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A rumor has resurfaced that suggests that American Airlines may be about to introduce a new top-tier to the AAdvantage program. This isn’t the first time this has been muted – there was a lot chatter about this in the first few months of this year – but, even as a current top-tier elite with American Airlines, I’m relatively unconcerned.
To be clear, what the rumor is suggesting is not that American Airlines will create a whole new status tier but, instead, will simply introduce an existing program that it already runs as the new AAdvantage top-tier.
American Airlines Concierge Key
American Airlines runs a program for customers that either spend a significant amount of money with the airline or who are in a position to put significant business American’s way. They call this program “Concierge Key”.
The rules for attaining Concierge Key status aren’t documented anywhere that the general public has access to so there’s an element of mystery to the program…but there are a few things that we do know:
- It’s an invitation only program
- Whatever criteria American uses to decide who gets Concierge Key status need to be met on a yearly basis.
- The more you spend the more likely you are to be invited to join the program
The benefits of Concierge Key
- Automatic AAdvantage Executive Platinum status
- 2 bonus systemwide upgrades (on top of the 4 received with Executive Platinum status)
- Admiral’s Club membership
- No co-pay fees when upgrading international flights with miles
- Access to Flagship check-in areas where available (e.g. LAX, JFK)
- Dedicated phone line to American Airlines
- Pre-boarding privileges
So, in effect, Concierge Key members get benefits to make their travels as easy as possible.
What’s The Rumor?
The rumor says that American Airlines will make Concierge Key an official AAdvantage status tier (above Executive Platinum) and may even document the requirements to attain that status.
The suggestion that this is on the way has come from JonNYC – a well-respected source on all things to do with American Airlines – so the rumor holds quite a bit of weight….but he’s certainly not infallible so nothing is certain just yet.
This isn’t a new idea – United has a similar program to Concierge Key within their MileagePlus program and they call it “Global Services”.
Global Services sits as the highest tier of the MileagePlus program but, despite its official standing, there’s still not much known about how travelers can attain that status – so I guess there’s no reason American wouldn’t do the same with Concierge Key.
What Will The Repercussions Be For Executive Platinum Members?
Clearly this all depends on how American decides to deal with the situation and, as I have no insight into what management is thinking, the following is all supposition.
As far as I can see there are two obvious routes American Airlines can take with this:
- Leave Executive Platinum status (EXP) exactly as it is right now (i.e. benefits and qualification criteria don’t change) and simply introduce Concierge Key as a higher tier with better benefits.
- Remove some benefits from Executive Platinum and introduce Concierge Key as the top-tier with the benefits that EXP once had.
Route 1
If American goes down route 1 I’m not sure that too much would change.
Yes, Concierge Key (CK) members would be placed above Executive Platinum members on the upgrade priority list but that’s about it…..and that’s how things are going to be even if CK isn’t introduced as the new AAdvantage top-tier.
We already know that at some point in 2017 (we haven’t been told exactly when) American Airlines will be changing the way is prioritizes upgrades.
Rather than basing upgrade priority on the time/date the request was made (as things stand now) it’s going to be based on the number of Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQDs) earned in the last 12 months rolling period. That means that the more money a traveler spends the higher up he/she will be the upgrade list within his/her status group.
As those invited to join the CK program get that invite because they’re spending a lot of money it’s pretty safe to assume that they buy expensive fares and would therefore be atop the upgrade list anyway.
Ok, yes, there will be a segment of EXPs who regularly purchase expensive fares but still don’t spend enough to be invited to join CK and they will lose out in this scenario…but I’m not convinced that this segment is particularly large.
Route 2
If American decides to go down route 2 I’ll be interested to see what benefits they decide to take away from EXPs.
Its unlikely they’ll remove any systemwide upgrades (SWUs) – EXPs already get half the number of SWUs they got a year ago and SWUs are almost certainly going to be devalued when Premium Economy is introduced anyway.
The airline could take away unlimited domestic upgrades from EXPs – and that would be a big blow to those who mainly fly in the US – but I can’t see them doing that either.
If American wants to reduce the number of upgrades it offers there are a lot of other ways the airline could do it without overtly annoying a lot of flyers.
So what can the airline take away or do to EXPs?
Reduce standby privileges? Charge for things they don’t currently charge for (e.g. same day flight changes, re-depositing awards, etc…)? Reduce the number of free checked bags?
Yes, potentially American could do all of those…but that’s not going to be life changing for most Executive Platinum flyers.
I’m struggling to thing of a benefit that is both major and something I can imagine American taking away from a 100k flyer.
Why This Is Unlikely To Affect Me Too Much
I’ve come to terms with the fact that EXP is already a devalued status level that’s going to be further devalued when the upgrade priority changes come in to force.
- I already have half the number of SWUs that I’ve had in the past
- Soon my SWUs will probably no longer upgrade me from Economy to Business Class (I’ll need to pay for Premium Economy if I want the chance to upgrade to Business Class)
- When the upgrade priority changes come into effect I’ll almost certainly find myself at the bottom of the list of EXPs looking to upgrade as I buy the cheapest fares I can.
There’s really not that much more American can do to EXP status that will have a material effect on me.
I’ve already discussed how the benefits I now value most are oneworld Emerald benefits and I don’t see American relegating Executive Platinum status to oneworld Sapphire.
Oneworld status benefits are pretty good
That’s just not going to happen.
So, unless I’m missing something (please tell me if I am), I don’t really care if American Introduces another level to AAdvantage above EXP…I probably won’t even notice.
Bottom Line
If this rumor turns out to be true – and I suspect it probably is – the biggest losers are likely to be EXP members who do most of their travel in the US.
The changes American may make to EXP will probably center around benefits that are specific to domestic travel rather than international travel (they’ve already taken a hatchet to the biggest international benefit – SWUs) so that’s where the pain may come.
Still, just in case I’ve missed something and American pushes through a change that significantly devalues EXP for me yet again, I have a back-up plan….but that’s for a post coming tomorrow (now live here).
What do you guys think? Have I missed something? What do you think is the likely outcome of this?
[…] that American Airlines will be adding a new top-tier status level to the AAdvantage program (I mentioned it just last week) and, as of yesterday, that’s exactly what the airline has […]