One of the main reasons I started flying with American Airlines years ago was the AAdvantage program. At the time in order to qualify for elite status all I needed to do was fly a certain number of miles or segments. It didn’t matter how much money I spent with the airline, if I flew a certain number of miles I’d earn a certain level of elite status. I loved the old system because I could earn elite status by booking very cheap flights.
All of that changed in late 2016 when American introduced a revenue requirement. In late 2016 American Airlines introduced the Elite Qualifying Dollar or EQD. Essentially, AAdvantage members would have to earn a certain number of EQD to qualify for elite status. This was in addition to the elite qualifying miles or segment requirement. The EQD requirement also trumped any EQM or EQS required to earn status. So, if you earned 100,000 EQM, but only earned $6,000 EQD you would only qualify for AAdvantage Platinum status.
Originally, each elite status required $3,000 of EQD. So at $3,000 EQD and 25,000 EQM or 30 EQS AAdvantage members would earn Gold Status. American awarded Platinum status at $6,000 EQD and 50,000 EQM or 60 EQS, Platinum Pro status at $9,000 EQD and 75,000 EQM or 90 EQS, and Executive Platinum Status at $12,000 EQD and 100,000 EQM or 120 EQS.
Sadly, American Airlines recently announced some fairly significant changes to the Executive Platinum elite status tier for 2019. Specifically, American is increasing the EQD requirement and adding certain milestone benefits for those who fly beyond 100,000 miles annually.
American Airlines Increases The Executive Platinum EQD Requirement For 2019
As I mentioned, in the past, American Airlines required AAdvantage members earn $12,000 EQD annually to qualify for Executive Platinum elite status. However, effective January 1, 2019, American is now requiring AAdvantage members to earn $15,000 EQD to qualify for Executive Platinum elite status. This represents a $3,000 EQD increase over prior years.
To be honest, this move doesn’t surprise me in the slightest. United recently made a similar announcement and Delta has had the same requirement for years. Raising the EQD requirement seemed line a certainty once United announced their increase a few months ago.
While the move isn’t a surprise I will say it’s a let down. For years American has lacked originality with its frequent flyer program. It seems to simply be following the moves of the competition without much thought. Obviously I’m sad to see the requirement increase, but I’m also just sad to see American match the arbitrary $15,000 requirement. Why didn’t American choose $14,000 to convince frequent flyers to choose American over United/Delta?
American Adds Milestone Benefits For Those Who Fly More Than 100,000 Miles
Included in the recent announcement from American, the airline is adding milestone benefits for certain frequent fliers. For those who earn 150,000 EQM annually, American is giving these customers the option to earn 2 additional systemwide upgrades, 40,000 bonus AAdvantage miles, or the ability to gift Gold status to someone. At 200,000 EQM AAdvantage members can earn 2 more systemwide upgrades, an additional 40,000 miles, or the ability to gift Platinum elite status. Those same options are available for those who earn 250,000 EQM annually.
Personally I won’t get much use out of this benefit, but I’m glad to see American add some choice here. While most of us would probably take the 6 additional systemwide upgrades, I’d bet many others wouldn’t. If you are already flying business class often you’ll have little use for systemwide upgrades. Instead, perhaps you’d prefer the bonus miles or the ability to gift status to a friend or loved one. If I hit 200,000 EQM in a year I’d most likely gift status over taking on additional SWUs. Chances are you won’t be lucky enough to use 6 SWUs in a single year so gifting status may make sense.
Overall, this isn’t a huge improvement to the AAdvantage program, but it’s definitely worth noting. While I’m upset to see American increase the EQD requirement I’m also happy to see them add some choice benefits for specific milestones.
What Is My Plan For 2019?
I go into each qualifying year with a plan and 2019 is now different. Historically my goal has been to earn AAdvantage Executive Platinum status. In the past, I didn’t spend near the $12,000 EQD requirement to qualify. Instead, I took AAdvantage (sorry) of special fares and discounted premium cabin tickets to meet the EQD requirement. In 2017 for example I only spent about $5,000 to earn the $12,000 EQD required to qualify for Executive Platinum. In 2018 that figure is about the same, but I also earned additional EQD from the AAdvantage Aviator Silver card (more on that in a later post).
For 2019 I’m conflicted though. On the one hand I still maintain the same goal of earning top tier status, but on the other hand I’m beginning to wonder if it’s worth it. In general I try to earn EQD at a rate of $2:$1. That means I try to earn at least $2 EQD per $1 I spend on airfare. I do this by buying premium cabin seats on partner airlines at discounted prices. This method works fairly well and over the past two years I’ve maintained that average. For 2019 though this means that I’ll have to spend about $7,500 on airfare to qualify. While I want to qualify for Executive Platinum again, I wonder if it’s best to just use that money of flights I want to take.
If I do decide to qualify again I’ll have to be even more picky about the flights I take. I’ll have to try to earn about $3:$1 EQD which is possible, but quite difficult. The only way I think I can make that happen is by flying long-haul Premium Economy on partner airlines. While doing these flights will help me earn status, they aren’t exactly exciting to me or the readers of this blog. For that reason, I’m beginning to wonder if I’m better off being a free agent and focusing on cheap business class fares. Basically, this change has me thinking about finally jumping off of the American Airlines AAdvantage treadmill.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’m just frustrated by the recent increase in the Executive Platinum EQD requirement. I’m frustrated for two reasons. First, I’m sad to see American raise the requirement because I’ll have to spend more in order to qualify. Second, I’m sad to see American once again blindly follow the competition. How much nicer would it if have seen American introduce a $14,000 EQD requirement to at least show some originality.
Ultimately, I think I am going to plan on going for Executive Platinum status again in 2019. I think it’s manageable to qualify provided I really focus on high EQD yield flights. I also think it’s a smart move to qualify because this change will help shrink the Executive Platinum pool. If I do qualify again I’m hoping my upgrade chances improve thanks to attrition, but also thanks to many customers being unable to reach the $15,000 requirement.
