TravelingForMiles.com may receive commission from card issuers. Some or all of the card offers that appear on TravelingForMiles.com are from advertisers and may impact how and where card products appear on the site. TravelingForMiles.com does not include all card companies or all available card offers.
Some links to products and travel providers on this website will earn Traveling For Miles a commission that helps contribute to the running of the site. Traveling For Miles has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Traveling For Miles and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Terms apply to all credit card welcome offers, earning rates and benefits and some credit card benefits will require enrollment. For more details please see the disclosures found at the bottom of every page.
Throughout the pandemic, all the major US airlines have taken measures to try to keep their frequent flyers happy and American Airlines has, for the most part, been at the forefront of some of the better initiatives that we’ve seen. This is a reminder that one such initiative will be live in just 7 days’ time.
American makes retaining status even easier
Earlier this year, American’s AAdvantage program reduced its elite status qualification criteria by 20% across the board…
…and the airline has been running three different promotions since early June that go even further in making it easier for elite flyers to earn/retain status in 2021.
As if all of that didn’t already make retaining elite status simple enough, from 15 July 2021 (one week from today), yet another American Airlines status promotion comes into effect which has been designed to allow AAdvantage status holders to retain their current elite status through 31 January 2023 just by spending on their AAdvantage co-branded credit cards.
Specifically, anyone with American Airlines AAdvantage status who spends at least $15,000 on their AAdvantage credit card between 15 July and 15 November 2021 will retain the status that they held on 1 January 2021 through to the end of January 2023.
This offer applies even if an AAdvantage member’s elite status as of 1 January was held courtesy of a status extension but it does not apply to anyone whose status was earned through a challenge.
Importantly, not only does this offer extend to holders of Citi/AAdvantage and AAdvantage Aviator Cards, but it also extends to any other AAdvantage co-branded cards issued outside of the United States.
Note: AAdvantage elites retaining Executive Platinum or Platinum Pro status through this promotion will not be eligible for 2022 elite choice rewards unless the member meets the 2021 elite qualification requirements for Executive Platinum or Platinum Pro.
Full terms for this offer can be found on this webpage.
Another promotion is on the way
If spending a lot of money on your AAdvantage credit card doesn’t seem like a good idea or if you simply don’t have an AAdvantage credit card, American Airlines will be running yet another promotion in September that may be more to your liking (I’m losing count of all these promotions!).
All AAdvantage members will elite status as of 1 January 2021 will retain that status through January 2023 if they earn 2,000 base Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQD) between 1 September and 31 December 2021.
Eligible flights include flights marketed and/or operated by American Airlines as well as flights marketed and/or operated by American’s elite qualifying partner airlines. Effectively, if a flight that you book is eligible to earn EQD in the normal course of business, it will also be eligible for this promotion.
Note: AAdvantage elites retaining Executive Platinum or Platinum Pro status through this promotion will not be eligible for 2022 elite choice rewards unless the member meets the 2021 elite qualification requirements for Executive Platinum or Platinum Pro.
Full terms for this offer can be found on this webpage.
Bottom line
Starting from next week, holders of various AAdvantage co-branded credit cards can earn their way to retaining whatever American Airlines status they held as of 1 January 2021. If you don’t hold an AAdvantage co-branded credit card or if you prefer not to put that much spending on your AAdvantage card, the promotion that will go live in September will probably be of more use.
I got a status promotion offer in early 2020 (they gave me Gold status for a few months, and I would retain it if I flew a certain number of flights and spent something like $1,250 — I don’t remember the exact specifics). Covid happened and I had a major trip cancelled. They sent me an updated challenge later in 2020 and temporarily reinstated the Gold status, so that I was technically gold as of 1/1/21. I got the email about this offer. Any idea if this would apply to me? I would happily put $15,000 on an AA Citicard to get Gold for a year. But the terms in the email say “Temporary elite status held due to a promotion is not eligible for status retention.” It sounds like technically I wouldn’t be eligible, but the fact that they sent me the email makes me wonder if it would work. Thanks in advance.
Unfortunately, because you have AA status as a result of a status “challenge”, you’re almost certainly excluded from this offer.
How about you had already “earned” your status held on 1/1/21 by meeting the requirements of a status challenge? Would this still be considered a “temporary elite status” per the terms and conditions and exclude you from this offer? I did not get an email about this offer.