Elite status and its associated perks is the airlines' way of identifying their best customers and keeping them coming back for more. And in the main, it does just that.
But marketers face a problem: After a customer has qualified for silver status, say, at 25,000 miles, he has little incentive to maintain his loyalty if he doesn't anticipate reaching the next elite tier, at 50,000 miles.
In fact, a common tactic among frequent travelers is to shift their loyalty to a second or third airline after reaching a targeted elite tier in the first carrier's program.
To address that between-tier incentive gap, many airlines have introduced mid-tier bonuses, giving program members a reason to continue earning elite-qualifying miles or points even though they don't anticipate reaching a higher tier.
American calls its mid-tier bonuses Elite Rewards. They change annually, and generally aren't announced until the second half of the year.
Earlier this week, the airline announced their Elite Rewards for 2011.
Offer Details
American's AAdvantage program has three elite tiers: Gold, earned after 25,000 elite-qualifying miles (EQMs) or elite-qualifying points (EQPs); Platinum, earned after 50,000 EQMs or EQPs; and Executive Platinum, earned after 100,000 EQMs or EQPs.
EQPs are calculated using a multiple of the miles flown, with higher-priced fares awarding 1.5 times the number of flown miles, and deep-discount coach fares only awarding 0.5 times flown miles. It's American's way of recognizing a customer's revenue contribution, rather than simply the distance he traveled.
Based on their status at the end of 2011, AAdvantage elite members will be eligible to receive Elite Rewards as follows:
AAdvantage Gold elites who earn 40,000 - 49,999 elite-qualifying points during 2011 can choose one of the following:
- 15,000 AAdvantage bonus miles
- Four 500-mile upgrades
- Two Admirals Club one-day passes
- One 10 percent discount on future travel on American
AAdvantage Platinum elites who earn 75,000 - 99,999 elite-qualifying points during 2011 can choose one of the following:
- 25,000 AAdvantage bonus miles
- Eight 500-mile upgrades
- Four Admirals Club one-day passes
- One 10 percent discount on future travel on American
- Gift of AAdvantage Gold status for a friend
AAdvantage Executive Platinum elites who earn 125,000 or more elite-qualifying points during 2011 can choose two of the following:
- 35,000 AAdvantage bonus miles
- Two one-way system-wide upgrades
- A one-year Admirals Club membership
- One 10 percent discount on future travel on American
- Gift of AAdvantage Gold status for a friend
To receive their Elite Rewards, program members must register prior to December 15, 2011, using promotion code ELTAA.
Deal or No Deal
For AAdvantage die-hards, who will stick with American no matter what, the extra bonuses can only be a plus.
And for business travelers and others who fly mostly on pricey unrestricted fares, the EQP-based bonuses will be both achievable and welcome.
But for the majority of AAdvantage of elites, whose status is earned on the basis of EQMs rather than EQPs, the bonuses are moot. While American's email announcement thanked members "for all the time you spend on the road traveling with us," what's really being rewarded here isn't time, it's spend.
This year's Elite Rewards may have solved the problem of American's most profitable customers' fall-off in loyalty after they've qualified for elite status. But a significant number of AAdvantage elite members have been left wondering whether to extend their post-qualification loyalty to American, or switch to another airline.
Reader Reality Check
Are American's Elite Rewards relevant to you?
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