American Airlines' Latest Loyalty Offer Is Causing A Buzz

It's a frustrating conundrum for loyal frequent fliers who — wooed by lofty promises of airport lounge access, flights for miles, and free upgrades — stand by their airline of choice through thick and thin. They know their loyalty programs so well, there's no calculator required to suss out their preferred partner's best features. But then, a nagging sense of betrayal begins to creep in, hushed whispers in the back of their minds reminding them of the growing list of demands issued by their longtime loyalty program.

Redeem more miles and pony up new fees or face the consequences: reduced benefits or reduced status. Maybe it's time to play the field, they think. Or to book a lower fare — and potentially endure the purgatory of cramped main-cabin seating — with a different airline, just this once. An enticing thought, but with so much time, energy, and money expended in pursuit of elite status, it's hard to walk away and start all over again.

Then along comes American Airlines with a come-hither offer that seems almost too good to be true. Check us out for four months. We'll match your Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Southwest Airlines, or JetBlue loyalty program status for free. What's the catch? Of course, conditions apply, but the gist is pretty straightforward. American is offering existing members of Delta SkyMiles, United MileagePlus, Southwest Rapid Rewards, and JetBlue TrueBlue with elite status to experience American AAdvantage at the equivalent level. Submit proof of earned status in another loyalty program. Upon approval, the Instant Status Pass grants matched status with American AAdvantage for four months and includes an opportunity to extend.

In a sense, American Airlines' Instant Status Pass is kind of like casual dating. It's breezy fun without any major commitment — unless you catch feelings for AAdvantage that begin to outweigh the conditional love you've been getting in return for your loyalty to other airlines' frequent-flier programs. That's the crossroads where it begins to seem prudent to consider the potential of turning a casual dalliance with AAdvantage into a longer-term commitment.

The Instant Status Pass has a built-in mechanism for that situation. Access is automatically reviewed — and extended, if applicable — every four months based on hitting three interim goals. For example, the first step requires participants to earn 13,000 loyalty points during the initial four months to extend AAdvantage Gold benefits for another four-month term. The initial baseline for maintaining Platinum status is 25,000 loyalty points. Platinum Pro requires 42,000 points and the baseline for maintaining Executive Platinum status is 67,000 points.

The next step gets a bit more complicated. Basically, you "soft land," according to Reddit commenters, at your achieved level and the associated AAdvantage status extends for another four months at that baseline. Step two is more of the same, evaluated again at the end of four months. Step three provides an opportunity to retain earned status for four more months or achieve a level that earns a full year of elite membership. Every frequent flier's relationship with their airline of choice and preferred loyalty program is personal, but in light of carriers recently reducing benefits and lounge access for even the most elite of fliers — while American Airlines officially announced a second consecutive year of no changes in benefits or qualifying conditions — there's something to be said about playing the field.