Dec 17, 2021, 11:25 am
Last edit by: jbeckett
American Airlines announced that starting in 2022, the way to earn Elite status has changed. No more Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM), Elite Qualifying Segments (EQS), or Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQD)!
Now, you can get AA Elite status by earning Loyalty Points (LPs): https://aadvantagestatus.com/?anchor...=newaadvantage
How many LPs do I need for elite status?
How do I earn LPs?
Flying
What you get for redeemable miles (RDM) is what you'll get for LPs.
AA and B6 flights:
No status: 5 LPs per $ spent in base fare plus fees (excludes taxes)
Gold: 7 LPs per $
Platinum: 8 LPs per $
Plat Pro: 9 LPs per $
EXP: 11 LPs per $
Partner flights (other than B6):
Distance flown x accrual rate* x (1 + cabin bonus + elite bonus**)
* Certain discount fares earn less than 100% of miles flown. In those cases, the discounted accrual rate (0% to 75% depending on the partner and the fare class) should be applied to the flown miles. Otherwise, the accrual rate is 100%. If there is a cabin bonus, it should not be added to the accrual rate; it is applied separately within the parentheses. The accrual rate can never be more than 100%.
** 40% for GLD, 60% for PLT, 80% for PRO, 120% for EXP.
So for example, an EXP on a 5000-mile flight on QR booked in J would earn 5000 x 100% x (1 + 25% + 120%) = 5000 x 1 x 2.45 = 12250 LPs.
A PLT on the same flight booked in P would earn 5000 x 75% x (1 + 0% + 60%) = 5000 x .75 x 1.6 = 6000 LPs.
Earning chart for QR
Here's a great online LP calculator:
https://lpcalculator.com/#/calculator/
AAdvantage non-flying partners:
Generally, 1 LP per base mile earned. But in many cases you can earn large bonuses that post as base miles; see link here: https://exploreamerican.com/newaadva...nloyaltypoints
There are differences among how these programs work, ranging from minor to significant, in terms of awarding LPs. You will need to skim through the thread as there are too many different promo offers to address here. But here are the popular ones:
BookAAHotels and RocketMiles: You can earn large mileage bonuses here, separated into "base" miles and "promo" miles by the portals. For now they are all posting as base miles on aa.com, but there is a suspicion that the "promo" miles may start posting as bonus miles (and so would not count as LP). You don't even have to actually check in or stay at the hotel as long as you pay for the stay.
SimplyMiles: You must link a MasterCard to the account. Then you can add their promos to your card by activating the offers. When you accept one of their offers and then pay for it using your linked card, you will get the associated miles which currently post as base miles on aa.com.
AAdvantage eShopping: Once you click through the AAdvantage eShopping portal to a vendor offer and make a purchase, you will eventually get the associated miles posted to your AAdvantage account as both redeemable miles and Loyalty Points. If the merchant advertises an increase in the miles per dollar spent, you'll earn the higher amount in both redeemable miles and an equal number of Loyalty Points. The same applies if a merchant advertises a higher fixed amount per purchase, rather than a per dollar amount. Examples of this would appear on the portal as, "Extra miles. Was 1 mile/$. Now earn 3 miles/$" or "Extra miles. Was up to 3700 miles. Now up to 6200 miles." However, if the website advertises a "Limited-time bonus offer" for "bonus miles" after meeting a spending threshold, that bonus will only post as redeemable miles and not Loyalty Points. If a bonus is offered for some site-wide activity such as 1000 miles for installing an extension, or 500 miles for enrolling in the portal, or 2000 miles for meeting a spending threshold across multiple merchants, the bonus will only post as redeemable miles and not Loyalty Points.
(If a vendor has offers with both SimplyMiles and eShopping, activate the offer on SimplyMiles first and then make the purchase through eShopping with the MasterCard linked to your SimplyMiles account. Apparently that you can get a double-dip. You can also get a double-dip by stacking the promos with discount offers from your credit card issuers, basically reducing the cost to you.
Booking directly with hotels, car rental companies, etc.: The picture here is a bit unclear but it appears that if you book with a hotel that offers 5x miles, only 1 mile will post as base and the rest as bonus.
