MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

The issue is that there are certain FFs that are flying on their own dime because they don't want to lose status and start over as a general member. At some point is it logical to give status again to someone that might not step on a plane again until late this year (because most companies still seem to be working remote or not allowing visitors except for physical facilities)? True enough they will be at the bottom of their status level for upgrades but someone that is EXP again for 2 years with no flying will trump someone that has been flying and is PP.

Understandably most people don't have the financial or the time resources to go flying around the country on their own dime so as not to lose status. But how is that much different from someone that has been derailed from traveling for any other number of reasons?

ChurnieEls

Air Canada extending until 2022 - https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/finance...120000091.html

I think there's a fair chance they do it now, with a North American carrier having done it plus business travel still on life support until Q3 I reckon.

ChurnieEls

And DL giving an accelerator now - we just need a UA announcement and our beloved AA will follow on like peas in a pod.

https://news.delta.com/delta-fast-tr...-rewarded-more

• For the very first time and exclusive to Delta, Award Travel (inclusive of Miles + Cash) is eligible for Status earn.
  
• All SkyMiles Members will earn at least 50 percent more on Delta tickets* (includes Pay with Miles, Award Travel and Delta Vacation packages).
  
• Members will earn an additional 25 percent – for a total of 75 percent – on purchases of all premium fare products (Delta One, Delta Premium Select, First Class and Delta Comfort+) and post-purchase upgrades (cash or miles)
  
  
  
  

Catbert10

Hopefully the spend bonuses don't get dropped along the way. I think EQD challenges are turning into a big hurdle for a lot of people.

enviroian

I'm already 75% there towards EQD and EQM re-qual for exp. It would be nice if they threw us a bone so I can redeem a boat load of miles I have rather than spend.

jcain

AA already reduced qualification standards for 2021, so if they do something along these lines I could see the multipliers being commensurately less generous. I think they'll have to do something, though – as others have mentioned $12K EQD is a high bar for most people if there's no business travel for at least half the year.

Award travel counting towards status qualification is VERY interesting – maybe a sign that DL thinks they can entice more leisure travelers into chasing elite status?

enviroian

Yes but didn't the other major reduce '21 qual standards as well?

Agree about the 12K EQD. That should be reduced as enticement. What is the risk to AA?

Adelphos

More encouraging business travelers that may not be traveling into the fall to use their miles for their summer vacations or bleisure family trips rather than use cash

jcain

As far as I can tell DL Diamond is still 125K MQM/15K MQD.

ty97

Right, DL did not reduce requirements. They did rollover all MQMs from 2020 to 2021 but MQDs don't rollover.

VFR

So for customers buying Y fares in 2021, here's a comparison between AA tiers and Delta tiers (forgive me, I didn't do segments or waivers, and note that Delta has rollover MQMs but not MQDs):

Delta Silver: 16,666 MQMs + $2,000 MQDs
AA Gold: 20,000 EQMs + $2,000 EQDs

Delta Gold: 33,333 MQMs + $4,000 MQDs
AA Platinum: 40,000 EQMs + $4,500 EQDs

Delta PM: 50,000 MQMs + $6,000 MQDs
AA Platinum Pro: 60,000 EQMs + $7,000 EQDs

Delta DM: 83,000 MQMs + $10,000 MQDs
AA Executive Platinum: 80,000 EQMs + $12,000 EQDs

The Delta requirements are lower than the AA requirements in every case (though folks only have 3/4 of the year to qualify using boosted rates), and they get even lower if you are buying C+ or premium fares.

I understand why airlines do not want to blanket extend status again -- customers who receive an extension are not as incentivized to fly. However, I feel like travel is not going to start recovering at all until at least Q3 for most high-value flyers, at which point these levels are way too high.

I might be living in a dream world, but I feel like AA or UA should just one-up DL and blanket extend status, especially given Air Canada just did that.

enviroian

They already do--they serve ice.

footballfanatic

I liked the EQM only MR days. Worked well for 20 years. Not sure why the need to change; I get the arguments, but the folks that put the original concept together created a cult following (and this board) that I think pay off far more in the long run than EQDs ever could.

radonc1

I think that you are missing a very important AA addition to your post.

That is the removal of EQD's for the first three tiers if you spend $30K on AA credit cards. No other airline has that inducement.

I made plat pro by flying cheap Y fares and putting spend on an AA credit card. I would never have spent $7000 on AA airfares this year, but putting spend on a CC is a whole different ball game

N830MH

I’m agree with you. We’ll see what happens. If they extend your status to 2023.