Just over a week ago I shared that American’s new patnership with Cadillac would provide tarmac transfers for top customers at some airports, and a big mileage opportunity for everyone.
Cadillac display just past the security checkpoint of American’s Terminal 8 at New York JFK
The test drive offer is now live and online!
Right now, AAdvantage® members can earn 7,500 AAdvantage miles when you test drive any Cadillac* vehicle, including the striking 2015 CTS sedan with available adaptive cruise control and available OnStar 4G LTE with Wi-Fi®**. The available Wi-Fi® hotspot works inside your CTS and up to 50 feet away as long as your vehicle is on, while the 4G LTE allows you to use your laptop or tablet as a mobile office with a reliable connection.
Contact a Cadillac Concierge today at 844-469-2234 to schedule an appointment and take advantage of this exclusive limited time offer. Please allow 4-6 weeks to receive your AAdvantage miles.
At this point you have to call to schedule an appointment. Then you’ll be registered to be able to receive the miles with your test drive.
My approach will be to document the call and appointment, and get a note from the sales representative confirming the test drive was taken. That way I’ll be able to follow up if the points don’t post automatically.
I don’t consider the miles ‘worth’ the $221 that the terms and conditions state. Although the value is low enough I’m not worried about their issuing a 1099 for ’em!
I do consider them worth about half that amount, though, and thus well worth my time to visit a Cadillac dealer.
There’s no specific end date for the promotion, though I’d expect it to run for 6 to 8 weeks. They’ll be looking at results and deciding whether to continue it or not (and could even end it early).
Terms and conditions:
At participating dealers only. Must have an AAdvantage account and be 21 years or older with a valid U.S. driver’s license. Employees of General Motors are not eligible. Retail value: $221.00. Test drive lasts approximately 10 minutes. Offer valid while supplies last. Limit one test drive per person. Allow 4-6 weeks for miles to be awarded after confirmation that test drive has been completed. Offer is nontransferable, nonnegotiable and not redeemable for cash.
Update: It seems Cadillac wasn’t quite ready for prime time with this, and telephone hold times are stretching to over an hour. One suggestion is to wait a few days. Another would be to use GetHuman for a callback from Cadillac (assume it’ll be an hour, but you don’t have to wait on hold). Perhaps the best suggestion comes from commenter Jean:
I logged onto Cadillac.com and hit the “chat” button. While it took a while back and forth with the live Cadillac agent, I’m all signed up at my local Caddy dealership next Monday.
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I really can’t decide which of the various Cadillac models interests me most. Can I test drive each of them? Separately?
I wonder how hard a sales pitch they will give you after you test drive the car?
yeah how bad is the sales pressure? anyone had done it before?
30 minute hold time and counting -_-
Still on hold as well; 67 minutes . . .
I wrote about this a few days ago but in my experience having done similar test-drive deals like this, there is ZERO sales pressure.
In fact, out of 7-10 similar deals, I’ve only been required to actually drive the car once. All other times, I just give them my postcard / email / printout, they ask if I’m interested in a car, I say “no”, and they go in the back and stamp my postcard and I’m on my way in 5-10 mins.
Totally painless. At least less painful than being on hold for hours at a time…. 😛
About to hit 45 minutes on hold…
Sounds like they are going to cheese off some customers and that won’t lead to sales!
Thanks everybody for the warning about hold times…
Retail value $221? For 7,500 miles? Who valued that?
Waited about 45 minutes on hold and hung up.
Why doesn’t everyone who’s on the phone chill out for a couple days, let the initial rush die down, and then call to schedule. Middle of next week and you won’t have a wait – what’s the rush to do it now?
i was on hold for quite a bit, with a phone battery slowly dying I logged onto Cadillac.com and hit the “chat” button. While it took a while back and forth with the live Cadillac agent, I’m all signed up at my local Caddy dealership next Monday. Easy Peasy.
1 hour and 23 minutes, so far??
75 minute hold time – but at least they let me schedule a test drive for my husband as well as for me. They give no confirmation number and she wasn’t sure about a confirming email.
Selected “Spanish” in the options menu and still took me 90 minutes to speak to an attendant. All booked to test drive this Friday. Just as a heads up, they will ask you lots of information such as address (same where your AA account is registered), phone number, email address, etc.. so expect to get several calls and emails from the sales team at your Cadillac dealer. Will delete some emails and messages for 7,500 AA miles 🙂
Was a 75 minute wait for me, but scheduled and all set to drive a 2015 Escalade tomorrow!
