Clarification from American Airlines about the AAdvantage Fast Track to Elite Status Offer
With the help of the @AmericanAir team and someone at AAdvantage, I was able to get some clarification regarding the eligibility of those who signed up for the AAdvantage Fast Track to Elite Status promotion that was offered (briefly) this week.
If you signed up for the offer before it was removed, congratulations! You are on your way to enjoying AAdvantage Elite Status!
This was American’s official statement regarding the promotion:
As you know, from time to time we run highly targeted offers to attract high-value customers. These offers are not intended to be publicly available or dilutive to the benefits that you have earned through your loyal flying on American.
We believed the offer we launched yesterday to be significantly more targeted than it was, and as such took the offer down very quickly.
The eligible customers who received the offer, registered for the promotion prior to its closing and achieve the mileage requirements during the stated time period will still receive status. We apologize for any confusion and appreciate your continued loyalty.
I was a little unclear about the meaning of “eligible customers who received the offer” and wondered whether that meant people who never received an offer and signed up anyway would qualify for ‘Fast Track Status’.
So yesterday I emailed some follow-up questions and American was able to provide some clarification. This is part of their response:
It’s also important to note that American is constantly evaluating the AAdvantage program to ensure they offer the best program for customers and – most importantly – ensure that the value of the AAdvantage program is protected.
So, to clarify, everyone who was eligible (i.e. non-elite members) and registered prior to the deadline will be honored, regardless of whether or not they were targeted.
So, for those who signed up, welcome (soon) to AAdvantage Elite Status (just don’t take my upgrade)!!
You’re very likely going to need to earn some extra miles, so don’t forget to follow The Flight Deal for the best mileage run opportunities (like roundtrip between DFW/Philadelphia for $158)!
And how do you know if you got in on time before the “deadline”? Is everyone that registered eligible? Or is there a certain time cut off?
@ John Doe – People who tried to register with the code after the offer was closed received the message “The promotional code you entered is not valid”.
You should be fine if you were able to register using the code and received an confirmation email (as long as you’re not a current AA elite).
I just called about 15 minutes ago and they told me over the phone that I was not eligible but had no reason. I definitely signed up before it was pulled from Linkedin and meet the requirements. Any idea of what I should do?
@ Ryan K – I wasn’t able to get an answer until today, so it maybe not all agents are aware yet.
I would email AAdvantage Customer Service and perhaps include a link to this post. You’re better off getting a written response, or a reference number before you call in. Make sure if you provide them with the promo code. Good luck and let me know what happens!
Thanks for the final clarification man! I researched a bunch of your domestic runs, like sfo-dfw-sju but how about some big chunk international runs? Id love to do it in 2 easy trips.. Maybe SE Asia, S. America, Africa. Also a post on code-share and fare codes for us AA novices! Thanks to AA btw, I have never had status w/ them but look forward to trying them out for a year…
@ clayd333 – Good luck with Fast Track Status! Hope to see you on an AA flight (in First Class, of course)!
I got the registered in first hour, got conf mail, checked extra with AA CS, got another conf mail from them… so I guess that I am good to go… now big question: I would be pleased with Platinum, but if I go for big one, 30000, can I expect to get 8 SWU’s?
You can do it in one RT…east coast to Tokyo for example.
If one does 30000 miles and achieves Exec Plat, will one get 8 SWU’s?
Can I get an amen!
so what about the SWUs after hitting 30k? Included, right?
Miro-Did you call CS or email them? and what is their email address or phone number? Thx
@ Miro @ Michael – Just received clarification, people who registered for the Fast Track Status offer and achieve Executive Platinum status will receive the standard 8 System Wide Upgrades.
Great work getting the confirm out of ’em
@ JonNYC – Thanks! Just following your example.:-)
Kind words greatly appreciated, but you’re really doing a great job with this stuff. AA will positively not allow any of their folks to answer my questions on things like this– so very glad to have them giving feedback to you! You’re an asset to the AAdvantage community, keep up the great work!
Holy moly – this is almost too good to be true! Although I didn’t receive a targeted offer, I signed up before the offer was pulled and received a confirmation email.
This might just be the luckiest I’ve ever been in the miles and points game. Thanks for clarifying the offer!
@ SANspotter – Good luck with your Fast Track challenge!
Got this response today. What do you think?
Dear Mr. ,
Thank you for your message to AA.com.
Our database indicates that you did register for promotion code, H3TLI,
however, it shows that it is inactive on your account, .
Our colleagues in AAdvantage Customer Service are best equipped to
answer any questions related to this issue.
