AA Wednesday

I bet you thought the title was going to be WednesdAAy, right? I gotta mix it up sometimes, sorry.

Status Matches

Hyatt & AA have had a strange partnership for a few years, and now you can leverage each to get reduced requirements for status at the other by September 30th. Just make sure you delay registration until a couple of days before travel to give your self as much time as possible to finish the challenges. To take advantage of them, link your Hyatt and AAdvantage accounts if needed, then:

• Register here for an AA 90 day status challenge if you have any Hyatt status at all. My status offer:
  • Gold for 6,000 paid flown miles or 7 segments, and $700 EQD spend
  • Platinum for 12,000 paid flown miles or 14 segments, and $1,500 EQD spend
  • Platinum Pro for 18,000 paid flown miles or 21 segments, and $2,300 EQD spend
• Register here for a Hyatt 90 day status challenge if you have any AA status at all. Everyone gets:
  • Explorist for 10 nights
  • Globalist for 20 nights

Now, let’s turn off the blogger/bloggee relationship and just talk about this like friends:

• AA Gold status is really like Silver at any other airline, it’s good for a free checked bag and the ability to pick the second worst seat instead of the worst seat on the plane.
• If you want upgrades when flying AA, Platinum Pro or above is pretty much the only way you have a real chance, the others will just be dashed hopes and dreams, which sounds a lot like AA.
• Hyatt Explorist isn’t worth much at all either. It will get you a couple of bottles of water if you’re lucky, and you’ll get a 2:00 PM checkout, but spoiler alert — if you ask nicely, you can almost always get a 2:00 PM checkout anyway so, enjoy your water I guess?
• Hyatt Globalist is worth it if you travel a lot and use it. One of my dirty, shameful secrets is that I’ve been top tier at Hyatt for 9 years, and I don’t plan on letting that change anytime soon.

AAdvatange Reduced Mileage Awards

These have always been a great deal for Citi AA cardholders, and like any great deal, it dies. AA is killing off reduced milage awards on October 1, 2021. See if you can eek any value out of this if you still have a Citi AA card, but keep the next point in mind.

AA Sticks it to Flight Attendants

AA made a deal with many of its flight attendants to take either one or two year leaves of absence during the height of the pandemic, but now they’re making their flight attendants come back early because they’re anticipating huge staffing shortages during the holidays this year. As you think about those holiday plans, make sure you’re going in eyes wide open to make sure you’re not left strAAnded (I couldn’t help it) by a crew shortage at AA; I expect we’ll run into holiday problems, especially at smaller outstAAtions.