American Offers New Way To Unlock Status — Just Pay $5K

If you’ve ever wished you could buy airline status, you’re in luck — now you can. This week, American Airlines rolled out its new AAdvantage Pass™, which gives you an instant upgrade to AAdvantage Gold, the airline’s entry-level status. But at an astonishing $5K price, it’s fair to ask: is this actually worth it?

• AAdvantage Gold comes with seat upgrades 24 hours before departure, a 40% mileage-earning bonus on flights, a free checked bag, and priority check-in on both American and Alaska Airlines.
• You’ll also get 100K bonus AAdvantage miles (worth about ~$1,300 per NerdWallet) and 15K loyalty points towards re-earning status — helpful to those already flying the airline or spending on its credit cards.

But does it make sense? $5K is a serious chunk of change, meaning you’d likely need to travel frequently — likely with a companion — to get any real value. Even then, trying to spend your way to status might not be worth the effort. You may be better off aiming for Atmos status instead, which is easier and cheaper to earn. Opening the company’s new premium credit card even gets you halfway to Atmos Silver, which confers benefits on American.

Déjà vu? If you’ve been reading the Joe, you might remember we covered how Marriott status can now be bought through citizenM+. The trend of “travel subscriptions” already seems to be catching on with hotel brands — like Accor and Wyndham. However, it remains to be seen whether “pay-to-play” will become just as common in the credit card-dependent airline biz.