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AA Loyalty Points Are Kind of Hard to Earn

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In October 2021, American Airways introduced a brand new “reimagined” program for incomes AAdvantage elite standing. Beginning Jan. 1, 2022, American Airways AAdvantage members now earn AAdvantage elite standing based mostly on “Loyalty Factors” — reasonably than needing to satisfy Elite Qualifying Greenback, Elite Qualifying Mile and Elite Qualifying Phase thresholds.

The promise of the Loyalty Factors program is simplicity. When saying this system, American Airways trumpeted: “The message is straightforward: Earn AAdvantage miles, earn standing.”

Nonetheless, in observe, the brand new American Airways Loyalty Factors program is something however easy. The brand new program is full of carve-outs, exclusions and even some exceptions to exclusions.

So, let’s dive into American Airways Loyalty Factors, together with the sophisticated image of how one can and might’t earn them.

What number of Loyalty Factors do you want for standing?

Within the new American Airways elite standing system, the one metric you have to monitor is Loyalty Factors. American Airways gives two kinds of rewards for incomes Loyalty Factors: AAdvantage elite standing and Loyalty Selection Rewards (previously often known as Elite Selection Rewards).

  • 30,000 Loyalty Factors for AAdvantage Gold.

  • 75,000 Loyalty Factors for AAdvantage Platinum.

  • 125,000 Loyalty Factors for AAdvantage Platinum Professional.

  • 200,000 Loyalty Factors for AAdvantage Govt Platinum.

To earn Loyalty Selection Rewards in 2022, you may must fly at the very least 30 qualifying segments and obtain the next Loyalty Level thresholds:

  • 125,000 Loyalty Factors for one Degree 1 reward.

  • 200,000 Loyalty Factors for 2 Degree 2 rewards.

  • 350,000 Loyalty Factors for 2 Degree 3 rewards.

  • 550,000 Loyalty Factors for 2 Degree 4 rewards.

  • 750,000 Loyalty Factors for 2 Degree 5 rewards.

How incomes Loyalty Factors works

Say you earn AAdvantage miles via the next actions in 2022:

  • 70,000 AAdvantage miles from a bank card sign-up bonus.

  • 50,000 AAdvantage miles via financial savings with Bask Financial institution.

  • 50,000 AAdvantage miles for changing 120,000 Marriott Bonvoy factors.

  • 5,000 AAdvantage miles for donating $500 to Stand As much as Most cancers.

That is a complete of 200,000 miles.

Prime-tier AAdvantage Govt Platinum elite standing solely requires 200,000 Loyalty Factors. So, based mostly on the above earnings, you need to begin having fun with all the perks of top-tier standing, proper?

Regardless of incomes 200,000 AAdvantage miles, you’d have earned simply 1,000 Loyalty Factors from all of this mileage-generating exercise. These 1,000 Loyalty Factors have been earned as a result of base miles collected for reserving an AAVacations package deal.

Sadly, the remainder of your miles-earning actions are wholly disqualified from incomes Loyalty Factors. Usually, you’ll solely get Loyalty Factors for base miles earned, with some exceptions.

Nerdy tip: What are base miles? Base miles are earned from a subset of miles-earning actions, together with qualifying flights and purchases from eligible companions. The charges of base miles earned varies by exercise.

This terminology highlights simply how inaccurate it’s for American Airways to be promoting this system as “merely” incomes 1 Loyalty Level for each 1 AAdvantage mile earned. And it emphasizes the significance of figuring out which AAdvantage miles qualify as Loyalty Factors.

Actions that earn Loyalty Factors

If incomes Loyalty Factors is not as simple as incomes American miles, it helps to know which actions qualify for Loyalty Factors and which do not.

Flying American Airways and its airline companions

Nearly all AAdvantage miles earned from flying on American Airways, JetBlue Airways, GOL Airways and Oneworld airline companions depend as Loyalty Factors. This consists of all base miles and, when relevant, standing bonuses and cabin bonuses.

The one exception is present in a subset of 4 non-alliance companions. You may proceed to earn AAdvantage miles — however not Loyalty Factors — while you e book flights marketed by China Southern Airways, Etihad Airways, Fiji Airways and Hawaiian Airways.

Spending on American Airline Credit score Playing cards

One of many greatest optimistic adjustments of the brand new loyalty program is the power to earn American Airways Loyalty Factors by spending on AAdvantage-branded bank cards.

Nearly all U.S.-issued bank cards earn 1 Loyalty Level per $1 spent. The one exception is the no-annual-fee AAdvantage Aviator Mastercard, which earns a base of 0.5 Loyalty Factors per greenback on purchases.

Whereas bonus classes and welcome gives are usually ineligible for incomes Loyalty Factors, there’s an exception to this basic rule. Just a few AAdvantage bank cards provide bonus Loyalty Factors for hitting sure spending thresholds:

  • AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver Mastercard®: Earn as much as 15,000 further Loyalty Factors  by assembly the particular spending necessities from Jan. 1, 2022, to Feb. 28, 2023. Get 5,000 Loyalty Factors when you spend $20,000 on purchases, one other 5,000 Loyalty Factors while you spend $40,000 on purchases, and an additional 5,000 Loyalty Factors when you exceed $50,000 on purchases.

Spending on sure AAdvantage companions

Along with flying and spending, you may also earn Loyalty Factors from a choice of different American Airways AAdvantage companions.

American Airways lists the next as qualifying companions:

  • Platforms: American Airways Holidays, AAdvantage eShopping, AAdvantage Eating and SimplyMiles.

  • Resorts: Hyatt, Marriott Worldwide, IHG Resorts & Resorts, Marriott Holidays, RocketMiles and stays booked at bookaahotels.com.

