Nov 21, 2012, 10:53 am
Last edit by: Prospero
American Airlines Business Extra Program (master thread)
Historical Notes
Key Information
Note: older posts have been archived to ARCHIVE: Business Extra Program master thread (consolidated)
Historical Notes
- October 5th, 2021: New award types introduced: BXL1 for Platinum status and BXP0 to convert Business Extra points to AA miles at a 1:6 rate. New requirement introduced to redeem: Starting January 1, 2023, current members will be required to have three unique travelers and maintain $5,000 in qualifying Business Extra flight activity during the previous 12-month period to redeem points.This policy will go into effect immediately for new members who join the program on October 4, 2021 or later.
- Feb 2018 - BXP1, BXP2, BXP3 Upgrade Certificates can be redeemed electronically, without the need to redeem or submit paper certificates. [URL="https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/29470237-post1150.html"[/url]
- Dec 2015 - Unannounced more-restrictive changes to BXP upgrade certificates implemented. [URL="http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-airlines-aadvantage/898180-business-extra-program-master-thread-consolidated.html#post25942133"[/url]
- Nov 2015 - Europe AA Business Extra closed and migrated to AA-BA-IB On Business [URL="http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-airlines-aadvantage-combined-airline-program/1715008-aa-ba-ib-europe-business-programme-nov-30-2015-ex-business-extra-europe.html"[/url]
- Oct 2014 - Business Extra Awards may be redeemed for flights on US Airways
- Sep 2013 - Business ExtrAA brand changed to simply Business Extra
- Sep 2012 - Upgrade Awards are no longer restricted to use within 30 days of travel [url=http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/19345217-post394.html[/url]
Key Information
- Promotion Codes - For a current list of Business ExtrAA promotions, see: Business ExtrAA Bonus Offers (consolidated)
- Point Expiration - Business Extra points expire on a rolling basis, two years after the year in which they are earned, on December 31 at midnight U.S. Central Time. Their validity can not be extended.
- Award Redemption - All awards must be redeemed via the Business Extra website. Flight Awards are delivered electronically via email with an Electronic Authorization Number. Upgrade Awards and Admirals Club Day Passes are delivered in paper certificate form via regular mail. Redemption sweeps occur twice per week and expedited delivery is available if you provide your FedEx/UPS account number via email. Gold Status and Admirals Club Membership awards are processed and active in the member's account after approximately one week, with other membership materials delivered in the mail within 4 weeks.
Note: BE awards must be booked on nonstop flights if they are available between your origin and destination.
- Award Inventory Codes - Per Meeting Services, Business Extra Awards book into the following inventory (although there are conflicting reports from mvoight and InsipidMonkey on whether or not this information is accurate for PlanAAhead Awards, for which availability may be significantly less than MileSAAver Award and/or T inventory availability):Award Type Books Into
PlanAAhead - Economy T
PlanAAhead - Business* U
PlanAAhead - First Z
AAnytime - Economy Y
AAnytime - Business* J
AAnytime - First F
Upgrade to Business* C
Upgrade to First A
* = First class cabin on 2-class flights
= First class cabin on 3-class flights
- Flight Award Reservations - Award Tickets must be booked through AA Meeting Services at 1-800-433-1790 (U.S. and Canada; others contact your local reservations office), and you will need to provide the Reservations Agent with the Electronic Authorization Number from your award certificate. As of Oct 2012, flight awards can be booked without a telephone booking service charge.
- Flight Award Expiration - As published on the Business Extra website, Award Tickets must be booked within one year of redeeming the certificate, and are then valid for one year from booking:
Award ticket must be issued by midnight one year from the original award redemption date. Tickets issued against Business Extra flight awards are then valid for one year from the ticket issue date. - Upgrade Award Reservations - Upgrade Awards may be applied once a reservation is Ticketed by calling AA Meeting Services or using the Business Extra website. Once requested online you will receive an email with a confirmation number and serial numbers for each upgrade certificate requested.
Upgrade Awards carry fare restrictions (excludes B, N, O, Q or S fares). Take careful note of your fare when making a reservation. It is possible to "Upfare" a reservation from the lowest available fare to an BXP-upgrade-eligible fare by placing it on Hold at AA.com, calling AA to request the desired higher fare basis code, then completing the purchase online.
You can specify ITA searches that exclude the ineligible fares as follows:jfk:: aa /f ~bc = b & ~bc = n & ~bc = o & ~bc = q & ~bc = s
(Or you can place everything after the slash directly in the second advanced control box.)
