American Airlines have rolled out their policies on adjustments to the program as a result of the current Coronavirus situation. They have rolled out a multi-pronged approach, offering status extensions, adjusted tier requirements, and other changes.
12-month status extension
First up, all current elite AAdvantage members will have a one-year extension to their current tier. As a result, any status that was due to expire on 31 January 2021 will get a new expiration date of 31 January 2022.
The extended tiers will not come with any additional System Wide Upgrades. However, any existing Upgrades you have will have their validity extended.
Of course, this does not stop you from going up a tier. If you earn a higher tier during 2020, you will have that tier through until 2022.
AAdvantage tier requirements
On that possibility of going up a tier, AAdvantage is also making it easier to go up a level. This reflects the fact that people will have far less opportunity to travel this year than they have been.
All the measures for attaining status are being reduced. In some cases, the reductions will see members needing to achieve just half of the normal requirement.
The following table shows the requirements that need to be met in 2020:
| Qualifying metric | Gold oneworld® Ruby |
Platinum oneworld® Sapphire |
Platinum Pro oneworld® Sapphire |
Executive Platinum oneworld® Emerald |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EQDs | $1,500 | $4,000 | $6,000 | $9,000 |
| EQMs | 15,000 | 30,000 | 45,000 | 60,000 |
| EQSs | 15 | 30 | 45 | 60 |
These are perhaps the changes most likely to affect those of us in Australia. There are a few other assorted changes, for example, adjustments to thresholds for Executive Platinum rewards. You can read the full details here.