  • Rental automobiles: Avis, Finances, Payless, Hertz, Greenback, Thrifty, Alamo, Nationwide, Sixt and something booked at aa.com/automotive.

  • Cruises: Cruise holidays booked by way of bookaacruises.com.

  • Retail: Shell, WeWork, Vinesse, FTD, Vivid Seats, NRG Vitality, Reliant Vitality, Xoom and Miles for Opinion.

Nonetheless, you may discover that you simply solely earn Loyalty Factors from the bottom miles earned with these companions, which fluctuate.

Let’s take American Airways Holidays for instance. You possibly can e book AAVacations flight and lodge packages that earn as much as 25,000 AAdvantage miles. Nonetheless, the bottom charge for these bookings is simply 1,000 miles. The remaining 24,000 bonus AAdvantage miles that you simply earn will not depend as Loyalty Factors.

AAdvantage miles earned via any companions not listed are ineligible for incomes Loyalty Factors.

Actions that DON’T earn Loyalty Factors

Here is the place American Airways’ theoretically easy program goes method off the rails. Buried within the Often Requested Questions part of American Airways’ web site about its new program, you may discover a record of AAdvantage miles incomes actions which are ineligible as Loyalty Factors. Let’s dig into every of those exclusions.

Incomes bonus miles from particular promotions

That is one exclusion that is going to shock loads of aspiring AAdvantage elites. Successfully something that may be thought of a bonus shall be excluded from incomes Loyalty Factors.

We confirmed with an American Airways consultant that the next actions depend as “bonus miles earned from particular promotions” and thus are ineligible for incomes Loyalty Factors:

  • AAVacations gives, corresponding to “Earn as much as 25,000 miles at choose resorts and locations.” All AAVacations packages will merely earn 1,000 Loyalty Factors, irrespective of the variety of AAdvantage miles earned from reserving the package deal.

  • AAdvantage eShopping gives, corresponding to incomes 1,000 bonus miles while you spend $300.

  • AAdvantage Eating gives, corresponding to incomes 1,000 bonus miles by spending $25 in your first 30 days.

  • Rental automotive gives, like “Earn as much as 5,000 bonus miles and save as much as 35% while you lease with Avis and Finances for 3 or extra days.” As an alternative, you may solely earn Loyalty Factors on the base incomes charge. Within the case of Avis, that is simply 500 miles for basic AAdvantage members.

  • Hyatt gives, corresponding to incomes 1,000 bonus miles per evening with Hyatt.

Put merely, if a proposal has the phrase “bonus” in it, you should not depend on incomes further Loyalty Factors past the pre-set base miles earned via that provide.

Shopping for, gifting or transferring miles

AAdvantage members can purchase miles for themselves, present miles to different members or switch miles from their account to a different member’s account. For every of those choices, American fees excessive charges, which make them not often value doing.

Nonetheless, it might be extra tempting to take action when you have been capable of generate elite standing. Alas, American Airways excludes all mileage purchases and transfers from incomes Loyalty Factors.

Flight ticket taxes, charges and different fees

Say you spent $400 on a JetBlue flight. The airline lists that AAdvantage members earn 5 miles per greenback spent on flights, which might imply 2,000 factors for this journey.

Nonetheless, you will not truly earn 2,000 AAdvantage miles or Loyalty Factors from this buy, as you have to deduct any authorities taxes, airport charges and add-ons — corresponding to most popular seating, checked baggage, and many others. — earlier than calculating your Loyalty Level earnings.

Changing one other program forex to AAdvantage miles

AAdvantage bank card spending ‘accelerators’ or ‘multipliers’

That is one other disappointing exclusion by American Airways: Not all AAdvantage miles earned via bank cards will earn Loyalty Factors.

Some AAdvantage playing cards earn bonus miles in sure classes. For instance, the American Airways AAdvantage MileUp℠ Card earns 2 AAdvantage miles per greenback on American Airways purchases and grocery retailer bills, together with grocery supply companies.

Disappointingly, purchases in bonus classes will nonetheless earn bonus AAdvantage miles, however they received’t earn further Loyalty Factors.

The takeaway: Even on American-branded bank cards, you solely earn Loyalty Factors on the cardboard’s base incomes charge — 0.5 or 1 Loyalty Level per $1 spent.

AAdvantage bank card welcome bonuses, spend bonuses, and many others.

One of many best methods to earn AAdvantage miles is by signing up for an AAdvantage bank card. Whereas that is still the case, you will not earn any Loyalty Factors on sign-up bonuses, retention gives or different bank card spending bonuses.

Different actions not listed

Along with this lengthy record of exclusions, American Airways has an unpublished record of much more actions that will not earn Loyalty Factors. These embrace — however aren’t restricted to — incomes AAdvantage miles via:

  • Bask Financial institution financial savings accounts.

  • Donating to Stand As much as Most cancers.

American Airways Loyalty Factors aren’t truly that easy

American Airways is touting its new program as being so simple as incomes elite standing Loyalty Factors when you earn AAdvantage miles. Whereas that is usually how this system works, the numerous variety of exclusions retains the brand new program from being so simple as it sounds.

Typically talking, all AAdvantage miles earned from flying will depend as Loyalty Factors. In relation to card spending, depend on incomes simply 1 Loyalty Level per $1 spent — except you will have the Citi® / AAdvantage® Govt World Elite Mastercard® or the AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver Mastercard® and might earn a Loyalty Level bonus.

You can too earn Loyalty Factors via different AAdvantage companions. Nonetheless, do not depend on incomes Loyalty Factors from any promotions which have the phrase “bonus” of their identify.

Photograph courtesy of American Airways.

Tips on how to maximize your rewards

You desire a journey bank card that prioritizes what’s essential to you. Listed below are our picks for the finest journey bank cards of 2022, together with these finest for:

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