May 16, 2017, 12:53 pm
Last edit by: Prospero
As of May 20, 2017 upgrade prioritization is:
Elite qualifying dollars* in the past 12 months
- Elite status
- Concierge Key
- Executive Platinum
- Platinum Pro
- Platinum
- Gold
- Upgrade type
- Miles and copay award upgrades and systemwide upgrades, Business Extra? (SWU)
- 500 mile upgrades on purchased tickets (including EXP complimentary UDU)
- 500 mile upgrades on upgrade eligible awards (including EXP complimentary UDU)
- BXP Business Extra upgrades
Elite qualifying dollars* in the past 12 months
- Booking class (in order, J, D, I, W, P, Y, H, K, M, L, V, G, S, N, Q, O, T)
Time of request
*Your 12-month Rolling EQD value is different from your Year-to-Date (YTD) EQDs, which is used to track your progress toward elite status. It includes your EQD earned from reaching qualifying spend thresholds on eligible AAdvantage® AviatorTM MasterCard® cards.
Link to EQD earning Help Desk thread on FlyerTalk.
No- or lower status companion and effect on upgrade position
WAIT LIST, SAME PNR: Prior to upgrade request going to airport list- SWU, Miles & Copay, Business Extra: lower status passenger "borrows" higher status. (BX is unsure, stated as least of priorities, likely to up D-24 only)
- 500 mile / UDU: lower status passenger "borrows" higher status
- Award travel: lower status passenger "borrows" higher status
- 500 mile / UDU: lower status passenger "borrows" higher status
WAIT LIST, SEPARATE PNR: Prior to upgrade request going to airport list- SWU, Miles & Copay: lower status passenger DOES NOT "borrow" higher status under any circumstance
- 500 mile / UDU: lower status passenger "borrows" higher status IF PNRs "linked"
- Business Extra upgrade instruments
- Award travel: lower status passenger "borrows" higher status IF PNRs "linked"
- Award travel: lower status passenger "borrows" higher status IF PNRs "linked"
- Business Extra upgrade instruments
- 500 mile / UDU: lower status passenger "borrows" higher status IF PNRs "linked"
AIRPORT LIST, SAME PNR:- SWU, Miles & Copay: lower status passenger "borrows" higher status. (BX is unsure, but is least of priorities, likely to up D-24 only)
- 500 mile / UDU: lower status passenger "borrows" higher status
- Business Extra upgrade instruments
- Award travel: lower status passenger "borrows" higher status
- Business Extra upgrade instruments
- 500 mile / UDU: lower status passenger "borrows" higher status
AIRPORT LIST, SEPARATE PNR:- SWU, Miles & Copay: lower status passenger DOES NOT "borrow" higher status under any circumstance
- 500 mile / UDU: lower status passenger "borrows" higher status IF PNRs "linked"
- Business Extra upgrade instruments
- Award travel: lower status passenger "borrows" higher status IF PNRs "linked"
- Business Extra upgrade instruments
- 500 mile / UDU: lower status passenger "borrows" higher status IF PNRs "linked"
NOTES:- Traveling companion 500 mile upgrades (even for those pax using UDU) "stickers" must pull from higher status passenger's account.
- Lower status passenger previously "borrowing" higher status may require human processing at the airport to re-establish "borrowed status" linkage
(Companion information thanks to DW)
- SWU, Miles & Copay, Business Extra: lower status passenger "borrows" higher status. (BX is unsure, stated as least of priorities, likely to up D-24 only)
Upgrade Priority: Status, Upgrade Type, Rolling 12 Month EQD Spend
May 17, 2017, 10:22 am
#106
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: LAX
Programs: AA Exp Plat / Marriott Titanium/ Hyatt Globalist/ Delta Diamond Medallion
Posts: 73
Nope. EP/CK do not earn stickers, but they can purchase them if desired.
Remember that EP/CK do not burn stickers when they upgrade themselves. They burn stickers only when upgrading companions.
As long as you are the only one upgrading, you should never have to buy stickers.
The above is an issue ONLY if you tend to travel with companions and would like to upgrade them. Otherwise, EP/CK members never need stickers.
Remember that EP/CK do not burn stickers when they upgrade themselves. They burn stickers only when upgrading companions.
As long as you are the only one upgrading, you should never have to buy stickers.
The above is an issue ONLY if you tend to travel with companions and would like to upgrade them. Otherwise, EP/CK members never need stickers.
Last edited by j1194; May 17, 2017 at 10:28 am
May 17, 2017, 10:23 am
#107
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: TUL
Programs: AA EXP 2MM; Marriott Titanium; Hilton Diamond; Hyatt Explorist; Vistana 5* Elite; Nat'l Exec Elite
Posts: 6,177
It has been discussed that in all likelihood, AA will use the rolling 12-month EQD as of the time upgrades are issued.
