American Airlines Offering Elite Qualifying Miles For Hotel Stays [Targeted]

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American airlines is sending out emails to select AAdvantage members offering them the chance to earn Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) for hotel stays across most major hotel chains. The offer is definitely targeted as only one of the three AAdvantage accounts I control received it and, as a point of reference, it was the account with least activity that received the offer.

Subject line of the email reads “By invite only: Reach elite status faster with hotel stays” while the body of the email reads:

You’ve been selected to earn up to 100 Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) on each qualifying stay with these partners through July 31:

• Marriott
• Hilton
• Rocketmiles
• IHG
• Hyatt
• Choice
• Starwood
• Fairmont
• Best Western
• Carlson
• PointsHound
• Wyndham

How it works:

• Register now with promo code HTEQM
• Book and stay by July 31, 2017
• Earn 10% EQMs on all base award miles earned from qualifying stays (up to 1,250 EQMs during the promotion period)

There doesn’t appear to be a dedicated landing page for this promotion but here are the main points from the T&Cs included on the email:

• Promotion Period is  23 May 2017 through 31 July 2017, at 11:59 p.m. CDT.
• Only AAdvantage members receiving the email qualify for the promotion
• Eligible Members that register for the Promotion and earn miles on qualifying stays with Hotel Partners during the Promotion Period will receive 10% bonus Elite Qualifying Miles (“EQMs”) on all base miles earned from the qualifying stays.
•  A maximum of 100 EQMs can be earned per qualifying stay
• A maximum of 1,250 EQMs can be earned during the promotion period
• Qualifying stays that take place before an eligible member is registered for the Promotion will not count toward the Promotion.
• American Airlines assumes no responsibility for how participating Hotel Partners count qualifying stays.
• An Eligible Member must check with the Hotel Partner to confirm how the Hotel Partner records a qualifying stay.

How You Earn The EQM

Per American:

To earn AAdvantage^® miles from qualifying stays, an Eligible Member must follow instructions given by the Hotel Partner to either (i) set the Eligible Member’s earning preference to American Airlines miles on the Hotel Partner’s site, or (ii) provide the Eligible Member’s AAdvantage^® number during the booking process or upon check-in.

EQMs earned as a result of the Promotion will typically be posted to the Eligible Member’s AAdvantage^® account within 7 business days after the qualifying stay has been posted by the participating Hotel Partner. EQMs only count toward elite status qualification for the AAdvantage^®program. EQMs earned through the Promotion will not count toward AAdvantage^® Million MilerSM status. EQMs cannot be redeemed for award travel, AAdvantage^® miles or any other AAdvantage^®program awards.

Yes, You Can Stack This With Other Bonus Mileage Offers From Hotel Partners

The Promotion may be used in conjunction with other AAdvantage^® Hotel Partner bonus mileage offers. Qualifying stays booked through bookaahotels.com that earn AAdvantage^® miles will qualify for the Promotion.

This means that you can make the most of promotions like “up to 10,000 miles per night” from RocketMiles and still earn the bonus EQM.

Registering & Knowing If You’re Eligible

If you didn’t receive the email the first thing you should do is check to see if it got caught up in a spam filter. If it’s not there then the chances are you weren’t targeted and are therefore not eligible.

If you want to be 100% certain then follow the steps below.

To register all you have to do is log in to your AAdvantage account and input the code HTEQM on the regular registration page. If you see this message you’re good to go:

If you see this message……

…then, like me, you weren’t targeted and you’re not eligible for the promotion.

Bottom Line

There are quite a few ways you can earn American Airlines redeemable miles from hotel stays but I can’t remember the last time we saw a promotion offering Elite Qualifying Miles – this looks new.

1,250 EQM may not seem like much but it could be the difference between one elite status and another so, if you were targeted you should definitely sign up….even if you don’t expect to be able make the most of this. Plans change so, just because right now you don’t see yourself earning EQM, doesn’t mean that things won’t be different in a few weeks.

Also, not give up just because you didn’t receive the email – make sure to log in and to try the code out for yourself just in case you were targeted and the email simply never reached you.