Offer from AA: Use Miles to Upgrade Status
 

Just received this. I can go from Platinum to Platinum Pro for $2245 or 184,500 (!) miles through January 2020. Not tempted.

That's hilarious!

Interesting. So AA is putting a value of $0.012 per AAdvantage mile here... at least on this offer.

Extremely close to what the main points experts put on their miles... $0.014: https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea...-each-program/

1.2 cents/mile seems generous. I wouldn't consider buying miles for more than 0.5 cents/mile.

What is interesting to me is that Aadvantage puts the value of Platinum Pro over Plat at $2245.

All for what? --
Complementary upgrades instead of upgrades through earning/burning stickers (a draw in my opinion, at least at Plat you can earn stickers that can be used on your spouse, at PP you can't)
Slightly higher up the 50+ person upgrade lists (either way, the upgrades near never clear for plat pro anyways)
A bit more bonus miles
SDFCs (that are near never available anyways)

I value Plat Pro over Plat at about 60$ -- 30$ for the small bump in bonus miles and $30 for that one upgrade over the next year that may clear for a plat pro (but not a plat) on a short haul hop.
The only status at AA that matters for anyone is ExP (and naturally, CK).

I am non-elite. My offer to Gold was 91,500 miles (or $755). Er, no thanks.

Well, I have an offer of 280k or $2799, so my miles are under 1 cent. No thanks. Not that I would bite at 1.2 or 1.4 cents either.

Use of stickers for Plat and none for Plat Pro is a huge difference.

I disagree -- At least with my travel patterns upgrades just don't happen anyways (the only one I have gotten out of a few dozen segments at Plat pro is on a sub-500 mile flight; and I only got close - as in within 5 spots on the list of the topmost person that cleared- two other times). So it makes no difference getting complementary upgrades vs paying stickers when upgrades don't happen either way. And, to boot, plat pros don't earn stickers to bank for the future which will be quite useful to have if the economy sinks and upgrades become doable again (and this will happen, not sure when, but at some point it will happen). I am going to be left without any stickers to upgrade my wife (often a travel companion) or myself (assuming I am gold or plat -- which is more likely in the future with an economic downturn than maintaining plat pro or above). I'd rather be able to collect stickers this year for the future than get complementary waitlisting around number 20th-30th position.

The fact that at the end of Feb, a full 1/6th the time the buyup would cover, they are still advertising it would seem to indicate not many. If they made enough from it, they would stop advertising.

I don't believe that's true. Many times on this forum you will have new EXPs wondering why they still DO earn stickers, and it's solely for the point of upgrading companions or banking for the future.

they earn stickers UNTIL becoming EXP. Once that happens, no more stickers.

I've been EXP for years now and have the same sticker balance as when I started (minus a few ised for companions). If I run out, then I will need to buy more.

Exactly correct. I went from kettle to EXP a couple years ago, so had no stickers banked. I have spent hundreds on stickers since (Not complaining, it's good to upgrade the family).

There's an existing very long thread on the buy-up/buy-back program for 2019 --
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...2019-a-24.html

These offers are based in large part on how short you were from the next status level. You are reading too much into the offer amount.