American Airlines is sending out challenges for some customers to earn coveted ConciergeKey status. It even comes with trial status for four months, and achievable benchmarks to keep that status – through early 2027.
The offer of a ConciergeKey challenge comes with a personal phone call.
I just got a very interesting phone call from AA. I have been selected for a Concierge Key status challenge. Basically if I earn 250,000 loyalty points for 3 consecutive 4-month periods I could have the status through March/April 2027 free of charge (no fee to initiate the challenge).
…Last year I earned 503k loyalty points (with 95% coming from flying), and am based in a hub city.
Annualized 750,000 loyalty points is equivalent to an Executive Platinum member spending about $68,000 on tickets, which checks out. Of course, loyalty points can be earned in any number of ways such as spending on AAdvantage credit cards, making purchases through their online shopping portal, and booking hotels through them as well.
ConciergeKey is the status that American Airlines gives to its top spending customers and top corporate travel influencers. It’s the status that George Clooney had in Up In The Air. I had the status briefly and the best thing about it wasn’t:
- top priority for upgrades
- being met with golf carts and driven to American’s international business class lounges on domestic flights
- being driven across the tarmac if you had an especially tight connection.
I would absolutely jump on an offer like this. I easily earned over 415,000 loyalty points last year and made a concerted effort to stop since it would have taken some effort to reach the next loyalty point reward level of 550,000. But I would only need to do an incremental couple hundred thousand points – spread out in equal chunks across each third of the coming year – to meet this challenge. (Sadly it was not offered to me.)
- prepay bills
- pay property taxes, income taxes, rent or mortgage by credit card
- take advantage of every trial offer in their shopping portal
- buying and liquidating gift cards
- booking all hotels and even some no show stays through AAdvantage hotels
- reimbursable work meals only at AAdvantage dining restaurants
The best thing about ConciergeKey was getting confirmed on sold out flights when a flight is severely delayed or cancelled – American being willing to bump another passenger to get you where you’re going.
But I admit to missing the calls and texts from premium services as I set out for the airport, being met at gates and thanked for my business, and the proactive monitoring of my flights with someone meeting me when I’d land with a tight connection either to help me make it or with a new boarding pass and escort to the Flagship business class lounge.
American offered some ConciergeKey that didn’t get their status renewed the opportuntiy to buy back the status. Just like American has regularly offered other elite frequent flyers who didn’t requalify the ability to buy back their status (an Executive Platinum member might be asked to pay $2,300, for instance), Concierge Key members were given paid offers as well.
- Most were asked to pay a whopping $10,000
- Some were asked to pay ‘only’ $5,000
That is a little harder to justify, though the credit card spending it would take (since I’m not doing the paid flying to get there) has a real opportunity cost. Every dollar spent on an AAdvantage card is a dollar not spent on a card that generates more, more rewarding points. If I generated $300,000 in credit card spend on the quest for ConciergeKey, that means probably generating 300,000 AAdvantage miles – instead of 600,000 Capital One points – and a loss in value of perhaps $4,800. So maybe those $5,000 buy ups, no effort required, weren’t as bad as I thought at first.
I took a flight this year on AA…and last year too! I am obviously very loyal. Waiting patiently for my phone call.
This is an airline that has to plan…in the future…to clean their airplanes. Who would want to be a “special” person?
As a high-volume business traveler of 25 years let me say the only way someone is getting to unpublished status on the big 3 is by basically always flying paid first class and, most likely, quite a bit of paid international business class and above. Therefore upgrades aren’t super significant and Gary is correct, the value is in being helped when you’re in trouble. And not just irregular ops. Once, as a Delta Diamond; I stupidly booked myself and my mother home from London on the wrong day and had used upgrades because it was a vacation. It was an idiotic thing to do by me but I’m always booking tickets and mistakes happen. The Diamond desk just fixed it without issue because they take care of best customers. That’s where the “value” is.
AA is a dying brand.
I think Mantis should get the call.
I think Mantis should get the call.!!
Leonard, I took 4! award flights. Can you add me to the list?
Waste of ink.
Former CK and long time EP here. I am very happy -not- flying AA any longer. I am 1K on United and keep BA Gold for OneWorld travel and benefits.
United is consistent – I know what to expect when I fly them and they almost always deliver. Sometimes they over deliver. I know exactly which seat I will have when a book longhaul business. The 1K desk is excellent – every bit as good as the EP desk in their best days. The app is outstanding.
CK is only as good as the airline – and AA is a distant third versus DL and UA now. It’s very sad. I miss the old AA.
I agree 100% with @John. I was a longtime ExPlat that finally gave up and was 1K for 4 years. My 1K experience was much better than ExPlat. Had to go back to AA this past year since I’m in a AA hub and UA made some schedule changes that resulted in untenable connections. But I do miss UA and 1K.
To get to $68K annual spend, unless you’re doing significant credit card spend, you’re either flying long haul premium quite a bit or lots of domestic paid first or taking higher paid cash upgrades (the $800 MIA/PHX kind). So, I would think upgrades wouldn’t really matter. You’re definitely not getting there by flying on coach tickets.
The real benefits to me of CK would be FL admittance on all flying and being able to preboard before what has become the Group One scrum in which everyone in Group 1-5 seems to want to clog up the boarding lane. The carts and the texts I can do without.
