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Home  >  American Airlines  >  American Airlines Introduces Two Major Elite Upgrade Changes
American Airlines

American Airlines Introduces Two Major Elite Upgrade Changes

Matthew Klint Posted onMarch 1, 2022March 1, 2022 11 Comments

As American Airlines enters the Loyalty Points era, it is making two key changes to its elite upgrade program.

In This Post:
  • American Airlines Loyalty Points Era Starts Today
  • Free Upgrades For All Elites, Ends Of 500-Mile Upgrade Stickers, Companion Upgrades Coming
  • Upgrades Will Be Cleared Automatically 40 Minutes Prior To Departure
  • Winners And Losers
  • CONCLUSION

American Airlines Loyalty Points Era Starts Today

Starting today, the way in which elite status is earned on American Airlines changes. Rather than centering elite status on pure flying, American is now offering additional avenues to earn elite status in the AAdvantage program. I’ve outlined the new program here.


> Read More: Making Sense Of The New American Airlines AAdvantage Program, Loyalty Points


This week, American Airlines also announced new key changes to the way in which it processes upgrades for AAdvantage members with elite status.

Free Upgrades For All Elites, Ends Of 500-Mile Upgrade Stickers, Companion Upgrades Coming

Lower tier (Gold and Platinum) AAdvantage elite members will no longer have to use 500-mile upgrade stickers (these were electronic, but historically actual stickers and the name stuck) in order to upgrade a domestic flight within the United States or between the USA and Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Caribbean, or Central America.

Instead, all elites will be added to to the complimentary upgrade waitlist and clear in the following order:

  • Concierge Key
  • Executive Platinum
  • Platinum Pro
  • Platinum
  • Gold

Within those tiers, preference will be based upon fare class, check-in time, as well as the passenger’s overall spending on American over the last year.

Companions can be upgraded using 500-mile stickers (only one per flight). Later this year, American Airlines plans to allow all elites to request complimentary upgrades for a companion on the same flight as well.

500-miles stickers will slowly be phased out and each sticker will convert to 250 Loyalty Points later in the year.

Upgrades Will Be Cleared Automatically 40 Minutes Prior To Departure

American Airlines will begin auto-clearing upgrades 40 minutes prior to departure, a move that solves a frequent frustration for AA elites. After the system sweep occurs, passengers can simply refresh their boarding passes for updated seating assignments.

Upgrades were historically cleared manually around 30 minutes prior to departure, which left elite passengers near the top of the upgrade waitlist in limbo. Wait to board in hopes of the securing the upgrade and risk giving up overhead bin space or board early and hope that the agent will come onboard to process upgrades? Due to pressure on agents to get flights out on time, that did not always happen, leaving elite passengers in economy class and empty seats in first class.

Thus, this new system should:

  • Ensure upgrades are processed according to the upgrade watilist
  • Solve the early boarding dilemma for elites waiting for an ugprade
  • Eliminate the problem of upgrades not being cleared at all due to pressure to get the flight out on time

United uses a similar automated system, though does not clear upgrades until 30-minutes prior to departure. This has largely solved the issue of upgrade shenanigans. Passengers receive an alert concerning their new seat assignment and flight attendant iPhone manifests are also updated.

No-shows who are checked in must still be manually offloaded and that could still lead to flights departing with open seats on both American or United.

Winners And Losers

Everyone wins (except perhaps employee standbys hoping gate agents won’t properly clear upgrades) with AA’s news automated upgrade clearance sweep 40 minutes to departure.

As for the complimentary upgrade changes, whether you are a winner or loser really depends upon your status. The beauty of the 500-mile sticker system was that by forcing you to proactively upgrade and only upgrade flights that you care about upgrading, it left more upgrade space for Gold members.

I expect Gold members will lose out here and find even fewer upgrades than they do today.

However, Platinum members will see more upgrades simply as a function of now edging out Gold members.

Executive Platinum and Platinum Pro members, which already receive complimentary space-available upgrades, will likely not notice a change.

CONCLUSION

American Airlines enters a new era today with its Loyalty Points scheme. This week, it also announced it was changing the way in which it processes complimentary upgrades for elites, eliminating 500-mile stickers, and introducing an automatic upgrade clearance system.

What are your thoughts on the latest upgrade changes at American Airlines?


image: American Airlines

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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11 Comments

  1. Dave Edwards Reply
    March 1, 2022 at 2:46 pm

    The App updated earlier today with no LP’s showing but sometime in the past few hours is now up to date with points earned in January and February from flights and spend.

