American Airlines Will Let You Pay To Keep Your Status In 2018. Is It Worth It?
It’s that time a year again, where road warriors are scrambling to lock up elite status for 2018. Status doesn’t come with as many perks as it used to. But, it’s still a pretty valuable tool for frequent travelers. American Airlines is once again offering to let you keep some status by paying them money. In some cases, a lot of money.
I’ve put together a bunch of offers from friends and readers of my blog to give you an idea of what others are seeing for status renewal offers. And, you can check to see if you have an offer on a special page American has set up. Here are the offers folks have been receiving:
Will received an offer of $2495 to retain Executive Platinum status. He currently has just less than $11k EQDs and 93K EQMs. He’s fried if he can’t squeeze in one more flight.
Jeanne received an offer of $299 to waive the $3 in EQDs she’s short for Platinum status. I have to be honest, this may be the most insulting of the offers. There was a time when AA would boost you up to the next status level if you came really close. Pretty sure she didn’t geek out on that offer.
Susan received an offer of $2,000 to retain Platinum Pro. She currently has 6,600 EQDs and 73,000 EQMs. Thanks, Doug!
Haung’s offer was $1299 for Platinum and $699 for Gold. He currently has 2500 EQDs and 13,000 EQMs. That’s a pretty randy offer if you ask me.
Crispy’s offer was the same as Haung’s, and she has no activity at all in 2017. What a steele!
Ben’s offer got stuck in my throat a bit. A whopping $2645 to keep Executive Platinum. He currently has 10,500 EQDs and 89,000 EQMs. That’s a lot of pork to keep status.
Sara received a real cookie of an offer. $1,395 to Executive Platinum when she’s less than 200 EQMs away. She still needs about 1000 EQDs. Ouch!
Von‘s $1539 offer for Gold is pretty darn high. She has 1625 EDQs and about 12,000 EQMs. She’s probably heaving over that offer.
Adam has one of the more interesting offers. His Platinum offered started out at $1995, and then dropped to $1299 a short while later. I find that pretty darn interesting. He has almost no flights this year. I wonder if American is dynamically changing all the offers?
The Final Two Pennies
Last but not least, here’s my offer for this year along with my elite status progress:
As you’ll notice, my status buy-up would be to Platinum Pro since I already have lifetime Platinum status. I guess they didn’t want to get cheeky and offer me Plat Pro for $6,000. I’ll be catching up on my status decisions in a later post.
I also took a look at what American Airlines offered people in 2017. By and large, this year’s offers look more pricey.
If you’re thinking about buying status, make sure to consider all the factors. Be honest about how many free upgrades you might get, how often you’re going to use a free checked bag benefit. Think about credit cards that might otherwise give you those benefits before you pay AA directly for status. In certain cases, it might be worth buying up. But, I think most folks won’t see the value at these prices.
I’d really appreciate it if you’d weigh in with your status offer. You can find your offer on the American Airlines website. I’d be curious to see what others are getting, and the information may help your fellow readers.
The post American Airlines Will Let You Pay To Keep Your Status In 2018. Is It Worth It? was published first on Pizza in Motion
I’ve been EXP for 9 years but will be falling to Plat Pro this year because I’ve shifted a lot of flying to JetBlue. My offer was $3155 for EXP again next year while I stand at 9011 EQD and 85.7K EQM. I’m not going to do it, but surprised that it’s less than I’d pay to actually fly and earn the $3k EQD given that taxes/fees wouldn’t count toward the total.
My elite status is currently “–” (i.e. nothing) but I’ve got 3500 EQDs and 21000 EQMs. They’re offering me Gold for $395. To be fair, that’s probably about the same cost as actually buying enough flights to reach 4000 more miles within the next 40 days, plus I don’t have to actually fly.
I am 243 miles short of Platinum. $7000+ EQD’s. My offer is $695. I will not be paying AA anything.
I might consider it, since I have 0 flights on AA, $2k to retain plat status.
Just checked again, now offer is down to $1299.. definitely considering it for Mid tier status
I am currently Gold. I was offered Platinum for $695. I’m already over $6,300 EQDs and 46,000 EQMs. I’ve calculated that based on the remaining flights I have booked, I’ll reach Platinum without having to buy up.
Mine is $1335 to retain Platinum I’m about 12 segments short with only about 4 to 8 segments planned through the end of the year. I should hit the EQD’s.fairly easy.
I’ve been Platinum for years and have been sitting around 4k EQD, 32K EQM, 10k EQS since summer.
I received an e-mail offer on November 2nd which hasn’t chnaged — $1299 to keep Platinum status. Since I status matched to Alaska Airlines (I’m based in Seattle anyway) in October and have multiple priority pass cards anyway, I won’t bother with it.
If I pay with my AMEX, does it count 5x?
Ed, My offer buy up to Gold for $350, which is the EQD I actually need… Plat for $1300… so essentially $1000 more… Hmmm
$895 for Plat. Currently at 8200 EQD and 42500 EQM. Have flights booked to get over 45K EQM and will then see if/how much offer decreases before deciding.
699 for Gold. I currently have just over $1 EQD and 11K EQM, with another 200 eqd and 1500 eqm upcoming. I’m only a few nights away from Marriott Platinum, which comes w/ United Silver and Delta “Medallion Lite” so I’ll just do a few mattress runs instead
No offer received and I am platinum
$2999 for Plat Pro. I have 6100 EQD and 67K EQM.
Interesting to see the variety of offers. Mine is $1,795 to retain EXP. I’m currently at a little over 11k eqds and 92k eqms. Fortunately I have enough scheduled thru EOY to make it through normal flying.
$699 for Gold and $1299 for Platinum. I am currently Platinum with $104 EQDs and 750 EQMs with no AA flights this year.
Looks like they want $895 to be Platinum. Currently Gold with $7,320 EQD’s, 37,121 EQM’s, and 51 EQS’s. Seems pretty rich. Think I’d rather book 2 more flights (because I live in Lubbock, every round trip is 4 EQS’s).
Ressystems2016, I’d opt for the run instead of the cash myself. I was in Lubbock for the first time earlier this year. Love me some Evie Mae’s….