Tagging Miles

Earn 8,000 bonus miles from Airline Shopping Portals!

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It is back to school season, and so it is yet another opportunity to earn extra miles through airline shopping portals! I’ve written a bunch about the power of shopping portals, and how you can increase your miles and points balances through shopping portals. This is a great opportunity to do just that, thanks to American Airlines, Delta Airlines, United Airlines, and Southwest Airlines.

Delta SkyMiles Shopping 

Delta is unfortunately the least rewarding, requiring up to $350 spend to earn 1,000 miles, that’s only slightly more than 2x.

airline shopping portals

 

AAdvantage eShopping 

American Airlines is offering up to 2,000 bonus miles for shopping now through 18 August. Total spend is only $500, so you’re essentially getting an extra 4x miles if you get to that level.

airline shopping portals

 

Rapid Rewards Mall

Southwest is only slightly less rewarding, offering 2,000 after $550 spend, which is slightly less than 4x.

airline shopping portals

MileagePlus Shopping

United is the most rewarding offering 3,000 miles after $600 spend, or  5x.

airline shopping portals

Final Thoughts – Earn 8,000 bonus miles from Airline Shopping Portals

While 8,000 bonus miles is not a ton, every little bit helps toward accruing enough miles to redeem for awards. More importantly, shopping portals are in general a great way to keep miles balances active too, and with these bonuses, you get a little extra bang for your buck. 

American AAdvantage Program Updates – November 2016

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American Airlines continues to release AAdvantage Program Updates, as we move toward the “go live” of a few new aspects of the program, previously announced in June.

Just a brief summary of the AAdvantage Program Updates announced in June:

AAdvantage Redeemable Mileage went Revenue Based (for the most part)

AAdvantage RDM earn rates as of 1 August 2016 - courtesy of American airlines.

AAdvantage RDM earn rates as of 1 August 2016 – courtesy of American airlines.

Of course, we’ve learned subsequently that there are a handful of ways that you can accrue mileage based on miles flown, rather than the price of your ticket. For example, revenue tickets booked with Citi Thank You Points (TYP) categorize as a “Special Fare” and receive miles flown.

A New Status Level and I don’t just mean Platinum Pro

American AAdvantage previously made this chart available, highlighting their new mid-tier Platinum Pro, which will no doubt make many legacy US Airways elites happy.

Four AAdvantage Status Levels in 2017. Courtesy of American Airlines.

Four AAdvantage Status Levels in 2017. Courtesy of American Airlines.

Except that when talking about upgrade windows, AAdvantage snuck in the ConciergeKey level, as essentially another level of status, at least for upgrades.

AAdvantage Program Changes

More visibility for ConciergeKey

Time will tell, as to how much more information will become publicly available about ConciergeKey membership, but I think we’re seeing the early vestiges of a 5th status level.

Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQD) – The best part of these AAdvantage Program Updates!

We knew before what the required Elite Qualifying Dollar (EQD) requirements would be for the various status levels, those are here:

AAdvantage Program Changes

The interesting piece that AAdvantage highlights in the most recent update, is that it is possible to earn EQDs by spending with their AAdvantage Aviator Red, Blue, Business, and Silver cards. These are all issued by Barclays, however, not currently taking on new applicants. Gary Leff reports that will change.

AAdvantage Program Changes

Barclay Aviator Product Line

Here are the details from American with respect to earning up to $6,000 EQDs:

Reach elite status faster

AAdvantage® AviatorTM Red, AviatorTM Blue and AviatorTM Business MasterCard® accounts can earn up to $3,000 EQDs by spending $25,000 on qualifying net purchases during the calendar year.

AAdvantage® AviatorTM Silver MasterCard® accounts can earn up to $6,000 EQDs by spending $50,000 on qualifying net purchases each calendar year. They’ll earn $3,000 EQDs after spending $25,000 on qualifying purchases and another $3,000 EQDs after $50,000 on qualifying purchases.

I find it very interesting, that Citi, who has long had a very strong co-brand partnership with American, has absolutely no play in the EQD game. Recall that American did not make an exclusive credit card deal the last go-round, I assumed this was just a negotiating strategy. But for Barclays cardholders to be the only ones to accrue EQD’s through spend, that, sends quite the message to Citi, and not a good one.

