In late 2023, American Airlines AAdvantage announced that credit card spending would earn Loyalty Points based on purchase date.
But after the most recent AAdvantage elite status qualification year ended Feb. 29, there’s been a lot of consternation from American Airlines flyers (including me). Facebook groups have been full of confused AAdvantage members who are wondering why they received base miles from their credit card spending this month but not Loyalty Points.
As you can see from the screenshot below, I earned more than 10,000 base miles on my most recent Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (see rates and fees) statement. But notice the big zero under Loyalty Points.
This is what the activity tracker usually looks like when my AAdvantage credit card spending posts.
So, where are the Loyalty Points? They are coming — despite what my statement currently shows.
American Airlines has this banner on its website under the account information overview. The carrier also gave frequent flyers a formal notice via email that had the same language (though I never received that email).
It’s unclear why the Loyalty Points had to be posted separately this time. To shed some light on the situation, we reached out to American Airlines to learn more.
According to a carrier spokesperson, “To ensure all AAdvantage members get their miles and Loyalty Points deposited correctly and in a timely manner, this year the process entailed several separate actions. All Loyalty Points earned in February will be posted in March, and all Loyalty Points earned in March will be posted in April. The process results in more members earning status and Loyalty Point Rewards. As the new program year ramps up, we look forward to our members unlocking Loyalty Point Rewards and status toward an even better travel experience.”
I imagine splitting the Loyalty Points into two different status years was no small IT task.
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For additional insight, you’ll find the following explainer on how March statements work on the American Airlines website:
As an example, if your monthly AAdvantage® credit card statement closes on March 5 (which includes purchases posted to your credit card account between February 6 and March 5), all the Loyalty Points earned from purchases made between February 6 through 29 will count toward 2024 status. All Loyalty Points earned between March 1 and 5 count toward the 2025 qualification year.
It may take up to 8 – 10 weeks after March 5 to post to your account in this example.
In other words, all your Loyalty Points earned until Feb. 29, 2024, count toward reaching status for the previous qualification year and all the Loyalty Points earned beginning March 1, 2024, will count for the current qualification year.
I assume that all my Loyalty Points for the previous qualification year (which ended Feb. 29, 2024) will eventually show up in the tracker at the top of my account overview (as you can see below), but that raises additional questions that we don’t have answers for yet.
As you can see, I earned 240,479 Loyalty Points in the previous qualification year, but I’m still confused about how many of the 10,431 Loyalty Points I earned on my most recent credit card statement will go toward my previous qualification year. I’m so close to 250,000 Loyalty Points for the previous qualification year that it would unlock two more rewards if I made it.
Will I get two more systemwide upgrade certificates, the same perk I chose when I reached 175,000 Loyalty Points and earned AAdvantage Executive Platinum status? Only time will tell. It would be lovely to get two more.
Another wrinkle to consider is that frequent flyers must choose their Loyalty Point Rewards by April 5, 2024. So what happens if the Loyalty Points don’t post by then? Having them appear eight to 10 weeks from now would be well past the April 5 deadline, so I’d seemingly be out of luck.
There’s some speculation that you may have to call customer service for assistance in choosing your award if the Loyalty Points don’t post before the April 5 deadline to choose awards. If we find out more about this from American Airlines, we’ll be sure to let you know.
No matter what happens, remember to make any outstanding Loyalty Point Rewards choices that may be waiting in your account.
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