May 17, 2017, 10:38 am
#108
Used to be 'g_leyser'
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Brandon Johnson International Airport (expect delays)
Programs: AA PlatPro, HH Gold, Bonvoy Gold, IHG Plat, Reno Air MEGA Platinum
Posts: 10,034
You can calculate your EQDs for Aug-Dec 2016, I just did mine. You can go to Your activity, under My account, select desirable activity date range. Then you divide your base miles (under award miles) by 5 for each trip, and these are your EQDs per trip. Unfortunately for me I did 75% of my 2016 paid travel in the first 6 months of last year.
I'm still wondering though:
Anyone have any clarity on that?
May 17, 2017, 11:07 am
#109
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: Top Tier with all 3 alliances
Posts: 11,636
I'm sure the trade-offs here were many, but am I the only one who isn't happy with the August 2016 cutoff?
A rolling 12 months should be just that....or they should start with 1/1/17 and say we're 5 months in, and it will eventually roll to 12. With an august start, it's 10 months of rolling spend that you have to hope shows your 'worth'.
I'm mostly complaining because i did all my high spend travel in May, June and July of 2016 -- however I've got plenty of dollars this year that hit Jan-July..so it will be interesting to see how this works as we progress. I definitely benefited from the similar (miles flow in rolling 12) policy on USAirways when it was in effect, so i'm cautiously optimistic that it may all work out how we want.
A rolling 12 months should be just that....or they should start with 1/1/17 and say we're 5 months in, and it will eventually roll to 12. With an august start, it's 10 months of rolling spend that you have to hope shows your 'worth'.
I'm mostly complaining because i did all my high spend travel in May, June and July of 2016 -- however I've got plenty of dollars this year that hit Jan-July..so it will be interesting to see how this works as we progress. I definitely benefited from the similar (miles flow in rolling 12) policy on USAirways when it was in effect, so i'm cautiously optimistic that it may all work out how we want.
May 17, 2017, 11:43 am
#110
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: NYC,MIA,XFL
Programs: AA EXP, B6 Mosaic, DL PM
Posts: 863
Not exactly true, we now need "them" to upgrade our own award tickets even at EP/CK (even though we couldn't upgrade award tickets before this change). Once we use the 500 mile upgrades in our account we won't earn anymore so this new *benefit* is kind of bogus while we continually remain EP/CK.
May 17, 2017, 3:38 pm
#111
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: MIA
Programs: AAdvantage Exec Plat SPG Platinum
Posts: 308
Just got off the line with the ExP desk. Was told that the post May 20 complimentary upgrades on awards do not apply to mileage saver awards. As near as I can tell this distinction was not mentioned in the e-mail announcement sent by AA.
Can anyone confirm if the agent is correct?
Can anyone confirm if the agent is correct?
May 17, 2017, 4:03 pm
#112
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: PHL
Programs: AA - Plat, HHonors - Diamond, IHG - Plat, Marriott - Gold, National - Exec, Amtrak - Select, NEXUS
Posts: 1,075
May 17, 2017, 4:20 pm
#113
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: COU
Programs: AA EXP, Bonvoy Ambassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 499
I'd imagine elites with identical EQD's is more common than you'd think. There are only a finite number of digits between, say, 3000 and 5999 (though of course that's not the only qualification for an elite level), and there are certainly more than 3000 platinums. Of course the odds that two are on the same flight drops, and the odds that those two specifically are next up for the last available F seat drops further. Still, if it happened once a day across the system, I wouldn't be surprised at all. Putting aside the zero EQD scenario.
PS, I am not a statistician, but I took a statistics course once in college.
PS, I am not a statistician, but I took a statistics course once in college.
May 18, 2017, 12:51 pm
#114
Join Date: Aug 2003
Programs: Bonvoy Amb; AA EXP
Posts: 1,136
Is the spend calculation based on bookings or $ spent on flights taken? Otherwise, one could book an INTL refundable first. Admittedly, this could be a cash flow problem due to the delay in refunds, but still...
May 18, 2017, 1:01 pm
#115
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: NYC,MIA,XFL
Programs: AA EXP, B6 Mosaic, DL PM
Posts: 863
May 18, 2017, 9:17 pm
#116
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: New York
Programs: AA EXP, EY Gold, SPG Gold, Hilton Gold, IHG Gold, Hertz 5*, Global Entry
Posts: 245
Sorry to be slightly off topic with this thread, but did anyone else get the upgrade change email and then receive a second email indicating the previous mass email was being recalled?
May 19, 2017, 9:18 am
#117
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Houston, TX
Programs: HHonors Diamond, AA Executive Platinum, National Executive Elite, Avis First
Posts: 494
How will this impact other PALL codes?
Any idea if this change in priority will impact other PALL codes like voluntary or involuntary standby?
May 19, 2017, 10:12 am
#118
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
May 19, 2017, 11:20 pm
#120
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: AA Executive Platinum, Marriott LT Platinum/Ambassador
Posts: 31
What qualifies as high spend for an EXP? I suppose this question will answer itself over the next few weeks, but I'm curious and trying to predict how I will fare (pun intended) in this new scheme. At around $24k in EQD since August, am I low? High? Middle of the pack?
