AA Executive Platinum & Luggage Tracking

It was a very busy year of travel in 2016 and I’ve finally achieved the highest published status tier of an airline due to my increased travels to Australia. Flying American Airlines to Australia guarantees inflight WiFi and a new 777-300ER plane. The Main Cabin Extra seats make Economy class not too bad for a 13hr flight (SYD-LAX). Using Systemwide Upgrades for Business Class on the LAX-SYD leg made these longhauls enjoyable.

Executive Platinum (oneworld Emerald) status requires 100,000 miles of flying on American or their oneworld Partners. From now until January 31, 2018 I now can enjoy free upgrades domestically, 3 checked bags for free, 4 SWU’s for international upgrades and access to oneworld First Class lounges when traveling internationally. Using ExpertFlyer will enhance my experience to maximize this new status. We’ll see how the upgrades rate compares to my 42% rate during 2015 with Virgin America Silver status.

Luggage Tracking

Most people have seen their package status via USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHL, etc. and it shows every scan the package has so you know where your package is at while in transit. Now some airlines offer the same status for luggage. American Airlines started offering this at the end of 2015. It was very handy during my travels to know my checked bag was going to make it. Even with a tight layover where I ran to my gate at LAX the bag made it (11 minutes from plane to plane). Wow! To my knowledge, only American and Delta offer this service. I hope to see more airlines follow suit. Have you used this feature during your travels?