I was busy and in a rush Friday afternoon when I posted the news about American’s new Double Elite Qualifying Miles/Double Redeemable Miles offer, so I thought I might follow up with a post that answers some of the questions I received over the weekend.

Double Elite Qualifying Miles and Points

When?

From now through December 31, 2012.

Is this just for AAdvantage elites?

No. Anyone that registers will receive double elite qualifying miles.

Do codeshare, partner, or oneworld partner flights count?

No. Your flight has to be on an American Airlines/American Eagle marketed AND operated flight: an AA aircraft with an AA flight number.

Do the bonus elite-qualifying points count toward AAdvantage Elite Rewards?

No. From the terms and conditions “This offer does not increment the member’s prize eligible mileage balance”.  I was wrong! The points do count!  See Ben’s post here with American’s explanation. Speaking of AAdvantage Elite Rewards, the deadline to register is December 15, 2012. Go here for more info to to see the list of gifts for this year.

Double Redeemable AAdvantage Miles

AAdvantage members with elite status

From now through the end of the year, all AAdvantage Gold, Platinum, and Executive Platinum members will receive double redeemable AAdvantage Miles.

AAdvantage members without elite status

From November 16, 2012, through November 26, 2012 AAdvantage members without elite status will also earn double redeemable AAdvantage Miles.

Will AAdvantage members with elite status earn 4x miles November 16, 2012, through November 26, 2012?

No.

If I reach elite status during the promotion will I start earning double redeemable AAdvantage Miles?

Yes. From the terms and conditions “Customers who qualify for elite status partway through this offer will receive double flight miles for travel post registration, from the date of qualification for elite status onward”.

Do codeshare flights, partner, or oneworld partner flights count?

No. Your flight has to be on an American Airlines/American Eagle marketed AND operated flight: an AA aircraft with an AA flight number.

Can I combine or “stack” this offer with existing AAdvantage Bonus offers?

Yes! You can combine this offer with one of these offers and earn even more bonus miles!

U.S. / Canada – Europe. Earn 100,000 Bonus Miles
Miami – Asuncion, Paraguay. Earn Double Miles
Celebrating Mexico: Earn Double Miles
Miami – Manaus, Brazil. Earn Double Miles
Dallas/Fort Worth-Puebla, Mexico. Earn Double Miles

For AAdvantage elite members that’s 4x miles!

Where can I find a great mileage run fare?

That’s easy, follow The Flight Deal for great deals like this LAX to Montevideo, Uruguay fare which offers 13,610 round-trip base miles for $852.  It’s like AAdvantage Gold status or a free round-trip ticket to London for less than $900!

LAX/MVD offers 27,220 elite status miles with the bonus, that enough for AAdvantage Gold. And if you already have status, with the double redeemable miles you’ll earn enough miles for a round-trip economy award to Europe: 27,220 miles plus up to another 13,610 elite bonus miles for a total of 40,830 miles!

Big news: from now till the end of the year, American is offering Double Elite Qualifying Miles to  everyone, and for those AAdvantage Elite status they’re offering Double Elite Qualifying Miles and Double Redeemable Miles!:

Special Thank You For Elite Status Members

We want to say thank you to our loyal customers for standing by us. So starting November 1st, every AAdvantage elite status member can earn double elite qualifying miles and points, and double miles until the end of the year.
Qualify for AAdvantage Elite Status Faster Than Ever!

Travel on American Airlines, American Eagle or the American Connection® carrier anywhere we fly from November 1, 2012, through December 31, 2012. You’ll earn double elite-qualifying miles and points every time you fly. It’s our way of saying “thank you” for your loyalty!
Earn Double Flight Miles.

And, as an exclusive offer for AAdvantage elite status members, you can also earn double flight miles for your travel on American Airlines, American Eagle or the American Connection carrier through the end of the year.

Simply register using promo code AATHX prior to December 31, 2012, to receive your double flight miles and double elite qualifying miles and points.

Go here to register and for complete details!

I think that one thing most people can agree on is that the AA pilot slowdown is bad for everybody: the company, management, pilots and their coworkers, creditors, and passengers.

I read a thread on Milepoint that was started by a member who’s planning a cruise a little later this year. He asked whether or not he should have a backup plan in the event that the pilot slowdown continues. A few people suggested that he he might be wise to consider booking a ticket on anther airline. So that got me to thinking….

