American Airlines’ AAdvantage program, the last major U.S. holdout of the once-traditional one-point-per-mile-flown loyalty system has announced that starting midyear next year it will be shifting to a model that rewards those who spend the most, not those who fly the most.
The shift follows the pattern set by Delta and United, in which members will receive points based on the price of the ticket and their elite status. Regular AAdvantage members will receive 5 points per mile, those with elite status will have a bigger multiplier: 7, 8, or 11 times, depending on category.
The net effect of the changes will be to put more miles in the hands of the premium flyer and to take, relatively, from the occasional flyer in economy. Those of us who get most of our miles from credit-card purchases and bonuses will barely be affected at all.
Along with the new plan come some changes in American’s award charts. While some domestic flights and flights to Mexico and the Caribbean will decrease, there will be increases in other international routes. Sadly, that includes my favorite off-peak 40,000 point round-trip to Europe, which will now cost 45,000 points. Most of the upcharges are for premium seats.
There are also changes in how members earn miles on partner airlines, and some new rules on using AAdvantage to buy awards on partner airlines. The details from American have been e-mailed to AAdvantage members and are also available HERE
And oh, yes! If you’re planning a trip on AA, now’s the time to move on it. The existing award chart and rules stay in place until March 21, 2016.
Alaska Airlines still offers credit for miles flown, although they admitted are mostly located in the Northwestern USA.