Wrapping Up

American’s AAdvantage Program Updates are mostly positive, in my opinion. They’ve clarified things where we definitely had questions. American has also provided more insight into ConciergeKey, though I think there are still questions, as it starts to become as public as United’s Global Services. The real positive here is the way to earn Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQDs) through spend on your Barclaycard Aviator cards. I think this is a huge positive, but it leaves open the big question: What about Citi AAdvantage card holders? I suppose only time will tell, whether Citi balks at this slight, or if there is something bigger in the works.

What do you think about the updates? Does the EQD announcement change your strategy for next year?

Are Amazon and Frequent Flyer Program changes similar?

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With the latest news out of Amazon and Frequent Flyer Program both changes and programs in general, I can’t help but see the similarities, and I don’t mean that in a positive way.

Background

This past week, reports started of Amazon requiring sellers to provide receipts and in some cases, pay as much as $1,500 as a one time, nonrefundable fee, to get ungated in certain brands. This has been done, essentially with no notice, no communication from Amazon, and has created more and more fear-mongering among Amazon Sellers, or at least a subset of folks who offer services to Amazon Sellers.
Airlines, on the other hand, have made numerous changes their Frequent Flyer Programs, such as American’s first devaluation last year, and their changes to AAdvantage elite status more recently.

The Key Similarity between Amazon and Frequent Flyer Program Changes

What jumps out at me the most, is the fact that both Amazon and Frequent Flyer Programs can change the rules whenever they want. Worse yet, they can change the rules, and you pretty much have two options: Take it in the chin, or walk away. There’s often no negotiating, because they own the game.
That awesome iPad deal that you got over the weekend, is now gated when you try to send it in. You may have found a great product, but now your only option is to sell it on Ebay. That first class award flight to Bali that you’ve been saving up for just went from 67.5k to 110k miles. If you made Executive Platinum this year on miles, don’t forget, next year you’ll also need to spend $12k with American, in order to requalify. Or, you could look a the fuel surcharges that are slowly going away, many of which stuck around months, if not years after fuel prices dropped off of their highs.
As I write that, the idea that Amazon requires a nonrefundable payment of $1,000 for a brand ungating, and Airlines are now requiring upwards of $12,000 spending in their math, to get top tier status, seems really similar.

Is there a solution?

The answer I think most folks go to first is regulation. I’m convinced that every time there’s a no-notice devaluation on the Frequent Flyer Program side, that the idea of regulating the Frequent Flyer Programs will gain traction. I’m not sure that is so good for those of us who maximize the program, I’m not so sure the programs would even continue to make sense for airlines, if they were heavily regulated.
For Amazon though, I think the answer is different. The brand restrictions are due to a rise in counterfeit products passing through Amazon’s warehouses. But rather than restrict many popular brands, Amazon could instead amend their receiving processes, whether its comparing the received product to the Amazon listing photographs, or something. Should Amazon’s actions be regulated? I’m not even sure how that could happen, but, I don’t know that it would help.

Lagging Indicators

The one thing that I think both Amazon and Frequent Flyer Program changes result in, are lagging indicators. Its not ideal. You see, they make the changes, and then it takes months, if not years, to see the impact of those changes. By the time you do see the impact, people’s habits have changed. For example, American may not see the impact of their elite status changes, until December 2017, more than a year away. Amazon, on the other hand, could see a bad Holiday Season in 2016 (Sellers call this Q4), but those numbers won’t really be reported out until January or so.
Whether it is December, 2017 or January, 2017, it will be too late to recover. Sure, Amazon can reduce some of their brand restrictions, but, the 4th quarter is what makes most retailers and resellers’ years. That’s why the Friday after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday, because retailers finally make it into the black ink, vice red ink, in the ledger. Amazon reacting in January, might save 2017, but 2016 would hurt a great many.
American, on the other hand, will likely see a decline in flights from their high level elites in 2017, as we make our decisions of where to spend our travel dollars early. Many of us have no intention to requalify for 2018, and our spend will reflect that. The question is, whether American can react in time, or make meaningful change.

