Newbie Analysis for AAdvantage Elite Status Run in 2016
Why?
Just wanted to give it a try & see if its worth the trouble & investment w.r.t time & money.
References:
http://thepointsguy.com/2015/04/11-reasons-to-love-aadvantage-and-executive-platinum-status/
http://thepointsguy.com/2014/12/what-is-american-airlines-aadvantage-elite-status-worth/
My Criteria’s:
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There isn't any business travel for 2016.
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Don't have any elite status with American. American seemed logical because of it being one world partner & also no qualification dollars needed.
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Have a two year old at home, so can't be out travelling too long. Worst case is 1 night out.
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Prefer Red eye flight out of home & return back home by next day evening or night.
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Shorter number of trips to make this happen.
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Limit my expenses as much as possible. Hoping to leverage airline credits from Citi/Amex.
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Hopefully yearly vacation plan might help add more EQM's in the process.
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EXP is the goal here. But may restrict to Platinum status if situation & finance aren't flexible.
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Planned Budget - 3-4K
West to East Coast flight could easily be 4.5K miles on an average.
| Class of Service | EXP EQM’s Needed | No. of Trips Needed for EXP | Platinum EQM’s Needed | No. of Trips Needed for Platinum | Total RDM’s Earned |
| Discount Economy | 100K | 23 | 50K | 12 | 100% |
| Full-Fare Economy | 100K | 15 | 50K | 8 | 100% |
| Discount First/Business | 100K | 12 | 50K | 6 | 150% |
Typical fares in Jan/Feb/Mar 2016 when checked in Nov 2015.
SAN – NYC: Economy ~$300, Business $1000
SAN – MIA: Economy ~$270, Business $900
SAN – BOS: Economy ~$270, Business $1000
| Route | Class of Service | Cost for EXP Status | Cost for Platinum Status | EQM’s Earned for EXP (approx) | RDM’s Earned for EXP (approx) |
| SAN – NYC | Discount Economy | $6000 | $3000 |
102960 (5148/trip)
SAN-CLT-EWR-DFW-SAN
|
159588
25% Gold bonus after 6 trips
100% platinum bonus after 10 trips
|
| SAN – MIA | Discount Economy | $6210 | $2160 | 104489 (4543/trip) SAN-MIA-PHX-SAN | 163545 (25% bonus after 7 trips, 100% bonus after 11 trips) |
| SAN – BOS | Discount Economy | $4860 | $2430 | 100962 (5609/trip) SAN-CLT-BOS-CLT-SAN | 155649 (25% bonus after 6 trips, 100% bonus after 9 trips) |
| SAN – NYC | Discount Business | $10000 | $6000 |
101560 (5078/trip/2 EQM)
SAN-CLT-DCA-JFK-PHX-SAN
|
107908 (50% class of service bonus + regular elite level bonus) |
| SAN – MIA | Discount Business | $9900 | $4950 | 104566 (4753/trip/2 EQM) SAN-MIA-ATL-PHX-SAN | 96248 (50% class of service bonus + regular elite level bonus) |
| SAN – BOS | Discount Business | $10000 | $5000 | 107920 (5396/trip) SAN-CLT-DCA-BOS-ORD-SAN | 101175 (50% class of service bonus + regular elite level bonus) |
| Pro’s of Economy Approach | Con’s of Economy Approach |
| 3-4 CPM (this may change because of price fluctuation) | Number of Trips needed |
| More RDM accrued. | Price point will fluctuate by 100-150$ because of the total number of trips |
| Close to 2 trips every month |
| Pro’s of Business Approach | Con’s of Business Approach |
| Reduced number of trips | 10 CPM |
| 1 trip every month | RDM not great as Economy approach |
| Comfort during travel | Cost |
Planning to use Expertflyer tool & Google ITA matrix to find better routes to reduce the cost needed to achieve the EXP status. Probably will end up doing a mix of discounted business & economy class fares.
Will post an status update end of 2016. Cheers
Feature Photo by mighty.travels 
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About The Author
Points Enthusiast
Full Time RF Electronics Engineer with a passion for Travel & Sports. Currently live in San Diego,CA. Both my dear wife & our lovely toddler boy love outdoor activities. As a family we plan to have fun & explore the world through Points/Miles & loyalty programs. :)