Dec 18, 2019, 12:31 pm
Last edit by: wyogold
Related discussions in other Flyertalk forums:
AA potentially closing accounts due to credit card churning/churn
How to know if you're locked: (as of 12/22/2019)
- Call in to aadvantage reservations (800-882-8880) If you locked, you'll be forwarded to customer service instead of getting to the automated reservations system
- If you want to stay on the line, ask CSR if your account is locked (you tried to make a reservation but it wouldn't let you). CSR will inform you there's a note on your account and that corporate security will contact you
- Try to make a reservation for a super cheap hotel through useaamiles.com. There are 1000 miles / night hotels in New Delhi, so at worst you'll risk 1K miles. If you're locked, you'll see "Unable to process points. Please call our customer service for assistance."
So far, nobody seems to have gotten unlocked and gotten access to their miles back. Accounts with upcoming travel seem to be the ones that are getting terminated at the highest rate.
AA potentially closing accounts due to credit card churning/churn
How to know if you're locked: (as of 12/22/2019)
- Call in to aadvantage reservations (800-882-8880) If you locked, you'll be forwarded to customer service instead of getting to the automated reservations system
- If you want to stay on the line, ask CSR if your account is locked (you tried to make a reservation but it wouldn't let you). CSR will inform you there's a note on your account and that corporate security will contact you
- Try to make a reservation for a super cheap hotel through useaamiles.com. There are 1000 miles / night hotels in New Delhi, so at worst you'll risk 1K miles. If you're locked, you'll see "Unable to process points. Please call our customer service for assistance."
So far, nobody seems to have gotten unlocked and gotten access to their miles back. Accounts with upcoming travel seem to be the ones that are getting terminated at the highest rate.
AA accounts restricted (Nov/Dec 2019)
Dec 11, 2019, 3:33 pm
#151
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: IAD
Posts: 735
Long time poster, posting under a new account.
I and my P2 have been locked out of our AA accounts since sometime within the past week. I'm not sure of the exact date. No other steps have been taken. No contact from AA or anything like that.
We have not sold miles, purchased mailer codes, or played any tricks with reservations like holds or bad credit cards. We have applied with mailers/emailers that we got from friends & family. That's pretty much it. A few family members created AA accounts who probably wouldn't have otherwise. But my goldfish didn't have an account or anything like that.
Our current mileage balance is around 1M each. I do know that as of right now those miles are still there.
I am surprised that this is coming from the AA side. Like others, I expected Citi to eventually just stop giving me more cards. I thought this would be a profit-maker for AA, and something they would be all for.
Some of this information is purposefully vague. You can ask questions but I'm not sure how much more I'll say. One reason we've seen so much more detail on reddit than on FT is that most of us here on FT are smart enough to not give every identifying detail possible.
I and my P2 have been locked out of our AA accounts since sometime within the past week. I'm not sure of the exact date. No other steps have been taken. No contact from AA or anything like that.
We have not sold miles, purchased mailer codes, or played any tricks with reservations like holds or bad credit cards. We have applied with mailers/emailers that we got from friends & family. That's pretty much it. A few family members created AA accounts who probably wouldn't have otherwise. But my goldfish didn't have an account or anything like that.
Our current mileage balance is around 1M each. I do know that as of right now those miles are still there.
I am surprised that this is coming from the AA side. Like others, I expected Citi to eventually just stop giving me more cards. I thought this would be a profit-maker for AA, and something they would be all for.
Some of this information is purposefully vague. You can ask questions but I'm not sure how much more I'll say. One reason we've seen so much more detail on reddit than on FT is that most of us here on FT are smart enough to not give every identifying detail possible.
Dec 11, 2019, 3:46 pm
#152
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 321
How many accounts did you use that didn’t belong to you or P2? What was your frequency of application? Did you receive bonuses for all apps? What was the most recent app?
Dec 11, 2019, 6:44 pm
#153
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: LAS, MPL
Programs: DL Platinum, 1 MM
Posts: 1,321
It does not matter for the emailer how it is generated as long as it is used by the non-intended recipient of the targeted offer.
Regardless how Citi system let it go thru, it still violates various rules, not to mention the obvious fact that the emailers are sent from AA.
Regardless how Citi system let it go thru, it still violates various rules, not to mention the obvious fact that the emailers are sent from AA.
Dec 11, 2019, 7:19 pm
#155
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 321
Speaking as a past software developer for a very large insurance company, it is possible to code a website to validate whether or not the offer number and name match. AA would need to supply the data for Citi to validate. As with everything, there is a tradeoff - spend time and $$ on other, more important features, or spend that time and $$ to prevent a small percentage of abusers. It's obvious they decided not to implement any sort of validation. That doesn't mean AA didn't get a manual dump of data and had a human (or machine) do an audit on this data. In fact, this is more than likely what happened, assuming these reports are true. I do find it a little strange that we haven't heard more about it, but maybe its the calm before the storm.
