USFlyerUS

Yes. It's not hard to do if you put business expenses on the card.

LINDEGR

OK - Let's stop the chest beating. I'd bet $200K is in the top 2% of credit card spend....

tomj888

Lots to unpack here. First off, many new Ex Plats are gaining status by mostly spend. That's wonderful but perks don't happen unless your fly at least 30 segments. Most EP's I know vaflue the diminishing perks, like SWU's. I have for years been able to use mine for upgrades on TATL and TPAC flights. Next the pivot for me is being; what am I willing to pay for. I am willing to pay for going West to East in coach and the reverse in F or Biz class. Split tickets are my new norm. Expecting to be upgraded used to be a give me. Now I'm at about 80% with my wife and 95% when flying solo. Almost all of them are gate upgrades. Seldom do I get an email with the "you've been upgraded". And who cares about the timing. As long as I'm upgraded by the time the door closes its all cool. Lastly, I believe future status is all about expectations. I've lowered mine and generally I haven't been disappointed. I believe that I'll be a tad less loyal to AA when fare discrepancies are significant. I know I'll do the CC spend from my businesses. I know for now, I'll get to 30 BIS segments for SWU's. After that, its kind of like Russian roulette. Be brave and be ready for getting less and less value for your hard spent money.

scubadu

I don't think anyone is attempting to "beat their chest" we are just acknowledging reality, whether that annoys you are not. Again, there are many businesses, particularly businesses that sell retail products, that have to consistently buy inventory and if they choose to they can focus that spend on a business card (and for the record, I absolutely am NOT one of these folks, but I am familiar with it)

If you follow the Amex forums at all, it's wildly acknowledged that to obtain the Amex Centurion card, (personal or business), you need to be pushing much greater than $1 million per year through your Amex cards. Again, many inventory heavy businesses can do that.

I'm not even saying that is a good choice if one is a small/medium business owner, but people absolutely do it. There are many folks earning multiple millions of Amex Membership Reward points on a yearly basis because of those levels of spend.

For the record, Delta set the spend waiver for Diamond @ $250K per year on their Amex cards and people certainly can and do achieve it (again, I would never do that as I don't think it would be worth it but people certainly do).

Regards

EncFlyer

I hit ExPlat late spring, early summer on cc spend and my wife is about 15k miles from ExPlat as well. We have 50+ Bis segments and most of that has been award flights. This new system has worked very well for us as we have been upgraded 95% + of our flights. And before the inevitable "you can earn better rewards elsewhere" we do. We decided to devote 6 or 700k of spend to American for the status.

WeekendTraveler

For people who are upset that AA has so many Executive Platinum members:

Are you upset that lots of people at Nordstrom and Starbucks have high status in their loyalty programs, too?

Chewie

Meanwhile, as an EXP, I’ve missed upgrades by 1 person (I’ve either been #1 on the list and not cleared, or #2 on the list and only #1 cleared) on my last 8 segments.

Not the end of the world as my Y seat was fine. In all fairness it was predominantly PHL>PHX layovers, so that’s expected.

I have been enjoying my free “charcuterie” pack and woodford in coach.

Having been an EXP for past decade or so, I have no issues with the current methodology of obtaining status. I’m not at $200K cc spend either (wish I was!!!).

Chewie

A little disturbed. I’m a Dunkin’ fan, but I half expect that wasn’t the point

355F1

Do they take all of the complimentary upgrades to a Venti PSL.....???

cmtlatitudes

I'm just happy if I don't have to wait in the Barista queue for my plain black coffee.

steveholt

Of course not. People (not me) are just upset that they aren't getting upgrades at the expense of other people, who are somehow lesser candidates for that same space. Having high status at Nordstrom and Starbucks doesn't keep other people from getting the benefits they want.

EXP100

We are being weened off complimentary upgrades. Eventually we will be looking at some type of co pay (maybe including miles) but the spend won't count towards LPs thereby encouraging some to just buy F outright.

The road warrior is no longer AA's prized customer. It's someone that spends a lot on a co-branded cc and might only step on a plane 1-2 times a month. The game is vastly changing.

355F1

I agree 100%.

Cledaybuck

I think AA is thrilled to have you as an EXP if you are willing to make decisions like flying DEN to LAS via PHX.

nineworldseries

I'll do that every time to avoid WN, Frontier, or Spirit. Don't really care for United either. I'd much rather fly to PHX in F and chill in the lounge. Not everyone values efficiency over comfort.