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Note: older posts have been archived to ARCHIVE: Business Extra Program master thread (consolidated)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)
Jun 12, 2022, 9:49 am
#1621
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Santa Barbara, CA, Park City, UT
Programs: AA EXP, Delta Plat, Marriott Plat,Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Plat
Posts: 902
Few questions
I’m still not clear after reading the wiki and even speaking to customer service about a few things. Customer service themselves seem to not know accurately the rules as well.
At the end of 2021 I have a lot of points expiring. I redeemed 6 BXP1 certs but I’ve found no real good use so far to use them. So at this point I’ve used them on some shorter haul flights but I’m only getting a couple hundred dollars each if that, otherwise they’ll expire.
My understanding is that if I cancel the flights the BXP1 certs can be turned back into points. Could I have not even used them but just turned them back into points? And what would be the expiration date for each scenario? Reading the wiki it seems it was unnecessary to use on a ticket first.
I’m also unclear about the new eligibility rules. I was told that starting Jan 1 2023 for existing customers that I’d have to spend $5000 for the year and have had all three employees fly on a revenue ticket I paid for before I can redeem. But why doesn’t any of my activity in 2021 count? I’d thought it was a rolling 12 month period at least for spending?
At the end of 2021 I have a lot of points expiring. I redeemed 6 BXP1 certs but I’ve found no real good use so far to use them. So at this point I’ve used them on some shorter haul flights but I’m only getting a couple hundred dollars each if that, otherwise they’ll expire.
My understanding is that if I cancel the flights the BXP1 certs can be turned back into points. Could I have not even used them but just turned them back into points? And what would be the expiration date for each scenario? Reading the wiki it seems it was unnecessary to use on a ticket first.
I’m also unclear about the new eligibility rules. I was told that starting Jan 1 2023 for existing customers that I’d have to spend $5000 for the year and have had all three employees fly on a revenue ticket I paid for before I can redeem. But why doesn’t any of my activity in 2021 count? I’d thought it was a rolling 12 month period at least for spending?
Jun 12, 2022, 9:53 am
#1622
Moderator: Hyatt Gold Passport & Star Alliance
Join Date: May 1998
Location: London, UK
Programs: UA-1K 3MM/HY- LT Globalist/BA-GGL/GfL
Posts: 12,090
My understanding is that if I cancel the flights the BXP1 certs can be turned back into points. Could I have not even used them but just turned them back into points? And what would be the expiration date for each scenario? Reading the wiki it seems it was unnecessary to use on a ticket first.
Jun 12, 2022, 10:00 am
#1623
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Santa Barbara, CA, Park City, UT
Programs: AA EXP, Delta Plat, Marriott Plat,Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, IHG Plat
Posts: 902
And so then what is the new expiration date? Is the new date just as if they were just earned? And would reinstating them as points also had the same affect on the expiration date of those points.
Jun 14, 2022, 1:11 pm
#1624
Join Date: Apr 2012
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 40
Have had 0 luck being able to request upgrades through the BE website. Every PRN i put in comes back as not found, even though booked straight through AA website. Very frustrating!!! It's absolutely worthless and then an hour+ wait on the phoneline.
Any tips?
Any tips?
Jun 14, 2022, 1:48 pm
#1625
Join Date: Apr 2009
Programs: American EXP; British Airways Gold
Posts: 1,896
I believe you go to business.aa.com. At the bottom of the graphic underneath the headline "Doing business with American Airlines just got easier", click on "View Itinerary". On the next screen, enter your information and your itinerary should pop up.
Jun 14, 2022, 3:07 pm
#1626
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 204
What if your BXP-1 has been applied to a ticket but the upgrade is waitlisted and does not clear? Does it go back into your account automatically?
Jun 14, 2022, 5:39 pm
#1627
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 12,482
Yes and no. If the upgrade doesn't clear the authorization numbers are never used and the upgrade remains valid/unused; Just go online or call sometime in the future when you're ready to use it again.
Jun 14, 2022, 7:21 pm
#1628
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 204
So I looked at flights way off in November between LAS-CLT CLT-LAS and all of the nonstops have 0 availability in the C category..huh? One of the nonstops has 20 F seats, all available. It doesn't seem that the BXP-1 upgrades are very usable.. I will not attempt to use one again where AA says it can only be waitlisted...
Jun 14, 2022, 8:22 pm
#1629
Join Date: Jan 2021
Location: Miami, FL
Programs: AA Executive Platinum, Delta Platinum, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, Clear
Posts: 99
I have had ZERO luck with BXP1 upgrades so far in 2022 and even called an agent for flights out to September. There was some spotty availability, but not on the flights I wanted.
Jun 15, 2022, 9:00 am
#1630
Moderator: Hyatt Gold Passport & Star Alliance
Join Date: May 1998
Location: London, UK
Programs: UA-1K 3MM/HY- LT Globalist/BA-GGL/GfL
Posts: 12,090
This, pre- COVID was a chargeable activity - recrediting points - so you need to watch if this fee comes back.
Jun 18, 2022, 6:09 pm
#1632
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: ATL
Programs: Shamelessly Gold at Flying Burrito and AirTrain A+ Elite. Turkish Star Gold, 100k at Flying Eskimo
Posts: 740
Day Pass
Just redemmed 300 points for an Admiral Club Day Pass. In the past, these used to be snail-mailed.
Where do I now find the Admiral Club Day Pass information to enter the lounge?
Is in the phone apps somewhere?
Minos
Where do I now find the Admiral Club Day Pass information to enter the lounge?
Is in the phone apps somewhere?
Minos
Jun 20, 2022, 12:36 pm
#1634
Join Date: Jan 2015
Programs: Alaska Gold 75K, AA EXP, United 1K
Posts: 472
Jun 20, 2022, 12:57 pm
#1635
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: LAX
Programs: AAdvantage Platinum, Alitalia Freccia Alata
Posts: 213
EDIT: Sorry, forgot to tag the OP, but this was about the website error message...
It can also produce this result if there are more than one pax on the PNR. If that's the case you need to call to have the record split in order to process an upgrade online. The online process cannot handle a PNR with more than one pax.
It can also produce this result if there are more than one pax on the PNR. If that's the case you need to call to have the record split in order to process an upgrade online. The online process cannot handle a PNR with more than one pax.