American Airlines rolls out new elite status based on lower 2020 requirements

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, we've seen all major U.S. airlines make major adjustments to their loyalty programs.

Perhaps the biggest update is the sweeping elite status extensions. Most currently valid status on American, Delta and United is being extended across the board through Jan. 31, 2022.

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Though American was about a week later than Delta and United in announcing such changes, it added some unique and generous perks with its offer. For one, it's the only carrier to already extend status for its invite-only elite status tier, Concierge Key. Additionally, the Fort Worth, Texas based carrier introduced two promotions. One that allows you to earn Million Miler status through credit card spend and another that gives elite a credit for a future Vacations package.

Related: American Airlines joins Delta and United in extending elite status and more

Though the carrier made these announcements on April 13, 2020, it promised to have the back-end systems updated by May 15, 2020. Well, as stated on its updated webpage, American is now in the process of rolling out these updates, about ten days earlier than initially promised.

In fact, upon checking my AAdvantage account, I see that the process has begun. I'm currently an Executive Platinum member (gifted through my Hyatt Globalist status).

The status trackers have now been updated to reflect the lowered 2020 thresholds.

However, my four unexpired systemwide upgrades haven't yet been extended, nor has my actual status been pushed to January 2022.

According to the AA website, all the AAdvantage adjustments are going to be made over the course of the "next few days." This includes extending currently valid status, lowering the elite qualifying thresholds, extending the expiration date for systemwide upgrades, lowering the EQM threshold for Executive Platinum rewards and introducing the Million Miler promotion.

Related: Complete guide to American AAdvantage elite status

This also means that you may get a status boost in the next few days if you already flew a bunch before the coronavirus halted most travel in mid-March.

American's system updates follow closely after United's. UA made most of its back-end updates about two weeks ago. Delta, on the other hand, has confirmed that extended Medallion status will be reflected on Feb. 1, 2021.

All in all, it's great to see American using this downtime to speed up the implementation of its AAdvantage changes. Be sure to monitor your accounts over the next few days to make sure that everything looks the way it should.

All photos by the author.