Now I feel a little guilty for bringing this up, sort of like I’m looking for an upside to someone else’s misery,  but because of the pilot situation, I was wondering if American will bring back a system-wide, Double Elite Qualifying Miles offer , similar to the one that they offered at the end of last year.

So I decided to put up a poll to see what readers think.

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Keep an eye on your inbox for this targeted AAdvantage Double Elite Qualifying Miles offer:

Airline: American Airlines
Award: Double Elite-Status Qualifying Miles
Bonus Code: LGAEQ
Dates: Book your trip and fly between June 7, 2012, and August 31, 2012
Offer: Exclusive offer for select AAdvantage members. Reach AAdvantage elite status faster than ever with this offer! Just book a round-trip ticket and fly on American Airlines between Dallas/Fort Worth and New York/LaGuardia from June 7, 2012, through August 31, 2012. You’ll earn double elite-qualifying miles, the miles that bring you closer to AAdvantage elite status membership – at an accelerated rate.

This is an extension of an earlier offer that expired at the end of May.

Registration is required before you travel. Go here for full details.

Photo: Laguardia Sunset
Credit: Geoff Stearns on Flickr

Here’s a new Double Elite Qualifying Miles offer, and unlike the recent DFW to New York LaGuardia, this one isn’t targeted:

Airline: American Airlines

Award: Double Elite Qualifying Miles

Bonus Code: BOSEQ

Dates: Book your trip and fly between April 3, 2012, and June 30, 2012
Offer: Reach elite status faster! Book a roundtrip ticket and fly on American Airlines between Dallas/Fort Worth and Boston between April 3, 2012 and June 30, 2012. You’ll earn double elite status qualifying miles, the miles that bring you closer to qualifying or re-qualifying for AAdvantage Gold, AAdvantage Platinum and AAdvantage Executive Platinum status, at an accelerated rate.

Starting in May, JetBlue begins service to DFW and fares drop to as little as $280 round-trip. But this offer (you’ll earn 6,248 elite qualifying miles) American is giving their customers some extra incentive on the route.   

Registration is required before you travel.  Go here to sign up.

Photo: Boston Street
Credit: Adam Pieniazek on Flickr

Delta just started service between New York LaGuardia and several airports, including Dallas-Ft. Worth, so I’m sure that’s the reason for this new promotion from American Airlines:

Airline: American Airlines

Award: Double Elite-Status Qualifying Miles

Bonus Code:  DFLGA

Dates: Book your trip and fly between March 26, 2012, and June 30, 2012

Offer: Exclusive offer for select AAdvantage members. Reach AAdvantage elite status faster than ever with this offer! Just book a round-trip ticket and fly on American Airlines between Dallas/Fort Worth and New York/LaGuardia from March 26, 2012, through June 30, 2012. You’ll earn double elite-qualifying miles, the miles that bring you closer to AAdvantage elite status membership – at an accelerated rate.

Definitely Probably

The terms and conditions very clearly state that this is a targeted offer:

Note: This offer is valid only for AAdvantage members who receive this email directly from American Airlines.

Terms and Conditions:

Offer only applies to AAdvantage members who receive this email directly from American Airlines.

AAdvantage promotion is valid for round-trip travel on purchased, published fare tickets on American Airlines marketed and operated nonstop flights between Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and New York/LaGuardia (LGA) from March 26, 2012, through June 30, 2012.

A round trip is defined as two one-way trips booked in a single reservation under one ticket number. Reservations containing open jaws are eligible. A maximum of one round trip is permitted per reservation.

Reservation must be booked on or after March 26, 2012, to be eligible.

Targeted offers are usually not visible at AA.com, but this offer appears (last in the list of items) on the AAdvantage  ”Flight Offers” landing page.

So unless they’ve started publishing targeted offers on AA.com, it was probably posted by mistake (most likely), or the targeted requirement was a mistake (least likely).

Since it did show up on the website, it doesn’t hurt to give it a try. I didn’t receive a copy of the promotion, and I’ve got some New York travel in April, so I registered just to see what happens.

If you register, you’ll get an email that confirms the fact of your registration, but makes no mention of whether or not you earn the Double Elite AAdvantage Miles (so don’t get excited until you see the extra miles show up into you account).

Go here for complete details and register here with this promo code: DFLGA    Let me know if you hear back from American!

