American Airlines: AAdvantage Executive Platinum / Platinum / Gold Fast Track by LinkedIn (Targeted?)

American Airlines AAdvantage has a new promotion out there for members of LinkedIn to receive a Fast Track for AAdvantage Executive Platinum, Platinum and Gold status.

This promotion is supposedly targeted to certain LinkedIn members who should have received this offer per email, you should check yours if you are a member of that networking website.

While (just like with any American Airline promo) pretty anyone can register for it, there is no guarantee that this promotion will work for you if you were not targeted.

You can find the American AAdvantage website for this offer here.

The promotion also comes with another caveat, namely that those who are signing up do not hold any type of Elite status with AAdvantage as of September 14th 2015. This automatically disqualifies all those accounts who have lifetime Gold or Platinum status.

Here are the requirements for this Fast Track Offer based on Elite Qualifying Points (EQP):

Keep in mind that Elite Qualifying Points are measured on your fare class and are different from base miles collected. For flights on American Airlines the EQP range from 0.5 EQP per mile flown (lower fare classes) to 1.5 EQP (Full Fare, First & Business Class). You can access AA’s website for the full earning ratios here.

You will be able to collect promotion eligible EQP on: American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Qantas, US Airways and some codeshare flights (I would be careful with those codeshares though).

Conclusion

This is a solid and generous offer from American Airlines especially since it comes without the usual match requirement of holding a comparable elite status with a competing airline. The points requirement is reasonable as well considering you have three months to complete this challenge. Executive Platinum Members automatically receive 8 complimentary systemwide upgrades for use on AA which makes this deal extra sweet.

I can just assume based on the T&C your status will be adjusted in stages as soon as you reach the individual hurdles but this might take a few days. If you are not targeted for this promotion or don’t feel confident about signing up, American always offers the regular Platinum Challenge for 10,000 EQP within 90 days for a nominal fee of 200 US$. For this you have to call up AAdvantage customer service.

Here are the Terms & Conditions of this promotion at the time of this article:

This is an exclusive offer only for select AAdvantage members who receive this message from LinkedIn and who do not hold AAdvantage Gold, Platinum or Executive Platinum status as of September 14, 2015. AAdvantage elite status members are not eligible for this offer.

Upon reaching the required AAdvantage elite-qualifying points threshold, your AAdvantage elite status membership benefits will take effect immediately and will be valid through February 28, 2017. Your new membership credentials will be mailed to you within four to six weeks after qualification. Qualification is based on AAdvantage elite-qualifying points earned on eligible, purchased, published fare tickets on select airlines between September 14 and December 23, 2015. Select each airline name to learn more about qualifying fares for that carrier: American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Qantas and US Airways. Bonus elite-qualifying points earned through other promotions do not count towards this offer. You must re-qualify for AAdvantage elite status membership annually. Learn more about standard qualification levels.