Just like SWU were hard to use in 2022, I found ZERO availability for BXP1 upgrades and I called on every flight I took this year and had about 100k miles flown. I actually called them to unwind the BXP1 points and then can use them for the AA lounge.

I notice your ex plat so it won’t matter as much, but wouldn’t having the BXP1 applied to your PNR bump you over other ex plats on the waitlist for upgrades? Might be useful if you had less loyalty points than them on a competitive route?

that’s not how you maximize the value of a bxp1. If you have a flexible schedule they are super valuable, but you do need a flexible schedule to really maximize their value. I Always check space and book what has confirmed space when using a bxp1.

I didn't think BXP upgrades carried over to the standby list.

Audits:
My company has gone in and out of having enough W2'd travelers (vs partners and consultants), so it is conceivable it might not pass an audit.
BUT:
Several years ago, I was at an event for tech startups at which an AAdvantage rep was pushing the program heavily. His name escapes me, but he wore Converse' and jeans to all AA Functions. Per his encouragement, I signed up for Business Extraa during the event. The terms and conditions at the time, I believe, did not mention anything about the company having to maintain that many employees, etc, it was very vague.

The guy, if he knows anything about startups, conceivably knows that they go through changes constantly, sometimes even before the end of their first tax year. So if any startups that signed up during his events are later cut, I would attribute some blame to him.

Also, I think of BE as a little extra pocket change on the side. Auditing everyone and cutting some would certainly look terrible, but probably wouldn't have any actual impact on companies small enough to not qualify.

Blame for what? You do realize that the terms and conditions of programs can change over time, right? :confused: They aren't set in stone. I mean a couple months ago the AAirpass program existed, now it doesn't exist at all. It doesn't mean it was fake or misleading while it existed. So the fact that a rep pushed the program when the terms and conditions were different doesn't mean he now shares some sort of "blame" for the game changing. And for the record, countless bloggers encouraged people (even without an semblance of a business) to sign up as well.

Regards

Regarding annual spend: I had about $1,000 of flights credited in the last week of 2021, and sometime in the last week, my spend counter at https://www.businessextra.com/redeem/redeem-points.htm dropped by $1,000. So it does seem that it's a rolling counter with at least monthly resolution, maybe even daily. I think that's how we all assumed it would work, but here's an additional DP.

Absolutely. But if the terms and conditions change, the new terms cannot be retroactively applied to previous years, i.e. in an audit.
AA and/or the guy himself would only be to blame if they knew of impending changes yet continued to market towards a category of businesses that would not qualify under future terms.

That said, I can hardly imagine it being a problem if, from year to year, the three traveling employees change.

I'm not sure its fair to assume that a run of the mill sales rep would be aware of impending changes to a program in a future year.

The points and miles game is ever changing. Nothing is static, you have to adapt, improvise and overcome...

Regards

Wow. Audits! I'm new to this program and only have myself, my wife and my daughter signed up. They do not work for the company; just me.

I've got just over 18,000 points and am EXP so most domestic awards are not that interesting to me. I was trying to figure out the fare classes to figure out if international upgrades to business class from discounted coach clear ahead of the EXP SWU's that I have and, in general, if they are any more likely to clear than those fairly useless (for European travel) SWU's. My gut tells me those BXP2 and BXP3 awards are not all that useful unless dates are very flexible.

So now I'm thinking of cashing everything out for the BX6E award and see if it triggers an audit. I'm not out any cash and if they audit and I fail, they just cancel the award and I lose the points.

Thoughts?

They are treated like an SWU or miles/copay upgrade. So, yes, a BXP1 request will go into the waitlist if it doesn't clear before the flight goes to airport control.

You're probably not alone in this practice. However, this is exactly what a Business Extra audit will uncover and disqualify you from the program.

i seriously doubt anyone is getting audited for the Business Extra program who already cashed out their accounts, even if you're holding certificates for future use.
I think the only audit risk is for those who continue in the program without 3 distinct travelers and accumulate a robust number of BE points.
Doesn't matter to me; I met the 3 traveler minimum for my company by a decent amount; I just can't keep the 5k use per year going so I'm done with it til if/when that changes.
In a practical sense, the 5k min and 3 traveler dashboard is a decent audit all by itself, if you fall short on either of those metrics, you can't cash anything out, problem solved.

This is a new one for me. I had a paid first class fare on AA, booked through AMEX Travel, earn 0 points. The fare code was a normal published fare code. I've never had any issues with AMEX Travel bookings earning points, so I wrote to them. The reply I received stated: "So, fares through Amex travel are considered private fares, which means the general has no access to the discounts that Amex cardholders get. That is why you didn't earn any points on that flight." The other employee booked his ticket through Capital One Travel (same fare code, same flight) and did earn full points. Is this a new policy?

I've noticed this as well. Very disappointing.