American ups the ante in fight for premium travelers

When you pay full price for a big first class seat up front on American, you could earn a 12K mile bonus (Photo: DearEdward / Flickr)

The latest salvo in the battle for front-cabin travelers comes from American, which unveiled a bonus promotion for 2015 that rewards extra miles — in some cases a lot of extra miles — to AAdvantage members who buy pricey premium seats.

Although American calls it a “promotion,” it is unlike other mileage promotions in some key ways: 1) The bonus miles apply throughout all 12 months of 2015 for travel on American, US Airways, and AA-marketed flights on international partner airlines; 2) No on-line registration is required — bonus mileage is automatically deposited into members’ accounts.

The 2015 bonus miles are awarded in addition to actual flight mileage and on top of the usual elite status/class of service bonuses. The size of the new bonus is based not only on the fare class but also on the member’s elite status and the distance flown. And it can be very generous — e.g., an Executive Platinum who buys a full-fare first or business class ticket on a long-haul route (3,000 miles or more) will get a bonus of 12,000 miles.

Perhaps as a signal to Delta, United, Virgin and JetBlue that it is willing to fight hard for premium market share on plum transcontinental routes, AA is including JFK-Los Angeles and JFK-San Francisco flights in that long-haul category, even though the distance on both routes falls hundreds of miles short of that 3,000-mile limit. American offers both first and business class cabins on the new specially-configured A321Ts that it is deploying in those two markets.

American has set up a special section of its website explaining the plan at www.aa.com/moremiles.

The new program does not impact American’s earlier announcement that starting January 1, the regular business class mileage bonus on AA flights will rise from 25 percent to 50 percent to make it consistent with US Airways’ Dividend Miles program.

Fares can vary considerably in AA’s front cabins, even on the same flight. For instance, a mid-January trip from JFK to LAX shows business class fares ranging from $1,809 for a non-refundable ticket to $4,249 for “Business Flexible.” First class seats on the same trip range from $2,161 to $3,861.

What are the two best all-around credit cards? Both currently offer 40,000 mile sign up bonuses!

One TravelSkills reader who is an AAdvantage loyalist questions just how many travelers actually shell out the top amounts for front cabin tickets, and thus would be eligible for the biggest bonuses. He notes that he flies on discounted premium tickets, but adds: “I do think the 3,500 bonus miles for long haul (discount) business would be nice. It says the JFK-SFO counts as long haul. So I would earn 2,500 regular miles, 2,500 bonus miles for my elite status, whatever the class of fare bonus is, and 3,500 additional miles – so that’s pretty good!”

It remains to be seen is when, how, and whether American’s competitors will join this new bonus battle.

What do you think, readers? Would these new bonus miles help American clinch your loyalty? Would they induce you to switch your primary mileage program? Post your comments.  

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