Conclusion

Ultimately, we must play by others’ rules in many, many aspects of our lives. It is an unfortunate reality. It is most striking though, to see two completely different industries, act so incredibly similarly. That said, I think it is important to understand the various Amazon and Frequent Flyer Program changes, and to understand the programs in general, so we can better adapt to those rules.
What do you think?

New Opportunities after AAdvantage Program Changes

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I shared the below as part of my remarks at the Travel Hacker 101 Meet-up that I co-hosted with Richard Kerr. If you aren’t a member of the Travel Hacking 101 Facebook Group, you are missing out. 

A new world, with AAdvantage Program Changes

We all gather here today, to celebrate the amazing life, of the Mileage Run. With American’s changes to their elite status qualifications, we must change. This is a wake-up call. A rebirth, if you will. For those of you loyal to any particular airline, and for those of you starting out, or just not loyal to any particular airline, it is time to embrace other airlines.

I hope to offer you some airlines to think about.

In the Western Hemisphere, you could fly:

JetBlue, which has an amazing culture as long as you don’t mind connecting in New York or Boston for the most part. Both great cities by the way.

You could fly Southwest, just don your Cow Bell, and don’t forget to get the single best opportunity in travel hacking, the Southwest Companion Pass, where by earning just 110,000 Rapids Rewards Points in a single year, allows you get to nominate a companion, who can fly with you for free, for the remainder of the current year and all of the next. If you don’t have a companion, look to your right, look to your left, it is a great way to make friends.

And then there is Delta which is a great airline operationally, I mean if you want to get where you’re trying to go, anywhere close to on time, Delta is your airline. And you get some SkyPesos too. I’m still not sure how to use them, but, you get them anyway.

There are other airlines in the western hemisphere, but, lets think bigger:

Overseas, you could fly Qatar Airways, It is after all, Richard Anderson (the former CEO of Delta)’s Second favorite airline. And as an added bonus, it may be the only airline where you can board an A380 via air stairs, rather than a true jetway.

You could fly IcelandAir which is actually a pretty nice airline for being a low-cost carrier and if you fly them to Europe you can have an Icelandic stop over with an IcelandAir stop over buddy!

You could try Bangkok Airways, a true Boutique Airline, that has a mobile lounge set up by the gate with beverages and cookies, and, has audacity to serve a meal, on a 45 minute flight from Phuket to Bangkok.

You could fly British Airways but, then you’d have to connect in London-Heathrow, so lets skip that BA.

You could fly Air France or Lufthansa, both airlines have very nice products The only problem is that every month or so, and sometimes even more frequently, one union or another, within the airline goes on strike.

There is nothing worse then arriving at an airline counter just to find out your flight has been cancelled. I take that back, worse than arriving at airline counter is arriving at the Lufthansa first class terminal only to find out that your first class experience has been rebooked on United, that can make a grown man cry, if you don’t believe me ask my wife.

But we must remember, other than those who are independently wealthy,  we would not have the opportunity to travel the country if not the world without travel hacking. Remember also: we all have one common interest: travel.

American’s AAdvantage Program Changes – June 2016

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American Airlines is making changes to their AAdvantage Program, and they are not pretty. This is of course, a follow-up devaluation to the one announced November, 2015.
There are a bunch of changes – here’s the high points, plus my own analysis.

AAdvantage Redeemable Mileage (RDM) Earning Rate Goes Revenue Based

Not a huge surprise here. We knew they were going to do it, “sometime in 2016” – well that date is 1 August 2016.
Here’s the earn rates:
AAdvantage RDM earn rates as of 1 August 2016 - courtesy of American airlines.

AAdvantage RDM earn rates as of 1 August 2016 – courtesy of American airlines.

Note, that the announcement says it’ll tell you how many miles you’ll earn for flights after 1 August 2016 when you book on American’s website, but as of this writing, it is not showing. 

Also – the minimum mileage guarantee goes away on Shuttle flights starting 1 August 2016.

New AAdvantage Status Level

This is one I was definitely relieved about – the new status is Platinum Pro, and will require 75,000 Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) to attain.
Four AAdvantage Status Levels in 2017. Courtesy of American Airlines.

Four AAdvantage Status Levels in 2017. Courtesy of American Airlines.

