EXP's & CK's are now eligible for complementary upgrades on certain award tickets. One of the few positive changes to come out of AAdvantage. It's only on North American routes, i.e. domestic and short haul international, same ones you normally can request free 500-mi. upgrades on. Of course transatlantic flights like CDG-PHL are not eligible.

2 CX J KUL-HKG-SFO RT should be sufficient to qualify for PLT regardless of challenge. However by qualifying without challenge, you give up the additional 500-miles/miles bonus from AA, if any.

Yes, I love that part about AA but doesn't understand why they can't just base each member's calendar year on the date they enrolled.

Yup. I'm aware of that. I was mentally prepared to get AA Platinum (OW Sapphire) this January and get CX (and OW except for AA) J lounge access for myself and companion--a much better deal than holding on to CX SL, which only allow access to the passenger. On the bright side, my CX SL expires in May and I am targeting to earn AA Plat by then.

I used to be CX MPC Gold, and I used to get in Admirals Club for free and life was great since I'm based in the US. :) Unfortunately, I was one of the victims of the MPC makeover. I switched to AA because I fly AA Y (discount) more than I fly CX Y, and MPC doesn't credit me for those (obvi).

Long story short, the current qualification year v.s. membership year system is confusing enough.

I'm a no status AA flyer who has recently redeemed miles for 2 one way tix from Jamaica to ORD.
I'm considering cancelling the tix and re-booking to a different destination. I'm not familiar with AA's policy...can someone let me know if I would get my mileage/fees back? Flight is for Feb. 6th.

Thanks!

Just to try to be clear, and hopefully not confuse even more, the platinum challenge counter is separate from the normal one. For earning status the regular way, the numbers all reset to zero on Jan 1. But if you started a challenge on Dec 1, those challenge numbers (which don't display on aa.com) do not reset, and you still have until late February to get to the required challenge goals based on your combined Dec, Jan, Feb flights.

You can cancel and get your miles and taxes/fees refunded, however AA charges a $150 redeposit fee for the first ticket plus $25 for each subsequent award ticket redeposited to the same account at the same time. So it will cost you $175.

Update: this worked! Applied BXP1 to my business (I) booking, moved to first, and the I-class inventory almost immediately become available again for my girlfriend to upfare into. Not sure if the EXP or BusinessExtra agent phoned RM and requested the inventory, but happy it worked :)

Glad it worked out for you! ^

(RM system may have naturally decided that cabin demand was low enough that naturally released another I into the system. Or, as you mentioned, someone could have intervened for you and asked RM if they'd be wiling to open one seat in the I bucket for you.)

Hi everyone,

I posted in the previous year's version of this thread last year about a botched AA journey my family and I were on returning from MCO-PHL-LHR-EDI with AA in Y. In short, a 5-hour delay in MCO resulting after the airline announced they were "waiting for a part to be chartered in from CLT" resulted in us missing our connection to LHR in PHL. Our first rerouting to EDI saw our first flight to DUB cancelled due to pilot timeout, resulting in us being forced to spend two days in PHL and having to fund a hotel and all other expenses ourselves. AA have since repeatedly refused to compensate for any expenses/costs, and have since said that both flights were delayed/cancelled due to a major weather system, giving the following information:
Following advice given here on my last visit I've twice contacted the DoT to claim AA misrepresented the reason for our delays, but on both occasions they have forwarded my complaint back to AA. Most recently they have stated they have no enforcement jurisdiction over the matter and have only been able to recommend complaining privately via the courts. AA have offered 2,000 AAdvantage miles per person which, given the amount of disruption caused to our journey and the resulting lack of explanation, seems completely disproportionate!

I'm starting to think I'm chasing a lost cause here - is there any merit in pursuing this further or other avenue of complaint to go down?

Thanks for any advice.

OK, got a whopper here.....AA is starting a CHS-ORD direct and I may have the ability to swap a decent portion of my flying....

1. The website eludes to it, but doesn't say it as clearly as UA, if you are on 001 ticket stock is the earning of EQM, EQD and EQS the same no matter if you are on AA metal or any other OW partner?
2. Same question as #1 but for rewards miles - all based on ticket price x elite status multiplier?
3. How is the EQD figured for partner - one I saw was BA earns EQM for business at 25% of miles flown....so is ticket price immaterial, you just get a percentage of the miles flown as EQD and you are done with it?
4. SWU - Is there a way to tell before booking if they will be usable ie CLEAR (I understand you can "Use" on any flight)
5. As a 1K (UA equiv of EXP) in economy, I get a free alcoholic drink and a "Snack Box" for free on every trip - does AA have any sort of the same type thing? (I care more about the snack as I don't really drink)
6. If i do this, I'll get the AA credit card for admirals club access - is there a "Good time" to apply to maximize bonuses? or do you just watch the bloggers and wait for them to squeal?

TIA

Quick question. Traveling in from St Kitts to Los Angeles, with a transit in MIA for few hours in business class, both legs. Do I qualify to use the AA flagship lounge or am I stuck in admirals lounge? Also, on a reverse, going from LAX to St Kitt, transiting in MIA for few hours also in business both legs, same question.

Thanks so much!!

The LAX-MIA transcons no longer provide lounge access, and the Caribbean is not an eligible international destination for lounge access purposes. So unfortunately you won't have any access to the Admirals Clubs (or Flagship Lounges) at any point on your trip.

1. Ticketing stock actually doesn't matter. What matters is how the flight is marketed. If it's AA-marketed, you will earn based on the AA earnings chart; if the flight is marketed by another OW or partner carrier (even if it's on 001 stock) you will earn based on the earnings chart for that carrier (usually some percentage of miles flown). Some AA-marketed flights—for example, some flights that are booked through AA Vacations—are "special fares" and earn miles based on a separate chart for such fares.

2. The same applies to RDMs. It is based on how the flight is marketed.

3. Flights marketed by another OW or partner carrier (as well as Special Fares) usually earn EQDs based on a percentage of miles flown, so yes the ticket price does not factor in to the calculation in those cases.

4. If you are an EXP with available SWUs in your account, you will see a link indicating if an upgrade is available when you are searching on aa.com and logged in to your account. You will need to call the EXP desk to apply the upgrade.

5. EXPs receive a free snack/meal and drink when flying in economy.

6. The standard bonus offer for the AA Executive card is 50,000 miles, I believe. Occasionally there have been higher bonuses—the highest has been 100,000, if memory serves. Most recently, it was 75,000 miles. I don't know if there is a "good" time at which bonus offers tend to be higher.

I think flyingeph12 gave you a lot of the technical answers which are helpful. Just my 2 cents:

1,2,3: Eventually, if your boarding pass shows a flight number as AA XXXX, RDM/EQD/EQM will be based on dollars except for the special fare mentioned. If the flight number is CX/BA/IB/QF/QR XXXX, then it will be in accordance with OW table (distance based), depending on the fare code.
6. 75k opening bonus was available this past fall, but with higher spending requirement (7,500 in 3 months IIRC).