The new American Airlines elite status-earning system going into effect next year makes it super easy to keep elite status if you engage with the program across a variety of earning streams, rather than just by flying. Here are 10 takeaways on what’s going on with the new program.
In addition to welcoming foreign visitors coming from previously-banned countries and imposing a new vaccination requirement on non-residents entering the U.S. by air (with exceptions) there are new rules for unvaccinated Americans returning to the U.S.
They aren’t based on science of protecting public health, they’re meant to make life difficult for the unvaccinated. Depending on your view you may favor this! I’m 100% pro-vaccine. But don’t pretend it’s something else.
The new American Airlines elite status-earning program that goes into effect next year is going to make some flyers very happy. Anyone who can spend a lot on credit cards is going to find status-earning much easier. In fact, you can earn Executive Platinum status with $200,000 in spend alone.
It turns out that in addition to having a longer period in which to do credit card spend, you don’t even need to spend as much next year.
New York LaGuardia, New York JFK and Washington National airports are ‘slot controlled’. That means there are limits on the number of takeoffs and landings at each airport, and the right to use those have been given (free!) to incumbent airlines as a property right. That’s a huge subsidy to incumbent carriers.
Normally slots come with ‘use it or lose it’ rules. If an airline doesn’t make use of their slots 80% of the time, those slots can be reassigned to another carrier. As a result you’ll see airlines flying more or less ghost flights, service designed to hold the slot rather than meet any economic need.
American Airlines is changing how elite status is earned. You’ll be able to earn status with most of your activity in the program, not just flying. And they’ve actually created a fairly simple system, where almost everything counts and the “Loyalty Points” you earn over the course of 12 months determines your status.
Marriott is extending elite status again, extending free night and suite upgrade certificates, and making free night certificates easier to use. And they’re getting rid of award charts, moving to a more revenue-based redemption system starting in March.
Starting November 8, most non-resident travelers to the United States will have to be vaccinated in addition to testing negative for Covid-19 within the prior 3 days.
This replaces the near-blanket ban on travel from China, Iran, India, Brazil, South Africa, the European Schengen area, the U.K. and Ireland.
Rental car prices have in many cases become the biggest expense of a trip. Rental companies offloaded vehicle inventories during the pandemic, and didn’t place orders. The market for cars is tight. And travel has picked back up. So there’s more people looking for cars than there are cars. Prices are sky high.
Hertz went through bankruptcy. And now they’re refreshing their fleet with…100,000 Teslas. Wow.
American Airlines stock has gone up substantially more than airline peers over the last 12 months.
CEO Doug Parker highlighted this in an employee meeting following the carrier’s third quarter earnings call on Thursday. However rather than being a testament to the airline’s good works as he suggests, there’s a simple reason for the growth in share price.
A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
