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
Oct 27, 2021, 8:59 am
#511
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2011
Programs: Marriott Ambassador, AA ExecPlat, Amtrak Select Exec, former WN apologist
Posts: 1,427
Someone actually did this https://www.disaadvantagestatus.com/
Oct 27, 2021, 8:59 am
#512
Join Date: Oct 2021
Location: TX
Programs: Alaska, AA, Marriott
Posts: 943
I find it amusing we are discussing $200K spend on credit cards to get EXP when 80% of the US public would have to work 5 years to get this income. 80% of the flying public is flying Spirit, Frontier or at the very least are buying basic economy on legacies. I guess we are all part of 3rd world problems.
Oct 27, 2021, 9:21 am
#514
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Austin
Programs: AA EXP +2MM- LT PLT! HH Diamond
Posts: 6,087
So perhaps I'm a bit confused. Base Miles has always meant miles flown. This will be used to calculate how many award miles ones receives based on tier or Million Miler status. Otherwise why call them base miles? There may not be EQMs in the traditional sense for earning status, but if the case, just call it dollars spent equals loyalty points.
Oct 27, 2021, 9:22 am
#515
Join Date: Jan 2017
Programs: AAdvantage
Posts: 46
Oct 27, 2021, 9:22 am
#516
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP / LT PLT / 3MM, Marriott LT Gold
Posts: 35,388
So perhaps I'm a bit confused. Base Miles has always meant miles flown. This will be used to calculate how many award miles ones receives based on tier or Million Miler status. Otherwise why call them base miles? There may not be EQMs in the traditional sense for earning status, but if the case, just call it dollars spent equals loyalty points.
Last edited by vasantn; Oct 27, 2021 at 9:29 am
Oct 27, 2021, 9:24 am
#517
Ambassador: Alaska Airlines
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: BWI
Posts: 7,390
I am wondering with AAdvantage Dining and Shopping/Simply Miles we earn more than 1 mile per $1 in most cases. Dining its 5 miles per dollar if you are a VIP. Will AA count all points credited from AAdvantage dining towards LP?
Its really vague. Credit card is very clear, but the other earning partners not so much.
Its really vague. Credit card is very clear, but the other earning partners not so much.
Oct 27, 2021, 9:25 am
#518
Join Date: Oct 2021
Location: TX
Programs: Alaska, AA, Marriott
Posts: 943
I find it amusing we are discussing $200K spend on credit cards to get EXP when 80% of the US public would have to work 5 years to get this income. 80% of the flying public is flying Spirit, Frontier or at the very least are buying basic economy on legacies. I guess we are all part of 3rd world problems.
Oct 27, 2021, 9:26 am
#520
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: WAS
Programs: AA EXP2M, DL 1MM DM ext, UA PP <=> HH G/Marr PE/Hyatt G/IHG P FT RA ( Recovering Addict)
Posts: 4,596
Platinum at 75,000 LP seems high when compared to United’s Gold status $7,500 PQD.
7500x5 37,500
7500x7 52,500
7500x8 60,000
7500x9 67500
7500x11 82500
So AA plat and UA Gold are comparable if you’re AA EXP already. I guess that’s when credit card spend can come in to help but really…if you’re going to spend 7,500 with an airline as a free agent you’re better off on United. I know the PQD for UA Gold was 10,000 in 2019 and may be again in the future.
7500x5 37,500
7500x7 52,500
7500x8 60,000
7500x9 67500
7500x11 82500
So AA plat and UA Gold are comparable if you’re AA EXP already. I guess that’s when credit card spend can come in to help but really…if you’re going to spend 7,500 with an airline as a free agent you’re better off on United. I know the PQD for UA Gold was 10,000 in 2019 and may be again in the future.
Oct 27, 2021, 9:28 am
#521
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 208
A new (squid) game to play
Am I missing something here?
It appears to me that you can just park some $$ in a Bask account to gain status
or
Use an AA card for airline and primary spend to gain LP and status
or
Say the hell with it all and use your Chase or Amex card that gives you a point multiplier for travel purchase still get LP miles for the purchase and get AA/UR points selectively using those CC points.
Have any of the flyertalk math and point wizards figured out what the best value tipping point/strategy is??
It appears to me that you can just park some $$ in a Bask account to gain status
or
Use an AA card for airline and primary spend to gain LP and status
or
Say the hell with it all and use your Chase or Amex card that gives you a point multiplier for travel purchase still get LP miles for the purchase and get AA/UR points selectively using those CC points.
Have any of the flyertalk math and point wizards figured out what the best value tipping point/strategy is??
Oct 27, 2021, 9:30 am
#522
Join Date: Oct 2021
Location: TX
Programs: Alaska, AA, Marriott
Posts: 943
I am wondering with AAdvantage Dining and Shopping/Simply Miles we earn more than 1 mile per $1 in most cases. Dining its 5 miles per dollar if you are a VIP. Will AA count all points credited from AAdvantage dining towards LP?
Its really vague. Credit card is very clear, but the other earning partners not so much.
Its really vague. Credit card is very clear, but the other earning partners not so much.
Oct 27, 2021, 9:32 am
#523
Join Date: Oct 2021
Location: TX
Programs: Alaska, AA, Marriott
Posts: 943
As for Bask Miles, unless that's cash you already have parked elsewhere earning less, that'a really poor return on cash right now.
Oct 27, 2021, 9:32 am
#524
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: SoCal,
Programs: BAEC Gold, AA PPro
Posts: 771
I have read this thread multiple times and I feel like I'm starting to understanding this LP concept more and more, so thanks to all the posters. Right now it appears to me that overall, this is actually going to help me. I am a low spend EXP who travels for my own business and takes a few J international trips each year with the Mrs. We are either on BA to the EU or QR to Asia. I spend about 75K between the Aviator Biz Card and Citi Exec per year, and can increase that.
Can someone check me on a couple of things? "Flights" is the equivalent to segments? EQM = LP, so using the bonus and class multipliers this is how I would figure this trip on BA LAX-LHR-OPO in I class Feb '22. I calculate the RT EQM/LP's, using WebFlyer as: Base miles 5440 + Cabin Bonus 1360 + EQM per mile flown 5440 each way so it will = 24480 rt? Thanks for any help. I'm beginning to think that AA wants to be more of a travel company retailer, kind of like G4, selling or marketing multiple products, than actually being a major international carrier. Cheers
Can someone check me on a couple of things? "Flights" is the equivalent to segments? EQM = LP, so using the bonus and class multipliers this is how I would figure this trip on BA LAX-LHR-OPO in I class Feb '22. I calculate the RT EQM/LP's, using WebFlyer as: Base miles 5440 + Cabin Bonus 1360 + EQM per mile flown 5440 each way so it will = 24480 rt? Thanks for any help. I'm beginning to think that AA wants to be more of a travel company retailer, kind of like G4, selling or marketing multiple products, than actually being a major international carrier. Cheers
Oct 27, 2021, 9:36 am
#525
Join Date: Oct 2021
Location: TX
Programs: Alaska, AA, Marriott
Posts: 943
I have read this thread multiple times and I feel like I'm starting to understanding this LP concept more and more, so thanks to all the posters. Right now it appears to me that overall, this is actually going to help me. I am a low spend EXP who travels for my own business and takes a few J international trips each year with the Mrs. We are either on BA to the EU or QR to Asia. I spend about 75K between the Aviator Biz Card and Citi Exec per year, and can increase that.