No, but they will release them closer to flight date if the load is light. You'd get waitlisted and hold your breath until the gate when other members, maybe with higher status, are vying for points+$$ and SWU upgrades. Best option is to pick mid week days, early morning flights for your best chance.

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Wow, what precipitated that email? Asking for W2s suggests they are pretty serious about this, and seems to be a step beyond my original understanding of the 3 unique traveler requirement. Given AA's aggressive enforcement of frequent flier program violations, I would proceed with caution here.

perhaps they'd be ok showing 1099's....not every employee is a w2 employee. AA might be asking more more info than they really should, in my opinion, even if you obscure part of the SSN

We're somewhat OT, but what type of employee are you thinking of when you say "not every employee is a w2 employee"?

They appear to have reverted the FAQ change after the Dec. 7th announcement of points being extended through February 28, 2023.

Our business also received a similar email last week to that of queen of coach with the request for both business verification and employee/contractor verification and what might be considered a soft suspension. Account remained open and could be credited, but couldnt redeem. We have been part of the program for well over a decade. It was pretty threatening language for long term customers. Yes, AA is asking for more information than they should but they can make the rules and we decide if we want to play. and Yes they are OK with 1099's redacted since the T&C's permit contractors and employees .The due date to reply was December 20 or so. We returned the information within a couple of days and within 2 hours received an email response from the audit team, with further requests, and when answered, by the end of day AA sent an all OK email . Thought that was pretty amazing turnaround (since you could barely talk to a res agent in that time frame), and it seems like all things considered that this activity would be low priority but who knows? They are very much a stickler for the business verification audit items they request so if you do not have them, think about what you want to do. A call to the number on the email was actually answered by a person, and the claim was that all Business Extra accounts are being audited by end of year. AA had somehow added travelers to our Business Extra account that we had never added (since that is done by the FF within their own account), and we told them that in the call (still dont know how that happened) and they "sort of" admitted the mistake telling us what happened. Guessing this a small ausit team. Dont know how big the program is or what criteria is causing the request to audit. Just sharing.

That is not an example of consultant per program rules. Payments of flights or meals is not the same as filing a 1099 information return for the person.

Nothing precipitated it, other than the fact there are two travelers in my BE account: Me and my husband. They sent me a polite note telling me my acct would be suspended. If I submitted the following (list of stuff proving three traveling employees and bona fide business dba sales tax etc), then it would be un-suspended.

I wrote back, politely telling them I am not looking to expand the business and "Thanks for the Memories". Their final note, again very polite and friendly, was to give me until Dec 10 to use my existing points, which I did do. Two friends got AC day passes for their trip over Christmas to see family. Genuine, 25-year friends, no barter/sale/trade. I am totally within their rules.

I agree. Proceed with caution. I certainly do not want to endanger my Aadvantage account by adding bogus employees to BE.

Note: It has to be three TRAVELING employees, not just three employees. If there are four genuine W2 employees in the business, but only one travels, that doesn't cut it.

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?

What do you mean by this? The US tax code does not recognize such an arrangement AFAIK.

based on your post it sounds like you told them you won’t be providing the information they requested and accept having your BE account frozen - but it also sounds like there wasn’t any blowback to your/your employees AA account?

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?

Ooops I mean w-2 employees.

The BE number is in each FF account. The Business is defined in the Business Extra system . You can certainly have one reservation with persons that have a BE number in their FF and persons that do not have one

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.

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?

The BE number applies for the entire reservation and all passenger. There is not a separate field for each passenger.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Are BusinessExtra award flights in coach eligible for complimentary upgrades for Executive Platinum members, just like AAdvantage award flights?

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.

Any update on this? My account still shows expiration on Dec 31 2022 as well.

Is a BXP1 that is waitlisted prioritized over a PPRO upgrade waitlist?

Chances of these clearing?

