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GUIDE: Earning EQD / Elite Qualifying Dollars on AA & partner airlines (as of 2019)

Old Jun 8, 2016, 10:32 am
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Last edit by: JDiver
Earning Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQD) on AA and partner airlines
Minimum Spend" requirement for each status tier began 1 Jan 2017

In addition to the required EQM or EQS (same as 2016) to earn status in 2017 and onward one must also earn "Elite Qualifying Dollars" / "EQD" spend credit as follows (during the calendar year):

"Starting January 1, 2017, well add Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQDs) to our earning requirements. Qualify in 1 of 2 ways:
  • Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) + Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQDs)
  • Elite Qualifying Segments (EQSs) + Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQDs)

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
  • Flights marketed by oneworld carriers, "Special Fares" such as some AA Vacations flights, Thank You Points purchased fares, etc. earn EQDs based on a percentage of the flight distance and the fare class purchased

With the addition of EQDs, the rule that 4 segments must be traveled on American or American Eagle during the qualifying year to receive elite status has been eliminated.
NOTE: EQD credit varies for "Special Fares" (e.g. "select flights" included in AAVacations packages), and the chart for those changed on 11 Jan 2017. See here.

2019 Status qualification tiers and requirements: link
  • [*]
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aa.com: aa.com is updated to show EQM, EQD and RDM/AW for your convenience when booking and in your account for keeping informed about your accruals.

Another impact of EQD is on upgrade priority within status tiers instead of time of upgrade request (FYI only, not discussion here):

Change to upgrade priority to EQD-based priority

The way your upgrade request is prioritized changed in 2017. Youll be listed according to the type of upgrade, by your elite status level followed by the number of EQDs earned in the last 12 months. The date of upgrade request will no longer be used except to break ties not resolved by higher priority levels. Applies both upgrade request and airport list if request goes to airport list.

Partners (AS and oneworld): accrual of EQM and EQD as reflected on charts on aa.com.

FAQ

Q. How will AA EQD be calculated?

Yes: Base fare plus carrier imposed fees, e.g. YQ etc. (Status buyup fees will count.)

No: Taxes, government or airport imposed fees, e.g. PSC, APD, TSA, etc. and ancillary fees (see below)

Q. How will flights on other oneworld carriers, AS, and "Special Fares" qualify for EQD?

Partner earning tables are here and special fare table here on aa.com.

Q. Will checked bag fees, seat purchases, LFBU and 500-mile upgrades, buy miles, or other products/service fees count toward earning award miles and EQDs? (AA FAQ)

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 (or overweight) baggage fees, Admirals Club memberships (or passes), 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. (Status buyup fees will count, however.)

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 base miles flown)

EQS: Elite Qualifying Segments (discrete segment marketed as AA)

Platinum Pro: new tier beginning 1/1/17 requiring $9,000 EQD and 75,000 EQM or 90 EQS in one calendar year

Links

Link to FT: JUST THE FACTS: EQD, status tier, other changes announced 6 Jun 2016

Link to AAdvantage Program Updates page on aa.com (including FAQ).

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
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GUIDE: Earning EQD / Elite Qualifying Dollars on AA & partner airlines (as of 2019)

Old Jan 12, 2018, 8:13 pm
  #511  
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 47
Currency of fare?

If I book an AA flight using CNY instead of USD (on americanairlines.cn), will I still earn EQDs? Do they just take the equivalent fare value in USD as the EQD amount?
whackedspinach is offline  
Old Jan 12, 2018, 10:36 pm
  #512  
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,434
A possibly interesting situation with 2 tckets that I came across

2 ATW tickets with a couple of AA segments. Originally made as 1 booking with 2 passengers ticketed by QF

3 or 4 changes were made to the itinerary. The last one had to be done on separate dates due to availability. On one day JFK-NRT was changed to AA codedhare rather than the JL code - a couple of weeks later managed to change the other ticket ( since the passengers were keen on the extra EQMs for the AA flight numbers)

The AA codeshare flight to JFK credited as Distance - data unavailable for both. For 2 AA sectors ( which hadnt been touched ) for JFK-LAX and LAS-MIA, one of the bookings, JFK-LAX credited as Fare and the other credited as Distance - data unavailable

