View Poll Results: The AAdvantage changes announced 6 Jun 2016 will
incentivize me to fly AA more, as I benefit overall
27
3.55%
cause me to buy premium over discount AA fares
26
3.42%
not impact my travel on AA in the balance
128
16.82%
make me choose AA or a competitor, depending on itinerary
181
23.78%
make me become an independent agent
221
29.04%
cause me to join another airline's FF program
178
23.39%
Voters: 761. You may not vote on this poll
Jun 6, 2016, 10:31 am
Last edit by: JDiver
AAdvantage Changes Announced 6 Jun 2016 - REACTION, DISCUSSION
This thread is dedicated to "REACTION, DISCUSSION" of the changes announced June 6, 2016.
For "JUST THE FACTS", please use JUST THE FACTS: EQD, status tier, upgrade changes as of 6 Jun 2016
Link to AAdvantage Program Updates page on aa.com.
Link to Gary Leff's "View from the Wing" blog article on these changes.
Link to Ben "Lucky" Schlappig's take in "One Mile at a Time" on View From the Boarding Area
Summary of changes:
aa.com: Unknown but intended: aa.com updated to show EQM, EQD and RDM/AW for your convenience when booking and in your account for keeping informed about your accruals.
Change to earning Award / Redeemable Miles to revenue based begins (see FT thread)
Bonus award miles "More Miles" for premium cabin discontinued
For travel beginning August 1, 2016
Earn award miles based on your ticket price and elite status on American-marketed flights.
You earn miles on the base fare plus carrier-imposed fees minus government-imposed taxes and fees. The more you spend (and the higher your elite status level) the more you’ll earn.
On most flights marketed by partner airlines, you'll earn award miles based on a percentage of the flight distance and the fare class of your ticket. Rates will be available by July 15.
NOTE: this also pertains to "special fares", such as those purchased through AA Vacations. (not AA language)
You earn miles on the base fare plus carrier-imposed fees minus government-imposed taxes and fees. The more you spend (and the higher your elite status level) the more you’ll earn.
- AAdvantage® member – 5 miles for every U.S. dollar
- Gold member – 7 miles for every U.S. dollar (40% bonus)
- Platinum member – 8 miles for every U.S. dollar (60% bonus)
- Platinum Pro - 9 miles for every U.S. dollar
- Executive Platinum member – 11 miles for every U.S. dollar (120% bonus)
NOTE: this also pertains to "special fares", such as those purchased through AA Vacations. (not AA language)
1 Jan 2017:
Status earning to have EQM/EQS criteria AND "EQD" revenue spend requirement
In addition to the (same as 2016) required EQM or EQS, to earn status one will have to also earn "Elite Qualifying Dollars" / "EQD" spend credit as follows (during the calendar year):
"EQDs will be awarded based on:
Ticket price (base fare plus carrier-imposed fees, excluding any government-imposed taxes and fees) on American-marketed flights
EQD calculations will not include change fees and similar (premium seats, baggage, etc.) charges.
Flights marketed by oneworld® carriers and Alaska Airlines will earn EQDs based on a percentage of the flight distance and the fare class purchased (as may "special fares" - not AA language)
NOTE: EQD offset may be earned by spend on Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red and Silver cards (added language not from AA)
With the addition of EQDs, we’ll remove the rule that 4 segments must be traveled on American or American Eagle during the qualifying year to receive elite status."
Ticket price (base fare plus carrier-imposed fees, excluding any government-imposed taxes and fees) on American-marketed flights
EQD calculations will not include change fees and similar (premium seats, baggage, etc.) charges.
Q. Do checked bag fees, seat purchases, 500-mile upgrades or other products/service fees count toward earning award miles and EQDs?
No, only the base fare paid for your ticket including any carrier-imposed fees will count toward earning award miles and EQDs. Fees for other products or services will not be awarded miles or EQDs, including but not limited to the following: checked baggage fees, Admirals Club® memberships, Wi-Fi passes, in-flight food and beverage purchases, in-flight entertainment, unaccompanied minor fees, pet travel fees, 500-mile upgrades, mileage upgrade cash co-payments, Mileage Multiplier, BuyMiles, GiftMiles, ShareMiles or other mileage purchases, ticket change fees, ticketing fees, same-day confirmed flight change or standby fees and service charges. (Thanks to ty97.)
