Nov 21, 2012, 10:53 am

FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides

Last edit by: Prospero

American Airlines Business Extra® Program (master thread)

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:

Quote:

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:
1. Go to www.britishairways.com
2. Select 'Manage My Booking' tab
3. Follow the instructions to pull up your reservation
4. Select the link towards bottom listed under 'Quick Links' 'Add On Business or Business Extra number'
5. 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)

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Oct 25, 2019 | 4:22 am

#1066

JJeffrey

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Feb 2001

Location: RDU <|> MMX

Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS

Posts: 15,176

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shareholder

Didn't realize redeemed certificates can be returned. I have 1800 BE points expiring at the end of December. If I redeem for an award (say a coach return North America) and then return it, will the points no longer expire? (I doubt they would, but just asking.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcatman

The points will be reinstated with the original expiration date. You'll pay $150 minimum for the pleasure of returning the award.

That is certainly not my experience, whenever I have cancelled an award the returned points always have a new expiration. YMMV I guess. Additionally you don't pay the fee if you cancel the award within 5 days.

I had 12k points expiring this year, so last week I claimed a 25k AAnytime award, then cancelled it a few mins later. Everything done online, no fee, points returned, and I no longer have any expiring this year.

Oct 25, 2019 | 8:56 am

#1067

jcatman

Join Date: Apr 2009

Programs: American PLT; British Airways Gold

Posts: 1,944

Quote:

Originally Posted by JJeffrey

That is certainly not my experience, whenever I have cancelled an award the returned points always have a new expiration. YMMV I guess. Additionally you don't pay the fee if you cancel the award within 5 days.

I had 12k points expiring this year, so last week I claimed a 25k AAnytime award, then cancelled it a few mins later. Everything done online, no fee, points returned, and I no longer have any expiring this year.

Based upon your experience, did you want to correct the Wiki for this thread under the category "Returning Unused Awards? As of now, the Wiki states that when unused rewards are returned after five days of issue, the points are reinstated with the original expiration date.

I changed the Wiki awhile back when I received an email from BusinessExtra indicating that the $150 reinstatement fee applies to all Business Extra customers regardless of their status with the airline.

Oct 25, 2019 | 8:58 am

#1068

mvoight

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: May 2004

Location: DFW/DAL

Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, AS MVPG, HH Diamond, NCL Platinum Plus, MSC Diamond

Posts: 21,424

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcatman

The points will be reinstated with the original expiration date. You'll pay $150 minimum for the pleasure of returning the award.

EXP's don't pay the $150, correct?
And, I doubt the original date is kept, as that would make you get no refund if you canceled a flight passed the date the points would have expired.

Oct 25, 2019 | 6:43 pm

#1069

jcatman

Join Date: Apr 2009

Programs: American PLT; British Airways Gold

Posts: 1,944

Quote:

Originally Posted by mvoight

EXP's don't pay the $150, correct?
And, I doubt the original date is kept, as that would make you get no refund if you canceled a flight passed the date the points would have expired.

The email I received from Business Extra Customer Service stated that everyone (regardless of airline status) pays the $150 fee if the award is cancelled outside the 5-day window.

Oct 28, 2019 | 11:39 pm

#1070

skasner

Join Date: Dec 2016

Programs: aa

Posts: 2

Hi all. This thread has been very helpful and I have been able to use BXP1s with success, so thank you all. However, I am still puzzled by the inconsistencies in earning BE points. About 1/3 of all of our flights are disqualified from earning any points due to being "discounted." Since BE points are earned based solely on $ spent, I cannot figure out why some earn zero points. Doesn't seem to correlate with price or class (none are basic economy or companion fares). Some just seem to be disqualified at random. Any ideas?

Oct 28, 2019 | 11:53 pm

#1071

mvoight

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: May 2004

Location: DFW/DAL

Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, AS MVPG, HH Diamond, NCL Platinum Plus, MSC Diamond

Posts: 21,424

Quote:

Originally Posted by skasner

Are these discounted due to an award code or booked through an employer or their travel agency?
From personal experience, when I used to use discount codes, those were not eligible, and most recently my first trip for my current employer was also rejected.
I suspect it was due to a discount as my wife was on the same flights and the company booking was a bit less, even the the booking class letter was the same.

