Jun 8, 2016, 10:32 am
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
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, we’ll 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. You’ll 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
GUIDE: Earning EQD / Elite Qualifying Dollars on AA & partner airlines (as of 2019)
Oct 11, 2019, 11:03 am
#676
Join Date: Sep 2007
Programs: AA Platinum - 1MM+
Posts: 147
You basically have calculated it correctly. The only slight modification is you stated if "W,E, or T class." If you you take another look at the earning chart for BA, note that for W class you'd earn 10% more RDMs as a class of service bonus and 2% more EQDs (i.e. 22% instead of 20%).
So your calculations are correct for E/T earning, but RDM/EQD would be slightly higher for W (EQMs would be same). Of course, W fare is sort of considered "full fare" premium economy and usually quite a bit more expensive, hence the increased earnings.
Regards
So your calculations are correct for E/T earning, but RDM/EQD would be slightly higher for W (EQMs would be same). Of course, W fare is sort of considered "full fare" premium economy and usually quite a bit more expensive, hence the increased earnings.
Regards
So the flight just has to be a BA coded flight in E/T/W - right? Is it OK if it is a physical AA metal plane, coded as BA?
Damn. Seems like a good way to catch-up on some needed EQDs for me :-)
Oct 11, 2019, 11:16 am
#677
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Cincinnati, OH USA
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 178
I purchased AA ticket (001) from LIS to USA in April. BA flew LIS-LHR (H) and LHR-PHL (P). AA calculated on basis of fare. My return is in Nov. and I will fly AA to PHL (Y), BA (P) PHL-LHR and BA econ. to Italy. Since I am short EQD I called AA to see if I changed my ticket to business (I) it would improve my EQD. Advantage customer service said my EQD would not increase by the amount of the fare change, since EQD was based only on the original fare. This seems bizarre since the ticket will be reissued in First to PHL and business PHL-LHR-Italy.
Is this correct? The upfare price is worth it, but if it won't increase EQD, I may want to save the money for a oneworld P fare to Asia which will put me over the EXP EQD requirement. Can someone quickly confirm. Thanks
Is this correct? The upfare price is worth it, but if it won't increase EQD, I may want to save the money for a oneworld P fare to Asia which will put me over the EXP EQD requirement. Can someone quickly confirm. Thanks
Oct 11, 2019, 12:09 pm
#678
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,483
I purchased AA ticket (001) from LIS to USA in April. BA flew LIS-LHR (H) and LHR-PHL (P). AA calculated on basis of fare. My return is in Nov. and I will fly AA to PHL (Y), BA (P) PHL-LHR and BA econ. to Italy. Since I am short EQD I called AA to see if I changed my ticket to business (I) it would improve my EQD. Advantage customer service said my EQD would not increase by the amount of the fare change, since EQD was based only on the original fare. This seems bizarre since the ticket will be reissued in First to PHL and business PHL-LHR-Italy.
Is this correct? The upfare price is worth it, but if it won't increase EQD, I may want to save the money for a oneworld P fare to Asia which will put me over the EXP EQD requirement. Can someone quickly confirm. Thanks
Is this correct? The upfare price is worth it, but if it won't increase EQD, I may want to save the money for a oneworld P fare to Asia which will put me over the EXP EQD requirement. Can someone quickly confirm. Thanks
You don't say what flight numbers you have booked (AA or BA) which is needed to know exactly how many more EQD you should earn if you upfare to business.
If you booked AA flight numbers, then the extra EQD you would earn would be based solely on the additional fare paid to change to business. So if you spend an extra $1500 to upfare to business you should see an additional $1500 of EQD credit, more or less.
But if you're booked with BA flight numbers then it's based soley on the flight mileage and fare code. PHL-LHR in E/T would earn $709 EQD (3545 mi * 20%) while changing it to business "I" would earn $886 EQD (3545 mi * 25%).
Oct 11, 2019, 12:56 pm
#679
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SJC
Programs: AA EXP, BA Silver, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 33,535
As to your earlier question "Why would anyone ticket a premium economy on BA as an AA flight number and an AA flight as an AA flight number (assuming cost is same/similar)? If ticketing as BA the EQD earnings are much better and EQMs the same.":
Often the prices are not the same. People may book on AA.com and not realize. People not chasing status may not care. BA-coded flight on AA metal cannot be upgraded with SWU or Avios. Probably other possible reasons.
Cheers.
Oct 11, 2019, 1:16 pm
#680
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,483
As to your earlier question "Why would anyone ticket a premium economy on BA as an AA flight number and an AA flight as an AA flight number (assuming cost is same/similar)? If ticketing as BA the EQD earnings are much better and EQMs the same.":
Often the prices are not the same. People may book on AA.com and not realize. People not chasing status may not care. BA-coded flight on AA metal cannot be upgraded with SWU or Avios. Probably other possible reasons.
Often the prices are not the same. People may book on AA.com and not realize. People not chasing status may not care. BA-coded flight on AA metal cannot be upgraded with SWU or Avios. Probably other possible reasons.
And to add to that, every calculation is different regarding how many EQM/EQDs you will earn depending on the exact fares, flight distances, booking codes, etc. Just because it may be more advantageous to book a BA code in one instance doesn't mean it will be like that in the next.
For example, say you're looking at a $2000 discount Premium economy fare from JFK-LHR roundtrip, booking a BA code would earn you only $1381 EQD compared to ~$2000 EQD booking an AA code. You just have to do the math for each and every instance.
Oct 11, 2019, 1:40 pm
#681
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SJC
Programs: AA EXP, BA Silver, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 33,535
Yep, exactly.