No, only the base fare paid for your ticket including any carrier-imposed fees will count toward earning award miles and EQDs. Fees for other products or services will not be awarded miles or EQDs, including but not limited to the following: checked baggage fees, Admirals Club® memberships, Wi-Fi passes, in-flight food and beverage purchases, in-flight entertainment, unaccompanied minor fees, pet travel fees, 500-mile upgrades, mileage upgrade cash co-payments, Mileage Multiplier, BuyMiles, GiftMiles, ShareMiles or other mileage purchases, ticket change fees, ticketing fees, same-day confirmed flight change or standby fees and service charges. (Thanks to ty97.)
NOTE: EQD offset may be earned by spend on Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red and Silver cards (added language not from AA)
With the addition of EQDs, we’ll remove the rule that 4 segments must be traveled on American or American Eagle during the qualifying year to receive elite status."
- Gold - $3,000
- Platinum - $6,000
- Platinum Pro - $9,000 (beginning 1/1/17)
- Executive Platinum - $12,000
NOTE: Concierge Key is treated as a higher status tier than Executive Platinum for upgrade Priority, but is not otherwise an AAdvantage status tier.
Change from three status tiers to four - new 75K "Platinum Pro" added
"In 2017 you can start earning toward a new level, Platinum Pro, with benefits like:
- Complimentary upgrades on flights in 500-mile upgrade markets
- Earn 9 award miles/U.S. dollar (80% bonus)
- 2 free checked bags
- oneworld® Sapphire status
- 72 hour upgrade window
February 2017
Introduction of highly restricted AA Basic Economy fares. FT link.
These will accrue 0.5 EQM, 0.5 EQS, will not permit rollaboard size / overhead baggage (only one personal item) unless you have status, no upgrades permitted, etc.
"Late" 2017:
Change to upgrade priority to EQD-based priority
"The way your upgrade request is prioritized will change later in 2017. You’ll be listed according to your elite status level followed by the number of EQDs earned in the last 12 months."
Executive Platinums able to upgrade MC / coach award flight (On flights 500 mile upgrades are usable, courtesy upgrades; priority within EP by last 12 month EQD spend).
"Starting later in 2017, Executive Platinum members can use their complimentary 500-mile upgrade benefits on AAdvantage® award tickets for travel on American from Main Cabin to the next class."
Peripheral issues:
AA Vacations: AA Vacations packages (like partner airline tickets) will earn EQD, EQM, and RDM/AW based on the distance flown as determined by the fare class purchased. This is in accordance with the "Special Fares" section of the new EQD earnings pages, and confirmed here
EQD requirements will apply to non-US residents as well as US as currently exists
EQD requirements can be partially offset by spend on Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Red or Silver cards.
Partners (AS and oneworld): accrual of EQM as reflected on charts on aa.com; EQD credit to be announced (15 Jul 2016)
Status: AA has no current plans to add "Lifetime Platinum Pro" status.
Resources:
GLOSSARY:
EQD: Elite Qualifying Dollars (base fare + carrier imposed fees, - government imposed taxes and fees)
EQM: Elite Qualifying Miles (accrual depends on fare basis, airline and miles flown)
EQS: Elite Qualifying Segments (discrete qualifying segment credited by AA)
Platinum Pro: new tier beginning 1/1/17 requiring $9,000 EQD and 75,000 EQM or 90 EQS in one calendar year
For links to new threads about these and other recent changes affecting AA flyers, see below.
Link to AAdvantage Program Updates page on aa.com.
Link to Gary Leff's "View from the Wing" blog article on these changes.
Link to Ben "Lucky" Schlappig's take in "One Mile at a Time" on View From the Boarding Area
Link to Andy's take on the Award Miles earning changes on View From the Boarding Area.
Links to useful threads:
GUIDE: Earning EQD / Elite Qualifying Dollars on AA and partner airlines (2017 on)
GUIDE: Earning AA Elite Qualifying Miles / EQM on AA, oneworld, partner airlines 2017
GUIDE: Earning AA Award / Redeemable Miles / RDM on AA, partners 1 Aug 2016
HELP DESK: Elite Qualifying EQD, EQM & Award / RDM Calculations & Planning 2017
AAdvantage® earning estimates - FAQ (aa.com)
(aa.com "AAdvantage program updates" - link)
Link to FT thread: What are AA Platinum Pro Benefits? Are they worth it? (master thread)
Link to FT thread: oneworld not requiring connecting protection or interline baggage 1 Jun 2016
Link to ARCHIVE: "Speculation about upcoming changes tba 6 Jun 2016"
Updated 6 Jan 2012 - JDiver
REACTION, DISCUSSION: EQD, status tier, upgrade changes as of 6 Jun 2016
Jun 6, 2016, 12:55 pm
#151
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2000
Location: RDU
Programs: AA LT Gold, DL SM, HY Disc, Marriott LT Gold
Posts: 12,507
None of this really addresses the part which I am most worried about, which is which fare class(es) are Basic Economy and how bad will the lack of elite benefits be.
