Jan 3, 2016, 11:18 pm
Last edit by: JDiver
Earning Elite Qualifying Miles / EQM (and AA status) earning in 2016
on American Airlines and its partner airlines
on American Airlines and its partner airlines
Note: Earning EQM / Elite Qualifying Miles and their purpose changed 1/1/2016
Please continue discussion in our 2017 version of the thread:
Earning AA Elite Qualifying Miles / EQM on AA, partner airlines 2017
Thanks!
/Moderator
New Elite Qualifying Miles earning
link to AAdvantage program changes for 2016 on aa.com
"You’ll continue to earn EQMs based on the airline and booking class purchased. Plus, Full-fare Economy, Business Class or First Class tickets on American-marketed flights will earn EQMs at a higher rate (up to 2.0 or 3.0 EQMs per flown mile) – getting you to elite status faster." - aa.com
Caveat: other than on American Airlines, discount or deep discount economy fares may be credited with fractional or even no EQM / Elite Qualifying Miles. Read carefully.
Please see this page (link) on aa.com for earning AAdvantage miles flying oneworld and additional airline partners, then read the chart for that airline partner. Be sure to note some fares operated by oneworld and additional partners may earn full, partial or no AA miles (E.g. Cathay Pacific only earns AA miles on H, B and full Y fares in coach; BA and IB fares may earn as few as 0.5 EQ Miles per mile flown as of 1 Feb 2016.)
Link to AAdvantage program update page on aa.com
link to AAdvantage program changes for 2016 on aa.com
"You’ll continue to earn EQMs based on the airline and booking class purchased. Plus, Full-fare Economy, Business Class or First Class tickets on American-marketed flights will earn EQMs at a higher rate (up to 2.0 or 3.0 EQMs per flown mile) – getting you to elite status faster." - aa.com
Caveat: other than on American Airlines, discount or deep discount economy fares may be credited with fractional or even no EQM / Elite Qualifying Miles. Read carefully.
Please see this page (link) on aa.com for earning AAdvantage miles flying oneworld and additional airline partners, then read the chart for that airline partner. Be sure to note some fares operated by oneworld and additional partners may earn full, partial or no AA miles (E.g. Cathay Pacific only earns AA miles on H, B and full Y fares in coach; BA and IB fares may earn as few as 0.5 EQ Miles per mile flown as of 1 Feb 2016.)
Link to AAdvantage program update page on aa.com
Read The AAdvantage Terms and Conditions here
Glossary:
- Award mile ("RDM" often "Redeemable Mile" on Flyertalk): a unit that can be spent on an award, such as a bonus, purchased, or other AAdvantage mile.
- Base mile: A unit based on a flown mile (can be a percentage of flown miles on AA partners) used to calculate redeemable (award usable) miles (changes late 2016 to revenue based system)
- Bonus Mile: Award Mile earned through various activities including flying, credit card use, hotel stays, auto rentals, shopping etc. with various American Airlines partners. See Earning AA Award / Redeemable Miles / RDM on AA, partners later 2016.
- Elite Qualifying Mile (EQM): A unit used to earn status, based on flown miles X purchased class of service for the marketing airline. On AA coded flights you earn from 0.5 EQM on Basic Economy to 3.0 full undiscounted J and F.
- Elite Qualifying Segment (EQS): A unit used to earn status equivalent to a sector flown by a qualifying flight (but note when the same flight number is flown over two or more sectors the entirety will generally count as one segment. "You’ll still earn 1 EQS (Elite Qualifying segment) for each eligible segment you fly." - aa.com (NOTE: New Basic Economy fares only earn 0.5 EQS.)
- Flown mile: actual miles flown (as published by AA - Great Circle Mapper, etc. are close
- Marketing airline is the airline "plating" or issuing the boarding pass, e.g. QF operated by FJ. The marketing airline's chart on aa.com (not the airline's) determines your miles earning on airline partners.
- Operating airline is the airline operating the flight. except for AA and QF (and a very few others) to earn miles on a oneworld marketed flight, the operating airline must generally be a oneworld airline.
- Qualifying flight: an AA or partner flight on which one can earn EQM, EQS in this instance
AAdvantage Status Four Annual American Airlines Segment Requirement
*Must fly at least four segments on American Airlines during the qualifying year to receive elite status. no longer a requirement as of 1/1/2027.
