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 $50K spend for the year.
Do miles earned at Bask Bank count?
No.
Will Loyalty Points count toward Million Miler℠ status?
No, Million Miler℠ status will still be earned the same way as today, based on miles earned from flying with American and its partners.
Loyalty Points discussion/questions - From 2022 now used for determining elite status
Mar 3, 2022, 4:06 pm
#2716
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
Just look at this thread. There are many detailed explanations of how to do this. Yet, on the very same thread, most people are talking about high levels of CC spend like it's the holy grail.
Up until 3 years ago it was incredibly easy to get hundreds of thousands, or even millions of AA miles by churning Citi CCs. It was well known, all over all the blogs and forums. And yet, how many people actually did it? A few hundred?
Easy does not imply widespread.
Mar 3, 2022, 4:12 pm
#2717
Join Date: Aug 2021
Location: USA
Programs: American Airlines (Executive Platinum), Hyatt (Globalist), Hilton (Diamond), IHG (Diamond)
Posts: 2,917
Just look at this thread. There are many detailed explanations of how to do this. Yet, on the very same thread, most people are talking about high levels of CC spend like it's the holy grail.
Up until 3 years ago it was incredibly easy to get hundreds of thousands, or even millions of AA miles by churning Citi CCs. It was well known, all over all the blogs and forums. And yet, how many people actually did it? A few hundred?
Easy does not imply widespread.
Mar 3, 2022, 4:49 pm
#2718
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Programs: American Executive Platinum
Posts: 368
How? Companies routinely don't put proper resources (money included) in software rollouts. I do it for a living and see it every day of my life. And now of course every CEO/COO/CFO thinks software rollouts can now be all done virtually. Hence the kind if cluster fu$k you see.
Mar 3, 2022, 5:04 pm
#2719
Join Date: Aug 2017
Location: Albuquerque, NM
Programs: American Executive Platinum
Posts: 368
I'd respectfully challenge the tenability of achieving EXP through shopping portal spend on an ongoing basis. It seems that most of the easy miles have been gotten by folks, be it through wine clubs, etc. Very few of these offers are repeatable, and most of the higher hanging fruit yield much less in terms of LP's earned. Unless there is a steady stream (or river, as it were) of new offers, I think many of these offers are good for a quick boost and that's about it.
For example, I've done just about every wine club and meal kit service since January 1, along with several other offers, and have gotten around 30,000 LP's out of it. There are no other offers I'm seeing that would yield even close to what I've already seen, so the idea that I'm going to portal my way to 200,000 is a bit much.
On top of this, shopping portal spend is laborious. Signing up for, selecting, receiving & using, then canceling a meal club membership is time. For those who have the spare resources in the world to fly that much on one airline and care about their status level, do you really think they're sitting on their computers at night with a spreadsheet managing all this? We're a pretty weird and selective crew here who would bother with this, folks.
Now, if we're talking hotel portal that may be a different story. Those are infinitely repeatable, high yielding, and practically useful. However, as I've posted before, the number of people who will be staying in that many hotel rooms over the course of a year that are not corporate travelers, who are often bound by their own companies travel portals, is probably quite small. This number is further reduced by those frequent travelers who could direct their own spending to RM or AA portals simultaneously being interested in hotel loyalty programs. The exception here would be employees of small businesses without portals that would be interested in directing spend toward RM or AA, but even then those hotel rooms are often more expensive and more limited in options, meaning that it's not simply a matter of choosing AA/RM portals, but going out of your way (and out of pocket) to direct miles to AA LP's.
Then, if we expand the psychology here a bit, things become even more limited. Think of the elite who has gold at 35,000 or 40,000 LP's. The next qualification level is 75,000 LP's - quite significantly far from their current level. How many people are going to go out of their way to accrue miles & LP's to get to Platinum in that situation? For those of us who are sitting at or aiming for PP or EXP, do we really think those people are going to devise grand schemes of getting to 200,000 LP's? Even through relatively high yielding hotels, that equates to thousands and thousands of dollars of hotel spend.
None of these barriers are, by themselves, hugely prohibitive of gaining EXP, and it certainly has become easier for those able and willing to play the game. However, there are so many clear reasons why many, many people who not be incentivized to achieve PP or EXP via a grand PP campaign through hotel or portal spend.
I do think the expanded way to earn loyalty with result in a bump in those earning incidental LP's via various avenues. However, my guess would be that for the vast majority of people, this may amount to 10,000 to 30,000 points per year, for those actually trying.