Nov 4, 2019 | 6:51 am

#1072

skasner

Join Date: Dec 2016

Programs: aa

Posts: 2

That could be the answer. Will have to review those tickets. Seems odd that they would not just give 1 point per $5 spent rather than round down to zero.

Nov 5, 2019 | 7:38 pm

#1073

SFGuy37

Join Date: May 2011

Programs: AA EXP, DL Plat, VX Gold, VS Gold, HHonors Gold; SPG Gold; Marriott Gold

Posts: 247

BXP3 From PE (P) to J?

Sorry if it's been covered.
I have a ticketed booking R/T from DFW to HKG.
Outbound segment booked in Economy S Class - Used an SWU to upgrade to available C Inventory as S Class not eligible for BXP3
Return segment is currently booked in Premium Economy (P Class Fare) - Can I use a BXP3 to Upgrade from PE to J if C class becomes available?

Nov 6, 2019 | 11:50 am

#1074

mcgahat

Join Date: Sep 2003

Location: W29

Programs: It's Complicated...

Posts: 7,178

Quote:

Originally Posted by SFGuy37

Yes.

Nov 8, 2019 | 12:12 pm

#1075

robertablake

Join Date: Nov 2017

Location: CLT

Programs: AA EXP, 2 Million Miler

Posts: 865

Does anyone have issues with flights posting Business Extra points? I had not been paying close attention to points posting until recently. My bad for trusting the system works.

After a detail review of flights, I realized some flights never automatically posted point. I submitted 5 flights for Flight Credit Request and received those points. But, we have a significant number of flights over a year old where we did not automatically received the credit and AA won't research and post credits missed on flights over a year old - a live and learn situation for me. Just wondering if anyone else has issues with credits auto posting?

Nov 8, 2019 | 6:01 pm

#1076

billgrates3

Join Date: Jun 2006

Location: SFO/OAK

Programs: AA LT PLT 3.5MM, BAEC, UAMP, Skyteam (<10k) HH Gold, IHG Plat, Hertz Gold, GE/TSA TT

Posts: 2,724

My org has had plenty of non-posting flights, although none the past 2 years. I think the newer system of 3-4 day posting works better (instead of the old 20th of the month posting method).

Nov 9, 2019 | 12:05 pm

#1077

LovePrunes

Join Date: Jul 2011

Posts: 2,690

When you do the request for credit after it doesn't post, do you need to put in every segment of the ticket or can you just enter the first and they do the whole ticketed itinerary

Nov 9, 2019 | 3:27 pm

#1078

robertablake

Join Date: Nov 2017

Location: CLT

Programs: AA EXP, 2 Million Miler

Posts: 865

Quote:

Originally Posted by LovePrunes

When you do the request for credit after it doesn't post, do you need to put in every segment of the ticket or can you just enter the first and they do the whole ticketed itinerary

They do all segments on the ticket number.

Nov 13, 2019 | 2:04 pm

#1079

inthemix

Join Date: Jul 2010

Location: AGP/GIB

Programs: Hyatt Globalist, AA EXP

Posts: 362

Quick question

I'm booked AGP-MAD-JFK-LAX on an American issued ticket

I got ahold of one BXP1 certificate

AA is saying that I can't use a BXP1 to upgrade the single leg JFK-LAX since it's an international iternarary I'd need a BXP3. Is this right?

I don't need to upgrade the international leg (also don't have the certificate)

Is this a hang up and call again scenario, or is this somehow truly how it works? Really hoping to not play upgrade roulette at the gate. I'm 1 for 1 on this route with free upgrades, but I got lucky.

Nov 13, 2019 | 7:26 pm

#1080

JJeffrey

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Feb 2001

Location: RDU <|> MMX

Programs: AA EXP 2MM, SK EBS

Posts: 15,176

Quote:

Originally Posted by inthemix

What a garbage answer, many of these Meeting Services reps can be totally clueless. Of course you can use your BXP1 on the JFK-LAX segment, a BXP3 wouldn't even be valid, HUCA.