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

Old Jun 8, 2016, 10:32 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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 5, 2017, 3:18 pm
  #61  
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: Southern Cali
Programs: AA ExPlat, Marriott Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 2,018
Originally Posted by island82
Question on your outbound legs, were there any schedule changes or ticket reissued after purchase?
Nope, no changes or any reissues.
FlyingFrZ is offline  
Old Jan 5, 2017, 4:14 pm
  #62  
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
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Originally Posted by FlyingFrZ
Nope, no changes or any reissues.
hmmm interesting, another member posted on the other thread that they earned EQD based on fare. Guess we will never know how some tickets are special fares and some not.
I met the EQD for Gold once my domestic and position flights posted, shy about 4000 EQMs
island82 is offline  
Old Jan 5, 2017, 6:53 pm
  #63  
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
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Originally Posted by island82
hmmm interesting, another member posted on the other thread that they earned EQD based on fare. Guess we will never know how some tickets are special fares and some not.
I met the EQD for Gold once my domestic and position flights posted, shy about 4000 EQMs
They bought their ticket on a non-US AA website?
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Old Jan 5, 2017, 8:20 pm
  #64  
 
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Originally Posted by FlyingFrZ
They bought their ticket on a non-US AA website?
Went back to the post on the other thread, looks like it was purchased on US AA.com
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Old Jan 5, 2017, 8:30 pm
  #65  
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
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Originally Posted by PHLGovFlyer
Simple question: I book a ticket through BA with all BA flight numbers on BA stock. Some flights are on BA metal, some on AA metal. Are EQDs for all flights on the ticket calculated using the BA partner earnings page? Or are the AA metal flights apportioned some fraction of the ticket price for EQD earnings?

https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/...sh-airways.jsp
if you book a ticket thru BA you will earn miles based on distance flown times whatever multiplier the BA fare class is. (if it's coach, it'll be less than 1mile/flown) AA will not have access to BA fare data. EQDs will be based off that percentage multiplier times miles flown.
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Old Jan 6, 2017, 7:20 am
  #66  
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
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Originally Posted by Col Ronson
if you book a ticket thru BA you will earn miles based on distance flown times whatever multiplier the BA fare class is. (if it's coach, it'll be less than 1mile/flown) AA will not have access to BA fare data. EQDs will be based off that percentage multiplier times miles flown.
That's what I assumed, but I wanted to be certain. It struck me as odd that we earn EQDs by a mileage percentage on the AA metal flights because AA should know what they are being paid for the segments on their metal.

Last edited by PHLGovFlyer; Jan 6, 2017 at 7:26 am
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Old Jan 6, 2017, 11:05 am
  #67  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: SJC
Programs: AA EXP, Hilton Diamond, Hertz PC
Posts: 181
EQD earnings on BA fare, but marketed AA



In this case, the entire segment is on the BA TLNCNAS fare, but the last segment is marketed by AA. According to the fare rules, the SFO-JFK leg can also be marketed by AA. How would EQD earnings work on the last AA segment? I'm assuming it would be based on a portion of the fare, but it's a little confusing since the fare itself is sold by BA.
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Old Jan 6, 2017, 11:14 am
  #68  
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Originally Posted by nwngeek212


In this case, the entire segment is on the BA TLNCNAS fare, but the last segment is marketed by AA. According to the fare rules, the SFO-JFK leg can also be marketed by AA. How would EQD earnings work on the last AA segment? I'm assuming it would be based on a portion of the fare, but it's a little confusing since the fare itself is sold by BA.
For the 2 BA sectors, it will obviously credit as per the BA earning table. For the last sector I would expect that this would count as a special fare and credit as diostance
Dave Noble is offline  
Old Jan 6, 2017, 3:25 pm
  #69  
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Really dumb question but are the EQDs tracked according to tickets you've flown with your AAdvantage number associated to them?

Want to make sure I can still book with my company credit card and not have to use my AA credit card.
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Old Jan 6, 2017, 3:31 pm
  #70  
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
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Having just reread the BA fare rules, someone tell me if I've got this right. Let's say I find round-trip tickets LHR-PHL priced at 500 on AA *and* BA. As I read it, if we assume that, say, 200 of the fare is government taxes (just for simplicity), then with the at $1.25 AA you'd expect EQDs to come out at 375, BUT in the 2nd to lowest BA class they calculate EQDs as 10% of distance flown, which comes out to roughly 700 EQD (7000 miles flown).

That being the case, it would be advantageous for me to fly BA rather than AA. Is this really what they want?

wg
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Old Jan 6, 2017, 3:31 pm
  #71  
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
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Originally Posted by MSP_Monopoly
Really dumb question but are the EQDs tracked according to tickets you've flown with your AAdvantage number associated to them?

Want to make sure I can still book with my company credit card and not have to use my AA credit card.
Yes, EQD are tracked by your AAdvantage number, just like EQM's and EQS's.
SarahAA is offline  
Old Jan 6, 2017, 3:31 pm
  #72  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: SJC
Programs: AA EXP, Hilton Diamond, Hertz PC
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Originally Posted by MSP_Monopoly
Really dumb question but are the EQDs tracked according to tickets you've flown with your AAdvantage number associated to them?

Want to make sure I can still book with my company credit card and not have to use my AA credit card.
Yes you will still earn EQD using any CC. It doesn't matter how you pay for it, if you can view your receipt on AA confirmation, you will be able to see how many EQD you are earning (linked to your AAdvantage number).
nwngeek212 is offline  
Old Jan 6, 2017, 3:40 pm
  #73  
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: SJC
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Originally Posted by wendyg
Having just reread the BA fare rules, someone tell me if I've got this right. Let's say I find round-trip tickets LHR-PHL priced at 500 on AA *and* BA. As I read it, if we assume that, say, 200 of the fare is government taxes (just for simplicity), then with the at $1.25 AA you'd expect EQDs to come out at 375, BUT in the 2nd to lowest BA class they calculate EQDs as 10% of distance flown, which comes out to roughly 700 EQD (7000 miles flown).

That being the case, it would be advantageous for me to fly BA rather than AA. Is this really what they want?

wg
In this case it would in fact be advantageous for you to fly BA. This just goes back to the whole concept that distance flown rarely correlates to price paid nowadays. Since AA cannot award EQDs based on the fare paid to another airline, they have to go with awarding EQDs based on a percentage of the distance that is most likely to correlate with the fare paid. Booking codes do a generally good job of that, but there will still be cases where the EQDs awarded are higher. Also don't forget that the EQMs on low fare BA flights are still awarded at a rate of .5, which could potentially offset the EQD earnings.
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Old Jan 6, 2017, 4:54 pm
  #74  
 
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nwngeek212: Thank you.

wg
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Old Jan 6, 2017, 8:59 pm
  #75  
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I was re-routed onto AA when my UA flight was cancelled the other day. Does anybody know what I should expect to receive on my AA account for EQD/EQM/RDM, and when it should post? I added my AA number to the ticket at the gate.
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