And to add to that, every calculation is different regarding how many EQM/EQDs you will earn depending on the exact fares, flight distances, booking codes, etc. Just because it may be more advantageous to book a BA code in one instance doesn't mean it will be like that in the next.
For example, say you're looking at a $2000 discount Premium economy fare from JFK-LHR roundtrip, booking a BA code would earn you only $1381 EQD compared to ~$2000 EQD booking an AA code. You just have to do the math for each and every instance.
And to add to that, every calculation is different regarding how many EQM/EQDs you will earn depending on the exact fares, flight distances, booking codes, etc. Just because it may be more advantageous to book a BA code in one instance doesn't mean it will be like that in the next.
For example, say you're looking at a $2000 discount Premium economy fare from JFK-LHR roundtrip, booking a BA code would earn you only $1381 EQD compared to ~$2000 EQD booking an AA code. You just have to do the math for each and every instance.
Cheers.
Oct 11, 2019, 1:47 pm
#682
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,483
I now do almost exclusively AAVacations packages for the distance-based effect, so not as familiar anymore with EQD for AA-purchased flights, but I had thought that the EQD/$ ratio was quite a bit less than the ~1 that you indicate. More like 85% or so, i.e. a good bit of taxes. Is that not the case?
Cheers.
Cheers.
Oct 11, 2019, 2:17 pm
#683
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SJC
Programs: AA EXP, BA Silver, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 33,535
Oct 11, 2019, 3:28 pm
#684
Join Date: Sep 2007
Programs: AA Platinum - 1MM+
Posts: 147
Yep, exactly.
And to add to that, every calculation is different regarding how many EQM/EQDs you will earn depending on the exact fares, flight distances, booking codes, etc. Just because it may be more advantageous to book a BA code in one instance doesn't mean it will be like that in the next.
For example, say you're looking at a $2000 discount Premium economy fare from JFK-LHR roundtrip, booking a BA code would earn you only $1381 EQD compared to ~$2000 EQD booking an AA code. You just have to do the math for each and every instance.
And to add to that, every calculation is different regarding how many EQM/EQDs you will earn depending on the exact fares, flight distances, booking codes, etc. Just because it may be more advantageous to book a BA code in one instance doesn't mean it will be like that in the next.
For example, say you're looking at a $2000 discount Premium economy fare from JFK-LHR roundtrip, booking a BA code would earn you only $1381 EQD compared to ~$2000 EQD booking an AA code. You just have to do the math for each and every instance.
Oct 11, 2019, 3:44 pm
#685
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SJC
Programs: AA EXP, BA Silver, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 33,535
If it is the BA umber, you can't change it on BA or AA site, but you can change it on Finnair.com or RJ.com (Royal Jordanian) sites using the BA PNR.
Cheers.
Oct 12, 2019, 10:11 am
#686
Join Date: Sep 2007
Programs: AA Platinum - 1MM+
Posts: 147
Does the reservation reflect your AAdvantage or BAEC frequent flier number? if BA, this will be the case. if you have your AAdvantage number, I believe that you should be able to make some level of selection as PLT (I know that we can as EXP when the AAdvantage number is there).
If it is the BA umber, you can't change it on BA or AA site, but you can change it on Finnair.com or RJ.com (Royal Jordanian) sites using the BA PNR.
Cheers.
If it is the BA umber, you can't change it on BA or AA site, but you can change it on Finnair.com or RJ.com (Royal Jordanian) sites using the BA PNR.
Cheers.
Oct 12, 2019, 1:50 pm
#687
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SJC
Programs: AA EXP, BA Silver, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 33,535
I have not yet booked. But it will reflect my AA platinum number. But ticket stock will be BA, and metal will be AA. Can I still chose seats on my AA flight? Had I booked directly via AA I'd be able to chose seats free of charge - and request 500 mile upgrades on domestic segment.
Cheers.
Oct 12, 2019, 2:47 pm
#688
Join Date: Sep 2007
Programs: AA Platinum - 1MM+
Posts: 147
My experience is that having my AAdvantage number in the BA booking (I'm making an assumption that this will be booked on BA.com, but that could be incorrect), I can choose seats on the BA flights there. Then, I see the AA flights (even though booked on BA.com) on AA.com as well (and here is shows it as the AA flight number even though it's really booked with the BA number) and I can choose seats there.
Cheers.
Cheers.
)No ability to request upgrade on US domestic AA segment as it was marked as a BA flight number. But I could still pick MCE.
Oct 12, 2019, 3:07 pm
#689
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 18
Update: Tickets booked on BA. Was able to chose seats on all flights due to AA platinum status at no charge. (Now I just need a window seat to open up on the 747 in premium economy )
No ability to request upgrade on US domestic AA segment as it was marked as a BA flight number. But I could still pick MCE.
)No ability to request upgrade on US domestic AA segment as it was marked as a BA flight number. But I could still pick MCE.
I was actually wondering what seat people prefer in PE, I haven’t flown PE on AA before. I have seat 15C (aisle) on the way there and 15A (window) on the way back. I usually prefer aisle seats coz I hate asking someone to move when I’m going to the toilet lol
Oct 14, 2019, 9:17 pm
#690
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 14
EQDs for platinum
New to FT, sorry if this question is too broad (if so, some links will suffice).
What is the best way for me to get 1500 EQDs by the end of the year? Based out of GCM and will be flying to LAS between Dec 8-10. Also happy to do a flight just to get the miles.
Thanks in advance
What is the best way for me to get 1500 EQDs by the end of the year? Based out of GCM and will be flying to LAS between Dec 8-10. Also happy to do a flight just to get the miles.
Thanks in advance