Well, once again I’ve done it. For the second year in a row I’ve officially qualified for American Airlines AAdvantage Executive Platinum elite status. Although the qualifications this year were the same as last year I must say that this year was much more difficult.
Last year I had the luxury of flying 60,000 miles in 2 weeks in Qatar Airways Business Class. While that sounds terrible to some, it sure made qualifying for EP status in 2017 a breeze.
This year was a bit harder as I didn’t end up finding any incredible deals. Instead, I spent quite a bit of time flying around the world in economy or premium economy. This year alone I flew across the Atlantic 6 times in economy. I also flew across the Pacific twice in premium economy. Don’t get me wrong, I still had a ton of fun qualifying for EP status this year, but it was simply much harder than last year.
Above you’ll find my current elite qualifying activity. As of today I’ve earned $14,267 Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQD), 115,443 Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM), and 47 Elite Qualifying Segments (EQD). I still have a few short flights to go this year, but I won’t earn too many more miles this year.
What Are The Benefits Of Executive Platinum Status?
Since I’ve once again reached Executive Platinum status I think it’s time to take a step back and remember why I flew over 100,000 miles this year. American helped reinforce why I risked getting DVT by sending an email to me the day after I qualified. That email began with a short message which welcomed me back to EP.
After that the email went on to explain some choice benefits offered by Executive Platinum status. Specifically, the email made sure to mention Systemwide Upgrades first, but didn’t remind me that EP members used to get 6 certificates annually.
Next, the email discussed same-day flight change and domestic upgrade benefits. Most business travelers will cringe when they see the upgrade benefit part of this email as they know upgrades are much harder to come by than they used to be.
While I had issues using same day flight changes this year I actually had very good luck with complimentary upgrades. That’s because I don’t fly like a business traveler anymore and am instead competing with Joe Jet who only flies a few times a year.
After showcasing the complimentary upgrade benefits the email continued to highlight complimentary access to Main Cabin Extra (MCE) seats. Personally I find it interesting that American opted to use an interior cabin photo featuring IFE screens since we’ve been told passengers don’t care about them.
Finally the email concludes by discussing the free checked bags benefit, access to lounges and priority check-in, and OneWorld Emerald elite benefits.
Overall the email does a good job highlighting some of the more desirable benefits of Executive Platinum elite status.
What Is My Plan For 2019?
I’m going to write a follow-up post which will discuss all of the benefits offered by Executive Platinum when I receive my official welcome kit, but for now I thought this would serve as a quick reminder of a few of the benefits offered by Executive Platinum elite status. For now, I wanted to quickly discuss my plans for earning elite status in 2019.
As you may already know American recently raised the EQD requirement from $12,000 to $15,000 for 2019. That is a lot of annual spend to qualify. While many are turned off by the increased requirement I’m mostly indifferent. I think given my travel plans for 2019 I should be able to earn $15,000 EQD for much less than $15,000. So, while I’m not happy about the increased I have mixed opinions.
On the one hand it would be nice if I only needed to earn $12,000 EQD next year to qualify. That would help reduce the cost of earning status again. On the other hand, by raising the EQD requirement there should be less EP customers in 2020. That should lead to higher changes of upgrades clearing, especially on trancon and international routes.
So, for 2019 I plan to try to earn EP status again. At the end of the year, assuming there are no further changes, I’ll once again evaluate if it makes sense remain loyal to American or if it makes sense to branch out.
Final Thoughts
I’m excited to have once again earned EP status for 2019. This is the first year I’ve qualified for EP and I really enjoyed the benefits. I like being able to visit international first class lounges when traveling abroad and I’ve had good luck with upgrades clearing. While I’m unhappy to see the requirements increase in 2019 I’m excited to start 2019 with the goal of once again earning top-tier elite status.
Finally, I look forward to receiving my 2019 American Airlines AAdvantage Executive Platinum welcome kit. United does a much better job with their 1K welcome kits each year, but I still enjoy receiving a fresh membership card and new set of brag tags.