- AA marketed flights / AA codeshares operated by other carriers count. It has been reported codeshares operated by American Airlines also count.
On American Airlines marketed flights: (AA flights operated by AA and AA codeshares)
Exceptions: There are certain airline ticket types that are not eligible for mileage accrual regardless of the booking class. These include, without limitation, the following:
- 3 EQMs/mile – Full-fare First or Business
- 2 EQMs/mile - Discount First or Business
- 1.5 EQMs/mile – Full-fare Main Cabin, or W Premium Economy on AA codeshares
- 1 EQMs/mile - Discount Main Cabin
- 0.5 EQMs/mile - Basic Economy fares (new Feb 2017)
- All tickets issued as AAdvantage awards
- Other free ticket promotions including free or reduced rate tickets
- Companion tickets
- Charter flight tickets
- Travel agency/industry reduced rate tickets
- Infant tickets
- Items occupying a purchased seat (e.g. XTRASEAT)
- (Also Extra seats purchased by a passenger for him/herself)
- Unpublished fare tickets, including consolidator fares
- Tickets issued subject to special provisions
Earning EQM on AA partner airlines:
The amount of EQMs you earn on partner airlines has changed. Earning rates will vary depending on the marketing airline. On qualifying flights of airlines other than AA marketed flights, the maximum EQM that can be earned is 1.5 EQM per base mile flown.
EQMs may be earned at different rates and with differing fare classes, depending on airline, flown miles and fare class. Not all partner airlines' or their fares earn EQM. See here to partner airlines' miles earning charts link on aa.com.
Some non-oneworld partner airlines award only award / redeemable miles, not EQM (e.g. Etihad, Gulf, Fiji), unless flying them as an AA or QF marketed ("codeshare") flight.
Explore our partner airlines (link)
For example, using BA / British Airways marketed flights operated by oneworld partners including AA, as of 1 Feb 2016:
The amount of EQMs you earn on partner airlines has changed. Earning rates will vary depending on the marketing airline. On qualifying flights of airlines other than AA marketed flights, the maximum EQM that can be earned is 1.5 EQM per base mile flown.
EQMs may be earned at different rates and with differing fare classes, depending on airline, flown miles and fare class. Not all partner airlines' or their fares earn EQM. See here to partner airlines' miles earning charts link on aa.com.
Some non-oneworld partner airlines award only award / redeemable miles, not EQM (e.g. Etihad, Gulf, Fiji), unless flying them as an AA or QF marketed ("codeshare") flight.
Explore our partner airlines (link)
For example, using BA / British Airways marketed flights operated by oneworld partners including AA, as of 1 Feb 2016:
- 1.5 EQMs/mile - BA all published, purchased First Class fares
- 1.5 EQM / EQMs/mile - BA all published, purchased Business / Club fares
- 1.5 EQM / EQMs/mile - BA all published, purchased premium economy / Traveller Pus fares
- 1.0 EQM / EQMs/mile - BA all published, purchased full economy / Traveller Y and B fares
- 0.5 EQM / EQMs/mile - BA all other published, purchased economy / Traveller fares
AAdvantage Elite minimum mileage guarantee (applies to EQM and RDM)
How is the 500-mile EQM minimum benefit applied for elite members?
If your flight is less than 500 miles we’ll raise the base EQM amount to 500 prior to applying any multipliers, according to the booking code purchased. After applying the multiplier, the number of EQMs awarded could be less than 500. For example, if your flight is 300 miles in length, we will raise the base EQM amount to 500. If the multiplier to be applied is 0.50, you will earn 250 EQMs for the flight.
Elite members will earn at least 500 (250, in reality - see immediately above) miles for flights under 500 miles on American Airlines and American Eagle (including codeshare flights booked as an American Airlines flight number) and participating AAdvantage and oneworld airlines: *LAN includes LAN Airlines, LAN Argentina, LAN Ecuador and LAN Peru. Minima seem to not apply to new Basic Economy fares.
The 500 EQM minimum is what multipliers should be applied to, not actual miles when flown miles are under 500. See:
Earning AA Elite Qualifying Miles / EQM on AA, oneworld, partner airlines 2016.
aa.com: link
How is the 500-mile EQM minimum benefit applied for elite members?
