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Earlier this year Hyatt and AA launched a partnership that resulted not only in bonus points being earned when staying at Hyatt or flying on AA, but targeted Elite challenges. Many Explorists, like myself, were given AA Gold status for 3 months along with a challenge to retain the status until January 31st, 2021.
Why would I want AA Gold?
- Elimination of close-in booking fees ( $75 under 21 days)
- Already made use of this once when I needed to book Etihad flights last minute
- Also when I make use of AA reduced mileage awards which happen almost always under 21 days
- Access to Priority seating at booking and Main Cabin Extra within 24 hours
- Comped Same Day standby ( would otherwise be $75 )
- Award processing phone fee waived
- Free checked bag ( although this is really is redundant with an AA credit card )
- There are others like 7x earning, etc, but the above are of most impact to me.
Here is the normal means of qualifying for AA Gold
While those benefits are nice, they certainly aren’t worth spending $3k on EQD and flying a whopping 25k EQM. Since I earn the bulk of my EQM on partner business class ( Think great BA flights out of Continental Europe and those earn mega points on Alaska ) I’d never pivot my business to hit Gold organically.
With the challenge, however, it’s a different story.
Honestly, I thought I’d end up taking advantage of Gold status for the trial period, but wouldn’t switch any of my business away from Alaska. I was wrong. It started with me using some AA gift cards on a flight back from Indianapolis shortly after I signed up for the promo in July. Since it was booked via AA.com it wouldn’t earn Alaska miles/status as those need to be booked with AS flight numbers. Then, we ended up flying to NYC, and the AA legs between JFK and LAX aren’t eligible for Alaska earning, so suddenly I was within striking distance of the challenge.
I’m currently writing this on my qualifying flight that will push me up and over the EQM threshold for the status challenge. I never thought I’d pick up AA Gold with this challenge, but hey…they lured me back and I’ll definitely make use of the benefits for the next year and a half.
For me, it’s a great lesson in always signing up for challenges, temporary status, etc. Circumstances may change and suddenly you’re prepared to take best advantage of your travel/spending.
If you’re unfamiliar with the promotion and want to learn more, or you have status and want to link your accounts: you can do so here.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 60k points after $4k spend in 3 months
- Worth $750 in Chase Travel℠ and way more if you maximize transfer partners
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2024
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
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