeKey, Marriott Ambassador Elite
Posts: 365
We are in a similar bucket. I'm slightly over $100K in premium cabin spend with 200K of additional credit card LPs. I was told "I'm looking good" from AA EL/CS. I would imagine you will make it without issue.
Feb 16, 2023, 8:57 am
#1807
Join Date: Jan 2023
Posts: 13
Feb 16, 2023, 7:23 pm
#1808
Join Date: Jul 2022
Location: Orange County, CA
Programs: AA Marriott
Posts: 15
Feb 17, 2023, 7:14 am
#1809
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 34
Sorry if this sounds like a silly question but how do you know your spend? When the program changed, they eliminated the amount spent on AA flights from the website and APP. Do you just separately track it with your credit card? Also, a related question, what is the time period they are analyzing for spend? Is it from January 2022 until end of February 2023? What about travel in 2021 are they looking at that?
Feb 17, 2023, 11:28 am
#1811
Join Date: Jan 2023
Posts: 13
Sorry if this sounds like a silly question but how do you know your spend? When the program changed, they eliminated the amount spent on AA flights from the website and APP. Do you just separately track it with your credit card? Also, a related question, what is the time period they are analyzing for spend? Is it from January 2022 until end of February 2023? What about travel in 2021 are they looking at that?
1) yes check your credit card for AA tickets and add up amount spent. If you’re purchasing first/business class tickets it should be relatively easy to find and add up.
2) Take your loyalty points from American tickets in your activity and divide by 11. This is because EP/CK get 11 loyalty points per dollar spend. Only time this doesn’t work is if one of your tickets hit the 75k LP/mile cap in which case the number will be slightly off.
I heard they are looking at Jan 2022 to now. I actually was just on the phone with an executive liaison for AAdvantage program yesterday. She said “I actually just got an email today stating that they are starting to review accounts now, and that people will be notified end of March/beginning of April.” Which personally seems quite late to me and contradicts what they quoted a few months ago. In November I was told it would be end of Jan/early Feb. maybe they are behind and still figuring out how they are going to tackle the new qualification year.
I told her that’s right when all the current CK status’s end though. And her response was that they would notify current CK of renewal first so that there wasn’t a gap.
Last edited by ReidTravels; Feb 17, 2023 at 11:39 am
Feb 17, 2023, 1:06 pm
#1812
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: SAN, LGA
Programs: AA EXP, Bonvoy Ambassador Elite
Posts: 22
Haven't requal'd for CK in a few years, wonder if this will be the year (depending on how AA calculates profitability) ...
I've spent ~$40K this year, almost entirely on LGA-YYZ (357 miles, operated by E170s) in business. I buy last-minute one-ways at $300 per ticket, which puts me at an average of ~80-90 cents per mile. Not sure how AA factors in profitability, wondering if this would put me remotely in contention for CK...
I've spent ~$40K this year, almost entirely on LGA-YYZ (357 miles, operated by E170s) in business. I buy last-minute one-ways at $300 per ticket, which puts me at an average of ~80-90 cents per mile. Not sure how AA factors in profitability, wondering if this would put me remotely in contention for CK...
Feb 17, 2023, 3:02 pm
#1813
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: FSD
Programs: AA CK, DL SM, UA PS, HH Diamond, Bonvoy Titanium , Hyatt Globalist, Global Entry, CLEAR
Posts: 458
Haven't requal'd for CK in a few years, wonder if this will be the year (depending on how AA calculates profitability) ...
I've spent ~$40K this year, almost entirely on LGA-YYZ (357 miles, operated by E170s) in business. I buy last-minute one-ways at $300 per ticket, which puts me at an average of ~80-90 cents per mile. Not sure how AA factors in profitability, wondering if this would put me remotely in contention for CK...
I've spent ~$40K this year, almost entirely on LGA-YYZ (357 miles, operated by E170s) in business. I buy last-minute one-ways at $300 per ticket, which puts me at an average of ~80-90 cents per mile. Not sure how AA factors in profitability, wondering if this would put me remotely in contention for CK...
Feb 17, 2023, 5:13 pm
#1814
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: DFW
Programs: AA ConciergeKey, Marriott Ambassador Elite
Posts: 365
Sorry if this sounds like a silly question but how do you know your spend? When the program changed, they eliminated the amount spent on AA flights from the website and APP. Do you just separately track it with your credit card? Also, a related question, what is the time period they are analyzing for spend? Is it from January 2022 until end of February 2023? What about travel in 2021 are they looking at that?
Feb 17, 2023, 5:47 pm
#1815
Join Date: Feb 2023
Location: USA
Programs: AA CK
Posts: 6
Funny Story
While we all await our 2023 renewals…A colleague of mine is part of a group of 3 that fly out of ORD quite a bit to Asia and LHR, only on AA, all up front + about 50 domestic trips. They almost always fly together on the Intl. trips so total $$ must be close. Two out of the 3 have had CK status for 5 years. The boss has never been selected! By the way, the boss can be a total hothead when things don’t go his way - especially when traveling. So fast forward a few years, my friend starts talking to an AA employee at DFW who says he’s a CK program manager. He asks him about the situation - how can this be? The AA guy asked if the boss is a complainer - “does he write complaint emails and posts?”. “Yes, definitely” my friend responds. The employee just smiled and said “it’s an invite only program”.
The moral of the story is…be nice.
The moral of the story is…be nice.