The benefits of Platinum Pro include:
  • Complimentary upgrades on flights within North America and between the U.S. and Central America confirmed at 72 hours.
  • Earn 9 award miles/U.S. dollar (80% bonus)
  • 2 free checked bags
  • oneworld® Sapphire status

This one is a push, in my opinion, as they could have just as easily instituted another level at 125k instead of 75k miles, mirroring Delta (granted, they’d need to tweak the other levels too).

The Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQD) Shoe Drops

Here’s the most painful part of the changes, in my opinion – AAdvantage introduces Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQD). This was something I was expecting in the November announcement, and was quite relieved when it wasn’t there. Many figured this was a far gone conclusion, well, now it has happened, and it’s not pretty.
Elite Status Qualification Requirements now include Elite Qualifying Dollars.

Elite Status Qualification Requirements now include Elite Qualifying Dollars.

It is important to note that your Elite Qualifying Dollar amount is calculated from the base fare plus carrier-imposed fees, not the total amount of how much you pay American, so $12,000 could be much more, depending on where you’re flying out of. For example, my read is that if you fly out of the United Kingdom a bunch, you’ll be paying the Air Passenger Duty (APD), which won’t count to your EQD total.
As of this writing, it is not clear whether there will be waivers, whether for members who live overseas, or for those who hold an American Airlines credit card. If I were at Citi, I’d want some arrangement to have a waiver, especially for the Citi Executive, but I’m not exactly impartial here.

Interesting things that stand out:

Elite Qualifying Dollars will impact your upgrade changes: it really stands out to me that later American will have a way to associate your Elite Qualifying Dollars with your account to prioritize you on the upgrade list.
The way your upgrade request is prioritized will change later in 2017. You’ll be listed according to your elite status level followed by the number of EQDs earned in the last 12 months.
This is perhaps the most blatant “what have you done for me lately,” move I’ve seen, and I find it offensive when associated with a “loyalty program.” I also will not be surprised if they have some problems instituting it, as IT is hard.
Executive Platinum will be able to use 500-mile upgrades on Award Tickets: American will be letting elites use 500-mile upgrades on award tickets. This is perhaps the first time I’ve seen this particular benefit, so it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.

Funny Math for Partner Marketed Flights: This FAQ also jumped out at me:

Why are award miles and EQDs for travel on partner airline marketed flights calculated differently from American marketed flights?

When you fly with a partner airline, the fare you paid isn’t always shared with American. Therefore, flights that are marketed by American’s partner airlines earn mileage and EQDs based on a percentage of the distance flown as determined by the booking code of the ticket purchased.

Wrapping Up

Overall, this puts another nail in the coffin–perhaps not quite the final one though. It will certainly thin the ranks of elite flyers out, barring EQD waivers, in 2018. I think the most noticeable change immediately will be the revenue based earning of RDMs. Ironically for me, I’ve got a flight in August, where I’ll actually earn nearly 3x the miles under the new system, but I suspect for many, it’s going to hurt. Those super cheap airfares to Asia and Europe that many have gotten on, won’t be nearly as rewarding, in some cases 50% or less.

We’ll see the biggest impacts of these changes March, 2018, when the elite ranks are thinned. I say this, because I think a lot of folks–myself included–pushed hard to requalify or get the majority of flights in before 1 June, expecting revenue based earning of RDMs to kick in around then, and decrease the earn rate. Even for folks who haven’t gotten all the way, it wouldn’t surprise me if they finish it off this year, since most of the rough changes don’t kick in until next year anyway.

Saverocity Observation Deck 2015 Award Nominees – Part 2

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Last week, Joe from As the Joe Flies, Joe Cortez, and I convened to award the Saverocity Observation Deck 2015 End of Year Awards. Of course, this was a light hearted, and eggnog filled event. The actual podcast will be published in the near future, however we wanted to share the nominees ahead of time.

This post dovetailes with As the Joe Flies’ post on the Saverocity Observation Deck 2015 Award Nominees – Part 1, so definitely take a read there too.