Led to eanings

Code:
			EQM	EQD	Base	Bonus	Total
JFK-LAX	Distance	4950	867	2475	3342	5817
JFK-LAX	Fare		4950	118	590	354	944
LAS-MIA	Distance	4350	762	2175	2937	5112
LAS-MIA	Fare		4350	104	520	312	832
Both tickets were booked on the same day underwent exactly the same changes and were for exactly the same routing; the only difference was that the last change caused a split of the bookings and the changes were made on diferent days

Ended up with a difference between the 2 bookings of 9153 award miles and 1407 EQDs

Last edited by Dave Noble; Jan 12, 2018 at 11:04 pm
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Old Jan 14, 2018, 11:03 am
  #513  
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: LHR
Programs: AA EXP, SPG PLT
Posts: 584
Hi guys,

Just a quick question. Will I earn EQD based on the number in "Cost Summary", or in the "Price and Tax Information" breakdown?

I somehow purchased a ticket with $5,900 showing in the "Cost Summery" but $40,000+ in the "Price and Tax Information". It would be awesome if I could earn based on the latter
keepssmile is offline  
Old Jan 16, 2018, 2:20 pm
  #514  
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 19
Flying Partner Airline (Finnair) and got less than expected (EQD,EQM)

I fly JFK -> HEL roundtrip 3-4 times a year. I typically book through AA on their flights AA8985 and AA8986 which are code-share flights for Finnair's non stop to/from New York AY005/AY006). I've researched and read a bunch and it appears as if I would earn more by booking it through Finnair as a partner flight. But when I just flew that route, I received significantly less than I should have, to the point I'm considering contacting AA as if it might be an error.

When I flew as a non-status holding member (lost my status for half of 2017) I received the following:

Booked through AA in economy (S)
per leg
EQM 4,117
EQD 596 (the dollars spent on that leg minus fees)
EQS 1

When I flew as a Platinum member in 2018

Booked through Finnair in economy (V)
per leg
EQM 2059
EQD 412 (the dollars spent on that leg minus fees)
EQS 1

I received 50% of the miles and the value of the EQD?? Is this correct? According to what I've read, V should get me 100% of the EQM and 20% of the EQM as EQD. And that's at a non-status holding level, shouldn't platinum gain more?

At this point I'm about to book another flight for this route and don't know how to proceed. I suppose I should just book through AA again?

Any enlightenment would be appreciated.
wile e is offline  
Old Jan 16, 2018, 2:49 pm
  #515  
 
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: New York, New York
Programs: AA Gold, Alaska MVP; Free Agent Super Duper Diamond Treasure Chest ;)
Posts: 4,682
Originally Posted by wile e
I fly JFK -> HEL roundtrip 3-4 times a year. I typically book through AA on their flights AA8985 and AA8986 which are code-share flights for Finnair's non stop to/from New York AY005/AY006). I've researched and read a bunch and it appears as if I would earn more by booking it through Finnair as a partner flight. But when I just flew that route, I received significantly less than I should have, to the point I'm considering contacting AA as if it might be an error.

When I flew as a non-status holding member (lost my status for half of 2017) I received the following:

Booked through AA in economy (S)
per leg
EQM 4,117
EQD 596 (the dollars spent on that leg minus fees)
EQS 1

When I flew as a Platinum member in 2018

Booked through Finnair in economy (V)
per leg
EQM 2059
EQD 412 (the dollars spent on that leg minus fees)
EQS 1

I received 50% of the miles and the value of the EQD?? Is this correct? According to what I've read, V should get me 100% of the EQM and 20% of the EQM as EQD. And that's at a non-status holding level, shouldn't platinum gain more?

At this point I'm about to book another flight for this route and don't know how to proceed. I suppose I should just book through AA again?

Any enlightenment would be appreciated.

Actually, it sounds about right. V fare on Finnair earn 50% base miles, .5 EQMs and 10% of mileage flown as EQD.