If your flight is less than 500 miles we’ll raise the base EQM amount to 500 prior to applying any multipliers, according to the booking code purchased. After applying the multiplier, the number of EQMs awarded could be less than 500. For example, if your flight is 300 miles in length, we will raise the base EQM amount to 500. If the multiplier to be applied is 0.50, you will earn 250 EQMs for the flight.
Elite members will earn at least 500 (250, in reality - see immediately above) miles for flights under 500 miles on American Airlines and American Eagle (including codeshare flights booked as an American Airlines flight number) and participating AAdvantage and oneworld airlines:
- airberlin
- Alaska Airlines
- British Airways
- Fiji Airways (non-oneworld; RDM only)
- Finnair
- Gulf Air (non-oneworld; RDM only)
- Iberia
- LAN*
- Qantas
- Royal Jordanian
- SriLankan Airlines
- TAM Airlines
The 500 EQM minimum is what multipliers should be applied to, not actual miles when flown miles are under 500. See:
Further confirmation of above from inside AA. He (JonNYC) got a message from AAdvantage
Cheers.
So, they will do an adjustment for those that were shorted so far and the system will soon be fixed for real.
Cheers.
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 AAdvantage
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 AAdvantage
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.
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.
aa.com: link
Elite Qualifying (EQM) or Redeemable (RDM)?
To determine if you earn EQM or RDM, read the "Earn miles" statement for each airline:
This will earn EQM:
This will not earn EQM, only RDM:
To determine if you earn EQM or RDM, read the "Earn miles" statement for each airline:
This will earn EQM:
Earn miles
Earn elite-qualifying AAdvantage miles when you fly on airberlin marketed and operated flights as well as airberlin codeshare flights operated by American Airlines. Simply:
Earn elite-qualifying AAdvantage miles when you fly on airberlin marketed and operated flights as well as airberlin codeshare flights operated by American Airlines. Simply:
- Buy an eligible published fare ticket booked in an eligible code
- Fly an eligible route
- Specific flights, routes or cities that are excluded from earning miles or award travel are listed as exceptions if applicable.
Earn miles
Earn AAdvantage miles when you fly on Fiji Airways marketed and operated flights as well as Fiji Airways codeshare flights operated by American Airlines. Simply:
Earn AAdvantage miles when you fly on Fiji Airways marketed and operated flights as well as Fiji Airways codeshare flights operated by American Airlines. Simply:
- Buy an eligible published fare ticket booked in an eligible code
- Fly an eligible route
- Specific flights, routes or cities that are excluded from earning miles or award travel are listed as exceptions if applicable.
oneworld Codeshares Operated by non-oneworld Airlines or Affiliates
Other than flying Qantas (and some Japan Airlines) codeshares / marketed flights, oneworld codeshare flights must be operated by oneworld airlines and their oneworld affiliates to earn miles.
E.g. AA codeshare operated by EY, earn as if flying AA.
E.g. Flying EY, earn Redeemable (not Elite Qualifying) miles.
E.g. BA operated by Bangkok Airways, no AA miles.
E.g. Iberia operated by SN yields no AA miles.
E.g. QF flown by FJ should to earn EQM.
Other than flying Qantas (and some Japan Airlines) codeshares / marketed flights, oneworld codeshare flights must be operated by oneworld airlines and their oneworld affiliates to earn miles.
E.g. AA codeshare operated by EY, earn as if flying AA.
E.g. Flying EY, earn Redeemable (not Elite Qualifying) miles.
E.g. BA operated by Bangkok Airways, no AA miles.
E.g. Iberia operated by SN yields no AA miles.
E.g. QF flown by FJ should to earn EQM.