Does anyone know if you have to have a 2004+ car titled in your name as Gary’s early post suggested? These T&Cs don’t say so.
@Thomas they would sure have a hard time refusing you the miles if the AA.com website induced you to take the test drive, you took the test drive, and didn’t mention the exclusion in the rules. That would be quite a fight I think!
I waited 70 minutes on hold before they picked up. But…I was able to schedule a test drive for next week!
Chat “Agents” are now saying they cant process this promotion and need to call.
It’s time Gary… Time for you to trade in your old piece of junk and get a Caddie!
Can someone who has completed the test drive let us know whether they give you some code to redeem to 7,500 miles?
I wondering if you can just sign up and do a no show and still get the miles =)
Yeah, I would value the miles higher too!!!!!!!
Make sure they do not run a credit check on you before letting you drive the car.
Such bad timing – I bought mine last week. I guess I’ll be visiting the salesman again.
After 2 calls to Cadillac(they claimed my AAdvantage number was invalid), one to Aadvantage, and a call from the Cadillac dealer, I will test drive tomorrow. Because of the so called, “invalid” number, I will do as suggested to see if the miles do actually post.
I called exactly at 8 a.m. EST this morning (10/16) and was on hold only 10 minutes. The Cadillac rep. I talked to to set up the test drive was in Texas (6 a.m. their time) – the test drive set-up went smoothly.
I can confirm that the chat reps are no longer able to process registrations for this offer. I’ve been on hold for 30 minutes so far.
@Mark R.
Cadillac rep? The person I talked to identified themselves as being with AA.
Called at 8:15 a.m. and was on hold for about 30 minutes before I got a rep. My AA number was also said to be invalid but then went through after a few minutes. It seems not all dealers are participating; the one closest to me isn’t so I had to schedule at one farther away.
This is how the Live Chat went and it took less than 22 mins.
Manish Vanjani [10:07 AM]: About a new vehicle
System [10:07 AM]: Connection established.
System [10:07 AM]: Thank you for your patience. We are currently assisting other customers. You will be connected to the next available agent.
System [10:07 AM]: Welcome to Cadillac
System [10:07 AM]: http://www.cadillac.com
System [10:07 AM]: Connecting…A live chat agent is now entering the chat.
System [10:07 AM]: Welcome to chat.
Manish Vanjani [10:08 AM]: Hello I’m Manish
Shelena [10:08 AM]: Thank you for chatting with Cadillac! My name is Shelena, and I’ll be taking care of you today! How may I assist you?
Manish Vanjani [10:09 AM]: I wanted to know more information about Cadillac and American Airlines offer
Manish Vanjani [10:09 AM]: It’s an offer related with test drive
Shelena [10:09 AM]: Hello Manish! Are you currently an AAdvantage member?
Manish Vanjani [10:10 AM]: Yes
Shelena [10:10 AM]: Great! I’ll be able to assist you with setting up an appointment with your local dealer for a test drive.
Manish Vanjani [10:10 AM]: That’s great, thank you so much!
Shelena [10:10 AM]: I just need to collect some pertinent information from you. May I please have your 7-digit AAdvantage number?
Manish Vanjani [10:11 AM]: XXXXXXX
Shelena [10:11 AM]: Great! Thank you
Shelena [10:11 AM]: I’ll also need your home address, the e-mail address associated with your AAdvantage account and a phone number you can be reached at during the day.
Manish Vanjani [10:11 AM]: phone number is XXX-XXX-XXXX
Shelena [10:12 AM]: Thank you, I’ll also need your address and e-mail associated with your AAdvantage.
Manish Vanjani [10:12 AM]:XXXXXXXXXX@XXXXXX.com
Shelena [10:14 AM]: Great, also you’re address as well as the model you wish to test drive.
Shelena [10:14 AM]: your*
Manish Vanjani [10:14 AM]: address: XXXXXX, XX 12345
Manish Vanjani [10:15 AM]: Model: ATS Coupe
Shelena [10:15 AM]: Awesome. Also, were you planning on purchasing or leasing your next vehicle? And what would be the time frame of purchasing/leasing?
Manish Vanjani [10:16 AM]: Q1 of 2015
Shelena [10:17 AM]: Very exciting!
Shelena [10:17 AM]: Thank you for hanging in there with me. A couple more questions. What is the make and model of your current primary vehicle?