Saverocity Observation Deck 2015 Award Nominees: Category 4 – The Deal of the Year

Discover’s 10x for Apple Pay

This is perhaps one of the most talked about promotions of the year. In fact, I even bought an iPhone to take advantage of it. The deal is this, you load your Discover card (which you hopefully have double cash back on, which makes it even better) into Apple Pay, then you go into your favorite stores, like Staples, Office Depot, Walgreens, and others, and pay via Apple Pay, and you get at least 10% cashback.

American Airlines’ $400 Mistake Business Class Fare to China

Earlier in the year, American Airlines had a mistake business class fare to China. Many took advantage of it, including Greg the Frequent Miler, who this year seems to be frequently flying. It was an absolutely awesome deal, because you could still upgrade to First, as many did. Of course, for those who just held their reservation, many found that American unilaterally cancelled it, although some were able to social engineer their way to a confirmed seat. Overall though, $400 for a business class trip to China is a huge deal.

American Express (AMEX) Offers

I think everyone would agree, this year was yet another great year of AMEX Offers. We also saw some of 2014’s innovations, including Offersbot, and SyncAssist get throttled by twitter. Regardless, there were some great offers, including $200 off a $1000 Virgin Atlantic purchase, $25 off a $200 Newegg purchase, as well as offers for Best Buy, Staples, and so many more.

Target Prepaid RedBird

I think many would agree, the Target RedBird was an amazing twist of fate. Here we were coming off of losses of Vanilla Reloads, and American Express and Target partner for this wonderful new pre-paid card, that for the first few months even allows credit card loads. Forget Visa Gift Cards! Go straight to Target, collect your points! Unfortunately, in the course of less than a year, the Target RedBird moved from the best thing since sliced bread, to requiring pin-based debit reloading (a la Visa Gift Cards), then going to cash only. RedBird’s death hurt many, new and old, but, it helped so many more.

Saverocity Observation Deck 2015 Award Nominees: Category 5 – Worst Move by a Loyalty Program

Hyatt Offering Easy Diamond Status to the World

This doesn’t take much explanation. Earlier this month, on the heels of the news that Marriott was buying Starwood, Hyatt saw the opportunity to get some of the high value, ultra loyal elites from Starwood Preferred Guest. Who could blame them? Well, it turns out, many current Hyatt Diamonds. Some current Diamonds reached out, requesting the match or some level of understanding, since they weren’t quite requalified, only to get a cold no in response.

Delta Award Charts Disappearing

Generally transparency is good, lack of transparency is bad. Well, Delta Airlines decided to side toward being less transparent. Earlier this year, they removed their award charts, leaving mile and point enthusiasts to guess whether they are getting saver space or not. We think there are 5 levels, last I heard, but, I’m not sure if anyone has anything more definitive than what Wandering Aramean has.

American Airlines’ AAdvantage Program going Revenue Based

Many dreaded this move, but the fact is that they made the move, following everyone United and Delta, and to a lesser extent Southwest, and probably others. The result wasn’t as bad as many feared, but it was still pretty bad. Some of the impacts include significant award chart changes–hitting premium cabins most–and the eventual revenue based earning sometime in 2016. If you want to fly to Southeast Asia in First Class, you may be needing 3 credit card sign-up bonuses, for example.

Marriott buying Starwood

We mentioned this earlier with the Hyatt nominee, but, Marriott has announced that it will buy Starwood Hotels, and with it, the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) loyalty program. Many SPG loyalists are up in arms. Even non-SPG elites are up in arms. SPG points are some of the most–if not the most–valuable transferrable points in the community. Marriott buying up the program doesn’t bode well for the amazing value of SPG points.

British Airways removing 4,500 Avios point redemption in North America

I have to be candid here. I initially wrote that this was not the end of the world. A few readers (to their credit), made it pretty clear that I may very well have had my head where the sun does not normally shine. They weren’t wrong. Many people leveraged the 4,500 Avios point redemption for short award flights (such as DC to New York, for example). It was a fantastic deal. Certainly a sweet spot in British Airways distance based award chart. This was a pretty big hit to many folks.

So what do you think? Please leave your votes for each of the categories and comment if you think we missed anything.

Food for Thought: 2016 Airline Loyalty

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American Airlines Elite Status

Matt has an excellent post, Rethinking Loyalty, that, has been at the tip of my brain for a number of reasons, not the least of which being American Airlines’s AAdvantage devaluation.

