How Credit Card Spend Counts for AAdvantage Status

How Credit Card Spend Counts for AAdvantage Status

Loyalty Points are the new way to earn American Airlines AAdvantage® status. You’ll qualify for status based on the Loyalty Points posted to your account for the 12-month period starting on March 1 of each year. While there are several ways to earn Loyalty Points, credit card spend is often the most popular option.

American Airlines sent out email yesterday informing AAdvantage members of a change in the way credit card spending counts towards AAdvantage status. Here’s the relevant email text:

The Loyalty Points you earn on AAdvantage® credit card* purchases between March 1 and the end of February of the following year count toward the current status qualification year.

This means you can earn Loyalty Points through February 29, 2024, instead of your last statement close date of the qualification year.

Until now, American Airlines would only count Loyalty Points earned in a credit card statement period that closes before the end of February. So if your credit card statement closes on the 10th of each month, then all spending through February 10th would count toward the current elite qualification year. All credit card spending after February 1oth would count toward the following elite qualification year, since the points would be counted on March 10th.

American Airlines has now made this simpler, as you no longer need to worry about when your credit card statement closes. Purchases that post in February will count toward the current elite qualification year, and purchases that post starting March 1st count toward the following elite qualification year.

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.

American Airlines Elite Qualifying Levels

Here’s a look at how many Loyalty Points you need to earn for each level of AAdvantage elite status:

• AAdvantage Gold: 40,000 Loyalty Points
• AAdvantage Platinum: 75,000 Loyalty Points
• AAdvantage Platinum Pro: 125,000 Loyalty Points
• AAdvantage Executive Platinum: 200,000 Loyalty Points

Credit Cards that Earn AAdvantage Loyalty Points

• Barclays AAdvantage® Aviator® Blue Mastercard®
• Barclays AAdvantage® Aviator® Mastercard®
• Barclays AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®
• Barclays AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver Mastercard®
• Barclays AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard®
• Barclays American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp®
• Citi® / AAdvantage® Gold Mastercard®
• Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®
• Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®
• CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®

Guru’s Wrap-up

This change makes it simpler to manage spending for those that leave their status earning activities for the last minute.

Earlier this year American Airlines retroactively awarded everyone points for their spending between their credit card February statement close date and and the end of February.