Credit card spend:
1 LP per $ spent on an AA branded card (except for one card which earns 0.50 LP per $ and several non-US cards which earn 2 LP per $). See the list of cards, and a lot more small print here: https://creditcards.aa.com/aadvantag...hange_ExecCard
What about spending bonuses?
E.g., your card gives 2x miles for hotels, or 3x for AA purchases, etc etc. These do NOT count.
These bonuses count:
Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard (the $450 annual fee card that gives Admirals Club access): 10K LP bonus when hitting $40K spend for the year.
AAdvantage Aviator Silver Mastercard: 5K LP bonus when hitting $20K spend, another 5K LP bonus when hitting $40K spend, and another 5K LP bonus when hitting $50K spend for the year.
Do miles earned at Bask Bank count?
No.
Will Loyalty Points count toward Million Miler℠ status?
No, Million Miler℠ status will still be earned the same way as today, based on miles earned from flying with American and its partners.
Now, you can get AA Elite status by earning Loyalty Points (LPs): https://aadvantagestatus.com/?anchor...=newaadvantage
How many LPs do I need for elite status?
Code:
Gold: 40K Platinum: 75K Plat Pro: 125K EXP: 200K
Flying
What you get for redeemable miles (RDM) is what you'll get for LPs.
AA and B6 flights:
No status: 5 LPs per $ spent in base fare plus fees (excludes taxes)
Gold: 7 LPs per $
Platinum: 8 LPs per $
Plat Pro: 9 LPs per $
EXP: 11 LPs per $
Partner flights (other than B6):
Distance flown x accrual rate* x (1 + cabin bonus + elite bonus**)
* Certain discount fares earn less than 100% of miles flown. In those cases, the discounted accrual rate (0% to 75% depending on the partner and the fare class) should be applied to the flown miles. Otherwise, the accrual rate is 100%. If there is a cabin bonus, it should not be added to the accrual rate; it is applied separately within the parentheses. The accrual rate can never be more than 100%.
** 40% for GLD, 60% for PLT, 80% for PRO, 120% for EXP.
So for example, an EXP on a 5000-mile flight on QR booked in J would earn 5000 x 100% x (1 + 25% + 120%) = 5000 x 1 x 2.45 = 12250 LPs.
A PLT on the same flight booked in P would earn 5000 x 75% x (1 + 0% + 60%) = 5000 x .75 x 1.6 = 6000 LPs.
Earning chart for QR
Here's a great online LP calculator:
https://lpcalculator.com/#/calculator/
AAdvantage non-flying partners:
Generally, 1 LP per base mile earned. But in many cases you can earn large bonuses that post as base miles; see link here: https://exploreamerican.com/newaadva...nloyaltypoints
There are differences among how these programs work, ranging from minor to significant, in terms of awarding LPs. You will need to skim through the thread as there are too many different promo offers to address here. But here are the popular ones:
BookAAHotels and RocketMiles: You can earn large mileage bonuses here, separated into "base" miles and "promo" miles by the portals. For now they are all posting as base miles on aa.com, but there is a suspicion that the "promo" miles may start posting as bonus miles (and so would not count as LP). You don't even have to actually check in or stay at the hotel as long as you pay for the stay.
SimplyMiles: You must link a MasterCard to the account. Then you can add their promos to your card by activating the offers. When you accept one of their offers and then pay for it using your linked card, you will get the associated miles which currently post as base miles on aa.com.
AAdvantage eShopping: Once you click through the AAdvantage eShopping portal to a vendor offer and make a purchase, you will eventually get the associated miles posted to your AAdvantage account as both redeemable miles and Loyalty Points. If the merchant advertises an increase in the miles per dollar spent, you'll earn the higher amount in both redeemable miles and an equal number of Loyalty Points. The same applies if a merchant advertises a higher fixed amount per purchase, rather than a per dollar amount. Examples of this would appear on the portal as, "Extra miles. Was 1 mile/$. Now earn 3 miles/$" or "Extra miles. Was up to 3700 miles. Now up to 6200 miles." However, if the website advertises a "Limited-time bonus offer" for "bonus miles" after meeting a spending threshold, that bonus will only post as redeemable miles and not Loyalty Points. If a bonus is offered for some site-wide activity such as 1000 miles for installing an extension, or 500 miles for enrolling in the portal, or 2000 miles for meeting a spending threshold across multiple merchants, the bonus will only post as redeemable miles and not Loyalty Points.
