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Note: older posts have been archived to ARCHIVE: Business Extra Program master thread (consolidated)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)
Aug 22, 2020 | 1:05 pm
#1186
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: BOS
Programs: AA Plat
Posts: 312
[QUOTE=mvoight;32621725 Additionally, when I ordered I found out there was a 5 day period when you can normally return them without a fee.[/QUOTE]
Decided to try that myself. Ordered a free flight cert and return immediately. Indeed all the points now have Dec 2022 expiration date. The return timeline can be found on the return award page after you made an award:
After that, reinstatement fees apply: $150 USD for the first certificate, status, or membership and $25 for each additional, within the same transaction.
Decided to try that myself. Ordered a free flight cert and return immediately. Indeed all the points now have Dec 2022 expiration date. The return timeline can be found on the return award page after you made an award:
Need to return an award?
Flight and upgrade certificates can be returned online within 5 calendar days* of redemption without a fee. AAdvantage Gold status and Admirals Club memberships can be returned online before midnight on the same day of redemption without a fee.After that, reinstatement fees apply: $150 USD for the first certificate, status, or membership and $25 for each additional, within the same transaction.
Last edited by shihyin; Aug 27, 2020 at 4:59 am
Sep 9, 2020 | 4:16 pm
#1187
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 54
[QUOTE=shihyin;32622708]Decided to try that myself. Ordered a free flight cert and return immediately. Indeed all the points now have Dec 2022 expiration date. The return timeline can be found on the return award page after you made an award:
Thank you for the tip. I had 1,000 points expiring in 3 months and I redeemed for a BXP1 upgrade for 650 points. I then returned it and it moved the expiration to 2022. I then did it again and that pushed the remaining points into 2022. So now all my points expire 2022. It was so easy since you can redeem and return online. Took 2 minutes total.
Sep 9, 2020 | 7:38 pm
#1188
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Live: IWI; Work: DCA/Everywhere; Play: LAS/SJU/MLE
Programs: AA EXP, DL PM, Hyatt Glob, Marriott Ambassador/LTP, Nat'l Exec Elite, LEYE Gold
Posts: 7,458
Given the at least temporary demise of Flagship First (which I used to redeem BXP1s for), I decided to cancel my Citi Exec card and just use Business Extra points for an Admirals Club membership. Not the best use of points, maybe, but at least a true $ savings during a time when I don't really have much use for these points.
Sep 9, 2020 | 8:50 pm
#1189
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Arizona
Posts: 5,900
Great Tip
Interesting discovery. I thought about upgrade awards, so I order 3 of them. I then changed my mind because I didn't want to be tied to the fare classes, and am just considering getting a ticket for someone using the points. A few weeks ago I had received an email saying upgrades, etc (not flights) can be redeposited by calling. Additionally, when I ordered I found out there was a 5 day period when you can normally return them without a fee. I just did that online and quickly the points were returned with the new expiration date. 12/31/22
Sep 10, 2020 | 3:42 pm
#1190
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: SJC
Programs: AAdvantage 2MM+ Lifetime PLT; BA, CO, UA, US; SPG; HHonors Gold
Posts: 861
Sep 12, 2020 | 11:17 am
#1191
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Thousand Oaks, Ca., USA
Programs: AA Lifetime Plat; Bonvoy Titanium Lifetime Elite;Hyatt Globalist; HHonors Diamond; United Silver
Posts: 9,952
[QUOTE=dannyboy888;32664168]
great tip!
ETA: I can confirm it works immediately, ie., book, and then cancel within the same session. Easiest extension I've done, first on my account and then my wife's , on both upgrade and free ticket awards. Having these for another two years is great.
Decided to try that myself. Ordered a free flight cert and return immediately. Indeed all the points now have Dec 2022 expiration date. The return timeline can be found on the return award page after you made an award:
Thank you for the tip. I had 1,000 points expiring in 3 months and I redeemed for a BXP1 upgrade for 650 points. I then returned it and it moved the expiration to 2022. I then did it again and that pushed the remaining points into 2022. So now all my points expire 2022. It was so easy since you can redeem and return online. Took 2 minutes total.
ETA: I can confirm it works immediately, ie., book, and then cancel within the same session. Easiest extension I've done, first on my account and then my wife's , on both upgrade and free ticket awards. Having these for another two years is great.
Last edited by beachfan; Sep 13, 2020 at 1:10 pm
Sep 23, 2020 | 10:36 am
#1192
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: USA
Programs: AA-EXP; UA-Silver; Bonvoy-Titanium
Posts: 506
[QUOTE=beachfan;32670551]Same, genius!