Dec 11, 2019, 9:17 pm
#156
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,857
If you're locked out, how do you know the miles are still there?
Dec 11, 2019, 9:31 pm
#159
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: BA
Posts: 954
AwardWallet apparently has special access to your account given that it can send 5 miles per approved comment to your AA account. Points.com may also be able to view your account balance since you can redeem for gift cards through them, but haven't tried it.
Dec 11, 2019, 11:12 pm
#160
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 889
Long time poster, posting under a new account.
I and my P2 have been locked out of our AA accounts since sometime within the past week. I'm not sure of the exact date. No other steps have been taken. No contact from AA or anything like that.
We have not sold miles, purchased mailer codes, or played any tricks with reservations like holds or bad credit cards. We have applied with mailers/emailers that we got from friends & family. That's pretty much it. A few family members created AA accounts who probably wouldn't have otherwise. But my goldfish didn't have an account or anything like that..
I and my P2 have been locked out of our AA accounts since sometime within the past week. I'm not sure of the exact date. No other steps have been taken. No contact from AA or anything like that.
We have not sold miles, purchased mailer codes, or played any tricks with reservations like holds or bad credit cards. We have applied with mailers/emailers that we got from friends & family. That's pretty much it. A few family members created AA accounts who probably wouldn't have otherwise. But my goldfish didn't have an account or anything like that..
I'm sure many of us on this forum have a lot to lose if AA decides it can just close our accounts, and if it turns out that AA will be doing this to too many account holders, some sort of class action will probably be in the cards as there's probably a law firm out there willing to take on a case where many accounts holding a million miles or so each are just wiped out. Keep us updated with whatever details you're willing to share.
Thanks again!
Dec 11, 2019, 11:42 pm
#161
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 4,477
Dec 11, 2019, 11:51 pm
#162
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: BA
Posts: 954
If they take 1MM miles from you, take $10,000 from them (1 cent per mile). 1 cent per mile is what they were valued at the last time I paid taxes on a taxable AA bonus (Citi checking account).
Dec 12, 2019, 12:17 am
#163
Join Date: May 2011
Posts: 889
I'd take that offer except that I value these miles at >>1 CPM. The wife unit will *not* be happy moving to the back of the plane for intercon flights (nor I for that matter)
Dec 12, 2019, 5:14 am
#164
Join Date: Apr 2008
Posts: 615
Long time poster, posting under a new account.
I and my P2 have been locked out of our AA accounts since sometime within the past week. I'm not sure of the exact date. No other steps have been taken. No contact from AA or anything like that.
We have not sold miles, purchased mailer codes, or played any tricks with reservations like holds or bad credit cards. We have applied with mailers/emailers that we got from friends & family. That's pretty much it. A few family members created AA accounts who probably wouldn't have otherwise. But my goldfish didn't have an account or anything like that.
Our current mileage balance is around 1M each. I do know that as of right now those miles are still there.
I am surprised that this is coming from the AA side. Like others, I expected Citi to eventually just stop giving me more cards. I thought this would be a profit-maker for AA, and something they would be all for.
Some of this information is purposefully vague. You can ask questions but I'm not sure how much more I'll say. One reason we've seen so much more detail on reddit than on FT is that most of us here on FT are smart enough to not give every identifying detail possible.
I and my P2 have been locked out of our AA accounts since sometime within the past week. I'm not sure of the exact date. No other steps have been taken. No contact from AA or anything like that.
We have not sold miles, purchased mailer codes, or played any tricks with reservations like holds or bad credit cards. We have applied with mailers/emailers that we got from friends & family. That's pretty much it. A few family members created AA accounts who probably wouldn't have otherwise. But my goldfish didn't have an account or anything like that.
Our current mileage balance is around 1M each. I do know that as of right now those miles are still there.
I am surprised that this is coming from the AA side. Like others, I expected Citi to eventually just stop giving me more cards. I thought this would be a profit-maker for AA, and something they would be all for.
Some of this information is purposefully vague. You can ask questions but I'm not sure how much more I'll say. One reason we've seen so much more detail on reddit than on FT is that most of us here on FT are smart enough to not give every identifying detail possible.
thanks for sharing. If you don’t mind answering...
1) how often did you churn?
2) did you use emailers?
3) did you repurpose codes that belonged to a different physical address with physical mailers and emailers?
Dec 12, 2019, 6:23 am
#165
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: NYC
Programs: BA
Posts: 954
What I'm saying is that if I paid taxes on at least some of the miles at the valuation of 1 cent per mile, I consider at least some of the miles to be my property (and hold invalid any clause of the AAdvantage terms claiming otherwise) and would confiscate up to $10,000 from AA if they confiscated 1MM miles.