AA Platinum Pro Doesn't Include Same-Day Confirmed Flight Changes

Update 1/11/17 5:07pm: An American Airlines spokesperson has responded to our inquiry about this situation:

The same-day flight change reference was an error on one of our aa.com pages. We will reach out to those who purchased Platinum Pro to apologize and offer a refund.

We applaud American Airlines for acknowledging this error and offering a refund for those who may have purchased Platinum Pro status relying on this benefit.

This afternoon, we noticed that the American Airlines elite benefits website was updated. And, for those of you considering buying up to Platinum Pro, we wanted to alert you immediately to this change: Complimentary same-day flight change is no longer a listed as a benefit of Platinum Pro.

Complimentary same-day flight change is a major perk for those who travel often — especially on busy American Airlines domestic routes — as it allows you the ability to get a confirmed seat on an earlier or later flight for free. Whether it's having a business meeting end early or a commitment making you run late, you're able to change your flight without having to take the gamble of being on the standby list or paying $75 for the confirmed change.

There are restrictions on this benefit — you'll need to connect through the same city and fly to the same airport at your destination (i.e. you can't move from JFK to LGA). There are also restrictions on which flights you can change to on the same route. You're not allowed to change to any flight with an open seat. To be able to get the same-day confirmed flight change, there must be "E" fare booking code availability. In order to see if there's availability, you can use a service like ExpertFlyer to see which flights have this availability.

While this perk was listed on the elite status benefits page, it was never advertised by American Airlines as a benefit of Platinum Pro — which is why we didn't include it in our valuation of Platinum Pro status. However, as readers have explicitly referenced this benefit as part of their decision to buy up to Platinum Pro, we wanted to alert you immediately to this change.

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