American Airlines Introduces “Status for a Day” Program

American Airlines is introducing an Enhance with Miles program that will offer elite status for a day as part of its relatively new Loyalty Points scheme. When you earn Loyalty Points at various levels, you’ll be given the opportunity to either earn status for a day or give that status to someone else.

Earning Status for a Day

In general, to earn American elite status, you need to earn either 40,000, 75,000, 125,000, or 200,000 Loyalty Points, depending on the status level you’re trying to earn. At 200,000 Loyalty Points, you earn the highest elite status level — Executive Platinum.

At those various levels, you’ll now also be given the opportunity to earn a temporary higher status or give status to someone else, as follows:

At 40,000 Loyalty Points:

• Give AAdvantage Gold status to someone for a day
• Earn AAdvantage Executive Platinum status for yourself for a day

At 75,000 Loyalty Points:

• Give AAdvantage Platinum status to someone for a day
• Earn AAdvantage Executive Platinum status for yourself for a day

At 125,000 Loyalty Points:

• Give AAdvantage Platinum Pro status to someone for a day
• Earn AAdvantage Executive Platinum status for yourself, for a day

At 200,000 Loyalty Points:

• Give AAdvantage Executive Platinum status to someone else, for a day

When you give or earn status for a day, you’ll need to redeem a certain number of miles for that experience, starting at 15,000 AAdvantage miles.

There are lots of things you need to know about this program:

• You won’t be able to change the name of the person you’re giving status to, so choose wisely.
• When you give status to someone, they either need to hold a lower status or no status at all. This makes sense as there’s no reason you’d give someone with a higher level status a lower status level.
• At each Loyalty Point status threshold, you’re given 2 redemptions. You won’t be able to earn more until you reach the next level.
• You need to select the status level and recipient at least 7 days in advance for the flight, and that recipient will receive usual upgrade privileges and potentially clear an upgrade in advance.
• Your status for a day only impacts American Airlines flights, and won’t provide benefits on partners, though it will provide lounge access if you’re on an eligible American itinerary.

Hot Tip: Learn about the best ways to earn AAdvantage Loyalty Points in our detailed guide!

Final Thoughts

This is a cool new way to redeem your miles and share your excitement about status with other travelers who may not have had status before, or those who may be aspiring to a higher level. In addition, you’ll be given the opportunity to try top-tier status out for yourself, and if you enjoy it, you’ll have to work hard throughout the year to earn it.