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AA Offering Complimentary Status to Hilton Elites

JT Genter
JT Genter
Contributor
JT is a location-independent digital nomad traveling 250,000+ miles each year with his wife Katie.
Feb. 19, 2016
•
2 min read
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AA Offering Complimentary Status to Hilton Elites
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What's better than earning status? Getting it for free. And American has been offering lots of travelers free status recently. Last week, American sent email and mail invitations to certain AAdvantage members inviting them to try out status through May 31, 2016 — with a free challenge to keep this status through February 2017.

Yesterday, some Hilton elites received a similar offer. American Airlines is offering targeted, complimentary American Airlines Gold or Platinum status through June 17th.

AA Hilton status text
Make sure to register for the promotion if you were targeted!

Requirements:

  • The terms state that this is an "exclusive offer only for members who receive this email directly from Hilton." So, check your email inbox first to see if you were targeted.
  • Register by 11:59pm CDT on February 25th.
  • To keep the status through January 2018, you must earn 7,000 Elite-Qualifying Miles (EQMs) between March 7 and June 17.

If you didn't get the targeted email, you can try your luck registering for the Gold status promotion using this link. After all, it's worth a minute to check if you can get status which we value at $1,155!

I wasn't successful in registering for the promotion.
If you weren't targeted, you'll likely end up with the same error as me.

I currently have Hilton HHonors Silver status and didn't receive the invitation email. Even though I already have American Airlines Gold status, I tried to register for this promotion, but ended up with a friendly error. (It even says "FriendlyError" in the url!)

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Bottom Line

Promotions like this can be a bummer for existing lower-tier elites — such as myself — as it creates more competition for Main Cabin Extra seats and domestic upgrades, but it's a good opportunity for American to introduce its product to a larger group of business travelers.

If you were one of the Hilton elites targeted to get free American Airlines status, certainly jump on the chance! Then, take advantage of a flight deal — like this to one China — to keep this status through January 2018. In addition to the other perks of status, you'll earn 25% (Gold) to 100% (Platinum) bonus American Airlines miles thanks to this free offer!

H/T: FlyerTalk