These filters can also be concatenated with other commands, such as maximum duration, separated with a semicolon:jfk:: aa /maxdur 800 ; f ~bc = b & ~bc = n & ~bc = o & ~bc = q & ~bc = s
- Upgrade Award Expiration - Electronic BXP Upgrade Awards are valid for 1 year from redemption. Previously, paper Upgrade Awards were valid thru Jun 30 or Dec 31 of the following year, with the exact date depending on the batch of certificates available at the time of redemption.
- Returning Unused Awards - Points redeemed for awards but not yet applied to a ticket can be returned for no charge by using the 'returns' option in your account options. Points will be reinstated with an expiration date 2 calendar years from reinstatement (i.e., expiring on December 31 two calendar years from reinstatement). For awards already applied to a ticket, you must call Business ExtrAA customer services at 800-457-7072, or email [email protected]. Customers outside the US should use the email.
- Business Extra Account Credit - A Business Extra number can be added to an existing reservation (for example, booked by a third-party travel agent) by calling AA Meeting Services.
A Business Extra number can be added to an existing BA reservation as follows:- Go to www.britishairways.com
- Select 'Manage My Booking' tab
- Follow the instructions to pull up your reservation
- Select the link towards bottom listed under 'Quick Links' 'Add On Business or Business Extra number'
- Add your Business Extra number and check the box to give your consent.
Retroactive credit for completed travel can be requested via the Business Extra website.
- Contact Business Extra
Web home page: https://www.businessextra.com
Booking and Ticketing (Meeting Services desk)
www.aa.com
1-800-433-1790 5:00 a.m. - 12:00 midnight (CT) 7 days a week
Business Extra Customer Service
1-800-457-7072 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (CT) Monday - Friday
Fax: 1-817-931-9029
E-mail: [email protected]
Link to aa.com BE contact web form
http://www.aa.com/contactAA/viewEmai...businessExtrAA
Link to BE web contact form
Note: older posts have been archived to ARCHIVE: Business Extra Program master thread (consolidated)
Business Extra ("ExtrAA") Program (master thread)
Jan 22, 2022 | 4:56 pm
#1561
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Still going through ORD security when boarding has already started
Programs: AA EXP, UA Silver, HH Gold, Bonvoy Gold, IHG Plat, Hyatt Disco, Reno Air MEGA Platinum
Posts: 10,321
Glad to see points were rolled over from 2021 and did not expire, as promised in the email we received.
Found some A availability with an EF award search. Took about 45 minutes to get a call back from Meeting Services, then 30 minutes on the phone to apply BXP1s to three trips this month.
Found some A availability with an EF award search. Took about 45 minutes to get a call back from Meeting Services, then 30 minutes on the phone to apply BXP1s to three trips this month.
I never got an email about points rolling over 
Jan 22, 2022 | 10:36 pm
#1562
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Live: IWI; Work: DCA/Everywhere; Play: LAS/SJU/MLE
Programs: AA EXP, DL PM, Hyatt Glob, Marriott Ambassador/LTP, Nat'l Exec Elite, LEYE Gold
Posts: 7,458
I found C inventory on some PHL-BCN and BCN-PHL flights this Summer. A main cabin fare priced at $1695, but in the details it shows it goes into "Q" fare bucket which isn't eligible for a BXP3 cert. $2125 PE booking will qualify. J will be $3941. I guess the only way to find something in between $1595 and $2125 is to put the $1595 Q fare on hold and call to ask about up-faring to an eligible fare that will still be under $2125. Trying to break it up as 2 one-way fares is significantly more than a RT, too.
You can then use bookwithmatrix.com to copy-paste the full resulting itinerary page and click through to book on AA.com
Also that seems high for coach flights, but I guess that's the price you pay for nonstop on a monopoly route... looks 2-3x the price of nonstops out of JFK.
Feb 6, 2022 | 7:23 pm
#1563
Join Date: Jan 2021
Posts: 288
Can I use a BXP1 on a ticket purchased through Amextravel? Seeing a fare there ~$100 lower than from AA. I would think so (and I’ve confirmed the relevant inventory is available) but wanted to confirm.
Edit: To answer my phone question, the answer is yes, since I just got off the phone with AA to confirm the upgrade. While I got a good deal through Amextravel for whatever reason - ended up saving closer to $200, somehow - I am already hoping that I don't have to deal with trying to change it, lol.
Edit: To answer my phone question, the answer is yes, since I just got off the phone with AA to confirm the upgrade. While I got a good deal through Amextravel for whatever reason - ended up saving closer to $200, somehow - I am already hoping that I don't have to deal with trying to change it, lol.
Last edited by LlamaJesus; Feb 7, 2022 at 8:56 am
Feb 9, 2022 | 9:37 am
#1564
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: OGG
Programs: AA Plat, A List Pref, Marriott Ambassador
Posts: 361
Surprisingly I just confirmed 4 seats both ways nonstop from PHX to MCO in May.