- A separate thread exists to discuss the AAdvantage eShopping portal
- Another thread exists to discuss using the portal for a particular merchant, giftcards.com
- For additional questions about buying and using gift cards, refer to the separate Manufactured Spending forum.
(If a vendor has offers with both SimplyMiles and eShopping, activate the offer on SimplyMiles first and then make the purchase through eShopping with the MasterCard linked to your SimplyMiles account. Apparently that you can get a double-dip. You can also get a double-dip by stacking the promos with discount offers from your credit card issuers, basically reducing the cost to you.
Booking directly with hotels, car rental companies, etc.: The picture here is a bit unclear but it appears that if you book with a hotel that offers 5x miles, only 1 mile will post as base and the rest as bonus.
Credit card spend:
1 LP per $ spent on an AA branded card (except for one card which earns 0.50 LP per $ and several non-US cards which earn 2 LP per $). See the list of cards, and a lot more small print here: https://creditcards.aa.com/aadvantag...hange_ExecCard
What about spending bonuses?
E.g., your card gives 2x miles for hotels, or 3x for AA purchases, etc etc. These do NOT count.
These bonuses count:
Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard (the $450 annual fee card that gives Admirals Club access): 10K LP bonus when hitting $40K spend for the year.
AAdvantage Aviator Silver Mastercard: 5K LP bonus when hitting $20K spend, another 5K LP bonus when hitting $40K spend, and another 5K LP bonus when hitting $50K spend for the year.
Do miles earned at Bask Bank count?
No.
Will Loyalty Points count toward Million Miler℠ status?
No, Million Miler℠ status will still be earned the same way as today, based on miles earned from flying with American and its partners.
Loyalty Points discussion/questions - From 2022 now used for determining elite status
Mar 12, 2022, 7:52 am
#2896
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: Top Tier with all 3 alliances
Posts: 11,669
Mar 12, 2022, 7:56 am
#2897
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP / LT PLT / 3MM, Marriott LT Gold
Posts: 35,389
Mar 12, 2022, 8:38 am
#2898
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Long Beach, CA
Programs: AA PLTPRO, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 3,559
Does anyone have any experience with the $2000 monthly cap at GiftCards.com? Do they give you the points up to $2000 of spend and then no points for cards beyond that? Also, is it calendar month?
Mar 12, 2022, 9:09 am
#2899
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
Yes. If you are using AA Citibank, there is a strong chance it might be canceled. That happened to me. I called AA Citibank Customer Service and even spoke to their Fraud Dept. They said there is an usual amount of "activity" going through giftcards.com right now so they have tagged charges as possible fraud. I told them that it is a legitimate web site and the reason for the high activity is the aadvantage shopping portal is offering 3x loyalty points and a 5% off sale. I hope Citibank figures this out. I know we all want our giftcards and LPs!
Mar 12, 2022, 9:35 am
#2900
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Programs: American Executive Platinum
Posts: 368
This is helpful, and hopefully suggestive that it's just a delay. I've purchased several gift cards - 500 as well as a 100, plus a few store specific ones. All have tracked via email, but only the $100 is showing up on AA shopping, which has also posted as LP's.
Mar 12, 2022, 10:32 am
#2901
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2014
Programs: Top Tier with all 3 alliances
Posts: 11,669
SIriousXM has an offer for 500 miles for $1 subscription for 3 months. You have to click on the offer link from the portal to get it.
Please post any other good deals you have found.
Please post any other good deals you have found.
Mar 12, 2022, 12:01 pm
#2903
Join Date: May 2008
Location: PHL (kinda, no airport is really close)
Programs: AA Exp, but not sure for how long. Enterprise Platinum woo-hoo!