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...b98e277824.png

Same. I seem to recall before Covid, to find availability, I had to start in Europe and return to USA and back to Europe to find space. Once I did, then I could originate in USA and reverse it, but the search function never worked in the opposite direction. That trick doesn't seem to be working at the moment. Does anyone know another way to find space? It can't be that there is zero space on every TATL route for PlanAhead in the coming months! But, I guess that's true. Anyone know another way to look for space? If it's U space, can we search for it to open up on Expert Flyer?

Emptied out my entire BE stash. It's been real, BE! Peace out! :cool:

Yeah, it's not super clear. In my account it shows the checked boxes of spend and three individual travelers. Then it states:" The redemption threshold will apply for your account on 01/01/2023". Does that mean I need to have crossed the threshold again next year, before I can redeem?

Does BXP0 (Business Extra Points to AAdvantage Miles Conversion) count as Loyalty Points?

No. Says right in the FAQ on the BE webpage where you redeem this award. In case you can't find that webpage, it is reproduced below.

No, you're reading too much into it.

That "redemption threshold" language is listed on every account by the counter, just means that you need to have the $5k spend and 3 travelers in order to redeem.

And the spend counter is based on rolling 12 months, so it's not going to reset on Jan 1.

One anecdotal experience: BXP1 is supposed to have a higher priority than comped/former sticker upgrade request. However, when my upgrade cleared within the PPRO window, they did not use up the BXP1.

I had an amex insider fare that had a fare not eligible, zero points posting. I called and asked about the reason and was told there are new restrictions on unpublished fares and the insider fares were included. This basically makes the program useless for us. I cashed out all of the company points.

If you were upgraded before the flight went to airport control, it's because "C" inventory did not open for waitlisted upgrades like BXP1, Points and SWUs. Had you not gotten your comp upgrade in your elite window and wound up at the gate on the list, your BXP1 would have had priority over the 'sticker' upgrades for any available seats.

Instrument upgrades using BXP1s, SWUs and mileage are prioritized over all elite complimentary upgrades when the flight goes to airport control and the waitlist is created. Of course, CKs with an instrument upgrade will hold priority over an ExPlat with one.

But yes that means you could get your PPRO upgrade days before the flight while those with instrument upgrades are still waiting for "C" inventory to clear. The algorithm behind how this is done is closely held, though, so there's no way to really know how the system determines when to open X inventory (domestic comp upgrades) and/or C inventory (instrument upgrades) when the elite windows begin to open.

I've been a BE member for 12 years and have not gotten the audit email. Someone upthread mentioned they were told this is happening to "all" accounts, though not sure how accurate that is. I have just over $5000 spend over the past 12 months, and have another $3000-$4000 in the next 2 months. I also have 3 unique travelers, so I'm good to go into 2023 for redemptions. But since I only had around 700 points left, I redeemed a BXP1 to hopefully use in the coming year. I've also already redeemed 2 BXP3's for travel in a few months to Europe and those seats are confirmed (2 of us traveling).

In the event they do audit me, and are not satisfied that I meet the requirements, I'm going to assume they could just as easily take back those 2 upgrades (6200 points total) that are already confirmed but the flight hasn't happened yet. Fingers crossed....

I’ve noticed the same, now AMEX insider fares are getting denied for BE credits. I too cashed out my points for three NA upgrades and three admirals club. Hoping the higher priority within my elite status helps on the lie flat HNL PHX wide body routes, I missed a upgrade number one on the waitlist recently…. Just wish I could have more time to cash out the upgrades but my points were expiring at the end of this year anyway.

This morning, the points that were due to expire yesterday, on 31 December 2022, are now showing as expiring on 28 February 2023 :tu:

I'm thinking it's time to cash out for BXP1s (unless we think that certificates also get frozen)...

I very much could see them doing audits on everyone, especially with the recent rules changes.

Highlights (or lowlights)? Looks like I missed an email. Thanks.

I'm referring to the revenue and minimum employee requirements. The program is very much headed in the same direction as Delta SkyBonus.