For pure leisure travelers, 12k spend (which is probably more like 13-14k depending on your routes, for example does YQ count) is impossible. I'm still doing enough work travel that it's not that big of a deal. Sure I have some $149 work trips, but last week was $581, the week before was $321, etc. $400 a week for 30 weeks a year, done.
I do think there will be a credit card component/alternative to the EQD for the leisure travelers. For example, I could see every $5 of Citibank spending count as $1 of EQD but in combination with your actual airline spend. So somebody could spend $6k on airplane tickets and $30k on the card, and be good to go for EXP from the spend side.
The shifting of the upgrade queue priority was inevitable, and it will hit me pretty hard because I tend to buy a lot of my tickets 14-17 days out. But it's still better than reverse fare bucket.
All in all, it's incomplete for me until I know about the EQM earning side and the breadth of how many fares will be Basic Economy.
For pure leisure travelers, 12k spend (which is probably more like 13-14k depending on your routes, for example does YQ count) is impossible. I'm still doing enough work travel that it's not that big of a deal. Sure I have some $149 work trips, but last week was $581, the week before was $321, etc. $400 a week for 30 weeks a year, done.
I do think there will be a credit card component/alternative to the EQD for the leisure travelers. For example, I could see every $5 of Citibank spending count as $1 of EQD but in combination with your actual airline spend. So somebody could spend $6k on airplane tickets and $30k on the card, and be good to go for EXP from the spend side.
The shifting of the upgrade queue priority was inevitable, and it will hit me pretty hard because I tend to buy a lot of my tickets 14-17 days out. But it's still better than reverse fare bucket.
All in all, it's incomplete for me until I know about the EQM earning side and the breadth of how many fares will be Basic Economy.
Jun 6, 2016, 12:57 pm
#152
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: UK
Programs: BA Silver, AA Gold, A3 Gold, Honors Diamond, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 1,251
https://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/e...s/american.jsp
Jun 6, 2016, 1:01 pm
#154
Join Date: May 2006
Location: SAN
Programs: Lots of faux metal
Posts: 6,422
Shock and surprise... except not. Everybody knew or should have known spend requirements were coming. Most people knew or should have known a new tier between Platinum and EXP was coming. By not being revenue-based like every other major in the US, AA was leaving money on the table and that's not something you can do. And by offering literally nothing whatsoever (other than a pat on the head and "here's some stickers, kid") for EQM 50,001 through EQM 99,999 AA was lagging behind both DL and UA in benefits. Which also isn't something you can do while branding yourself as the "best" "premium" etc. FF program in the country.
And anecdotally, I think a lot of you folks who are wailing and gnashing your teeth need to just get over it (remember when the AA die-hards told pmUS elites to get over having the rug pulled out from under us in order to keep AAdvantage unchanged in the merge? Your turn now!). This change basically makes AAdvantage be the pmUS Dividend Miles program plus a spend requirement and with a slight but not unreasonable devaluation at the bottom two tiers. And you know what? Dividend Miles was a pretty good program! There's still no return of Special Dividends, which is the thing I missed most after losing the 75k tier, but one can hope.
And anecdotally, I think a lot of you folks who are wailing and gnashing your teeth need to just get over it (remember when the AA die-hards told pmUS elites to get over having the rug pulled out from under us in order to keep AAdvantage unchanged in the merge? Your turn now!). This change basically makes AAdvantage be the pmUS Dividend Miles program plus a spend requirement and with a slight but not unreasonable devaluation at the bottom two tiers. And you know what? Dividend Miles was a pretty good program! There's still no return of Special Dividends, which is the thing I missed most after losing the 75k tier, but one can hope.
Jun 6, 2016, 1:02 pm
#155
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: Chicago
Programs: United 1k, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Plat
Posts: 231
I'm going to be dropping an email to Andrew Nocella to let him know my thoughts, anyone else interested in doing so you can probably reach him via one of the following:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
Jun 6, 2016, 1:02 pm
#156
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Canada
Programs: UA*1K MM
Posts: 23,301
so am I reading this correctly, they will award EQD on partner flights as well as partner marketed AA metal flights based on percentage of distance?
How does that work - I fly 7000 miles on QR J - and I get % of 7000 in dollars spent credit?
How does that work - I fly 7000 miles on QR J - and I get % of 7000 in dollars spent credit?
