No Surprise: American Airlines Adds New Elite Top-Tier

close-up of an airplane wing

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There have been rumours going around for some time suggesting that American Airlines will be adding a new top-tier status level to the AAdvantage program (I mentioned it just last week) and, as of yesterday, that’s exactly what the airline has done.

Yesterday American Airlines confirmed that, from 1 January 2017, the previously informal and somewhat secretive status of “Concierge Key” will become the AAdvantage program’s top elite tier.

I mentioned last week that the repercussions for the current, official, AAdvantage top-tier elites (Executive Platinum members – EXPs) would very much depend on which path American chose to take when it relegated EXPs into second place.

As I could see things the choice was between:

  1. Leaving Executive Platinum status (EXP) exactly as it is right now (i.e. benefits and qualification criteria don’t change) and simply introducing Concierge Key as a higher tier with better benefits.
  2. Removing some benefits from Executive Platinum and introducing Concierge Key as the top-tier with the benefits that EXP once had.

Well, I guess we should be thankful that it looks as if American has chosen option 1…..for now.

What’s Changing From 1 January 2017?

The New News

  • Concierge Key will become the new top-tier status in the AAdvantage program but it will remain an invitation-only status level. American Airlines will not be publishing any qualification criteria.

If you’re not sure what Concierge Key is then check out this post from last week in which you’ll find the answer.

  • Concierge Key members will have upgrade priority over Executive Platinum members regardless of the fare purchased.
  • The new 500-mile upgrade windows will look like this:

screen-shot-2016-11-07-at-18-41-01

The Old News

  • AAdvantage have a new mid-tier status called Platinum Pro
  • American Airlines is introducing a spend requirement for elite status called “Elite Qualifying Dollars” (EQD)
  • The AAdvantage qualifying criteria will look like this:

screen-shot-2016-11-07-at-18-45-06

  • At some point in 2017 (we haven’t been told when) the way upgrades are processed will be changing. Rather than ranking travelers based on the date the upgrade was requested, travelers will be ranked based on how many EQD they have earned in the previous 12-month rolling period.
  • Executive Platinum members will be able to use complimentary 500-mile upgrade benefits on award tickets for travel on American Airlines. The upgrades will be valid from Economy Class to the next class of service.

Thoughts

If American was going to bring in a new top-tier then this was about as benign a way it could do it.

The only thing that appears to be changing is that Concierge Key members will trump Executive Platinum members for upgrades and, as I said last week, that was probably going to happen anyway.

We already know that at some point in 2017 (we haven’t been told exactly when) American Airlines will be changing the way is prioritizes upgrades.

Rather than basing upgrade priority on the time/date the request was made (as things stand now) it’s going to be based on the number of Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQDs) earned in the last 12 months rolling period. That means that the more money a traveler spends the higher up he/she will be the upgrade list within his/her status group.

As those invited to join the CK program get that invite because they’re spending a lot of money it’s pretty safe to assume that they buy expensive fares and would therefore be atop the upgrade list anyway.

I acknowledge that there is a segment of EXPs who regularly purchase expensive fares but don’t spend enough to be invited to join CK – and they will lose out with this change – but that’s just about the only group this change will adversely affect.

One thing that stands out is what an anti-climax this must be for Concierge Key members – do they actually get anything more than they had before (or would have had anyway)?

It doesn’t look like it.

I’ve already mentioned why I believe CKs would have had upgrade priority anyway and I can’t see anything else that they’re gaining.

The American Airlines page where the updates to AAdvantage have been posted still shows the same mileage earning rates as before…..screen-shot-2016-11-07-at-19-02-36

…..so Concierge Key status holders may well be the new top-tier elites but they still don’t earn any more AAdvantage Miles than EXPs.

Lastly, I think it’s worth pointing out one little fact which will show just how things have changed for one set of AAdvantage Elites:

At the beginning of this year AAdvantage Platinum status was the second highest status you could reach. At the beginning of next year it will be the second lowest….and it has seen its benefits drop proportionally.

Bottom Line

This announcement is really a non-event. Most existing AAdvantage elites won’t notice the difference (probably a good thing considering all the recent noticeable differences have been negative!) and I’m not even convinced that Concierge Key status holders will notice any change.

Still, I’m definitely not complaining. At a time when airline loyalty programs are falling over themselves to devalue their offerings I’ll take a non-event all day long!