I am currently at 82 Segments, @ 124k EQM, and spent thus far $24k USD on AA/BA. I spent another 5k on EK and another 10k on UA (both of these were international J). Last year I had 138k EQM, over 120 segments, and spent about $34k.

I think I will make EXP in 2017 based on US travel but I have started splitting my domestic loyalty to WN. For any international J (paid J for work) I will probably use the ME3 when I can. Company policy change to non paid J for international travels will force me back to AA to use SWUs.

Even though I might be the EXP they are seeking, their poor operations and overall poor vision (fighting between being LAA vs. being an LCC), and changes to the AAdvantage program has me moving when I can. Being stuck in a fortress is my handicap to greater freedom and competition.

I can speak for the OP but I have found the following to be nice perks on top of flying J internationally:

Better lounges (OW First vs OW Business).

Same day flight changes.

Expanded award seat availability.

The EXP desk in case of IRROPs.

Anyhow if you are traveling on paid international J regularly, chances are, you are going to make EXP anyways especially under the new EQM system.

Exactly!

I don't mind you asking. I keep a spreadsheet with details of what I pay to keep EXP and what I gain in the benefits. The main benefit is the SWUs which I use for travel to LHR as they provide good value. Admittedly, the 50% decrease in SWUs hurts but I still reap more than I sow in terms of value. As I move to spending more, I suspect the tables will turn at some point soon, but from what I projected, I still can justify doing what I do to maintain EXP status for another year, then I will reevaluate. I do believe that once EXP status is lost, regaining it will be painful as I also enjoy the UDUs. I travelled to Vegas 11 times this year so far and was upgraded on 21/22 of the segments. I would not get this kind of result without EXP.

Happy travels!

Year to date: 50,680 EQMs and 14 segments, on approximately $2k spend. I'm outta here at some point next year and off to Aegean or BA, depending on which alliance has the best sale on when I want to travel. Thanks for the memories though US / AA.

I'm sure these numbers are pretty closely guarded by AA, but can you offer any general guidelines about typical EXP spend? I am trying to figure out how I'll fare (no pun intended!) when they change the upgrade prioritization for domestic flights.

For those interested, I'm around $45K so far this year, with 216K EQM and 238 EQS. However, last year, I didn't quite hit $40K, and in 2014 I had only about $25K. (this is all domestic)

I'd say your chances are very good. The true high dollar EXPs are likely flying paid F/J anyway so they do not need to play the upgrade lottery.

Based on those numbers (assuming you keep a rolling average of 30k+ per year), my guess is that you'll always be at or near the top of the upgrade lists.

That's what I'm hoping, but data points (or even opinions) are helpful.

You have been fortunate in your location and opportunities, and we can certainly admire your skill. I would suggest you keep flying as you have been. If you are very close to some threshold, you can consider a MR, but don't worry about it otherwise. You can also become a "free agent" and look at carriers other than AA. With judicious use of credit cards and paid lounges, you can still be fine. Good luck.

The OP will have it good in 2017 at least until upgrades by status goes to YTD $$ spend albeit it might not happen towards the end of 2017. Even with that the OP will be ahead of a PLT that has spent more YTD. Of course by 2018 the gig will be up unless the OP is willing to pony up $13K plus in 2017.

Some data points:

For 2015 my AA spend was $14,014.
(business-only, did not track personal spend -- probably another $3000 personal spend)
Delta spend totaled $3750 yet somehow achieved silver.

For 2014 the AA business total was $12,245.

For 2013 the AA business total was $16,837.

Don't have spreadsheets earlier than that. I'm actually surprised at how low 2014 was. Didn't think I would cut it that close.

Back when I was flying a lot and was able to achieve Platinum on DL prior to the Diamond level and I achieved Platinum on AA in the same year, I spent just under $8000. I also had about an 90% upgrade success rate. I know this may sound funny, but as I sat in First with a $400RT ticket, knowing the person sitting next to me probably paid four times that, it just didn't seem right to me, so when I didn't get upgraded, I never felt sorry for myself. I understand and appreciate how status is now revenue based and wonder why it took the airlines so long to implement it.

119,000 EQM this year (10,000 from CC spend) and actually spent close to $11,500 on AA. Closer to $12K than I thought. 3 trips in paid J to Europe, 2 domestic RTs in paid F, and a handful of domestic trips in Y.

Even so I think it will be pretty difficult to repeat in 2017 without a CC spend waiver. And I don't see many people making it by buying just Y fares and relying solely on UDUs and SWUs to ride up front. AA is pretty much making you pay directly for at least some premium travel.

243k EQM

Private spend as low as $6000, most of the stuff comes through corporate travel :o