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Just made EXP / Executive Platinum! Resources, ask questions, brag (2018+)

Old Jan 1, 2018, 4:24 pm
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Last edit by: JDiver
Just made EXP / Executive Platinum! Resources, ask questions, brag (2018+)

First, a hearty welcome to Executive Platinum status!

New Executive Platinum members, whether "self-made", via your Concierge Key nomination or made by AA offers, including challenges, to similar status holders from competing airlines, often have questions about how the program works.

Feel free to post your questions here, but also be aware many of your questions about American Airlines, AAdvantage and Executive Platinum status can be answered in these resources:
Link to What are Executive Platinum / EP / EXP benefits? Are they worth it? (consolidated) thread on FT

Link to AAdvantage Elite Status guide and charts on aa.com

Link to "FAQ: American Airlines and AAdvantage - Please check here first!" thread.
● For older posts, please see:
Just made EXP / Executive Platinum! Resources, ask questions, brag (pre-2017)

Just made EXP / Executive Platinum! Resources, ask questions, brag (2017+)

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Just made EXP / Executive Platinum! Resources, ask questions, brag (2018+)

Old Nov 13, 2018, 1:57 pm
  #121  
 
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: SFO/STS
Programs: AA EXP, HH Diamond
Posts: 390
$0.36/mile seems pretty profitable to me ($41,193/115,084)
Rebob is offline  
Old Nov 13, 2018, 2:19 pm
  #122  
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Programs: AA-EXP
Posts: 605
I did it on Segments also.
<removed broken img link>

Last edited by JY1024; Nov 13, 2018 at 4:32 pm Reason: Removed broken img link
Uzzar is offline  
Old Nov 13, 2018, 4:29 pm
  #123  
 
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: DAY
Programs: Marriott Platinum, HHonors Diamond, AA ExPLT
Posts: 116
Originally Posted by catcher1
That's rare I imagine. Sales?
Goverment worker. Somewhat niche skills in my agency, requiring a lot of travel to help folks with less experience. Lot of _CA fares (G) keeping the spend per segment in check. AA has the contracts for most of my routes.
T. Sanderson is offline  
Old Nov 13, 2018, 8:58 pm
  #124  
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: AA EXP >3 Million miles,HH Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 2,861
Originally Posted by catcher1
All very true, but we're sticking with AA principally to maximize upgrades. We buy J when upgrades look difficult (and maximizing EQDs), and take our chances otherwise. We have been lucky so far, although sometimes we have had to wait to the last minute for TATL SWU upgrades sometimes. It's a love-hate relationship....
Love hate does kind of sum it up..just purchased Ord to bkk and return from pvg in February in J ..will look for upgrades later in the year
worldiswide is offline  
Old Nov 14, 2018, 7:17 am
  #125  
 
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: JFK
Programs: AA Executive Platinum, Marriott Platinum Elite, Hilton Gold
Posts: 29
Finally hit Executive Platinum after a long weekend trip on Iberia to Madrid. Going to try to use a SWU for my upcoming trip to Hong Kong in December!


aztimm likes this.
dcfit is offline  
Old Nov 14, 2018, 7:49 am
  #126  
 
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Southern California
Programs: AA EXPlat, 2.4MM; HHonors Diamond
Posts: 580
Originally Posted by worldiswide
Love hate does kind of sum it up..just purchased Ord to bkk and return from pvg in February in J ..will look for upgrades later in the year
We're doing LAX-PVG in early March, low season, using SWUs.
catcher1 is offline  
Old Nov 17, 2018, 9:47 am
  #127  
 
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Chicago, IL
Programs: AA EXP (LT Plat 2MM), Marriott Plat, IHG Plat, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Plat, SPG Plat75, UA1K
Posts: 1,248
Just re-qualified on Wednesday evening:

EQD's = 13,162
EQM's = 100,798
EQS's = 38

Traveling to SNA last week of November and then possibly 2 more trips in December so should be around 14,000 EQD's and 110,000 EQM's. Big boost to EQD's were a QR J Fare Run CMB-PHL and a BA Premium Economy Run LAX-JNB-ORD. I expect next year to be much busier travelwise so may actually hit the 15,000 EQD threshold.
ORDPLATAA is offline  
Old Nov 27, 2018, 10:29 pm
  #128  
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: ORD
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 165
Recently completed a trip to Sydney and Auckland which pushed me over the edge. Have a few more short trips coming up for work but current stats are:

EQD: $14,000
EQM: 115,000
EQS: 47

More flights than I would have liked this year thanks to several 500-mile trips around the midwest. Other than that I qualified on mostly international OneWorld PE fares. Look forward to "spending" $15,000 next year!
trapped is offline  
Old Nov 28, 2018, 3:10 am
  #129  
 
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: Dallas, Texas
Programs: AA ExPlat, AA Lifetime Gold 1.6 MM, Marriott Platinum, Marriott Lifetime Gold Elite, Choice Diamond
Posts: 21
Originally Posted by WiscAZ
Well, I re-qualified on my Tuesday segment. 100,039 EQMs and $14,978 EQDs YTD. It's about a month later than normal as I did one less Australia J trip this year. Around April I was wondering if I was going to make it and things picked up and now I'll likely end up with 130K EQMs by year's end. I did get 10,000 EQDs from CC spend. In a perfect world I'd qualify in December which would mean travel went down.