The Double Elite and Double AAdvantage Miles offer is back (actually, it never expired).

American is extending their offer to residents of Illinois, Texas, and California of Double Elite Qualifying Miles and Double AAdvantage Miles on flights between Chicago and San Francisco/Los Angeles, and Dallas-Ft.Worth and San Francisco/Los Angeles. This isn’t a big surprise considering that they and Virgin America are still aggressively competing on these routes.

One new twist to the offer: flights between Chicago and Orange County are included in this promotion.  Virgin American doesn’t fly between the two cities, but AA and United have both been offering some cheap fares on the route, so maybe this is related.

The bonus code remains the same, so no need to register again if you’ve already signed up for this offer.  Here are the details:

Offer Extended Through June 30, 2012. Now You Have More Time To Increase Your Mileage Balance and Qualify For AAdvantage Elite Status Faster

Award: Double Elite-Status Qualifying Miles. Double Flight Miles

Bonus Code: DEQ11

Dates: Book your trip and fly between October 27, 2011, and June 30, 2012

Offer: Reach AAdvantage elite status faster than ever with this offer and add to your mileage balance at the same time! Just book a round-trip ticket and fly on American Airlines between Chicago O’Hare and Los Angeles, Orange County* or San Francisco or between Dallas/Fort Worth and Los Angeles or San Francisco from October 27, 2011, through June 30, 2012. You’ll earn double flight miles AND double elite-qualifying miles, the miles that bring you closer to AAdvantage elite status membership – at an accelerated rate.

With so many choices, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to get to your destination and add more miles to your AAdvantage account:

Between Chicago and Los Angeles 10 nonstops each business day
Between Chicago and San Francisco 7 nonstops each business day
Between Chicago and Orange County 3 nonstops each business day
Between DFW and Los Angeles 18 nonstops each business day
Between DFW and San Francisco 11 nonstops each business day

Note: This offer is valid only for AAdvantage members with an address on file with AAdvantage Marketing programs in California, Illinois or Texas.

* Offer applies to travel booked and flown between Chicago O’Hare and Orange Country starting March 9, 2012 through June 30, 2012.

I’ve been curious about Virgin’s service and have wanted to try them just for fun, but not so curious as to give up the chance of an upgrade or the AAdvantage miles.  And with double elite miles and flight miles, there’s no chance of it happening.   Obviously, the marketing works!

Go here for complete terms and conditions.

Photo: Double
Credit: Gidzy on Flickr

I received an email yesterday to let me know that the double elite qualifying miles I earned during January, with the now expired systemwide DEQAA promotion, have posted to my account.

I’m not a mileage runner, not because I think it’s a bad idea but because I don’t have the time, so the bonus miles I earned during January are kind of paltry in comparison to others.

I’ve heard from a few people on Twitter that were able to earn status in a single month: Congratulations to @jamucsb and @crismanila77.  

I read that the Happy Flyer was able to reach Platinum in a month.   And Jerry from The Frequent Flyer Collector blog told me that he he was able to earn 94,690 elite qualifying miles in January!

I’ve actually earned more EQMs this month than I did last month, but with the bonus I was still able to reach Gold by the end of January.

Did anyone else earn AAdvantage elite status during the promotion?

(Just a quick note to let you know that Daraius over at Million Mile Secrets is giving away a $150 American Airlines gift card.  To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment.)

 AAdvantage President Maya Leibman

UPDATE:  You can combine this promo with existing double elite miles promo for DFW-LAX/SFO & ORD-LAX/SFO routes.   See this milepoint post from American Airlines and read more from Gary at View from the Wing  “American’s Double Elite Qualifying Mile Promotions are STACKABLE” on View from the Wing.

This will make a lot of people happy, just in time for the end of the year rush to earn, maintain, or move up in status, this email arrived in my inbox from outgoing (and maybe the best ever) President of the AAdvantage Program Maya Leibman and from her replacement, Suzanne Rubin:

As my last act as outgoing president of the AAdvantage program, and as a great introduction to the new president – Suzanne Rubin, we decided to give you what you’ve been asking for (yes, I heard you already! Now, drumroll, please…) Double Elite Qualifying Miles for travel worldwide on American Airlines!

