American Airlines has a hub where I live, so it’s the airline that usually has a non-stop route to most of the places we choose to travel.
And, without status, you’re paying for bags, boarding at the back of the line, and not getting any free upgrades.
American Airlines grants status based on Loyalty Points earned over the course of a year. You can earn these loyalty points in a variety of ways:
- Flying
- Shopping through their online portal
- Rental cars
- Hotels
Among others.
I don’t fly enough to earn status with AA, so I knew I’d have to go about it a different way.
My goal was to achieve their second tier of status because I thought it had the best benefits for the effort I’d have to spend to get there.
Gold is their first tier & you have to earn 40,000 Loyalty Points to achieve it.
Platinum is their second tier & you have to earn 75,000 Loyalty Points to achieve it.
With Gold you get:
- 1st checked bag free for you & up to 8 passengers on the same reservation (for our family of 4, this would be savings of ~$280 for any round trip ticket we booked)
- Group 4 boarding
- Free Main Cabin Extra seats (extra legroom) if available at check-in
- One World Ruby Status
With Platinum you get:
- 1st TWO checked bags free for you & up to 8 passengers (we usually don’t need this many bags but would be a significant additional savings)
- Group 3 boarding
- Free Main Cabin Extra seats if available at booking (notice here that you get the seats when you book compared to Gold where you have to wait until check-in when they’re likely to be taken)
- One World Sapphire Status - access to business class lounges when traveling internationally
The next tier up is Platinum Pro and I’m not sure the benefits will be worth the additional spend/flying I’d have to do to get there.
I also have the Citi AA Executive card which gives me an additional 10,000 Loyalty Points when you earn 50,000 Loyalty Points in a year. That meant I could get to Platinum with just 65,000 Loyalty Points.
I only took 1 AA flight on my way to Platinum status. The rest was earned through credit card spend, a rental car, and the AA shopping portal. The AA shopping portal is a great way to earn status without taking many flights as they often have 3-6x extra points for purchases at stores you already shop at if you access the store through their shopping portal.
My Platinum status should show on my next statement date & I’ll immediately upgrade our upcoming flights to Main Cabin Extra seats with extra legroom free of charge.
The free bags, upgraded boarding, and free Main Cabin Extra seats were enough incentive for us to spend several months pursuing Platinum status.
If you’re interested in status on American Airlines, definitely check out the American Airlines eShopping portal & you’ll be surprised how many Loyalty Points you can earn just by shopping at the places you normally go.
