American Airlines Spending Cutoff

Elite status under American Airline's AAdvantage program is based on how many Loyalty Points you earn, which means spending on American's co-branded credit cards is the easiest way to earn status. For 2024 and beyond, the airline announced a minor yet significant (and reasonable) change to the American Airlines credit card spending cutoff dates.

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American does not follow a calendar year cycle for elite status qualification. Instead, AAdvantage members have from March 1 through February 28 to qualify for status each year. For those relying on credit card spend to earn AAdvantage status, this raises the question: what is the cutoff date for purchases made around that time of year?

Currently, the determination was based on when your credit card statement cut. So if your card statement cut on the 10th of every month, purchases made at the end of February 2023 counted for the qualification year beginning on March 1, 2023 since your statement would cut on March 10, 2023.

This approach certainly made life harder around the turn of the month, especially for those with multiple American Airlines co-branded credit cards.

American Changes the Spending Cutoff

In an email sent to AAdvantage credit card holders this week, American announced that going forward, the cutoff will be the end of February, regardless of when your card statement cuts. This means that purchases between March 1 and the end of February of the following year will count toward the current status qualification year.

This change is quite reasonable and makes life a lot easier. From now on, you just need to make sure you're spending before the end of February if you want to earn status for the current qualification year. No need to worry about your statement closing date anymore.

American Airlines Changes Spending Cutoff: ToP Thoughts

American's change to making the end of February the cut-off for all elite status qualification spending on co-branded cards is small but significant. It also makes life much easier for loyalists trying to requalify at the last minute. Folks no longer run the risk of being penalized by their card's statement cut date. It's also nice to see American announcing this well ahead of the February cut-off. If you find yourself still chasing American status in February, remember this helpful change.