Background

I’ve been an American Airlines’ AAdvantage Executive Platinum for years. I first status matched from United 1K, back when United introduced the Premier Qualifying Dollars (PQD) requirement, and I had just changed jobs, where flying United wasn’t as feasible. Since then, I’ve requalified via Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs), and the following year, requalified via Elite Qualifying Points, I also shared a status update on that strategy, and I can tell you that I succeeded in July.

More and more I’m questioning whether I should requalify for AAdvantage Executive Platinum. I’ve got 1 trip booked that will give me 20k Elite Qualifying Miles under the new program, I’m trying to figure out what the opportunity cost is of getting the remaining 80k vs. just chasing whatever the best fare is, irrespective of airline. Up until now, my strategy was to attain AAdvantege Executive Platinum Status no later than the end of April, to ensure that I earn the most Redeemable Miles (RDMs) possible, before AAdvantage goes to revenue based earning, which would likely lead to fewer miles earned for me, despite the fact that I usually buy business class tickets (but cheap ones).

I was so close to pulling the trigger on this strategy, that over the weekend, I had found flights, that were crazy. Absolutely crazy. I was going to fly to Europe, so I could turn around and fly to South America, via the US, spend a weekend in Rio, fly to Sao Paulo (separate award), fly revenue to the US, then 2 months later, fly back to Sao Paulo, from there, fly to Europe via the US with a stop-over in the US for a couple weeks, then when I finally do get to Europe, I’d found another itinerary that would take us from Europe to Honolulu, via the continental US (I tried to go via Asia but it was much more), and back. Here’s an idea of what that would look like:

Courtesy of GCMap.com

Courtesy of GCMap.com

All told, that would generate in total, 100k EQMs, under American Airlines’ new program. Depending on my timing, I’d probably get a bit more than the standard RDMs, probably somewhere in the range of 200-350k, to be, well, not terribly exact.

Looking at the Opportunity Cost

If I pursued the above routing, it would take, nearly a week’s worth of leave, which I would say is my most precious commodity. The cost, even with all my travel hacking, would be $763 (for my existing Brazil-US fare)–lets consider this sunk cost, since it was paid before the devaluation was announced–plus probably $3-5k for the other fares, plus miles for repositioning to Europe (although that’s a push, since I need to use the miles to reposition to Brazil). The value of requalifying early means that I avoid any revenue earning, as I would have my status locked in by April.

Looking at the Alternatives and Associated Costs

So, looking at the alternatives, its kind’ve a hard decision:

  1. I keep an eye out for great mistake fares, or otherwise good deal premium fares that would get me to 100k EQMs before the end of the year.
    • Risk: I may not earn as many RDMs if I don’t reach 100k EQMs before AAdvantage goes revenue earning sometime around mid-year. I get greatest value as an Executive Platinum from the dedicated phone number and lack of any fees for making awards, so not getting as many RDMs is a huge hit.
    • Reward: I don’t waste leave / vacation time solely in pursuit of status.
  2. I consider giving AAdvantage Executive Platinum up, and chase the fares or destinations that most entice me, regardless of carrier.
    • Risk: My redeemable miles will be more diversified across multiple programs that may make it more difficult to redeem for premium air travel.
    • Risk: By going elite status agnostic, I’ll likely pay booking fees or cancellation/redeposit fees.
    • Reward: Potential for lower overall outlay for air travel for the year (but doubtful)
    • Reward: Diversified mileage balances, if in sufficient numbers, can insult me from future devaluations.

Food for Thought: 2016 Airline Loyalty

I’m not sure I’m ready to make a decision on the path forward. I think I’ve begun the process by identifying the risks and rewards of various courses of action. It’s perhaps not as in depth as I would like, but, I still have some time.

Circling Back

Of course you’re likely wondering why I’m linking to Matt’s post (if you took the time to read it, which I hope you will). Well, for starters, I think he raises a great point on the hamster wheel that is the pursuit of published status. The second part of Matt’s thesis, that is, finding ways to leverage the unwritten benefits, is something that I need to work on, and may eventually write a post on. Of course, I am starting to think that it is an annual thing for me to question the value of elite status, which I think is an important question to ask each year. It’s just, this year, the question isn’t nearly as clean cut–at least for me–as it was last year.

