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Loyalty Points discussion/questions - From 2022 now used for determining elite status

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Old Dec 17, 2021, 11:25 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
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?


Code:
Gold:       40K
Platinum:   75K
Plat Pro:  125K
EXP:       200K
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.











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Loyalty Points discussion/questions - From 2022 now used for determining elite status

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Old Jan 9, 2022, 6:46 pm
  #1441  
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Originally Posted by LovePrunes
when i sort like you suggested, it only offers to sort by highest fixed miles payout, not highest multiplier. is there a way to sort to find 25x deals like someone found?
The sorting is not perfect, it lists fixed awards first, then 6+ miles/dollar, then 5 miles/dollar, 4 miles/dollar, 3 miles/dollar, 2 miles/dollar, 1 miles/dollar, and the ever popular 'no reward' (which are sites that may at time give rewards, but currently are not). Just perusing the 6+ miles/dollar category makes it easy to find the high-paying sites, there are a few dozen of them listed alphabetically there.
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Old Jan 10, 2022, 3:52 am
  #1442  
 
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Originally Posted by donotblink
I feel like this might be helpful given the conversation going on in the thread about base points vs bonus points, specifically with eshopping:




Thank you for this. Did you happen to confirm that the partner activity earned in January and February will count as well?
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Old Jan 10, 2022, 5:46 am
  #1443  
 
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Originally Posted by chicaloca453
Thank you for this. Did you happen to confirm that the partner activity earned in January and February will count as well?
I didn’t think that needed clarification because that was indicated in the FAQ. Feel free to email them [email protected]
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Old Jan 10, 2022, 9:38 am
  #1444  
 
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Originally Posted by coleslaw
That's for people who are expensing their stays for business. They can choose the more expensive option and get reimbursed for it while "pocketing" the extra miles for themselves. As an employer, I wouldn't be super thrilled if I found that my employees were choosing to do this...
Which is why many companies grow into travel management solutions like Concur, or use CWT, Amex Travel, etc. and have a policy that air/hotel/car must be booked through their corporate portal, with corporate preferred suppliers and automated corporate rule checking.

When I book flights for work, even close-in, I have no control over the fare basis code and quite frequently find bottom-tier fares even within 7 days of flight. If there's a route where Delta has a > $100 price difference on the flight, I'd have to take Delta vs. being able to take AA/AS... so I have to find times/routes that balance out for me. And before someone points out that I'm gaming the system, of course I am - I get upgraded nearly every flight on AS on my routes and get MCE at booking on AA, which means I can work on the flight vs. being in standard economy on Delta... so it actually works out/is justified in my case (as well as others in the opposite situation, wanting DL but AA/AS/UA have better pricing).

It's why the new LP scheme is interesting for me - I can earn MORE flying on AS and crediting to AA than I can flying AA and crediting to AA. With AS as my primary program, finding these "other mileage" opportunities help me bulk up AA LP's after requalifying on AS this year.
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Old Jan 10, 2022, 10:33 am
  #1445  
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Originally Posted by thatmikereed
It's why the new LP scheme is interesting for me - I can earn MORE flying on AS and crediting to AA than I can flying AA and crediting to AA. With AS as my primary program, finding these "other mileage" opportunities help me bulk up AA LP's after requalifying on AS this year.
That was true for EQM+EQD under the old outgoing program for some partners carriers; PEY on CX was a particularly good deal there (there were probably others, that was just the one I was flying anyway.)
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Old Jan 10, 2022, 1:01 pm
  #1446  
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
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Originally Posted by donotblink
I feel like this might be helpful given the conversation going on in the thread about base points vs bonus points, specifically with eshopping:




Fascinating - thank you for sharing! Must be nice as an EXP that your emails are actually answered by a real human!
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Old Jan 10, 2022, 1:03 pm
  #1447  
 
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Old Jan 10, 2022, 1:06 pm
  #1448  
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
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Originally Posted by donotblink
I feel like this might be helpful given the conversation going on in the thread about base points vs bonus points, specifically with eshopping:




At " Home Depot"
Only Home Decor and Kitchenware yield 4 pts per $ . Everything else is 1/2 point

Last edited by anc305; Jan 10, 2022 at 2:07 pm
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Old Jan 10, 2022, 1:15 pm
  #1449  
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Originally Posted by anc305
Only Home Decor and Kitchenware yield 4 pts per $ . Everything else is 1/2 point
There are literally over 100 partners that ern more than 2 points/dollar as shown on this page.
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Old Jan 10, 2022, 2:08 pm
  #1450  
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 526
Originally Posted by Beckles
There are literally over 100 partners that ern more than 2 points/dollar as shown on this page.
Sorry. I was referring to the text about earnings at Home Depot. Edited my above post for clarity.
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Old Jan 10, 2022, 2:31 pm
  #1451  
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Originally Posted by anc305
Sorry. I was referring to the text about earnings at Home Depot. Edited my above post for clarity.
Yeah, you need to be careful of exceptions or limited earning rates, for instance Apple brand products are often excluded by retailers that sell them.
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Old Jan 10, 2022, 3:38 pm
  #1452  
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
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Originally Posted by no1cub17
Fascinating - thank you for sharing! Must be nice as an EXP that your emails are actually answered by a real human!
here’s some more details!


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Old Jan 10, 2022, 3:50 pm
  #1453  
brp
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Just looked at Home Depot as an example because we buy a reasonable amount there. Only Home Decor and Kitchenware gets 4 LP/$. Everything else is 0.5 LP/$. Better than nothing , but underwhelming.

And I assume that, if one clicks through the eShopping link and gets to HD, that will earn?

Cheers.
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Old Jan 10, 2022, 7:35 pm
  #1454  
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
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This could open up a wild new frontier of reselling. I was ready to buy a $40,000 wheel loader on Home Depot’s website until I read the fine print.
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Old Jan 10, 2022, 8:52 pm
  #1455  
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That update partner list is helpful:
In the air: All base miles earned from flying on Loyalty Point-qualifying airlines (flights marketed by American Airlines, oneworld® airlines, JetBlue, and GOL Airlines). This includes:
  • Basic Economy tickets on American
  • All status bonuses earned when flying on American Airlines and eligible partner airlines
On the ground: All base miles earned from spending with Loyalty Point-qualifying partners. Base offers vary by partner. Eligible partner base offers include:
  • Platform: American Airlines Vacations, AAdvantage eShoppingSM, AAdvantage DiningSM, SimplyMiles™
  • Hotels: bookaahotels.com, Hyatt, Marriott International, IHG Hotels & Resorts, Marriott Vacations, RocketMiles
  • Car: aa.com/car, Avis, Budget, Payless, Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty, Alamo, National, Sixt
  • Cruise: bookaacruises.com
  • Retail: Shell, WeWork, Vinesse, FTD, Vivid Seats, NRG Energy, Reliant Energy, Xoom, Miles for Opinion
from aa.com/newaadvantage
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