Jun 6, 2016, 1:04 pm
#157
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: UK
Programs: BA Silver, AA Gold, A3 Gold, Honors Diamond, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 1,251
That's my thinking too. The key for me is what is the %? I realise that they'll publish the charts 'by July 15th', but does anyone know what UA and DL do for their % as no doubt the imagination-lacking management in AA will simply follow suit.
Jun 6, 2016, 1:04 pm
#158
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: YYF/YLW
Programs: AA, DL, AS, VA, WS Silver
Posts: 5,951
Assuming you achieved $9000 EQD, Plat Pro. If you only achieved $6000 EQD, Platinum. If you only achieved $3k EQD, Gold. If you achieved <$3k EQD, nada. (That's how it works on both UA and DL.)
Jun 6, 2016, 1:04 pm
#159
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 5,270
Gotta travel on those tickets before Aug 1, not just book them. And don't forget the premium cabin bonus (1k for short haul, 12k for long trips) also ends on that date!
Jun 6, 2016, 1:05 pm
#160
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,900
Someone mentioned that the earnings will not be so good, if DL is any indiciation.
I am looking at BA FFP now, as it seems much better and easier to hit Gold . Plus no revenue component. Plus better app. Plus better IT. The list goes on.
Jun 6, 2016, 1:05 pm
#161
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: UK
Programs: BA Silver, AA Gold, A3 Gold, Honors Diamond, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 1,251
Jun 6, 2016, 1:07 pm
#162
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: MDE
Programs: AA EP, CM PP, AV GM, UA Silver, SPG Gold, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Plat, Marriott Plat, Accor Plat
Posts: 1,002
I would say yes. She is such a classy, smart, professional leader. These changes are different than what was proposed under her leadership - EQD was not proposed. I would bet she was overruled and thus departed.
A continuation of US taking over AA, just like CO took over UA.
A continuation of US taking over AA, just like CO took over UA.
CO and UA were actually great before their merger, but Smisek had already started to chip away the CO reputation. When he took over the merged monster, his ego exploded. UA didn't have the quality of operations or product that DL had, but he thought (correctly?) that they could get away with it.
Truthfully, I don't fault Parker and Kirby for taking AAdvantage (pun intended) of the current market conditions. I don't really like it in many ways, but I would most certainly be making the same call in their position. It's a gift simply awaiting their acceptance.
Of the new big three, AA still has the weakest training consistency, IMHO. If the new premium cabin meals are as good as they look and they can get their personnel to understand both rules and law across the board, then they won't be hurt.
I just hope they know how important the details have now become for those of us who will easily hit the spend thresholds. They need to quit giving me hell about my CPAP so frequently during boarding, telling EXP that only US Elites are eligible for upgrades, give incorrect answers when we call for assistance, etc. On those kinds of things, they are trailing the pack.
Oh... And I'm still ticked off about only 8 J seats on the A319. It's the only aircraft that serves my home airport. I strongly dislike bulkhead, and the second row doesn't fully recline. They are far too proud of those subpar "premium cabin" seats.
Jun 6, 2016, 1:07 pm
#163
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: UK
Programs: BA Silver, AA Gold, A3 Gold, Honors Diamond, Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 1,251
No, will be some combo of class + miles flown.
Someone mentioned that the earnings will not be so good, if DL is any indiciation.
I am looking at BA FFP now, as it seems much better and easier to hit Gold . Plus no revenue component. Plus better app. Plus better IT. The list goes on.
Someone mentioned that the earnings will not be so good, if DL is any indiciation.
I am looking at BA FFP now, as it seems much better and easier to hit Gold . Plus no revenue component. Plus better app. Plus better IT. The list goes on.
The other areas where it matters are accurate though
Jun 6, 2016, 1:07 pm
#164
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: YYF/YLW
Programs: AA, DL, AS, VA, WS Silver
Posts: 5,951
How does that work - I fly 7000 miles on QR J - and I get % of 7000 in dollars spent credit?
I would look to Delta partner earning charts for an example which AA is very likely to follow. For example, Aeromexico (first alphabetically) flights earn 10% to 40% of the miles flown for MQDs and 100% to 200% of the miles flown for MQMs.
In my experience (mostly on Virgin Australia/VA), these multipliers are as good an approximation of the ticket price based on fare price as one could make without the ability to award MQDs based directly on the ticket price (since that data isn't shared as part of the partner mileage-earning process).
On DL, all 006 tickets earn MQDs based on the ticket price, even if partner-marketed. It remains to be seen whether that will be the case for 001, partner-marketed tickets with AA.
Last edited by ashill; Jun 6, 2016 at 1:13 pm