American Airlines AAdvantage

The AAdvantage program's current incarnation is still very new (it only came into being earlier this year) but American Airlines is already pushing through new changes which, on the whole, are probably going to be unpopular.

As we enter the last couple of days of the registration period for a promotion that gives AAdvantage elite flyers free World of Hyatt status (see here), a new promotion seems to be appearing in select American Airlines accounts that's offering World of Hyatt elites free (but temporary) American Airlines elite status.

Since the end of August, Hyatt has been running a pretty good promotion for American Airlines flyers in which it's offering automatic (limited-time) elite status in the World of Hyatt program and a chance for flyers then to boost that status through stays. The promotion still has over 3 months to run, but registration closes in just 2 days' time.

As I'm usually more than happy to call out airlines when they're acting poorly (or like imbeciles) it's only fair that I give credit where credit is due when an airline does something well. In that spirit, I'd like to point out how helpful the agents at AAdvantage customer services were when I caused a minor issue for myself that need never have arisen.

Hyatt has announced a new promotion, in conjunction with American Airlines, which sees it reprising an offer we last saw back in October of last year. Starting on 5 July, members of the American Airlines AAdvantage program will be able to earn a bonus of 1,000 AAdvantage miles per qualifying stay at over 150 participating Hyatt hotels in cities across the U.S.

Today, American Airlines and JetBlue have taken another step towards cementing their alliance (despite the fact that the DoJ is actively trying to break the alliance up) by announcing further reciprocal status benefits for their elite flyers and by confirming that customers flying with JetBlue will finally be allowed to use their Admirals Club memberships to access American's lounges.

For a little over 8 years, Award Wallet has had an agreement in place with American Airlines which has allowed it to access flyer data via an API that, in turn, allowed it to keep members informed of any changes to their flights and AAdvantage account balances. As of today, that access has been revoked and Award Wallet members can no longer use the application to track their American Airlines flights or AAdvantage accounts.

Earning or retaining American Airlines Advantage elite status has never been easier than it has been for most of this year but for business travelers who have somehow missed out on the promotions, deals, and extensions, the airline has just rolled out yet another way to lock in AAdvantage status in double-quick time - a fast-track offer has been launched.

It was a nice surprise when back in July, Citi suddenly announced that its ThankYou Points would be transferable to the American Airlines AAdvantage program for a limited time and as no other bank's transferable currency has a partnership with AAdvantage, this has been a very useful transfer option to have for the past few months. Sadly, with no signs that Citi will extend this offer, ThankYou cardholders have just three days left to make the most of this opportunity.

American Airlines recently ripped up the rules surrounding elite status qualification for the AAdvantage program and introduced a whole new system through which its flyers can earn elite status. For some, the fact that the new system will probably create more low-level elites means that Lifetime Gold and Lifetime Platinum status has just been devalued (more competition for benefits). For others, however, Lifetime AAdvantage Elite status will have just become more useful.