O62

Hey AA historians, I was reflecting on AA's status tiers and how they don't follow the precious metal tiers as closely as the other airlines (silver, gold, plat, etc) and how I'm not sure how Platinum Pro makes any sense anyways (is it a Professional Platinum? Can metal be pro?). Have the tiers always been the current 5 or have they evolved over time to get the current status quo?

S80

It has expanded over time, particularly with the US Air merger. I'll let someone who was active during the time to comment more in detail, however.

carlosdca

When I joined in 2001, there were 3 levels with the following qualification requirements:
GLD 25,000 EQM
PLT 50,000 EQM
EXP 100,000 EQM
EQM were elite qualifying miles, which were basically flown miles regardless of fare paid, IIRC

Concierge Key was a secret tier and you could only know about it by reading Flyer talk.

PPRO is a relatively new tier
CK became a published tier only very recently.

brenc3

Digging back in my email, the first mention of Platinum Pro was June 2016, looking ahead to the 2017 qualification year. This was shortly after the US merger finalized, and 2017 was also the same year that an EQD requirement was added:

GLD 25k EQM + $3k EQM
PLT 50k EQM + $6k EQM
PRO 75k EQM + $9k EQM
EXP 100k EQM + $12k EQM

US had 4 tiers at similar levels (Silver, Gold, Platinum, Chairman's) but I came from the world of pmAA so I can't comment on their history. When US Dividend Miles was folded into AAdvantage, the US 3rd tier Platinum Preferred mapped to AA's 2nd tier Platinum, which was a bit of a downgrade. I'm presuming Platinum Pro was added for better parity with US.

Other airlines like UA and DL had 3 tiers like AA. I seem to recall DL was earlier in adding Diamond as a new highest published tier at 125k EQM giving it 4 tiers. UA followed suit adding Platinum between Gold and 1k. I also had noticed that many airlines follow the Silver -> Gold -> Platinum progression, and I have no idea why AA doesn't.

Platinum Pro was a nice addition. It originally conferred OneWorld Sapphire status, but this was bumped to Emerald around 2021. Pre-2017, once you hit Platinum, it was a long slog to EXP, and a few years I ended somewhere in the 70-90k EQM range. Back then you only got Flagship Lounge access (flying long-haul international) with EXP, and the ACs were really not that great (minimal free food). But once you hit EXP, it was pretty nice. IME domestic upgrades cleared >80-90%, even transcons, you got 8 SWUs and they almost always cleared also (at least for me, to Japan). EXP (and PLT) got 2x RDM earning, which until ~2010 that bonus counted towards MM status.

pauleeepaul

Ah the good old days.

vasantn

I hate the PPro level. It was introduced as a sop to LUS flyers. It dilutes the benefits for both PLTs and EXPs.

HNL

The halcyon AAdvantage days were when Platinum meant something (there was nothing higher), upgrade certificates were stickers (frequently agents would not collect them), and the middle seats were automaticaly blocked.

HNL

At the same time one-ways fares were very expensive. Discount fares required a Saturday night stay. A round trip ORD-SFO in Economy Sunday to Thursday was $1,850 each week.

O62

What benefits were stripped from PLT or EXP to give to PPro?

O62

Were they actually stickers?

carlosdca

In 2001, they already had the "500 mile electronic upgrade" but the phone agents kept calling them stickers then.
I've heard from folks that have been around for longer here that they were actually stickers.
I would love to see a photo of such stickers.

enviroian

Can we talk about legacy brands? Like America West....FLIGHT FUND

Silver 25
Gold 50
Plat 75

I started traveling for work heavily when I moved to phx in 2002. As 75K Plat (OOOOH!) I was upgraded probably 99% of the time on any route except flights to DCA. The old days...

born sleepy

NW and CO had the same tiers, back when they were both TeamSky. I was NW Plat for years but left after DL took over and went to UA, not knowing the CO takeover of UA was in the works. That eventually drove me to AA, again not knowing about US taking over awhile later. Guess I'm staying (tho I got my 2024 EXP tag today and it's identical to the 2023 tag; y'all couldn't pop a few $ to change it?).

vasantn

You must be really old.

Yep. That's why God invented back-to-back ticketing. Of course it's not necessary now.

PLTs are now farther back in the upgrade sequence and their upgrade window has shrunk. Emerald status has been diluted, arguably to the detriment of EXPs.

Yes. I've only ever seen them once. But I believe HNL is referring to paper VIPs (the former name of SWUs) which were frequently not collected at the gate and could be re-used.

I've always called them stickers, until they were done away with. IIRC in 2001 they were 800-mile upgrades.

carlosdca

Nope. That I am sure. 500 mile upgrades when I joined in 2001.