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American Airlines just unveiled a unique all-in-one loyalty bundle, and it doesn’t come cheap.
The new AAdvantage Pass launches today and costs a whopping $5,000.
Here’s what you get for that price:
- 100,000 bonus miles
- 15,000 Loyalty Points
- AAdvantage Gold status for one year
Let’s break it down to see if it’s worth considering. (TL;DR it’s a pass — no pun intended — from me).
100,000 bonus miles
If I’m being generous, I’d peg AAdvantage miles at 1.8 cents each. That would make 100,000 miles worth about $1,800 — and again, that’s only if you’re booking some of the best sweet spots in the program.
Loyalty Points and elite status are harder to quantify, but I’ll try my best.
15,000 Loyalty Points
Loyalty Points are American’s elite-qualifying currency, and while 15,000 points won’t get you status on their own, they can push you closer.
You can earn Loyalty Points in plenty of ways, including flight activity, the AAdvantage eShopping portal, AAdvantage Hotels bookings, and even cobranded credit card spend.
One of the quickest (though not necessarily cheapest) ways to add 15,000 Loyalty Points is put your rent or taxes on an American cobranded credit card.
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For argument’s sake, let’s use a rent or tax payment as the example.
Bilt charges a 3% fee for third-party rent payments, and the cheapest tax payment processor charges 1.75%.
Using the tax example, you could earn 15,000 Loyalty Points by making $15,000 in purchases with your eligible co-branded card.
That equates to a service fee of $262.50 for paying $15,000 in taxes with a credit card. The fee would be $450 for paying $15,000 in rent with your American card via Bilt.
AAdvantage Gold status
Finally, we need to determine how much value to assign to AAdvantage Gold status.
It’s the entry-level status tier on American Airlines, and it includes priority airport services, early boarding, one free checked bag, preferred seats, and a few other benefits.
Upgraded Points values AAdvantage Gold status at $1,565, but that’s highly optimistic. Even if you accept that inflated number, the math still doesn’t get you anywhere close to $5,000 in value.
Bottom line
I’m not sure how many AAdvantage Passes the airline will actually sell, but I imagine the number will be small, even with the ability to gift one to a friend or family member.
But hey, if you’re feeling especially generous this holiday season, shoot me an email, and I’ll happily send over my AAdvantage number.
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