But for now, I ask the question:

Given the various options, what do you think is the best course of action?

Observations from a recent Retention Call to Citi

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Citi AAdvantage Executive

Thought I’d share a short post on some interesting observations from a recent call to Citi.

  • Calling for my wife’s account, we were asked whether Citi could record her voice, to leverage voice recognition for account verification.
  • Retention offers seemed much better than what I was offered earlier in the week. For my wife, she received:
    • 10k Thank You Points (TYP) after $3k spend in 6 months for her Citi Prestige
    • a choice of 15k AAdvantage miles after $5k spend in 3 months, or 5k AAdvantage miles and $100 statement credit after $5k spend in 3 months.

Of course, when it came to my own retention offers, Citi had nothing, zilch, nada! Ok, maybe that’s not the whole story. Asking on two cards, an AAdvantage Executive that I’ve had since April, and a Prestige that I’ve had for just over a year, and the best offer I got was a 0% interest balance transfer (with a whopping 3% fee)! No thanks! I’ve got a little bit on the Citi Executive, but I may give it one more call on the Prestige before cancelling. At this point, the greatest value I see is the enhanced 1.6 cent per TYP when redeeming on American Airlines.

What has your experience been with Citi’s Retention Offers lately?

American AAdvantage Announces Long Feared Changes

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American Airlines 777-300ER

Today, Tuesday 17 November, at around 2pm Eastern, American AAdvantage dealt an official blow to mile and point enthusiasts that earn their miles via flying. American also dealt a major blow to AAdvantage members that used those hard earned miles for premium cabin awards. Some of these changes had been rumored for weeks, but now they are fact. The news is not all bad, but, it mostly is.

Elite Status Changes

AAdvantage Changes

American is moving away from Elite Qualifying Points (EQPs). This isn’t unforeseen, in fact, EQPs probably made things more confusing. The new structure for Elite Qualifying Miles, however, rolls in the value of EQPs, that is, greater credit for more expensive airfares, here’s the breakdown:

  • 3 EQMs/mile – Full-fare First or Business
  • 2 EQMs/mile – Discount First or Business
  • 1.5 EQMs/mile – Full-fare Main Cabin
  • 1 EQM/mile – Discount Main Cabin

This maintain’s American’s focus on premium cabin flyers, and is consistent with the various promotions they ran this year. Of course, a strategy such as the one I used this year, pursuing Executive Platinum Status via Elite Qualifying Points, is still a very valid approach (I made my 100k EQPs back in July by the way, for anyone curious). American does note that the amount of EQMs earned on partner airlines will change, I highlight “will” because the current link still reflect Elite Qualifying Points.

Elite qualifying thresholds for miles remain unchanged, segments get harder. I don’t get this part, I tend to fly long haul international. I couldn’t imagine flying 120 segments to get Executive Platinum status, for example. It seems like a really painful way to do it, perhaps American should have gone the other way, just as a small consolation prize, like: “you’ve endured 90 segments of our domestic regional service, here, have a cookie and a stiff drink.” Just sayin’

Upgrades

Executive Platinum members minted by December 31, 2015 will get 8 Systemwide Upgrades (SWU). That same status only gets you half as many upgrades in 2016 – but there’s a (100,000 EQM) carrot – you can still earn up to 8 SWUs! Not sure that I’d be biting for that, but I suspect that SWUs will become more useful as fewer remain in the system.

Award Miles

Here’s the first punch of a combination. In the “Second half of 2016” (so perhaps 1 July? Not clear), American will move to revenue based earning. Here’s the damage:

  • 5 miles/U.S. dollar – AAdvantage member
  • 7 miles/U.S. dollar – Gold
  • 8 miles/U.S. dollar – Platinum
  • 11 miles/U.S. dollar – Executive Platinum

Gary has written about how I am not my fare, and what the breakeven spend to earn the same miles are. I won’t rehash this. However, the part I’m still trying to decide is, I’ve got a flight booked for 20% of the required EQMs to requalify in 2016. Do I go the rest of the 80% of the way in the beginning of the year, maximizing the miles earned? Well, that was my initial strategy, before the other half of that one-two-punch came.

