AAdvantage® program updates
Get rewarded more often with new AAdvantage® Loyalty Point Rewards
Enjoy new ways to earn rewards, redeem miles and reach your travel goals with the AAdvantage® program. You’ll experience more rewards even before reaching status – and more often after you do. Plus, you can choose the rewards that matter to you and design your perfect experience.
Best of all, you can earn Loyalty Point Rewards without flight segment requirements and customize your experience along the way. Your status journey has never been more rewarding.
Complimentary companion upgrades
Complimentary upgrades for AAdvantage® status members will now extend to 1 companion for travel on or after July 14, 2022. Complimentary upgrades apply to travel on all purchased, published fares on American within North America and include AAdvantage® award tickets for AAdvantage Executive Platinum® members.
Complimentary upgrades for existing reservations will be automatically requested by July 14.
How it works:
- We’ll automatically request the upgrade for you and 1 companion if your reservation has no more than 2 passengers. You can check the status of your upgrade request by viewing your trip on aa.com or in the American Airlines app.
- If your reservation includes more than 2 passengers, or your companion is traveling in a separate reservation, call your AAdvantage® status desk for assistance.
- Your companion will receive your same upgrade priority.
Complimentary upgrades for AAdvantage Platinum® and AAdvantage Gold® members
AAdvantage Gold® and AAdvantage Platinum® members now have more opportunities to upgrade from Main / Premium Economy to the next class of service. Starting with flights on March 2, 2022, we’re expanding complimentary upgrades to all purchased, published fares on American within North America.
All complimentary upgrades for existing reservations will be available by March 2.
Some reminders:
- We’ll automatically request the upgrade if everyone in your booking is eligible for a complimentary upgrade – no action needed from you.
- Your upgrade may be cleared as early as 24 hours before departure for AAdvantage Gold® and 48 hours for AAdvantage Platinum® members.
- Upgrades within North America remain complimentary for AAdvantage Executive Platinum® and AAdvantage Platinum Pro® members.
Simplifying your upgrade experience
You'll continue to be added to the airport upgrade list if your upgrade request hasn’t cleared before check-in. We’re beginning to roll out an enhanced upgrade experience in 2022 for status members at the airport: Upgrades will automatically clear 40 minutes before your flight departure if seats are available. This will apply to all airports within North America. Once your upgrade clears, you’ll be notified on the app or on the gate monitor.
With automatic clearance, you'll have a more consistent experience and should know the status of your upgrade request sooner.
Be sure you’ve checked in early so you’re on the upgrade list. If you aren’t on the list before the automatic clearance, you’ll be prioritized after the airport upgrade list has cleared.
Systemwide and mileage award upgrades
If you and a companion are waitlisted for the same type of upgrade, you can sponsor them to receive your priority level. You’ll stay prioritized together, even at the airport.
Companion and sponsor qualifications:
- Book on the same flight (same or separate reservations)
- Use the same upgrade type (systemwide or mileage award upgrades)
Companions don’t have to be AAdvantage® members; the upgrade can be deducted from any account.
To sponsor a companion for a new or existing trip, contact Reservations.
Upgrade requests will be prioritized by AAdvantage® status level, then:
- Type of upgrade
- 12-month Rolling Loyalty Points
If the upgrade type and 12-month Rolling Loyalty Points value are the same, we’ll look at the booking code then date / time of the request to determine prioritization.
Type of upgrade
Before you get to the airport, requests for systemwide and mileage award upgrades are processed independently from 500-mile upgrade requests.
At the airport, upgrades requested will be prioritized in this order:
- Systemwide and mileage award upgrades
- 500-mile upgrades on purchased tickets
- 500-mile upgrades on award tickets
12-month Rolling Loyalty Points
Your 12-month Rolling Loyalty Points value is updated daily and is different from your Year-to-Date (YTD) Loyalty Points, which is used to track your progress toward AAdvantage® status.
Rolling Loyalty Points are based on:
- Loyalty Points earned in the 12 last months
- Loyalty Points earned from reaching qualifying spend thresholds on eligible AAdvantage® Aviator® MasterCard® cards
Booking code
Booking code priority:
- From Business to First (for systemwide and mileage award upgrades only): J, R, D, I, C
- From Main Cabin to the next class: W, P, Y, H, K, M, L, V, G, S, N, Q, O, T