New American Airlines AAdvantage Loyalty Program

American Airlines is redesigning its AAdvantage loyalty program. The award chart is staying the same for now but the way you earn and keep status with be completely different. The airline will get rid of the elite qualifying metrics, and will instead introduce Loyalty Points. In 2022, AAdvantage members can earn status by flying, using an AAdvantage credit card for purchases or spending with an AAdvantage partner.

“Loyalty should be simple, and we have reimagined our AAdvantage program to a single point system that provides a clear path to earning status for our members,” said Chief Customer Officer Alison Taylor.

Earning AAdvantage Status

For every qualifying AAdvantage mile earned, members will earn one Loyalty Point. Here’s how to earn points:

Members can earn Loyalty Points by flying on American or one of its eligible partner airlines.
- Gold 40% bonus
- Platinum 60% bonus
- Platinum Pro 80% bonus
- Executive Platinum 120% bonus
You can also earn Loyalty Points when you use an AAdvantage credit card for purchases.
Earn Loyalty Points every year just by shopping online or dining out.

Which AAdvantage Miles Earn Loyalty Points?

As an AAdvantage® member, you’ll earn Loyalty Points as you earn eligible AAdvantage® miles. One eligible AAdvantage® mile equals one Loyalty Point. Eligible AAdvantage Miles include all base miles you earn, as well as elite bonus and cabin bonus miles you earn from flying.

But there are exclusions:

Bonus miles earned from special promotions
Miles from Buy, Gift, Transfer transactions
Government taxes, fees, and other charges associated with buying a ticket do not count toward earning AAdvantage® miles and do not count toward earning Loyalty Points
Conversion of another program currency to AAdvantage® miles
For AAdvantage® credit cards, “accelerators” or “multipliers” such as: welcome bonuses, extra miles for purchases in specific categories, with specific merchants (such as American Airlines purchases) or purchases made abroad
AAdvantage® credit cards new account or welcome bonuses, spend bonuses, etc.

AAdvantage 2022 Status Requirements

Status	Loyalty Points
Gold	30,000
Platinum	75,000
Platinum Pro	125,000
Executive Platinum	200,000

Upgrade Priority

With EQDs going away, Loyalty Points be used to determine upgrade priority:

Beginning March 2022, your 12-month rolling Loyalty Points value will be used to determine your upgrade priority.
12-month rolling EQDs will continue to determine upgrade priority through February 2022.
Your starting rolling 12-month Loyalty Points will be composed of a combination of your 12 month rolling EQD value as of March 1, supplemented with Loyalty Points as you earn them. As of March 1, 2023, the rolling 12-month Loyalty Points value used for upgrade priority will be solely composed of Loyalty Points.

Extending Status

American Airlines is extending the current AAdvantage status for all members through March 31, 2022.

And members can also double dip as any qualifying activity earned in January and February will count towards both 2022 and 2023 AAdvantage status. This gives members an extra two months to earn elite status for both years.

In the future, members will qualify for status from March through February, with status valid through March 31 of the following year.

Unlock Loyalty Choice Rewards

Next year, AAdvantage members can unlock Loyalty Choice Rewards, which were formerly called elite choice rewards. Loyalty Choice Rewards is a menu of rewards awarded to members that earn Platinum Pro status or higher and fly at least 30 flights on American or qualifying partner airlines.

Members can select the Loyalty Choice Reward they value the most, including an Admirals Club day pass, systemwide upgrades or bonus AAdvantage miles. Additional Loyalty Choice Rewards are available to unlock as members accrue more Loyalty Points.