Let me end by saying that I've had multiple conversations with multiple AA frequent flyers (7-10+ times per year), any of which have gold. None have been at all familiar with various ways to earn LP's, and when I've talked to them more about it, none have changed their behavior. I'm not saying none will, none will earn incidental miles, etc., but there's simply no evidence outside of FlyerTalk that anyone's status or LP approach has significantly changed yet.
For example, I've done just about every wine club and meal kit service since January 1, along with several other offers, and have gotten around 30,000 LP's out of it. There are no other offers I'm seeing that would yield even close to what I've already seen, so the idea that I'm going to portal my way to 200,000 is a bit much.
On top of this, shopping portal spend is laborious. Signing up for, selecting, receiving & using, then canceling a meal club membership is time. For those who have the spare resources in the world to fly that much on one airline and care about their status level, do you really think they're sitting on their computers at night with a spreadsheet managing all this? We're a pretty weird and selective crew here who would bother with this, folks.
Now, if we're talking hotel portal that may be a different story. Those are infinitely repeatable, high yielding, and practically useful. However, as I've posted before, the number of people who will be staying in that many hotel rooms over the course of a year that are not corporate travelers, who are often bound by their own companies travel portals, is probably quite small. This number is further reduced by those frequent travelers who could direct their own spending to RM or AA portals simultaneously being interested in hotel loyalty programs. The exception here would be employees of small businesses without portals that would be interested in directing spend toward RM or AA, but even then those hotel rooms are often more expensive and more limited in options, meaning that it's not simply a matter of choosing AA/RM portals, but going out of your way (and out of pocket) to direct miles to AA LP's.
Then, if we expand the psychology here a bit, things become even more limited. Think of the elite who has gold at 35,000 or 40,000 LP's. The next qualification level is 75,000 LP's - quite significantly far from their current level. How many people are going to go out of their way to accrue miles & LP's to get to Platinum in that situation? For those of us who are sitting at or aiming for PP or EXP, do we really think those people are going to devise grand schemes of getting to 200,000 LP's? Even through relatively high yielding hotels, that equates to thousands and thousands of dollars of hotel spend.
None of these barriers are, by themselves, hugely prohibitive of gaining EXP, and it certainly has become easier for those able and willing to play the game. However, there are so many clear reasons why many, many people who not be incentivized to achieve PP or EXP via a grand PP campaign through hotel or portal spend.
I do think the expanded way to earn loyalty with result in a bump in those earning incidental LP's via various avenues. However, my guess would be that for the vast majority of people, this may amount to 10,000 to 30,000 points per year, for those actually trying.
Let me end by saying that I've had multiple conversations with multiple AA frequent flyers (7-10+ times per year), any of which have gold. None have been at all familiar with various ways to earn LP's, and when I've talked to them more about it, none have changed their behavior. I'm not saying none will, none will earn incidental miles, etc., but there's simply no evidence outside of FlyerTalk that anyone's status or LP approach has significantly changed yet.
Mar 3, 2022, 5:08 pm
#2720
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
Maybe you missed my addendum, but no, my logic wasn't flawed. This isn't 1990 or 2000, when there were still a lot of secrets. With the travel forums and blogs and social media, there's no chance that masses of people won't bother getting EXP for $2,000 if it's as easy as you claim.
I covered this in my last post. I don't understand why you want to rehash the same thing over and over and over. If a person is spending $100,000/month on Facebook ads on their CC, they're not going to waste time worrying about the portal deals.
This is an interesting example. We're told that all AA wants to do is sell miles, and yet AA shut down those people's AA accounts.
I covered this in my last post. I don't understand why you want to rehash the same thing over and over and over. If a person is spending $100,000/month on Facebook ads on their CC, they're not going to waste time worrying about the portal deals.
This is an interesting example. We're told that all AA wants to do is sell miles, and yet AA shut down those people's AA accounts.
There's no doubt in my mind that AA was (and still is) selling those miles to Citi at a huge discount, to get more CC holders. They still don't count as LP. I'm sure that AA wants to sell miles at their normal costs. Those sign up bonus miles were most likely loss leaders that AA shared the cost of.
Not always, but usually.
Mar 3, 2022, 5:19 pm
#2721
Join Date: Aug 2021
Location: USA
Programs: American Airlines (Executive Platinum), Hyatt (Globalist), Hilton (Diamond), IHG (Diamond)
Posts: 2,917
In the present-day "travel hacker" world? Sure, it is. Look at how many Hyatt Globalists there are right now, after the Q1 2021 promo was promoted far and wide by the blogs.
If people are truly able to get EXP and four SWUs for ~$2,000 in portal spending plus some segment flying, as you've been saying for months, that's like getting thousands in free money. No way it will remain some niche thing at FT.