I just received a flyer from AA. The offer was $425 or 42500 points to qualify for Platinum Pro. I was short 700 points this year. I determined it wasn’t much of a perk go to Platinum Pro from Platinum. The cost doesn’t justify the few additional perks.
I just wish I didn’t have to drive over 2 hours to get to an airport. Then wait to board, length of flight and then destination. It’s exhausting
Have you not been paying attention to the forums? The perks you mention happen less and less frequently these days. Some premium services reps have said AA swelled the ranks of CK by some 50% and they just don’t have the resources to cover everyone, especially with the paid services coming first.
Now days the best bit of CK is getting a phone agent with zero wait even during major travel disruptions.
The worst thing about CK is when you lose it 😉
But i wouldn;t pay $5-10k pa for it, vs vested EP.
Ever since Up in the Air, the idea of attaining Concierge Key has always seemed pretty cool, but with the numbers Gary’s describing, no thanks, that’s just too much spend, unless your business is covering it, and if it’s actual flying, you would need to do long-haul business class at least once a month to get it done. Don’t chase status. Let it come to you.
And sure, I’m with @Leonard, for shits and giggles, just give @Mantis a taste. What do you have to lose, AA?!
@Bradley- I have been ck for eight years and since the LP regime I have been renewed several times on almost just personal Citi card spend. It s completely different world now that you can qualify for status in a holistic manner.
I sincerely hope if i would ever get bumped by a CK holder that i never find out, especially if some CK holder felt they deserved the seat more than I did.
That would be the absolute final straw
Concierge Key kind of feels like being driven around WalMart in a golf cart and getting taken to the front of the checkout line to buy your Cheetos & canned tuna.
Sure, you’re getting preferential treatment relative to the other shoppers, buuuut, it’s still WalMart. But you’re paying 10x what everyone else is, though.
Hm. To actually reach that level, I think I’d need to run almost all of my business spend over AA, as well as most of my personal spending. 200k LPs (for EXP) isn’t much of a “reach”, but I’m not quite sure I could make 750k /quite/ work without some serious spend via AAdvantage Hotels/Cars (unless I could get AA to lean on Citi to bump my business card’s limit to like $100k – there’s some seasonally “lumpy” spend on taxes there and I’d need to be able to not have the business card “totally” frozen for a month at a time).
The bigger issue I’d run into? If I’m bringing in 700-900k RDMs (I’m assuming some of the LPs would be bonus LPs from a few channels, but there are also CC bonus RDMs that don’t map to LPs) I’d probably have trouble /spending/ those with my existing travel patterns. Knowing upgrade probabilities, burning that would likely translate into flying to NYC/Florida every other weekend.
Typical VFTW AA hate by Gary and his minion comment section. All those Kirby bux are hopefully buying you guys some hobbies.
Good luck getting a mortgage company to let you pay on a credit card. I tried with the Barclays and was told “not possible”
I’ve bene CK for two years now. It’s a complete waste of time. More annoying than useful. I usually fly out of LAX where they have a presence. But they text me at boarding time to see if I want a cart ride from Gat 41 to my gate when I’m already boarding. I absolutely DO NOT get any priority upgrade over my coworkers who are ExecPlat. I’ve been punted from my EconomyPlus seat LAX to PHL and told by CK “a mistake was made, and your seat is no longer available.” Unbelievable..
No extra points. No extra bag. I get Flagship Club access, but Centurion clubs have better food and are in a lot more places. The Flagship at LAX is now walled off from most of the T4 gates after the big remodel this year, so only on the way to three gates. The rest are really out of the way.
Connecting in DFW is supposed to get me a cart to the next gate, but this week a CL cart LITERALLY drove past me as I arrived, and I then saw it again at the gate where I was connecting. Passed me by. On rare occasion where they do provide a cart, it’s to the AA club or the gate, not both. Pick one only. I do get to board 30 seconds before group one, but not always. Just last week out of LAX I showed my CK boarding pass and they told me to wait, then called group one.
I’ve been harassed over the size of my very conservative laptop case, then apologized to later, but forced to check the exact same case i ALWAYS carry.
I’ve been given downright WRONG information about baggage by the CK operators that literally cost me a full day of travel when a PHL>LAX flight canceled. CK operators are friendly, though, so there’s that.
ConciergeKey is very poorly run, and extremely limited on benefits. Mine expires April 2 of this year and I made no effort to reup. Thanks for letting me vent..
Hey there! Great post on the American Airlines ConciergeKey challenge! You really broke it down well, and I appreciate the insights you shared about earning and maintaining that prestigious status.
I’m genuinely interested in the nuances of loyalty programs and how airlines like AA structure their challenges and rewards. The idea of being met with golf carts or getting bumped up on sold-out flights definitely sounds appealing to frequent travelers.
Curious to know, does the challenge allow for a combination of loyalty points from different sources, or is there a significant focus on ticket spending? Also, how does the offer play out for someone who doesn’t reside near a hub city—would strategies like maximizing credit card spends be enough?
Looking forward to a deeper dive into this topic. Thanks for shedding light on such an exclusive offer. Keep the great content coming, and hope to see more on your take about real estate investments!