Examples: (For a flight of 1,000 flown miles)
- AA marketed on full F fare class First: 3,000 EQM (regardless of status, regardless of operating airline)
- AA marketed on discounted First or Business (A, P, D, I, R): 2,000 EQM
- AA in deep discount economy: 1,000 EQM
- BA marketed qualifying flight in F First, Business (Club), Premium Economy (World Traveller Plus): 1,500 EQM (even if operated by AA)
- BA marketed qualifying flight in Economy (World Traveller) B, Y: 1,000 EQM
- BA marketed qualifying flight in Economy (World Traveller) H, K, L, M, N, S, V, G, O, Q: 500 EQM
NOTES:
- All AA marketed ("AA codeshares") flights in paid, qualifying fare classes earn 1.0 or more EQM (regardless of "metal" or operating airline
- oneworld marketed flights operated by oneworld airlines earn miles in accord with the marketing airline's miles earnings chart on aa.com (link)
- AAdvantage elites continue to be awarded 500 EQM minimum on qualifying flights - see above (non-elites also earn minimum 500 EQM on Shuttlesonly through the first half of 2016)
- oneworld marketed flights operated by NON-oneworld airlines do not earn EQ (or any) miles, with rare exceptions - QF, a few JL, marketed flights
- Exception: Qantas flights operated by other airlines earn AA EQ miles in qualifying fare classes, other than those QF codeshares operated by QF subsidiary Jetstar
- Some airline partners allow crediting base miles and earning redeemable miles (no EQM) flown "natively", such as Etihad or Fiji
Earn more EQMs via credit card earning
Also, as a Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive card or AAdvantage® Aviator™ Silver MasterCard® credit cardmember, you’ll still earn 10,000 EQMs after you reach your qualifying spend for the year when you use your eligible AAdvantage credit card.
Learn more about the Citi®/AAdvantage® Executive card
Learn more about the AAdvantage® Aviator™ Silver MasterCard®
Also, as a Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive card or AAdvantage® Aviator™ Silver MasterCard® credit cardmember, you’ll still earn 10,000 EQMs after you reach your qualifying spend for the year when you use your eligible AAdvantage credit card.
Learn more about the Citi®/AAdvantage® Executive card
Learn more about the AAdvantage® Aviator™ Silver MasterCard®
CAUTION: To earn status on AA you must fly a minimum of four qualifying segments on an AA marketed or operated flight within the qualifying year. (The exception has been for elite status challenges.)
The now obsolete thread: Earning AA miles / EQM on oneworld, partner & other airlines (OBSOLETE)
Signed in members with 90 days / 90 posts can edit this Wikipost; wiki contents may be printed by using the
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Updated 23 Jan 2017 - JDiver
ARCHIVE: Earning AA Elite Qualifying Miles / EQM on AA, partner airlines 2016
Jan 5, 2016, 4:16 pm
#31
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: SJC
Programs: AA, AS, Marriott
Posts: 6,061
While we don't know definitively, my experience with a B fare only netted 500 EQM for LAX-SJC. I thought I'd get 750, but I was mistaken. I'll test next month to see what a P fare earns. My expectation is that I'll get 616 EQM SJC-LAX.
Jan 5, 2016, 4:29 pm
#32
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: KAUS
Programs: AA EXP; AC 100K
Posts: 132
I've HUACA 3 times, and gotten the same answer. I'll keep trying, however.
Jan 5, 2016, 4:49 pm
#33
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: KAUS
Programs: AA EXP; AC 100K
Posts: 132
4th call did the trick. No one could explain to me why/if the rules were changed. I encourage you early-year travelers to check your EQM. I would have lost 500 EQM had I not been persistent.
Jan 5, 2016, 5:16 pm
#34
Moderator: GLBT travelers, India-based Airlines and India; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Asia
Programs: Yes!
Posts: 15,512
My YYZ-ORD in I class two days ago earned 872 EQM. I was expecting 1000...
Jan 5, 2016, 5:19 pm
#35
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: CLT
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 866
Do you have elite status on AA? Elites of any level should get a minimum 500 per segment (x2 in paid J/F lowest)...however I believe non-elites do not. They get mileage flown (x2/3 for premium cabin purchased fares).
Jan 5, 2016, 5:37 pm
#36
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
The BA and IB flights I booked later last year I'll be flying this year are all AA marketed flights, because 2 EQM are 33% better than the maximum of 1.5 EQM I'd get from BA and IB if I booked them as BA or IB.
Exactly! ^
Jan 5, 2016, 6:11 pm
#37
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: YYF/YLW
Programs: AA, DL, AS, VA, WS Silver
Posts: 5,951
Business/First earns 2 or 3 on AA but 1.5 on partners. Full Y/B earns 1.5 on AA but 1.0 on partners. Discount coach earns 1.0 on AA but 0.5 on partners.