Earn Double Elite-Qualifying Miles For Travel
Between December 13, 2011, And January 31, 2012

We hope this will give you the boost you need to re-qualify for AAdvantage Elite status or get 2012 off to a great start! Simply register prior to travel and you’ll be on your way!

From everyone at American, thank you for flying with us.  We look forward to seeing you on board soon.

If you’re going to plan a mileage run, here’s something that you’ll want to know: the original ITA Software Matrix is gone and has been replaced by a new (and less usable) version, and the Farecompare FlyerTalk tool is no longer available.

The ITA Software Matrix has been replaced by a newer version that’s kind of kludgy.   Gary over at View from the Wing pans it in a review and suggest Hipmunk as an alternative.

As for the Farecompare FlyerTalk tool, it’s offline and according the the Farecompare site, it’s being replaced, though there’s no word on when that’s supposed to happen.

So Hipmunk, Kayak, and even AA.com might be your best bet for finding a good fare that yields a decent CPM.

Speaking of AA.com, here’s something new that I noticed: an upgraded flight status tool.  Here’s a look:

The best feature is that it helps you track your incoming flight information. So if you’re flight’s delayed and you want to know where it’s coming from, now you’ll be able to see that information at AA.com:

Back to the Double Elite Qualifying Miles offer:

Double Elite Qualifying Miles. Everywhere We Fly.
Reach AAdvantage Elite Status Faster

Airline: American Airlines
Award: Double Elite-Status Qualifying Miles

Bonus Code: DEQAA
Dates: Travel between December 13, 2011, and January 31, 2012
Offer: Reach AAdvantage elite status faster than ever with this offer!

Travel on American Airlines or American Eagle anywhere we fly from December 13, 2011, through January 31, 2012. You’ll earn double elite-qualifying miles, the miles that bring you closer to AAdvantage elite status membership – at an accelerated rate. It’s our way of saying “thank you” for your loyalty!

According to the terms and conditions, “(t)his offer does not increment the member’s prize eligible mileage balance” for the bonus, so your bonus miles won’t count toward AAdvantage Elite Member Rewards.

But the good news is that but the good new is that “travel booked prior to the start date of this promotion is eligible.”

Go here to register using promo code DEQAA and to read the full details.

So anybody planning a mileage run?

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Image credits: AAdvantage Geek on Flickr

Maya Leibman image created using a photo from American Airlines.

American and Virgin America have been battling it out in California, Texas and Illinois.  I’ve seen fares from my home airport (DFW) to Los Angeles and San Francisco drop to about half what they were a year ago, and both airlines have been offering big fare sales on the routes that they both serve.  

A couple of times this year, American has offered Double Elite Qualifying Miles and Double AAdvantage Miles in these markets.  The last such offer exired a few weeks ago, but starting today, they’re bringing them back:

Chicago or DFW – Los Angeles or San Francisco. Reach Elite Status Faster. Double Miles

Increase Your Mileage Balance and Qualify For AAdvantage Elite Status Faster Than Ever

Airline: American Airlines

Award: Double Elite-Status Qualifying Miles. Double Flight Miles

Bonus Code: DEQ11

Dates: Book your trip and fly between October 27, 2011, and March 31, 2012

Offer: Reach AAdvantage elite status faster than ever with this offer and add to your mileage balance at the same time! Just book a round-trip ticket and fly on American Airlines between Chicago O’Hare or DFW and Los Angeles or San Francisco from October 27, 2011, through March 31, 2012. You’ll earn double flight miles AND double elite-qualifying miles, the miles that bring you closer to AAdvantage elite status membership – at an accelerated rate.

With so many choices, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to get to your destination and add more miles to your AAdvantage account:

Between Chicago and Los Angeles 10 nonstops each business day
Between Chicago and San Francisco 6 nonstops each business day
Between DFW and Los Angeles 16 nonstops each business day
Between DFW and San Francisco 10 nonstops each business day

I have a few trips to Los Angeles lined up already, so I read through the fine print to see if this new offer applied to travel after October 27, but purchased earlier.  Unfortunately (for me), it does not. To qualify for this offer you’ll have to purchase your ticket on or after today. (Boo hiss, Boo hiss!)

You must be a resident of Illinois, Texas or California to qualify for this offer and registration is required in advance using pomo code DEQ11.  Go here to read the full terms and conditions and to sign up.

(Dan Webb has an interesting interview with Virgin America CEO over at Things in the Sky.)