If your status is ending, consider booking as much future travel as you can, because some of your benefits will likely apply to trips booked before your status expires for trips that occur after.
You can book extra legroom coach seats with your status, where that benefit applies, and those seat assignments will usually stick. And here’s an interesting wrinkle: with American Airlines your checked baggage allowance officially applies based on the better of your status at time of ticketing or travel. This isn’t just an IT glitch.
Officially, if you have status when you book a ticket for future travel after status expires, you get to use your elite baggage benefit still:
You don’t want to book too speculatively. Your plans may change and you’ll be stuck with travel credits (which you may be able to use for future trips).
And the farther in advance that you book, the more likely there is to be a schedule change. That could cause you to lose your elite seats, especially if there’s an aircraft change but sometimes just when there’s a flight number change. So there’s no guarantee all of the benefits you secure at booking will apply to travel, though losing seats that you’ve reserved due to a schedule change is hardly the base case.
Does it matter what status you were when you purchased the ticket, for mileage accrual purposes? My husband purchased a ticket for this fall earlier in the year when he was Gold or Plat – he’s now PP. Do we need to ask AA Twitter CS to update the record? (upgrade doesn’t apply as the ticket is in J)
@ Gary — Did not know, thanks!
Not sure about future but I know I got upgraded DCA-DSM on last day as Platinum 🙂
Is this also true of hotel programs?
As a DP, after I lost Delta status last year, I was removed from my Comfort+ seats and had to select new seats – and had to pay if I selected a premium seat.
Where on a receipt does elite status appear?
Yep – rort the system in any way you can – just like trashing VA for non entitlements you didn’t receive – then reject the comments that call you out
@Platy – I think it’s really clear that I’m not moderating comments, you call me out here (I think quite unreasonably) and I publish your comments. Now you’re making stuff up that I’m somehow censoring you.
@ Gary
Be honest. Every single one of my comments enter a moderation queue.and my last comment on VA thread never published.
Maybe not surprising since I call you out for factual misinformation on so many occasions whereas those racists and incels slip through the net.
Your website and your choice. Time to exit.
Per the good wishes you chose not to publish – be well, travel safe and love your family (I know you do)
@platy – I do not know what comment you think went missing. I see a dozen comments from you in that thread. I haven’t deleted anything. Your choice to read, to comment, etc. – or not – as you wish.
@ Gary
Not the case and you know it . You’re not even honest about ALL of my comments entering moderation queue.
Like I said be well. I respect your contribution to the frequent traveller universe. Be brilliant at that.
@platy – Alright, to be clear, I do not know if ALL of your comments go into the moderation queue, you have complained about it and I’ve seen a lot there which I then approve. That simple. Maybe some get auto-approved? I have speculated that the system has flagged you as potential spam based on the extremely long length of many of your comments. Another thing that regularly flags comments as potential spam is inclusion of links.
@ Gary
You do know that ALL of my comments go to moderation because I informed you of such on at least four occasions. Your website and your choice.. in any case you should know how your website functions.
Is this post short enough for you!?
I expect links to be moderated.
I have previously included them to back positions to counter factual inaccuracies in articles and comments – very few hree the invading. N evidenced based approach
No point insodoing….