Mementos from AAdvantage Million Miler program - In pictures
Dec 8, 2018, 8:47 pm
#18
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: AA EXP >3 Million miles,HH Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 2,887
actually a good portion were probably not bis...there were a lot of ways to earn miles at the beginning of the program
Dec 8, 2018, 8:52 pm
#19
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: AA EXP >3 Million miles,HH Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 2,887
Dec 8, 2018, 9:06 pm
#20
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: AA EXP >3 Million miles,HH Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 2,887
I understand the spirit of the statement "uninflated", but the letter of the statement is possibly not correct.
A frequent flyer on AA would earn 2x miles per mile flown due to FF program bonuses. In addition, there were frequent promotions as well as other means of gaining miles (500 mile upgrades expiring etc). Credit card spend also counted, and AAdvantage Citi credit cards have been around since at least 1998 (when I got one).
There were also promos that could be used in the past such as the infamous US Mint, the cereal boxes, etc. Not saying these were what occurred for the OP's father, but simply noting that there were lots of ways to gain program miles without BIS.
I'd lastly note that the present spend based mileage earnings, for those people like myself who never fly biz/first, make it a lot harder to earn AA miles even if they counted towards MM status.
Irregardless of the above, the fact that 10MM was reached is impressive no matter how you slice it.
A frequent flyer on AA would earn 2x miles per mile flown due to FF program bonuses. In addition, there were frequent promotions as well as other means of gaining miles (500 mile upgrades expiring etc). Credit card spend also counted, and AAdvantage Citi credit cards have been around since at least 1998 (when I got one).
There were also promos that could be used in the past such as the infamous US Mint, the cereal boxes, etc. Not saying these were what occurred for the OP's father, but simply noting that there were lots of ways to gain program miles without BIS.
I'd lastly note that the present spend based mileage earnings, for those people like myself who never fly biz/first, make it a lot harder to earn AA miles even if they counted towards MM status.
Irregardless of the above, the fact that 10MM was reached is impressive no matter how you slice it.
just catching up on the posts..he started out as a TWA flyer,. He has a child who has lived overseas for decades so that started the traveling, in addition to business travel..no mint, no cereal boxes, no manufactured spend ..he wouldnt understand or be interested in that..but maybe more interestingly he has used all 12+ million miles ..was very generous with award travel for his family and actually buys miles hese days. He will buy to use for a premium award. .a far cry from the initial awards that were airline tickets, 7 night Marriott awards and a free rental car on a single award or Australia awards where it included 2 domestic awards within Australia And they really were free. He is off in January to meet his newest great grandchildren..number 3 and 4 across the the world. He still enjoys and is able to travel so he's a role model for me..
Dec 9, 2018, 8:42 am
#21
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
I understand the spirit of the statement "uninflated", but the letter of the statement is possibly not correct.
A frequent flyer on AA would earn 2x miles per mile flown due to FF program bonuses. In addition, there were frequent promotions as well as other means of gaining miles (500 mile upgrades expiring etc). Credit card spend also counted, and AAdvantage Citi credit cards have been around since at least 1998 (when I got one).
There were also promos that could be used in the past such as the infamous US Mint, the cereal boxes, etc. Not saying these were what occurred for the OP's father, but simply noting that there were lots of ways to gain program miles without BIS.
I'd lastly note that the present spend based mileage earnings, for those people like myself who never fly biz/first, make it a lot harder to earn AA miles even if they counted towards MM status.
Irregardless of the above, the fact that 10MM was reached is impressive no matter how you slice it.
A frequent flyer on AA would earn 2x miles per mile flown due to FF program bonuses. In addition, there were frequent promotions as well as other means of gaining miles (500 mile upgrades expiring etc). Credit card spend also counted, and AAdvantage Citi credit cards have been around since at least 1998 (when I got one).
There were also promos that could be used in the past such as the infamous US Mint, the cereal boxes, etc. Not saying these were what occurred for the OP's father, but simply noting that there were lots of ways to gain program miles without BIS.
I'd lastly note that the present spend based mileage earnings, for those people like myself who never fly biz/first, make it a lot harder to earn AA miles even if they counted towards MM status.
Irregardless of the above, the fact that 10MM was reached is impressive no matter how you slice it.
Though even with bonuses and credit cards, 10 million miles earned when they were still handing these gifts out is actually pretty awesome. Not like earning 10 million BIS on UA and getting both a 747-400 named for you and getting a party for 20 plus lifetime highest status, but still well done. (I’m a relative pauper, with close to six million, though once I caught on I tried...)