AAdvantage Changes In 2024 Bring Refundable Basic Economy Seats, Better Benefits For Free Members And More

Fact Checked Fact Checked Published: Jan 12, 2024, 1:15pm Table of Contents 2024 has brought sweeping changes to airline loyalty programs: some good, some bad and some downright ugly. made it much easier to achieve status, made it much harder (and was forced to backpedal some changes) and everyone else fell somewhere in between.

Thankfully, American Airlines’ recently announced changes mostly fall into the “good” category. The two biggest changes are a more rewarding free/basic membership tier and the option to cancel nonrefundable Basic Economy seats for a partial refund, but there’s something here for AA loyalists, too.

Here’s a full breakdown of American Airlines’ changes to its in 2024. Find the Best Airline Credit Cards of 2024 American Offers More Reasons To Become a (Free) AAdvantage Member Presumably to inspire more loyalty, American is piling more perks onto its most basic membership tier throughout 2024.

Sign up for a free AAdvantage membership and you’ll get: You’ll also retain past perks like boarding with Group 6 (before main cabin and basic economy) and best of all, start accumulating points towards higher status. Status Tiers Don’t Change, But There’s a New Loyalty Point Reward That Can Help You Reach Status Faster For the uninitiated, American offers what it calls Loyalty Choice Rewards to AAdvantage members who reach certain Loyalty Point thresholds.

For example, once you reach the minimum 15,000 Loyalty Points you can choose between priority privileges and Group 4 boarding for one trip or five preferred seat coupons. Once you reach a significant milestone like 175,000 Loyalty Points you can choose between 20,000 bonus miles, six Admirals Club one day passes, a $250 donation to select charities and more.

The tiers and rewards remain mostly unchanged in 2024, but American is adding the option of scoring instant Loyalty Points at three tiers: Unlike miles, these Loyalty Points apply toward your next status tier so they’re a compelling choice if you’re looking to achieve Gold or Platinum ASAP. You Can Now Cancel Nonrefundable Trips for a Partial Trip Credit Starting in late January, one of the more significant changes of the year is the ability to cancel nonrefundable Basic Economy fares for a partial Trip Credit.

These cancellations are subject to a $99 fee and they’re only available to domestic fares for travel that has not started yet and was booked through aa.com, so keep that in mind if you’re cashing in your ® for a flight. Even still, the option to salvage credit from a nonrefundable ticket is a welcome one.

Upgrades Are More Flexible and Rewarding American plans to make things easier for the upgrade hungry in 2024. Soon you’ll be able to earn miles when you pay for upgrades with cash, redeem miles for upgrades with partner airlines and request systemwide upgrades online. No word on when these changes will go live this year, other than “coming soon.” Want Free Miles and Checked Bags? Try an AA Rewards Card While these incremental improvements are welcome, the fastest way to earn miles and free checked bags on AA flights is still to use an .

The , for example, offers a welcome bonus of 50,000 AAdvantage bonus miles after spending $2,500 within the first 3 months of account opening, free checked bags for you and four companions and preferred boarding privileges for no first year annual fee. Even with the $99, waived for first 12 months annual fee, it could be worth keeping for the free checked bags alone.

For more on existing AAdvantage benefits and how to make the most of your hard earned miles, check out our . Bottom Line Overall, these changes are good news. American Airlines isn’t moving the goalpost for status like many of its contemporaries, and even though it roped off many of its benefits for AAdvantage members, it’s hard to complain when membership is free.

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