I celebrated by missing my upgrade on PHX to MKE on Tuesday (also missed it on the return this morning).
What credit card gave you the "10,000 EQDs from CC spend"? Was it a special promo? Thanks!
Mbethy is offline  
Old Nov 28, 2018, 6:51 pm
  #130  
Moderator: American AAdvantage, Travel Safety/Security & Texas, FlyerTalk Evangelist
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: AUS / GRK
Programs: AA, HHonors, Hertz
Posts: 13,464
I just did a run over the weekend, AUS-LAX-PVG, with the segments between LAX and PVG in PE.
Luckily, my SWU's cleared, but the PE segments initially credited as economy. I sent an online message this afternoon, and just checked my account:



I don't have any more travel planned for the year. Actually the next trip I know about will be April, but who knows.
Not sure if I'll go for this again, but I've said that before...
MorganB, TWA884 and econometrics like this.
aztimm is offline  
Old Nov 28, 2018, 7:35 pm
  #131  
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: COU
Programs: AA EXP, Bonvoy Ambassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 499
Really proud of how well I targeted it this year. Final score: 17263/106253/111. I hit 100k on AKL-LAX a couple weeks ago, which looks likely to be my last earning flight of the year. Work flew me about 75k EQM (and enough EQD), and Chase UR points paid for the other 31k (in just two rt; IAH-LAX-SYD and LAX-AKL, both real vacations not MR). All the rest of my personal travel was either AA miles, UR transfers, or a couple cheap cash flights on non-AA-earners (Norwegian, Emirates). Came out with about the same RDM I had at the beginning of the year. Running like a well-oiled machine over here...
HLCinCOU is offline  
Old Nov 28, 2018, 7:47 pm
  #132  
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: COU
Programs: AA EXP, Bonvoy Ambassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 499
Originally Posted by trapped
More flights than I would have liked this year thanks to several 500-mile trips around the midwest. Other than that I qualified on mostly international OneWorld PE fares. Look forward to "spending" $15,000 next year!
Heh, those 500-mile midwest flights are my specialty! 55 of them this year. When you fly those you don't have to worry as much about EQD of course...although I did book SFO-HKG-BKK next February in CX premium econ which should give me a good boost there for 2019.
trapped likes this.
HLCinCOU is offline  
Old Nov 28, 2018, 9:54 pm
  #133  
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: ROA / CLT
Programs: AA Plat, Marriott Life Plat
Posts: 801
Originally Posted by enviroian
How many here are EXP's on their own dime vs OPM? Now that would be a impressive feat. I'm certainly not one of them as OPM counts for 60% of my status level.
I made EXP for the first time this year, and all from personal, leisure travel. I work in a small town with a low cost of living but not a whole lot to do, so what I don't have to spend on an expensive mortgage goes into travel to visit friends in Europe and California, often in PE of J if I can find a good deal on the fare. A first trip to Hawaii this fall pushed me over the top.

The EQM and EQD from the Barclay card definitely helped me get there too and I doubt I'll make it back to EXP again next year with reduced boosts.
fotographer and Mbethy like this.
twa777 is offline  
Old Nov 29, 2018, 8:04 pm
  #134  
 
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: COU
Programs: AA EXP, Bonvoy Ambassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 499
Originally Posted by enviroian
How many here are EXP's on their own dime vs OPM? Now that would be a impressive feat. I'm certainly not one of them as OPM counts for 60% of my status level.
Well, it would certainly be impressive. But the other question is: why would you bother? To hit that status with leisure travel, you'd almost have to be buying all premium cabins already. So what's the big benefit of being EXP? I guess I could see a really crazy corner case where somebody is retired and bicoastal and just flies cheap econ back and forth. But if I didn't have a ton of work travel that I'm forced to book in discount econ, I wouldn't really care about status. The benefit it gives me is flying most of those junk itineraries in J instead of Y.
Dad to Rei likes this.
HLCinCOU is offline  
Old Nov 29, 2018, 8:45 pm
  #135  
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Not sure yet
Programs: Marriott - Lifetime Platinum Premier, AA - CK
Posts: 263
Originally Posted by enviroian
How many here are EXP's on their own dime vs OPM? Now that would be a impressive feat. I'm certainly not one of them as OPM counts for 60% of my status level.
In 15 years of frequent travel, Ive never paid out of pocket for a plane ticket. All OPM here. Never done a mileage run, never took extra segments for status, etc. Ive only ever used miles for award travel 4 times and lost lots of miles on CO/UA and DL.

$30k EQD
100k EQM
105 EQS

If it wasnt for work, Id probably never get on a plane.
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