    As someone who earned EXP the actual way with both spend and miles, but doesn’t spend more than $50,000 on the card a year, the new system is a loser for me. No way I’ll spend enough on flights to earn the 200,000 LP’s needed because as a leisure traveler, I am flexible enough to buy the cheapest flight. A 5000 mile $300 RT flight doesn’t do much anymore.

    I do believe I’m not the only one in this situation and the numbers of EXP’s will drop in large numbers. Maybe this is what AA wants but I could be wrong. I do know for the first time since I was a loyal USAir customer, I won’t be exclusively flying AA this year.

    Will be interesting to see the numbers the end of the year and the offers from AA to retain status in February 23.

    • jim Reply
      April 4, 2022 at 8:48 pm

      so agree, being a leisure traveler as well. when the process changed from double the miles for trips years back, to an algorithm, and now to a bar way too high to achieve the top tier/sans concierge key. i have read so many articles that aa’s international flights are barely full. older versions of the 787-8 does not help that cause. thank goodness when widebody aircraft are scheduled on domestic segments- sure do miss the many months during 2020-part of 2021 of 777-300ers on mia-lax segments and return. nice to have a flat bed on the 5-hour flights. ( flew first from lax-jfk recently on the 32b transcon and it was not the same as a widebody, plus the television did not work…don’t bother sending a concern to customer relations, either, as they do not care.

  2. Raymond Yung Lin Reply
    March 1, 2022 at 3:57 pm

    Didn’t Platinum passengers previously edge out Gold passengers if both wanted to use stickers?

    • JohnC Reply
      March 2, 2022 at 12:20 pm

      They did. The beauty of the previous method was that as Gold member you always had a good chance of being upgraded. I got upgrades on LAX-MIA and LAX-ORD into lie flat business seats. More than half the time I got upgraded. Delta on the other hand, which has a similar system, but I have never gotten an upgrade.

  3. Mias's mom Reply
    March 1, 2022 at 7:16 pm

    By removing the focus on flying and emphasizing credit card spending, it’s only a short step for American to just have people buy their elite status.

  4. Mia's mom Reply
    March 1, 2022 at 7:29 pm

    Oops, a typo in my name. Should be Mia’s mom.
    Anyway, I question Matthew’s comment “However, Platinum members will see more upgrades simply as a function of now edging out Gold members.”
    My husband is lifetime Platinum and the only time in the last few years he has received an upgrade was when he was traveling with me, based on my Pro Platinum status. And usually Pro Platinum isn’t enough for an upgrade for me due to the number of EXPs since we are based in Dallas.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      March 1, 2022 at 7:49 pm

      I’m not sure it will result in any actual upgrades on most routes, but I do think it will theoretically increase your chances.

  5. DaninMCI Reply
    March 2, 2022 at 6:14 am

    Another loser is those, like me, with tons of 500-mile stickers saved up since AA is said to be giving 250 miles for each sticker. AA is also a loser in this by pegging the value of AA miles at 1.6 cents it seems.

  6. JohnC Reply
    March 2, 2022 at 12:25 pm

    On my last ORD-LAX flight on American, I got my upgrade as I sat down into my economy seat. It was pretty exciting to then move up to my business class lie flat seat on a 787. I guess no more excitement getting onto the airplane. American was pretty good on upgrades, some were at the 24 hour mark.

  7. Andrew Wallenstein Reply
    March 2, 2022 at 11:25 pm

    I’m not sure how it is fair (or possibly even legal) for American Airlines to sell 500-mile upgrades that “never expire” for $40 and then subsequently say they are taking them away and replacing them with something that may have literally no value for the recipient. I am a “Million Miler” from years of travel on USAirways, which gives me Gold status for life. I do not fly enough to come close to the 70,000 loyalty points it would take to achieve Platinum, the next elite tier. Converting my 500-mile upgrades that I paid for to 250 loyalty points each is, essentially, stealing $40 from me for each upgrade. That’s just not right, and, I believe, possibly actually illegal (though I am not an attorney.) It is certainly poor customer service.

  8. Texas Cajun Reply
    March 3, 2022 at 1:47 pm

    Article makes it seem like check in time and fare class are more important, for upgrade priority within tier, than rolling 12-month spend. However I believe rolling spend is the most important tie-breaker.

    Another class of loser would be couples traveling together. Will they have the option of “Both Or None” on the upgrade list?

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