My journey as an elite airline has grown rapidly during my time as a travel reporter at TPG.
When I first joined TPG in June 2021, achieving entry-level elite airline status seemed like an impossible obstacle for someone like me; I don’t have a co-branded airline credit card, and I travel inconsistently — especially compared to my colleagues, some of whom travel weekly.
As a result, I knew I wouldn’t earn status through credit card spending or traveling alone. Instead, I will have to strategically position myself and find additional, more creative ways to contribute. I started to think of my status approach as different sources of income that provide multiple ways to make money. Loyalty Points — points are the state currency of American Airlines and are based on distance, spend, and fare class flown.
For me, it’s important to fly consistent domestic flights, with a few long-haul flights interspersed; I also prefer to stay Hyatt assets while traveling and not constantly shopping online through AA shopping portal whenever possible.
This is how I earned middle class American Airlines AAdvantage Status and how you can apply the tactics below to your own American Airlines status goals.
Earn points on flights
I went from never keeping airline status to become an American Airlines AAdvantage Gold member for about eight months.
Since becoming a Member of AAdvantage on July 15, 2021, I flew on 17 American Airlines flights and earned Loyalty Points from all but two of which I used the miles to book. As a friendly reminder, only paid flights count towards the status. Of these 17 flights, 11 are domestic (most are short-haul regional flights on the East Coast and Midwest, with the exception of a one-way flight from Washington, DC to Phoenix).
These domestic flights combined added 12,746 Loyalty Points to my account.
In December 2021, I attended a TPG retreat in Scottsdale, Arizona, where I won 30,000 Loyalty Points in a lottery. When these points appear in my account on March 1, 2022, I immediately have Gold status at the first level until February 28, 2023. With this AAdvantage adjustment of 30,000 points, I only totaled just under 45,000 Loyalty Points, thanks to an approximate calculation of the 15,000 Loyalty Points I had earned in the previous seven months as an AAdvantage member.
Sign up for our daily newsletter
Needless to say, this is unusual and would not have happened if I hadn’t worked at TPG. However, that turned me into an American loyalist and I started prioritizing flights over American flights and Oneworld’s partner airlines when possible. It also means I’ve now earned 40% of my bonus miles as a Gold member, which equates to 7 miles for every dollar spent on flights — 2 miles more than a passenger without an address. taste.
This also started my journey to Platinum for 2023.
In addition to the aforementioned domestic flights, I have made two international round-trip flights to Paris and Singapore this year. However, only my trip to Singapore contributed to my Loyalty Points (even though it wasn’t a US flight).
When I arrived in Paris this spring, I flew French bee are from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Paris-Orly Airport (ORY); I used my miles to fly from ORY to O’Hare International Airport (ORD)so I didn’t get any points from both trips.
Looking ahead to the end of the year, I know the best way to go Platinum for 2023 is to book a long-haul flight in premium cabin; you earn bonus miles that are eligible for your Loyalty Points balance when you fly premium economy, business or first class.
To do this, I made a rather indirect flight from ORD to Singapore Changi Airport (SIN). the route is round trip on Finnair in October on four segments: ORD-Helsinki Airport (HEL), HEL-SIN, SIN-HEL and HEL-ORD. In total, I flew over 20.00 miles in five days earning 28,554 US Loyalty Points through Finlanda Oneworld member.
Read more: Why I booked a Finnair flight to help me achieve American Airlines elite status
Together, these two long-haul premium flights include nearly 39,000 Loyalty Points, which alone should be enough to surpass the 30,000 Loyalty Point threshold for US Gold status.
Even so, I’m still 6,371 points short of going Platinum as of November 2022. I planned to get it through three trips:
- ORD to LaGuardia Airport (LGA) in December 2022: Base fare is $422.20 for a total of 2,955 Loyalty Points and Miles.
- ORD to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) January 2023: Base Fare is $229.77 for a total of 1,608 Loyalty Points and Miles.
- ORD to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) January 2023: Base fare is $255.81 for a total of 1,790 Loyalty Points and Miles.
Use US shopping portal
Although I mainly focused on earning Loyalty Points through flights, I earned Platinum earlier than expected, thanks to Black Friday Online Shopping through the AAdvantage shopping portal.
This is probably the easiest way to earn Loyalty Points, since you’re shopping for purchases you’ve intended to make. The US eShopping portal rewards users with base miles as Loyalty Points for purchases at participating retailers.
As of December 2022, miles earned from online shopping with AAdvantage eShopping will count towards Loyalty Points at a 1:1 ratio. The number of miles you earn depends on the specific retailer and price level. For example, I’ve earned nearly 4,000 Loyalty Points through purchases at Hunter Boots, Alo Yoga, Lululemon, and Gap, based on their gross transaction and earnings offerings.
Those Loyalty Points, along with my return flight last week from ORD to LGA, are enough to go Platinum this month ahead of time.
Related: Compare Finnair’s premium economy class flight experience on the A330 with the A350
Become loyal to 1 airline and alliance
As you read, I have become an American Airlines loyalist by default. However, even before becoming a status holder, I spontaneously chose to fly to the US over other carriers based on route availability out of home airports at the time. mine, DCA and Dulles International Airport (IAD).
Although I mostly fly from Chicago these days, Americans have a large enough presence at ORD to make the commute longer to O’Hare in the northwest suburbs compared to Midway International Airport (MDW). ) of the city becomes worthy.
Once you’ve decided on an airline, make sure to take advantage of the alliance’s perks; The American position opens up opportunities for 13 Oneworld member airlines to connect passengers to more than 900 destinations in more than 170 countries. Oneworld’s popular airlines include Alaska Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines and Qatar Airways.
When I fly on these other carriers as an AAdvantage Sapphire member, I receive reciprocity benefits on partner flights, including priority check-in and boarding flights, along with lounge access when traveling internationally. I also have access to the featured American Top lounges when departing or connecting to an eligible international same-day flight in any class, including at ORD.
Take advantage of the Hyatt-US partnership
Since last year, AAdvantage members can earn Hyatt Points World for eligible US flights, and all World of Hyatt elite members can earn World of Hyatt points on eligible US flights. More specific, This partnership allow:
These points are bonuses, in addition to the World of Hyatt points you’ve earned while staying and the US miles you’ve earned on flights. This partnership helped me quickly become a Hyatt World Explorer, the first level of Hyatt status.
As an Discoveryist, I earn 5 World of Hyatt points for every dollar spent on qualifying Hyatt stays.
bottom line
While I didn’t expect to receive the AAdvantage Platinum for another few months, I was pleasantly surprised when I received it ahead of time.
Now my next goal: get Platinum Pro by March 2024.
Read more: My first time flying premium economy: My coach mindset says it’s not worth the extra money
