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American Airlines to Combine AAdvantage and Dividend Miles In 30 Days

ByEdward Pizzarello
a woman serving a man in an airplane

American Airlines is sending out some more news about the upcoming transition to one loyalty program.  They had originally predicted that the transition would happen in the 2nd quarter of 2015, and that appears likely.  Today’s announcement says this transition is less than 30 days away, which I view as a good thing.

So, what else is happening with this change?

  • All Dividend Miles accounts that have been linked will have their balances transferred to the corresponding AAdvantage account.
  • Elite-qualifying miles from 2014 will be combined to determine your 2015 status.  I was lucky enough to hold onto my Executive Platinum status, and now I know it won’t be more than 30 days before that’s official, even if it does go away temporarily.
  • Butt-in-seat miles from the Dividend Miles program will move over to AAdvantage as progress towards their Million Miler benefits.
  • All awards will be booked through AAdvantage accounts going forward.  This is both good and bad.  It’s a big positive for most folks because it means everything can be booked as a one-way award (US Airways charges the round-trip price for a one-way award right now).  But, there are a few parts of the Dividend Miles program that are a bit more generous, so if you prefer those booking rules, you’re on the clock to book your last awards!
  • US Airways Dividend Miles members will get a starting balance of 500-mile upgrades. They’ll need to start using those for domestic flights operated by American Airlines that are over 500 miles in length to get upgraded to First.

You still have time to link your AAdvantage and Dividend Miles accounts(link here) and should do so to make things smoother for yourself. 

Starting with the account merge, AADVANTAGE elites will start getting free upgrades on domestic flights less than 500 miles (they won’t need to use 500-mile upgrades or “stickers” any longer. 

Codeshare flights will continue to be troublesome for domestic upgrades. You won’t be able to upgrade ahead of time for those, so it’s still best to buy a ticket from American Airlines for an American-operated flight and the same for US Airways (unless the pricing is wonky, something I see often). 

All in all it’s a good next step. The process has been slow and steady, but as long as the new American keeps moving forward without big issues, I’m encouraged by the progress.  

 

 

The post American Airlines to Combine AAdvantage and Dividend Miles In 30 Days was published first on Pizza In Motion.

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My goal in life is to fill my family’s passports with stamps, creating buckets of memories along the way. You’ll find me writing about realistic ways for normal people to travel the world, whether you’re on a budget or enjoy luxury. I also enjoy taking us on the occasional detour to explore the inner workings of the travel industry.

2 Comments

  1. “but as long as the new American keeps moving forward without big issues”

    I consider it all but certain that there will be big issues. There’s no way they can combine two organizations the size of US & AA without there being issues. The main question in my mind is whether or not those issues will be on the front (customer-facing) end or the back end.

    Reply

    1. Brian, I disagree it’s a certainty. They’ve split this up into more pieces than the airlines before them. They’re not doing reservation systems right now, just loyalty. There may be issues, but I don’t think there’s any data to indicate that’s a certainty.

      Reply

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