American Airlines just announced significant changes to its AAdvantage award program. Here’s a high-level overview of the miles program changes:
- Elite Qualifying Points (EQP) will be removed from the program. Elite Qualifying Miles and Elite Qualifying Segments will remain
- In the 2017 membership year, elite status will be valid through January 31 the following year instead of the end of February
- You can earn additional EQMs based on your fare class
- Reaching Executive Platinum status will get you only 4 system-wide upgrades (SWU’s) instead of 8. To earn additional SWU’s, you can get 2 additional SWU’s per additional 50,000 EQM’s earned up to a total of 8 for the year.
- Gold and Platinum members earn four 500-mile upgrades for every 12,500 EQM’s instead of the 10,000 EQM’s needed today
- In Q3 2016, awards miles earned will vary based on status and on the amount you spend on the ticket:
- 5 miles per US Dollar spent – AAdvantage Member with no Status
- 7 miles per US Dollar spent – AAdvantage Gold Member
- 8 miles per US Dollar spent – AAdvantage Platinum Member
- 11 miles per US Dollar spent – AAdvantage Executive Platinum Member
Here is an example of how award miles are calculated:
We will post more details as we learn more about the changes here. For additional information, you can view the award program changes here: AAdvantage 2016 Program Changes