Award Redemption Changes

These changes go into effect for bookings on or after March 22, 2016. In other words, if you have miles, book sooner than later, and you can book beyond March 22nd. The greatest value proposition for many of us mile and point enthusiasts, is when you can book an award on miles. For me, I particularly enjoy flying in the pointy end of the plane, the proverbial left turn, if you will. There’s nothing more satisfying, than settling into a first class seat for a long journey, knowing that all that manufactured spending and reselling made that seat possible. But that’s just me. Take a look at the changes and see whether you’re heavily impacted:

AAdvantage Changes 2015

You’ll note, the changes for economy class awards are little to none. In fact, you can fly that 14 hour flight to the Middle East in economy for 5,000 fewer miles! How kind. There are even some token lower mileage costs to fly Business Class from the US to the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America. Of course, it gets even worse when you look at long-haul travel. The First Class award chart is entirely painful. Some of it borders on “eye-popping.” Of course American didn’t go as far as United in some cases, for example, American only increased First Class to the Middle East to 115k (just under 1/3rd more), whereas United charges 140k for partner First Class to the Middle East.

Also, plan to pay more for 3 cabin flights in the US or Canada, 7,500 miles more for the premium cabin. I’m not sure I get that part. But I assume this is targeted squarely at American’s A321T Premium Service from JFK to LAX and SFO. Perhaps there will be other areas that will be hurt, but they probably are more the exception, rather than the rule.

Wrapping Up

Overall, I feel like I could live with the elite status changes, even earning award miles that way. The challenge I run into is the redemptions, I suppose most will feel this way. Of course, there are many ways to earn more miles via manufactured spending, reselling, and credit card sign-up bonuses. It is not as easy as it once was, it takes work, it takes reading through forums, but it can be done. My graver concern however, is the fate of the last remaining bastions of earning one mile for a mile flown. Alaska Airlines for example, is a very powerful program from a redemption standpoint, and they treat their members well, at least that’s what I hear from anyone who has status. For me, its time to look at some of the travel I’ve been meaning to plan, because I suspect that award space is going to get tighter and tighter as we get closer to 22 March.

Quick Roundup of Holiday Shopping Portal Bonuses

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My friends, we are entering a wonderful time of year. For those in the Northern Hemisphere, leaves are turning a variety of colors, the weather is becoming a bit brisk, and, most importantly, shopping portals bonuses are becoming more widespread as we approach the holidays!

It goes without saying, that I’m a huge believer in the power of shopping portals, and this year is much like last year in the bonuses.

Upromise

uPromise 10 2015

Upromise is doing their 10% Tuesdays again this year. Its a pretty nice deal, where they have a variety (and often changing) set of stores where they’ll offer 10% off on Tuesday each week until 22 December. Here’s hoping that Staples makes the cut!

American Aadvantage Shopping

AA Holiday 2015 Bonus Portal

Shop between 11/10/15 and 11/26/15 to get the maximum 5,000 AAdvantage miles after $1,200 spend.

United MileagePlus Shopping

UA Holiday 2015 6k Bonus Miles

Note, you need to complete your $1,250 spend by 11/24/2015 for United. Guess they don’t want folks ordering during Thanksgiving Dinner.

Alaska Mileage Plan Shopping

Alaska Mileage Plan Holiday 2015 Promo

Perhaps the stingiest of the group, Alaska also only gives you until 11/20/15 to get your spending in – so get crackin’!

Delta Sky Miles Shopping

Delta SkyMiles Shopping 2015 Promo

Via Douglas Levin, Delta also has a promotion through 23 November. This one is similar to Alaska, where you get the maximum 1,500 bonus miles after $500 spent.

Southwest Rapid Rewards Shopping (Updated!)

Southwest Rapid Rewards Portal 2015 Bonus

Southwest is offering one of the more beneficial bonuses, up to 5,500 points when you spend $1,500. Oren found this one to be open today, through 26 November.

Wrapping Up

This is the time of year to always look to see how you can double dip normal Shopping Portal benefits with these bonuses to get even more miles (or as in the case of Upromise, get even more cashback!).

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