Jan 5, 2016, 6:22 pm
#38
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SJC
Programs: AA EXP, BA Silver, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 33,535
Max(500, 2/3 * Base)
instead of 2/3 * 500
Cheers.
Jan 5, 2016, 8:42 pm
#39
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: KAUS
Programs: AA EXP; AC 100K
Posts: 132
The direct quote over the phone (mind you this was the EXP line, 4th call, not sure if the reps I was talking to before the fix were pmUS or pmAA) was, "You are right, you should be getting 1000 EQM on those DFW-AUS legs." Not exactly a stirring confirmation of the "old" way being the right way, but it sounds like one should be 500 * 2 = 1000 EQM for P - and the other fare buckets that earn 2EQM per mile flown.
Jan 5, 2016, 9:47 pm
#40
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: DTW and ORD
Posts: 667
Do all AA-marketed flights earn EQMs as if they were AA-marketed *and* operated?
I think I know the answer but wanted to specifically ask the group here.
AA markets flights operated by both oneworld and non-oneworld carriers.
If I buy an AA marketed flight operated by EY, for example, will I still earn according to the AA chart (e.g. F booking class earns 3x flown miles for EQM)?
Found a really nice fare ex-CMB to JFK in F class where all segments are marketed by AA (operated by a combo of EY and BA), including Apartments I'm guessing on the AA/EY flight between AUH-JFK in F booking class.
Just wanted to make sure I'll earn 3x EQM for that.
Thanks!
AA markets flights operated by both oneworld and non-oneworld carriers.
If I buy an AA marketed flight operated by EY, for example, will I still earn according to the AA chart (e.g. F booking class earns 3x flown miles for EQM)?
Found a really nice fare ex-CMB to JFK in F class where all segments are marketed by AA (operated by a combo of EY and BA), including Apartments I'm guessing on the AA/EY flight between AUH-JFK in F booking class.
Just wanted to make sure I'll earn 3x EQM for that.
Thanks!
Jan 5, 2016, 9:58 pm
#41
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: South Park, Metropolis
Programs: AA LT PLT 3MM, Hilton/Marriott/SPG/Club Carlson GLD, IHG PLT
Posts: 4,608
A quick look at AA earn miles on partner airlines seems to say so.
https://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/e...nes/etihad.jsp
https://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/e...nes/etihad.jsp
Jan 5, 2016, 10:00 pm
#42
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: DTW and ORD
Posts: 667
A quick look at AA earn miles on partner airlines seems to say so.
https://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/e...nes/etihad.jsp
https://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/e...nes/etihad.jsp
On the AA page, it has an EQM column so my interpretation is that as long as AA markets the flight, that's all that matters and the metal/operating carrier doesn't count.
I just wanted first-hand confirmation that this is accurate.
Thanks!
Jan 5, 2016, 10:54 pm
#43
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: SFO, CLT
Programs: AA Bonsai EXP (2.9 MM), AS MVPG
Posts: 1,395
Yes. If you are booked on an AA flight #, you will earn AA EQM based on the AA chart (i.e. 3 EQM/flown mile for F class).
Jan 6, 2016, 12:10 am
#44
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: South Park, Metropolis
Programs: AA LT PLT 3MM, Hilton/Marriott/SPG/Club Carlson GLD, IHG PLT
Posts: 4,608
That's where I'm a little confused. The EY page you linked to only mentions EY marketed flights, regardless of whether they are operated by EY or even AA - and thus no EQM since the chart doesn't have an EQM column.
On the AA page, it has an EQM column so my interpretation is that as long as AA markets the flight, that's all that matters and the metal/operating carrier doesn't count.
I just wanted first-hand confirmation that this is accurate.
Thanks!
On the AA page, it has an EQM column so my interpretation is that as long as AA markets the flight, that's all that matters and the metal/operating carrier doesn't count.
I just wanted first-hand confirmation that this is accurate.
Thanks!
It seems to answer the question, and they have a link right after that statement that takes you to AA's chart. At least for me it does not appear to be a "gray" area situation. Enjoy the flight.
Jan 6, 2016, 12:43 am
#45
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: FNT, but DTW if I can't help it
Programs: AAdvantage Former EXP/Current PLT / Total Rewards - Diamond / Hilton HHonors - Gold
Posts: 757