Please call 1-800-882-8880 (Monday-Friday, 9a-5:30p CST). Ask for the
“Main Menu” when prompted, then request “AAdvantage Account Service”.
Thank you for writing to AA.com.
Thanks for gleaning an answer! It is much appreciated!
Thanks for getting some definitive answers for all of us who don’t know what the deal is.
@ Majikow @ Mike – Thanks for reading!
@ Andrew – I suspect that a decision as to how they were going to handle the issue wasn’t made until late yesterday; they didn’t have an official response until late in the day (almost 5 PM). I didn’t get the clarification until late this morning.
I would wait until Tuesday then resubmit your question, by then all of the CS agents will have had a chance to be made aware of the decision.
Good luck with your Fast Track challenge!
@aadvantagegeek Thanks a lot for all your efforts! Crossing fingers 🙂
I booked O fare on AA.com for my EXP challenge. Will I get full credit because on AA site it says .50 pts?
Hi aadvantagegeek, is there a MR tool to search good fares on AA from a certain city? Thanks!
@Pete: The rules for this challenge specify that EQMs are counted, not EQPs. That means you should be earning 100% on all eligible fares, no 50% and no bonus for premium cabin.
What’s the best way to find out if I got registered in time? I will probably wait till Monday for things to shake out but who should I contact then?
Very disappointing that AA is going to water down the benefits of those who actually earned EXP.
Just got off the phone with an AAdvantage rep. She confirmed that since I’m already at an elite level, even though I did sign up in time, the offer does not apply to me. So current Golds and Platinums, this promotion was exciting for a few days but that’s about it!
Thanks for the great blog.
Gary
so, do all of the miles need to be flown on AA metal, or do OneWorld flights count as well. I can’t seem to find the rules anywhere, even thouh I recieved the confirmation e-mail. Thanks!!!
so, even though I recieved the confirmation e-mail, I have been unable to find the rules for the promotion. The question I have is if all of the miles need to be on AA metal, or if OneWorld flights also count towards the 30K for PLAT.
@ BigMac – Doesn’t have to be on AA metal, but not all oneworld partners count.
In case you or anyone else needs the info, here are the full Terms & Conditions:
Safe travels and good luck with your Fast Track Status!
@aadvantagegeek – thank for the great info and sorry about the double post… using firefox and it didn’t show the first one… 🙂
@ BigMac – The more comments, the better! Anyway, glad it helped! 🙂
I am a non-elite with AA and got in under the wire on this offer. I already had enough AA flights booked between Sept and December to get me Platinum (assuming the promo is honored as it appears it will be). Just looking at program benefits and have a question.
“Complimentary access to exclusive Preferred Seats and Main Cabin Extra”
Is this benefit available at time of booking (domestically) or some time before flight depending on status like on UA?
Sorry if this is the wrong place for the question..
Thanks for your help.
@ Soon2bElite – It works differently than UA.
American elites can choose Preferred seats and Main Cabin Extra at time of booking (or any other time for that matter).
Like your handle and good luck with your Fast Track!
I got in under the wire but no confirmation until I wrote AAdvantage Customer Service and they confirmed that I did get it and that I will receive an email detailing the rules, etc. 32K miles of MRs could cost me ~$2100 ($.066/cpm). Would 8 SWUs be worth $2100 ($262 each) if my math is right.
@ Paul – I think the SWUs are a great value at $262 each. Here’s my thinking….
DFW to London is a fairly inexpensive international route (with enough planning, it’s usually pretty easy to get a $900 round trip fare). The round-tip Business Class fare is usually about $5,200 (once in a while they’ll have a sale and offer a J fare for $3,500).
If you use two SWUs for round-trip travel to LHR, you’re paying $1,424 ($900 + $262 + $262) for $3,500 – 5,200 worth of travel. And $262 is cheaper than the cost of a mileage upgrade copay: to upgrade from a discount fare it’s 25,000 AAdvantage miles PLUS a $350 copay.
Another great benefit of being EXP is that you can cancel award tickets and redeposit the miles without and fees, that flexibility comes in handy when planning trips with miles.
Good luck with your Fast Track challenge!
So is there any where I can get written confirmation that I am approved? When the deal was first pulled, I called and they said I was not targeted so I was not eligible, even though I have no status. Now it sounds like I am eligible.
@ Rachel – You should contact AAdvantage Customer Service using the link on AA’s website. They will be able to provide you written confirmation of your eligibility.
To existing elites, this is an insult. Not only can existing Platinums not have the chance to bump up to EXP with some sort of challenge, now there will be a lot of EXP’s that should have never been. Feels like I’ve been spit on.
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