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Note: older posts have been archived to ARCHIVE: Business Extra Program master thread (consolidated)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)
Dec 14, 2022 | 4:54 am
#1771
Join Date: Mar 2005
Programs: UA 1K (former PP), AA PPro (3MM, former CK), Marriott Ambassador and LTT, Hilton Gold, Uber One
Posts: 1,429
Dec 14, 2022 | 7:08 am
#1772
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: JFK, LGA
Programs: AA PRO, BA S
Posts: 190
Edit: just surprised you mentioned endangering the AA account - if you refuse to provide the info and they were cool with that and just closed BE, seems like the AA account should be fine in any case?
Last edited by perkerkeem; Dec 14, 2022 at 7:27 am
Dec 14, 2022 | 7:08 pm
#1774
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: AA EXP >3 Million miles,HH Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 3,437
Have the rules gotten more strict with the change to the minimum number of employees/amount spent on travel? If so, then why would AA automatically still put in a BE number in a reservation and automatically credit points for all travelers on the same reservation?
Before accepting a BE number on a reservation, shouldn't AA instead require a certification that the reservation is for business travel and only includes w-2 employees or statutory employees? Or require all employees to be registered first, and then limit credit to only those employees? Or require a BE number for each passenger?
Thanks for the warning, but there seems to be a lot better ways to enforce this than auditing accounts and clawing back points that AA automatically credited in the first place. As it stands now, if I take a non-employee on a business trip with me, then I would have to book separate reservations and then re-link them for status benefits (which necessitates a call and a phone agent's time). Are the BE points that costly for them?
Before accepting a BE number on a reservation, shouldn't AA instead require a certification that the reservation is for business travel and only includes w-2 employees or statutory employees? Or require all employees to be registered first, and then limit credit to only those employees? Or require a BE number for each passenger?
Thanks for the warning, but there seems to be a lot better ways to enforce this than auditing accounts and clawing back points that AA automatically credited in the first place. As it stands now, if I take a non-employee on a business trip with me, then I would have to book separate reservations and then re-link them for status benefits (which necessitates a call and a phone agent's time). Are the BE points that costly for them?
Dec 14, 2022 | 10:07 pm
#1775
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 707
While that is true, the Business Extra number is then automatically populated in a multi-person reservation based on the FF who is initiating a booking. So if I book a flight and bring a non-employee along, I can't tell AA just to give me BE credit only for myself and not for my guest. Its all or nothing.
Dec 15, 2022 | 10:21 am
#1776
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: ORD
Programs: AA EXP >3 Million miles,HH Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 3,437
So if passenger one has a BE number in it, and you are booking on aa.com for more than one passenger, the BE number auto populates to all passengers?. Isnt it a separate field for each passenger on the reservation and cant it be blanked out for the non employees in the reservation at time of booking?
Dec 15, 2022 | 8:36 pm
#1777
Join Date: Jun 2002
Posts: 707
So if passenger one has a BE number in it, and you are booking on aa.com for more than one passenger, the BE number auto populates to all passengers?. Isnt it a separate field for each passenger on the reservation and cant it be blanked out for the non employees in the reservation at time of booking?
That is my point. Its all or nothing. So if AA doesn't want non-employees to count towards your BE points earning on a single reservation, its not possible to do so. You would have to book separate reservations.
Dec 17, 2022 | 6:33 pm
#1778
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: NYC
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, AA Gold, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 119
Has anyone heard anything about how the elimination of MilesSAAver and AANytime awards impacts BE redemptions? I'm guessing that if the primary program moves to dynamic pricing, then BusinessExtra will follow. Seemingly no discussion around this.
Dec 18, 2022 | 10:09 am
#1779
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: SFO or OAK
Programs: AA 1MM GLD, Hertz #1 Gold, bunch of other programs w/no status
Posts: 1,752
Just got an email stating points set to expire Dec 31 2022 are extended to Feb 28 2023. However, doesn't the "$5000 spend for redeeming points" rule kick in on Jan 1st? If so, it seems like it may still be wise to redeem soon to expire points before the end of the year.
Dec 18, 2022 | 6:00 pm
#1780
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,692
no details available yet on the "simplified awards chart" and "fully dynamic awards" so it's too early to tell. We dont even know if MilesAAver and AAnytime terms are going/staying etc.
Dec 19, 2022 | 10:15 pm
#1781
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: District of Columbia
Programs: AA ExecPl, AF Gold, Hyatt Globalist,IHG Diamond, Hilton Diamond, Delta Gold
Posts: 2,670
Are BusinessExtra award flights in coach eligible for complimentary upgrades for Executive Platinum members, just like AAdvantage award flights?
Dec 20, 2022 | 5:19 am
#1782
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: RDU <|> MMX
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS
Posts: 15,179
Yep. The mechanics of the award work exactly the same as an award booked with AA miles, only you're just paying with BE points.
Dec 30, 2022 | 8:54 am
#1783
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: EYW
Programs: AA Exe Platinum, AA & Delta Million Miler, Hilton LT Diamond, Marriott LT Titanium, United Silver
Posts: 540
Hmm...I was just checking our BE account and noticed that it still states we will have points expiring Dec 31 2022. I hope this isn't accurate as I planned to wait until late Feb to redeem, given the expiration extension. There is also now a progress indicator showing how far one has come to meeting the $5K spend requirement; apparently we already met it so there should be no issue for us redeeming points in 2023.
Dec 30, 2022 | 9:28 am
#1785
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2002
Location: NC
Programs: AAConciergeKey/2MM, DL DM/2MM, UA Gold,Hilton Diamond,IHG Diamond, Hyatt Globalist,Marriott Titanium
Posts: 13,228
Running out time before my current BX6B award expires and over the past year have never seen ANY PlanAhead AA business award space to/from any Europe airport.
While I have always had beyond low expectations I'm hoping someone can provide some guidance on finding business award space from NYC (or anywhere) to anywhere in Europe?
Alternatively, can anyone provide a suggestion on what can be done with this useless award before EOY as I won't qualify for redemptions in 2023 due to not meeting the new 5K spend rule?
In addition I have to burn the 8,198 points currently in my account before EOY and am trying to figure a flight award that can actually be booked?
TIA
While I have always had beyond low expectations I'm hoping someone can provide some guidance on finding business award space from NYC (or anywhere) to anywhere in Europe?
Alternatively, can anyone provide a suggestion on what can be done with this useless award before EOY as I won't qualify for redemptions in 2023 due to not meeting the new 5K spend rule?
In addition I have to burn the 8,198 points currently in my account before EOY and am trying to figure a flight award that can actually be booked?
TIA