Posts: 4,551
I have been pressing them on these specific issues, with no answer after 12 days. I'll post here if they ever answer my questions. I do get updates from them every 2-3 days though. I bought some GC's and they have not shown up at all yet. There is now a mention in the FAQ that implies that if you have one of several ad blockers, you will not automatically get points. I think I have one of those ad blockers. It seems like this is a newly-discovered issue. I bought $1750 in GC's and I am thinking of buying another $200 worth (stay under $2K including purchase fees) with the ad blocker explicitly disabled. They've acknowledged that they see I was logged into AA shopping when I went to giftcards.com.
Mar 12, 2022, 12:06 pm
#2904
Join Date: May 2008
Location: PHL (kinda, no airport is really close)
Programs: AA Exp, but not sure for how long. Enterprise Platinum woo-hoo!
Posts: 4,551
I had an extremely odd occurrence. I rarely buy Y tickets (usually F) but I bought one for a trip PHL-DFW-RNO which I flew last Wednesday. My LP's and RDM's posted as "Method: Disance." I got 100% of miles flown as LP's and RDM's and 120% bonus (I'm EXP) for a total of 5,824 RDM's and LP's for about a $150 ticket.
I'm hardly complaining. Will be interested to see if my return flight Wednesday posts the same. I have some upcoming paid F flights for which I might not be so happy if it posts this way.
I'm hardly complaining. Will be interested to see if my return flight Wednesday posts the same. I have some upcoming paid F flights for which I might not be so happy if it posts this way.
Mar 12, 2022, 12:07 pm
#2905
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: District of Columbia
Programs: AA ExecPl, AT Gold, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Diamond, Hilton Diamond, National
Posts: 2,440
And note that SiriusXM is one of the vendors eligible for the monthly entertainment credit on the Amex Platinum.
Mar 12, 2022, 12:12 pm
#2906
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP / LT PLT / 3MM, Marriott LT Gold
Posts: 35,389
I just noticed that the miles that have moved to Pending are from the cancelled transaction, so it's been 14 days. This will be interesting.
Meanwhile they re-sent the GCs from the non-cancelled transaction with the headline "Your issue has been resolved" and the text "Sorry you didn't receive your GCs; we are re-sending them." I hadn't raised any issues with them. I tried to contact them but their chat service is not operational.
Really poor back-end processing.
Meanwhile they re-sent the GCs from the non-cancelled transaction with the headline "Your issue has been resolved" and the text "Sorry you didn't receive your GCs; we are re-sending them." I hadn't raised any issues with them. I tried to contact them but their chat service is not operational.
Really poor back-end processing.
Mar 12, 2022, 12:29 pm
#2907
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SJC
Programs: AA EXP, BA Silver, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 33,535
Cheers.
Last edited by brp; Mar 12, 2022 at 1:51 pm
Mar 12, 2022, 12:30 pm
#2908
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
I had 3 purchases. 1 was cancelled, and tracked with the wrong purchase amount. 2 went through, and also tracked with the wrong purchase amount.
The cancelled one and the 2nd purchase that went through both had their purchase amounts corrected, and they both went to pending. The 1st one went to pending with the wrong amount (3x what I paid; essentially giving me 9x miles). This also puts me way over $2k for the month (in fictional spend) since it includes a cancelled order and a ~$768 order that tracked at over $2300.
Nothing has posted to AA yet. This will be interesting, indeed. I assume that it all gets fixed and clawed back in an audit eventually.
Mar 13, 2022, 12:55 am
#2909
Join Date: May 2008
Location: PHL (kinda, no airport is really close)
Programs: AA Exp, but not sure for how long. Enterprise Platinum woo-hoo!
Posts: 4,551
Mar 13, 2022, 10:13 am
#2910
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, AA Executive Platinum
Posts: 1,932
Yes. If you are using AA Citibank, there is a strong chance it might be canceled. That happened to me. I called AA Citibank Customer Service and even spoke to their Fraud Dept. They said there is an usual amount of "activity" going through giftcards.com right now so they have tagged charges as possible fraud. I told them that it is a legitimate web site and the reason for the high activity is the aadvantage shopping portal is offering 3x loyalty points and a 5% off sale. I hope Citibank figures this out. I know we all want our giftcards and LPs!