American Airlines is beginning its shift to a revenue-based
loyalty program, first with mileage accrual and then with spending requirements
for elite status qualification next year.
The carrier indicated
late last year it would implement a shift to revenue-based programs similar
to those of United Airlines and Delta Air Lines. Beginning Aug. 1, travelers on
American will earn five miles per dollar spent on base fare and carrier-imposed
fees. Gold, Platinum and Executive Platinum AAdvantage members will earn seven
miles, eight miles and 11 miles per dollar spent, respectively. Later this
month, American will begin showing travelers how many miles they'll earn for
each flight as they book on the carrier's website.
On Jan. 1, the carrier will tie spending levels to status,
as well. In addition to mileage or segment requirements, travelers will need to
spend at least $3,000 on qualifying purchases to reach Gold status, $6,000 for
Platinum and $12,000 for Executive Platinum.
American also will add a Platinum Pro tier between the
Platinum and Executive Platinum levels next year. That level, which requires
$9,000 qualifying dollars and either 75,000 miles or 90 segments, includes such
benefits as two free checked bags, Oneworld Sapphire status, automatic upgrade
requests on flights between North and Central America and nine miles for every
dollar spent.
PricewaterhouseCoopers research
last year showed that overall travelers tend to earn slightly fewer points on
revenue-based programs versus mileage-based programs, but premium class
travelers and schedule-driven business travelers tend to fare better under
revenue-based programs. Corporate travel buyers, however, have expressed
concern that such programs could drive travelers to seek out higher fares in
order to earn more miles.