EXP Requalifying for 2022 using an Extra Seat ticket?
 

Many year EXP here...like 15 years.

I did a roundtrip between DTW /LAS in early October as my first and only trip on AA in 2021. I booked two seats in the J cabin...one in my name and the other under my last name and "EXST" (Extra Seat) as the first name. All this was booked via an AA CS representative on the phone which is the only way one can book an extra seat on AA. Essentially, I paid double the price to ensure I had two seats to myself for the entire journey both ways. The second seat is booked under a separate ticket number and record locator. The total cost to me for these two tickets was something like $2400.00. This would have put me over the $2,000 minimum spend to requalify for EXP for next year.

Needless to say, I have only gotten credit for one of the tickets. The other earned me no EQD's. I spoke with AAdvantage today, and they say that the Extra Seat does not qualify for EQD and therefore does not count towards the needed $2,000 spend requirement. So I only get credit for one of the two seats I used. The guy I spoke with was friendly and competent. He did speak with his supervisor and she confirmed that no dice. When I commented to him that it doesn't seem fair as I spent over $2,000 and AA got all that money, he answered that he agreed that it didn't seem fair but there was nothing he could do.

Does anyone think I should continue to pursue this? Does this seem fair/unfair to anyone else? I guess I could undertake another trip to make up the rest needed to requalify. It just irks me as I feel I have already requalified.

There's nothing to pursue as the agents are correct. EXST tickets don't earn EQD/RDM/EQS. Those can only be earned by the passenger flying in the seat (as documented here).

In the new AA program, you will earn LP points from the purchase of the seat if you use a co-branded card (however no elite or class of service bonuses would apply) so in the new program if the EXST ticket ran $600 and you pulled out your trusty Barclays/Citi AAdvantage card, you would have 600 points towards status requalification plus whatever you receive by flying in your own seat.

PS: There's nothing wrong with bringing along FlyerTalk friends for extra seat travel if you don't want that space to go empty.

I both concur with this statement above (yes it sucks, but if I book 3 rooms at Hyatt they only give me credit for one) -- truly feel for you but you'll lose this battle every which way so don't waste your time - and yes, I'd volunteer to fill that seat, I am skinny, promise! But you won't earn anything for it, and you wouldn't have the space open because I'd be in it... though I'd share my PlatPro status but you're already booked in J... did you do this because of Covid fears or you hate humans or? =D =D =D

EDIT: I re-read and assume you did this purely to hit their 2k spend requirement - yea, this wasn't a genius way to do it. Did you tell the original agent when booking that this is WHY you were doing this and they concurred? If AA still had the recorded audio from this conversation that would be your only saving grace, if you could convince them to find it and pull it up. Highly doubtful.

I know absolutely nothing about buying extra seats as I've never done it nor considered it on any airline. With that said and with the knowledge that the rules don't permit you to earn EQDs on extra seats, I would think back carefully to what you discussed with the original agent before you make your next move. If you explicitly asked the agent about your EQD motives and if the agent confirmed that your plan would work then I think you have an argument for a refund for the cost of the second ticket. If you just went ahead and bought it without discussing your intentions with the agent then you have no hope.

Provided that their first name is EXST :D

Thanks for the feedback folks! Seems unanimous that I shouldn't bother pursuing this. I shall follow your advice.

Just for clarification. I bought the Extra Seat in order to not sit next to anyone during COVID times. I did not specifically do it for the purpose of hitting the $2000 target for EXP renewal. I just thought that would be a nice bonus:p.

As an aside, one of the flight attendants didn't know how to deal with it. She asked me where my traveling partner was (she would have seen two passengers with the same last name...one with the first name EXST). At meal time, she came out with two meal trays for me. I accepted one of them but the offer of the extra tray was kind of her.

Was this for the OP?