Sep 23, 2020 | 3:17 pm
#1193
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: TPA/DFW/K15
Programs: AA EXP, Mar AMB, HH LT DIA
Posts: 1,683
Sep 24, 2020 | 9:43 am
#1194
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=txpenny;32696107]
In Today's email, just 20 minutes ago
"To provide members with more flexibility, Business Extra points set to expire in 2020 will now expire on December 31, 2021."
FINALLY..............
"To provide members with more flexibility, Business Extra points set to expire in 2020 will now expire on December 31, 2021."
FINALLY..............
Sep 24, 2020 | 10:18 am
#1195
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: CLT
Programs: AA EXP, 2 Million Miler
Posts: 865
[QUOTE=mvoight;32697772]Received this good news email as well this morning. I have been waiting for AA to do this, good for them.
Sep 25, 2020 | 9:28 pm
#1198
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: ORD
Programs: Once a somebody now a nobody
Posts: 593
Ironic as I just got a reply from an inquiry two days ago saying they would NOT extend 2020 pts. So I did what flyertalk suggested. I redeemed for 10 bxp1s and immediately redeposited them. We'll use them at some point. Just annoyed me to have to ask...get denied...then get approved via common sense/math.
Oct 9, 2020 | 4:11 pm
#1199
Join Date: May 2015
Location: DCA
Programs: UA 1K, AA EXP, DL PM, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 6,972
Just signed my small business up for Business Extra, after getting a promo email that included this language:
"As an added bonus, earn 650 Business Extra points (enough for a one-way upgrade1) when you enroll by October 31, 2020 with code 20OCTand fly within 90 days."
Seems like good timing, since I'm transitioning over from Delta.
Only question I have is whether a one-way flight will satisfy. I don't see any language about it needing to be a round trip:
"This offer is available only to recipients of the email sent by American Airlines on October 9, 2020, and is valid through October 31, 2020. To earn the reward, an eligible company must enroll in the program using Referral Code "20OCT" between October 9, 2020 and October 31, 2020, and fly within 90 days of enrolling using their newly created Business Extra number. If the requirements are met, 650 Business Extra points will be deposited into the member's account within six weeks. This offer is non-transferable. Void where prohibited."
"As an added bonus, earn 650 Business Extra points (enough for a one-way upgrade1) when you enroll by October 31, 2020 with code 20OCTand fly within 90 days."
Seems like good timing, since I'm transitioning over from Delta.
Only question I have is whether a one-way flight will satisfy. I don't see any language about it needing to be a round trip:
"This offer is available only to recipients of the email sent by American Airlines on October 9, 2020, and is valid through October 31, 2020. To earn the reward, an eligible company must enroll in the program using Referral Code "20OCT" between October 9, 2020 and October 31, 2020, and fly within 90 days of enrolling using their newly created Business Extra number. If the requirements are met, 650 Business Extra points will be deposited into the member's account within six weeks. This offer is non-transferable. Void where prohibited."
Oct 9, 2020 | 5:20 pm
#1200
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: PHX
Programs: AA Ex Platinum & 1MM, DL PLT, Marriott LFT PLT, HH Diamond
Posts: 2,541
Just signed my small business up for Business Extra, after getting a promo email that included this language:
"As an added bonus, earn 650 Business Extra points (enough for a one-way upgrade1) when you enroll by October 31, 2020 with code 20OCTand fly within 90 days."
Seems like good timing, since I'm transitioning over from Delta.
Only question I have is whether a one-way flight will satisfy. I don't see any language about it needing to be a round trip:
"This offer is available only to recipients of the email sent by American Airlines on October 9, 2020, and is valid through October 31, 2020. To earn the reward, an eligible company must enroll in the program using Referral Code "20OCT" between October 9, 2020 and October 31, 2020, and fly within 90 days of enrolling using their newly created Business Extra number. If the requirements are met, 650 Business Extra points will be deposited into the member's account within six weeks. This offer is non-transferable. Void where prohibited."
"As an added bonus, earn 650 Business Extra points (enough for a one-way upgrade1) when you enroll by October 31, 2020 with code 20OCTand fly within 90 days."
Seems like good timing, since I'm transitioning over from Delta.
Only question I have is whether a one-way flight will satisfy. I don't see any language about it needing to be a round trip:
"This offer is available only to recipients of the email sent by American Airlines on October 9, 2020, and is valid through October 31, 2020. To earn the reward, an eligible company must enroll in the program using Referral Code "20OCT" between October 9, 2020 and October 31, 2020, and fly within 90 days of enrolling using their newly created Business Extra number. If the requirements are met, 650 Business Extra points will be deposited into the member's account within six weeks. This offer is non-transferable. Void where prohibited."
When, & that's a big one, there is availability AA is willing to release for those upgrades.
Don't hold your breath waiting-'upgrade' is a dirty, 4-letter word, to Discount Dougie.