In 2015 US Airways and American Airlines merged which came with its own benefits and complications. This post discusses an early merger of the two loyalty programs.
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Reports
I have a quick update regarding my previous question on whether or not American and US Airways had already essentially merged in regards to frequent flyer program status. To recap, on American Airlines specifically I only earned 28k EQMs and just 38k PQMs on US Airways (though it was through a challenge) leaving me with Chairman status for 2015, but just Gold on American until they merge.
I contacted some travelers I know and they had not seen a change upward to higher status but at least one had also maintained Executive Platinum status as I did. As of today (March 12th) I am still Executive Platinum from last year.
Here are two other bloggers that had the same experience:
Then this came in the mail today…
With a letter of explanation on the inside:
“Welcome to Aadvantage Executive Platinum status, recognized as oneworld Emerald by our partner airlines. Although your flight activity doesn’t allow you to qualify on your own, we would like to offer you Aadvantage Executive Platinum status for the 2015 member year.”
I think this is probably more out of convenience for American Airlines and US Airways but I am not complaining. I just don’t understand why they aren’t shouting it from the rooftops!
This is just one more reason that I am a huge fan of American through this merger process.
How did the merger go for you and your accounts?
Interesting…AA has been known to give people soft landings. I am curious if this is what they did for you. The first year with AA I was matched to Platinum because they wouldn’t status match me (at that time) to EXP. Then I only few about 10K miles on AA and the next year the provided me with a soft landing to Gold, even though I didn’t even qualify for that. I quickly climbed the ranks and am now EXP. Yet, all that aside, last year the airline was very forward about not offering soft landings, hence the buy up program. Either way, lets open a bottle of cheap bubbly on our next flight and celebrate! Congrats!
@Rocky – The only difference in the soft landing was that it knocked you down a level, this was more like a go-around I guess. Either way, I couldn’t be happier, even though I would have been EXP anyway next month, it’s just so much less hassle.
The champagne, my friend, is on me.
Congrats Sherpa! I too am still showing PLT on my profile (just checked 5 mins ago, and every day since March 2 – OC much?). I also qualified for the 30K USAir Challenge which should put me into EXP this year. I never got any welcome materials from USAirways except for a congratulations for qualifying to Chairman’s Preferred email. I’ll be happy with a PLT for now (and for my trip to Cancun next week), but really looking forward to EXP awesomeness in the coming months.
@Cara – Our experiences with the US Airways side were different, but perhaps it was based on the method in which you earned. I was clearing status levels trip by trip so I got a welcome (with bag tags and customer service chits) at all four levels, if you did so quicker than I did, perhaps your result would vary. I am sure there are some inconsistencies in their system right now, but I am glad that these all appear to be “bank error in your favor” type of actions which is a welcome position considering the other mergers we have seen.
Thanks for your comment and for reading.
Sherpa- curious when you crossed the various status levels through your challenge? I only received a card/welcome packet for Silver. I earned that in late 2014, then Gold, Plat and CP in early 2015. I’m guessing you did so earlier which got you the welcome packets. Still doesn’t explain the early EXP, but enjoy it a month or so before the rest of us.
If I had to guess, since you would have been eligible for Exec Plat in a month or two anyway, AA just doesn’t want to deal with possible IT glitches. Rather than face the inevitable whining that would follow when folks who should have been bumped up to Exec Plat aren’t because of system issues, they basically said “screw it, we’ll just give it to you now”. Probably cheaper for them to hand out a few upgrades that they might not have otherwise had to as opposed to the bad press and funny money if there really are IT issues. I have to say, if that is the reason, it’s shockingly proactive for a domestic airline. In any event, like my mom always told me, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth…
I haven’t received the AA EXP packet yet but my status hasn’t dropped either. There is no way they just “comped” me to EXP since I only flown 30,000 miles with AA last year so I’m 99% sure it is tied to the merger since I completed the US challenge and linked my accounts. I can definitely understand that this move will save them some money since they won’t need to mail as many replacement cards but at the same time I don’t understand (like you) why they are not promoting this since it would be a fantastic PR move. Anyhow, I’m super happy with it. Cheers!!
@Angel – The way they are handling things so far make me optimistic for the future.