Chances are, over the years you’ve received a few Starbucks gift cards as gifts. My guess is that you’ve also managed to give out a few as well. After all, if you have no idea what to get someone as a gift, a Starbucks gift card is a great fallback option. While I love getting…
Starbucks was one of the first global restaurant chains to roll out a loyalty program a few years ago and I think they’ve done a great job with it over the years. Sure, it used to be a lot easier to earn rewards (“Stars”) and sure they watered down their coffee rewards, but overall the…
Back in 2009 the movie Up In The Air shed light on the odd world of frequent flyer programs. The movie provided a rare glimpse into the world of points and miles that few had seen before. In the movie, I’ll never forget the scene when Ryan (George Clooney) and Alex (Vera Farmiga) sat down…
For the past few years American Airlines has been sending out “Year In Review” emails to AAdvantage members right before the holidays. These emails give members “a 30,000 foot view” of their travels with American Airlines and OneWorld partners. These Year In Review summaries typically include statistics on miles flown, destinations visited, time in the…
Historically airlines frequent flyer programs were all about one thing; miles. Since as long as frequent flyer programs have been around, these programs have always rewarded those customers who flew the most with a particular airline. In the past, the way airlines ranked their customers was based on one single metric and that was “butt…
I hate to admit it, but over the past year I’ve only spend a few nights in hotels. In fact, I bet all together, I can count one hand how many of those nights were with Marriott hotels. See, the issue is that my travel habits have changes substantially since I first started blogging. Back…
By now, almost everyone knows airlines, hotels, rental car companies, and even fast food chains have loyalty programs. Airlines, in particular, design those loyalty programs to reward frequent flyers through award miles, upgrades, waived fees, and lounge access. United has the MileagePlus program, Delta has the SkyMiles program, and American Airlines has the AAdvantage program.…
Congratulations! You’ve made it! After spending countless hours on airplanes flying all over the world you’ve finally reached top-tier elite status with American Airlines. It’s no easy feat. To do so, you have to earn at least $15,000 Elite Qualifying Dollars and either 100,000 Elite Qualifying Miles or 120 Elite Qualifying Segments. To the layman, you basically…
A few weeks ago I completed (potentially) my final major trip of the year. With that quick trip to Japan I earned my 100,000th Elite Qualifying Mile and $15,000th Elite Qualifying Dollar. As a result, I unlocked another year of American Airlines AAdvantage Executive Platinum elite status. About a week after completing my trip I…
Just a few years ago earning elite status on American Airlines was incredibly easy to understand. At that time there were only three levels, Gold, Platinum, and Executive Platinum. You earned each at 25,000 miles, 50,000 miles and 100,000 miles, respectively. Also, back then you earned 1 mile per mile flown no matter how much…
