First things first: American Airlines isn’t changing the requirements to earn elite status at the airline in the coming earning year.
Those thresholds are typically top of mind for frequent flyers as airlines have been tweaking their loyalty programs in recent years as travel demand surges and ranks of elites swell.
elite travelers, repeatedly increasing the requirements to earn status, and tweaking benefits. Part of that was due to airlines allowing customers to hold onto their status during the pandemic, even though they weren’t traveling.
Delta last year walked back some of its changes, including stricter limits on access to its popular airport lounges after customer complaints. All three carriers are building larger airport lounges to accommodate more people.
American also said it will start allowing customers to earn miles for paying for cabin upgrades and let them redeem their miles for upgrades on partner airlines. For customers striving for elite status, the airline will give them bonus loyalty points after they’ve earned 15,000. Gold status, the lowest tier, requires 40,000 loyalty points.