World first frequent flyer program still leads in some areas. (American Airline's AAdvantage Awards)

Member Name: ANDREWCX

Product:	American Airline's AAdvantage Awards
Date:	06/06/06 (746 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Undocumented features, worlds biggest airlines.

Disadvantages: Not easy to get premium rewards.

AAdvantage was launched 25 years ago as the worlds first frequent flyer program. Over the years the program has changed with the industry. It is now a fairly standard program offering 1 point per mile flown on American (plus bonuses for premium seats and elite status) and the ability to earn miles through many worldwide partners.

Some of the best features of AAdvantage are 'undocumented' - they don't advertise them. These include:

Lifetime elite status - if you earn 1 million miles FROM ANY SOURCE you get lifetime gold status (quite a few airlines in the US offer lifetime status for 1 million flight miles but American is the only one that counts bonus miles, credit card miles etc towards this level). At 2 million miles you get lifetime Platinum.

Gold and Platinum Challenges - you can sign up for a 90 day challenge that gives you accelerated elite status (with the additional bonus miles etc) for taking a certain amount of flights (including partner flights) within a 90 day window - this changes from time to time but a google search for "American Airlines Platinum Challenge" will pull up all the current details.

Apart from these features American has the habit of partnering with many many companies so in the last few years you have been able to earn miles from Kelloggs cereals, for shopping at certain grocery stores, and for all the usual (credit cards, utilities etc) things. Also available are free miles for completing surveys at OpinionPlace.com not a bad way to keep your account alive (miles expire if you don't earn or redeem every 3 years) or to top it up.

AAdvantage has all the usual problems with a frequent flyer program - you can't always get the seats you want when you want them etc. But overall is at least on par with its rivals in this area.

Overall - a very good program, especially for US residents.

Summary: Hidden benefits make AAdvantage a great program.