I'll be sad if I don't hit the $5k threshold this year...it will be close. These BXP1's can be real life savers : ).
I'll be sad if I don't hit the $5k threshold this year...it will be close. These BXP1's can be real life savers : ).
Feb 9, 2022 | 11:42 am
#1565
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Washington DC
Programs: IB Oro, AA GLD 1MM, Hyatt Glob, Marriott LT Titanium
Posts: 1,921
I was just able to confirm three seats in business BOS-LAX in April, which is my best use ever of BXP1s. Not a single seat had been selected when I upgraded. Still looking for the way back.
Feb 11, 2022 | 3:46 pm
#1566
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 6,455
I redeemed points for a plan ahead award in 2019 for a 2020 US-EU flight that got cancelled due to covid, moved to mid 2021 and that flight was also cancelled. The flight can be booked up until end of March 2022, but of course there has been very little U space for booking. Agent said that they could deposit the business extra points to my account and I could try and redeem them for plan ahead certificates instead.
If I redeposit the points into Business Extra, will they just be expired or will can I still redeem them for something else?
Points originally expired end of 2019.
If I redeposit the points into Business Extra, will they just be expired or will can I still redeem them for something else?
Points originally expired end of 2019.
Feb 12, 2022 | 8:16 pm
#1567
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: SoCal to the rest of the world...
Programs: AA 1MM EXP. UA 2MM Lifetime Plat
Posts: 6,742
Was able to use BXP1's to go from Business to First on LAX-BOS-LAX (321T aircraft), both for end of this month and both were available at time of request.
Feb 13, 2022 | 6:35 am
#1568
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 15,178
Feb 16, 2022 | 5:40 pm
#1570
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 6,455
Guess Im out of luck. Business Extra refuses to redeposit the award as they say the points have expired and meeting services says there is nothing I can use my redeemed ticket for. So their position is that Im just out of luck and my 14400 points and flight will expire in March.
Feb 16, 2022 | 5:58 pm
#1571
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 15,178
Guess Im out of luck. Business Extra refuses to redeposit the award as they say the points have expired and meeting services says there is nothing I can use my redeemed ticket for. So their position is that Im just out of luck and my 14400 points and flight will expire in March.
Feb 16, 2022 | 6:18 pm
#1572
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 6,455
Edit: Reached a very nice agent who helped me change from Europe to a transcon. Not the most ideal, but at least I the points dont go to waste.
Last edited by olouie; Feb 16, 2022 at 8:28 pm
Feb 18, 2022 | 8:22 am
#1573
Moderator: Hyatt Gold Passport & Star Alliance
Join Date: May 1998
Location: London, UK
Programs: UA-1K 3MM/HY- LT Globalist/BA-GGLfL
Posts: 12,761
Slightly odd one for me this morning.
Found A space and called to clear an upgrade request. Agent told me that unless the system clears it A space doesn't mean an upgrade is available.
This hasn't been my experience, but she did say that it was a Sub-set of A used for upgrades via Business Extra, which rings a bell.
Could anyone confirm?
Thanks
Found A space and called to clear an upgrade request. Agent told me that unless the system clears it A space doesn't mean an upgrade is available.
This hasn't been my experience, but she did say that it was a Sub-set of A used for upgrades via Business Extra, which rings a bell.
Could anyone confirm?
Thanks
Feb 18, 2022 | 12:58 pm
#1574
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 6,455
Slightly odd one for me this morning.
Found A space and called to clear an upgrade request. Agent told me that unless the system clears it A space doesn't mean an upgrade is available.
This hasn't been my experience, but she did say that it was a Sub-set of A used for upgrades via Business Extra, which rings a bell.
Could anyone confirm?
Thanks
Found A space and called to clear an upgrade request. Agent told me that unless the system clears it A space doesn't mean an upgrade is available.
This hasn't been my experience, but she did say that it was a Sub-set of A used for upgrades via Business Extra, which rings a bell.
Could anyone confirm?
Thanks
Feb 18, 2022 | 1:03 pm
#1575
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 1,377
Slightly odd one for me this morning.
Found A space and called to clear an upgrade request. Agent told me that unless the system clears it A space doesn't mean an upgrade is available.
This hasn't been my experience, but she did say that it was a Sub-set of A used for upgrades via Business Extra, which rings a bell.
Could anyone confirm?
Thanks
Found A space and called to clear an upgrade request. Agent told me that unless the system clears it A space doesn't mean an upgrade is available.
This hasn't been my experience, but she did say that it was a Sub-set of A used for upgrades via Business Extra, which rings a bell.
Could anyone confirm?
Thanks