If people are truly able to get EXP and four SWUs for ~$2,000 in portal spending plus some segment flying, as you've been saying for months, that's like getting thousands in free money. No way it will remain some niche thing at FT.
Mar 3, 2022, 5:30 pm
#2722
Join Date: Jan 2022
Posts: 192
In the present-day "travel hacker" world? Sure, it is. Look at how many Hyatt Globalists there are right now, after the Q1 2021 promo was promoted far and wide by the blogs.
If people are truly able to get EXP and four SWUs for ~$2,000 in portal spending plus some segment flying, as you've been saying for months, that's like getting thousands in free money. No way it will remain some niche thing at FT.
If people are truly able to get EXP and four SWUs for ~$2,000 in portal spending plus some segment flying, as you've been saying for months, that's like getting thousands in free money. No way it will remain some niche thing at FT.
Mar 3, 2022, 6:49 pm
#2724
Join Date: Jan 2022
Posts: 192
Mar 3, 2022, 6:50 pm
#2725
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: INT/GSO/CLT/RDU
Programs: AA EXP 1MM; HH Gold; Bonvoy Gold; Wynd Diamond
Posts: 228
You do realize that both of these things can be true, right?
Mar 3, 2022, 6:54 pm
#2726
Join Date: Aug 2021
Location: USA
Programs: American Airlines (Executive Platinum), Hyatt (Globalist), Hilton (Diamond), IHG (Diamond)
Posts: 2,917
Mar 3, 2022, 7:47 pm
#2727
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: INT/GSO/CLT/RDU
Programs: AA EXP 1MM; HH Gold; Bonvoy Gold; Wynd Diamond
Posts: 228
In the present-day "travel hacker" world? Sure, it is. Look at how many Hyatt Globalists there are right now, after the Q1 2021 promo was promoted far and wide by the blogs.
If people are truly able to get EXP and four SWUs for ~$2,000 in portal spending plus some segment flying, as you've been saying for months, that's like getting thousands in free money. No way it will remain some niche thing at FT.
If people are truly able to get EXP and four SWUs for ~$2,000 in portal spending plus some segment flying, as you've been saying for months, that's like getting thousands in free money. No way it will remain some niche thing at FT.
Do you think Brian at TPG really cares some widget salesman in Des Moines thinks about his latest post? No. He wants to know how we message board monkeys over at FlyerTalk are reacting... after all, it us who are much more likely to sign up with his advertisers than the golf course superintendent in Savannah (who flies to three trade shows a year, and once to Vegas or Key West for vacation, but may put $100K on his Amex or Citicard so that he can take his third-wife-to-be on a first class mileage redemption to Vegas.) Its called a self-selecting group, and it isn't representative of the whole.
Mar 3, 2022, 7:50 pm
#2728
Join Date: Aug 2021
Location: USA
Programs: American Airlines (Executive Platinum), Hyatt (Globalist), Hilton (Diamond), IHG (Diamond)
Posts: 2,917
This thinking is emblematic of our current culture of belief that twitter, or a travel message board, accurately represents the views and experiences of the larger populace. It doesn't. Sure, it may be what the evening news, or travel bloggers report, but that doesn't mean those outlets have even attempted validate the trending topics by surveying a larger, more representative sample. Why should they when they are only going back to those same limited sources for the review of their work.
Do you think Brian at TPG really cares some widget salesman in Des Moines thinks about his latest post? No. He wants to know how we message board monkeys over at FlyerTalk are reacting... after all, it us who are much more likely to sign up with his advertisers than the golf course superintendent in Savannah (who flies to three trade shows a year, and once to Vegas or Key West for vacation, but may put $100K on his Amex or Citicard so that he can take his third-wife-to-be on a first class mileage redemption to Vegas.) Its called a self-selecting group, and it isn't representative of the whole.
Do you think Brian at TPG really cares some widget salesman in Des Moines thinks about his latest post? No. He wants to know how we message board monkeys over at FlyerTalk are reacting... after all, it us who are much more likely to sign up with his advertisers than the golf course superintendent in Savannah (who flies to three trade shows a year, and once to Vegas or Key West for vacation, but may put $100K on his Amex or Citicard so that he can take his third-wife-to-be on a first class mileage redemption to Vegas.) Its called a self-selecting group, and it isn't representative of the whole.
Mar 3, 2022, 8:01 pm
#2729
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: AA LT Gold
Posts: 3,644
TPG seems more about pushing credit cards. I can assume that's his major source of revenue.
I don't care what he has to say about anything other than his trip reviews that can be helpful.
Mar 3, 2022, 9:11 pm
#2730
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
I find TPG to be relatively well organized and a good source of simple answers to common questions. For example, if I want to know who a certain credit card's transfer partners are, I check TPG.