Details on American’s new AAdvantage Pass membership
American is introducing the AAdvantage Pass, available for a purchase price of $5,000. Those who opt for this benefit will receive the following advantages:
- Immediate entry-level AAdvantage Gold status
- 100,000 AAdvantage bonus miles
- 15,000 bonus Loyalty Points
Individuals can buy the AAdvantage Pass for themselves or for others, and it’s touted as “a fantastic way to enhance travel for yourself or someone else before the busy holiday season.” This new offering is anticipated to be available on American’s website shortly, although it’s not yet live at the time of this announcement (though American has provided these details to me).
I can’t foresee much interest in this
I have no objections to American marketing the AAdvantage Pass, but this does seem to fall into the “why bother” category, in my opinion:
- I value AAdvantage miles at 1.5 cents each, which makes the 100K bonus miles worth approximately $1,500 to me
- This indicates that you’re essentially paying around $3,500 for the AAdvantage Gold status along with 15,000 Loyalty Points
$3,500 is a significant amount to invest in AAdvantage Gold status and a few bonus Loyalty Points. Therefore, without any additional perks included, I don’t foresee this being very well received. The math is quite challenging to justify here, and you’d likely be better off allocating those thousands towards benefits that AAdvantage Gold status could provide, such as directly booking first class, obtaining a lounge membership, etc.
In the end, the advantages of AAdvantage Gold status compared to merely having a basic co-branded credit card are quite limited for the majority of travelers, if you ask me.
Final thoughts
American has rolled out the new AAdvantage Pass program, allowing you to spend $5,000 to obtain AAdvantage Gold status, 100,000 bonus miles, and 15,000 bonus Loyalty Points. I can’t foresee much enthusiasm surrounding this, and I believe it falls into the “why bother” realm. But perhaps others have a different perspective?
What are your thoughts on AAdvantage Pass?