Manish Vanjani [10:17 AM]: Currently I own an Infiniti Q50
Shelena [10:18 AM]: The Q5 (instead Q50 she said Q5) is a very nice vehicle. Almost done! Is there a preferred dealer you’d like to work with or would you like me to locate the nearest one to you?
Manish Vanjani [10:19 AM]: nearest one to me please
Manish Vanjani [10:19 AM]: I think there is one within one mile from my place
Shelena [10:20 AM]: I’ll take a look for you, Manish. While I search what would be the best time and date for your test drive
Manish Vanjani [10:20 AM]: XXXXXXXXX , XX 12345
Manish Vanjani [10:20 AM]: best time would be next week any day between 6 pm to 9 pm
Manish Vanjani [10:21 AM]: or day time on weekend
Shelena [10:22 AM]: How about next Saturday at noon at Cadillac of XXXX?
Manish Vanjani [10:23 AM]: that will work, but is there any thing on coming Monday as it’s open till 9 pm on Monday and Thursday
Shelena [10:24 AM]: I’ll put in monday if that is the day you prefer
Manish Vanjani [10:25 AM]: Yes Monday will be great around 7 pm
Shelena [10:26 AM]: Thank you Manish! Cadillac of XXXX will contact you to confirm your appointment details.
Manish Vanjani [10:26 AM]: Thanks!
Manish Vanjani [10:27 AM]: and will I be getting any email from you or your team with appointment details.
Shelena [10:27 AM]: I’m sorry, no.
Shelena [10:28 AM]: Cadillac of XXXX will be contacting you personally.
Manish Vanjani [10:28 AM]: Oh ok, no problem. Thank you so much for your help!
Shelena [10:28 AM]: You’re welcome! Have a great day!
Manish Vanjani [10:28 AM]: You too!
Shelena [10:28 AM]: Thank you for chatting into Cadillac!
System [10:28 AM]: You have been disconnected from the chat session. If you require further assistance, please start another chat session.
34:18 mins of wait time.
Friendly agent!
Took 12 mins to gather all the information:
AA Number
FirstName
LastName
Address
Email
Dealership preference. Time and Date
I scheduled for this evening.
She said once the test drive is done, the dealership will have to fill in the information and then I will receive a confirmation email. Hope this helps.
Did my test drive this afternoon. Cadillac guy tried to get my miles credited, but his website said my number — which I’ve had for more than 30 years — is invalid. He’s trying to get that fixed. Not sure if he will.
Sounds like a great deal but where does the $221 come into play? Is that just valuing the salesman’s time in riding with you and talking before and after the drive? Surely they can’t be asking for $221 to take the test drive!
it’s valuing the points at just under 3 cents apiece
Gary, I can’t believe you would waste your time doing this.
Test Drive complete they showed me on the screen where they had marked me completed and said the miles would be posted in about 3 weeks.
I don’t drive aggressively, but let’s just say I drive with a “certain sense of purpose”. Shall we compare top speeds and urban cornering speeds in the CTS?
Lot of drama in the comments. Was on hold this morning for a few minutes, got a test drive appt later in the day. Car was fun to drive and the salesman thnaked me for coming. Miles on the way. Easy.
Just waited 16 minutes and made an appt for my wife at the same time.
Just finished up my test drive! I made an appointment for this morning through the chat feature yesterday and they had my name and information already in the system when I arrived. After completing the test drive there is a specific AA portal by which the sales representative will mark your test drive as being complete. Surprisingly, I was not given much of a sales pitch and they seemed to be eager to have people come in and experience the new cars themselves! Only took about 30 minutes from start to finish and was well worth my time!
Made an appointment two days ago. Showed up at the dealership today (Mccaddon in Boulder CO). Dealership had no record of my appointment and no idea on earth what I was taking about, nor did they care. Complained to Cadillac through the online chat. They told me to call the dealership. I told them I had already been to the dealership, and the agent disconnected our chat. Cadillac sucks! I’m disappointed American has teamed up with such a terrible company.
Great experience! I called this morning, on hold 20 minutes, 4 minutes with rep. Salesman with dealer called me back to confirm time and let me know it was a bit short to do 4:15 on Saturday when they close at 5:00 but not a problem.
No pressure at all; fun drive in the CTS 2.0T. Did some full throttle to 70 and some hard cornering. While I prefer torque to turbo lag, I was definitely impressed. To say I’m not a GM lover would be an understatement, so my compliments on this car don’t come easily.
The current Caddys are not grandpa’s Sedan De Villes and that seemed to be the point they want to make. Go for it!