JFK-HEL o/w is about 4,100 miles, so both your EQM and EQD are posted correctly.
knit-in is offline  
Old Jan 16, 2018, 2:59 pm
  #516  
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 19
Look at that. Ok, so I royally screwed myself on that one. I'm going to be tight at years end to maintain Platinum and I hurt myself right out of the gate. Well thanks for the confirmation.
wile e is offline  
Old Jan 16, 2018, 3:00 pm
  #517  
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: DFW/DAL
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, AS MVPG, HH Diamond, NCL Platinum Plus, MSC Diamond
Posts: 21,422
Were both trips booked with the AA flight numbers?
If booked as AY, they would get 50 percent of the EQMs for V or S , according to https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/...es/finnair.jsp
If booked as AA, they should get 100 percent
https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/...n-airlines.jsp
Status affects RDM, not EQM

Last edited by mvoight; Jan 16, 2018 at 3:05 pm
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Old Jan 16, 2018, 5:29 pm
  #518  
 
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: New York, New York
Programs: AA Gold, Alaska MVP; Free Agent Super Duper Diamond Treasure Chest ;)
Posts: 4,682
Originally Posted by wile e
Look at that. Ok, so I royally screwed myself on that one. I'm going to be tight at years end to maintain Platinum and I hurt myself right out of the gate. Well thanks for the confirmation.
Good that you were on top of it though. Would have hurt much more if you'd done several before finding out.
knit-in is offline  
Old Feb 8, 2018, 11:46 am
  #519  
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: CHA/TYS
Programs: The Mac Daddy of Heimlich County (and low-ball status)
Posts: 2,868
So what if I fly a 500 mile flight that costs $300 before govt fees booked into I? That's only $90 EQD?
mrredskin is offline  
Old Feb 8, 2018, 11:48 am
  #520  
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Posts: 44,434
Originally Posted by mrredskin
So what if I fly a 500 mile flight that costs $300 before govt fees booked into I? That's only $90 EQD?
On which airline? if it is an airline where the earning is 18% of distance flown, then yes. A brief check on earnings and I couldnt see one where earning was 18% though.

If it was , for example, BA then it woud be 25% = 125 EQDs

Last edited by Dave Noble; Feb 8, 2018 at 11:54 am
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Old Feb 8, 2018, 12:13 pm
  #521  
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: CHA/TYS
Programs: The Mac Daddy of Heimlich County (and low-ball status)
Posts: 2,868
no, AA. sorry, i'm doing a status challenge here soon and this is the first time i'm having to deal with EQDs
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Old Feb 8, 2018, 12:18 pm
  #522  
 
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: CHA/TYS
Programs: The Mac Daddy of Heimlich County (and low-ball status)
Posts: 2,868
Originally Posted by Dave Noble
On which airline? if it is an airline where the earning is 18% of distance flown, then yes. A brief check on earnings and I couldnt see one where earning was 18% though.

If it was , for example, BA then it woud be 25% = 125 EQDs
messed up the quote. see above
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Old Feb 8, 2018, 12:27 pm
  #523  
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 1,107
EQD on AA is simple. It's what you paid for the ticket minus taxes, including airline surcharges and such.

This is if you buy your ticket through AA, even if it's a codeshare or not on their metal. This is because they know what they charged you for the ticket.

Now if it's on another carrier from their partner list, this is where it can get confusing. You have to look up the airline on their partner page (located here) and go by the chart. The chart will show how to calculate what you will earn which is based on the actual miles flown.

You check the table against your booking code and then do a little math.

Say you have a 6k mile segment on BA, and you paid $3200 for a business ticket with a booking code of J.

EQM: 6000 miles x 1.5 EQM/mile = 9000 EQM.

EQD: 6000 miles x .25 (25% EQD/mile) = $1500.


So for that one segment you would get a credit of 9k EQM and $1500 EQD. If it was r/t, then that would be 18k EQM and $3k EQD.


So if you paid $3200 for your ticket, you come out about the same as you would on AA as there wast probably $200 worth of taxes or a little more. Now if that same ticket was $1k cheaper, you would end up coming out ahead of the game by being on a partner flight, as the EQD on AA would only be $2k minus taxes.
thunderlounge is offline  
Old Feb 8, 2018, 1:27 pm
  #524  
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Originally Posted by mrredskin
messed up the quote. see above
If it is an AA flight which earns normally based on fare paid, then $300 will earn 300EQDs
If it if a special fare that earns by distamce , it will be 20% of distance = 100 EQDs
If it if a journey where fare in unavailable that earns by distamce , it will be 30% of distance = 150 EQDs
Dave Noble is offline  
Old Feb 8, 2018, 1:47 pm
  #525  
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Aspen, CO
Posts: 792
Question:

I bought a JL fare with some AA legs and was wondering how it would credit? I purchased on AA's website, so they know how much I paid, so will I earn based on DOLLARS for the JL (coded and operated) or DISTANCE?

TIA!
Gino Troian is offline  

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