It was a busy holiday season, so haven't posted for a while. Happy New Year to everyone!
My American Airlines Executive Platinum card's annual fee will post in the next 30-45 days. This was actually the first of 3 Exec Platinums I received last year, but the others I met the minimum spend, received the bonus, and cancelled. But that's another long, and very happy story.
Now, I need to decide what to do about this remaining card.
I've really enjoyed the Admiral's Club membership. But I do have options. For example, yesterday I flew out of SJC, and used the "Club at SJC" which is a Priority Pass club. I get access to these clubs with my Amex Platinum. It has a much better selection of snacks than an AA or UA club, and has free alcohol. It's still not as good as an international lounge which typically has a very nice selection of hot food, and you can really eat a meal there. But now, the Club at SJC is the only club at the airport.
The Priority Pass Select that I received with the Amex Platinum card does not allow access to the United Clubs, but the non-Select does. From what I read on the Priority Pass web site, the membership offered by "financial institutions" is the "Select" version, and does not allow access to the United Clubs. But if you purchase a membership directly, you would get the non-Select version, and would have access. This is moot, because I don't fly UA.
The Amex Platinum also gives me access to the Centurion Lounges, which are apparently very nice, and equivalent to the nicest international lounges. Unfortunately, there are just a few of them.
When I travel internationally, my Exec Platinum status on AA gets me into really nice British Airways clubs, and all of the other OneWorld clubs. So the only time I really use the Admiral's Club is when I'm in a US Airport that does not have a Priority Pass Club.
Since I originate from SFO or SJC, I have SJC covered. SFO does have a Centurion Lounge, but it's in the United Terminal, and I'd have to go through security to get there, and through security again to get back to my AA gate. With TSA Precheck, it's not that big a deal, but still...
So SFO and other US airports without a Priority Pass or Centurion Lounge are the problem.
The default strategy is simply to pay the $450, but I'm not a default type of guy.
Here's some options I'm considering:
1. Signing up for another Exec Platinum card, getting the 50K signup bonus and paying the $450 annual fee. The advantage of the Exec Plat card is that if you spend $40K on it you get 10K EQM. That's EQM not just regular miles, and that's a unique feature.
2. Signing up for a regular AA card, getting the 50K signup bonus and "using" that bonus to buy an Admiral's club membership. It probably will end up costing me 55K miles, because I don't think the Exec Plat card counts as really having a membership, so I won't get the "Renewal" price, but will have to the pay the new member price. The other big advantage for me of this card is that you get a 10% mileage redemption credit. Since I've been flying about 2X per year on miles, this is very useful. There is a 10K credit limit, but 10K is nice. It also comes with 2 Admiral's Club passes, so I would definitely use up those 2 passes before spending the miles on the membership, thus extending the effective period of my membership.
3. Suffer without an Admiral's Club membership. I haven't always had a membership, so this is a viable alternative, and it really depends on how much travel I end up doing for work.
I have some time, but I will need to make a decision in the next 30 days or so.
My American Airlines Executive Platinum card's annual fee will post in the next 30-45 days. This was actually the first of 3 Exec Platinums I received last year, but the others I met the minimum spend, received the bonus, and cancelled. But that's another long, and very happy story.
Now, I need to decide what to do about this remaining card.
I've really enjoyed the Admiral's Club membership. But I do have options. For example, yesterday I flew out of SJC, and used the "Club at SJC" which is a Priority Pass club. I get access to these clubs with my Amex Platinum. It has a much better selection of snacks than an AA or UA club, and has free alcohol. It's still not as good as an international lounge which typically has a very nice selection of hot food, and you can really eat a meal there. But now, the Club at SJC is the only club at the airport.
The Priority Pass Select that I received with the Amex Platinum card does not allow access to the United Clubs, but the non-Select does. From what I read on the Priority Pass web site, the membership offered by "financial institutions" is the "Select" version, and does not allow access to the United Clubs. But if you purchase a membership directly, you would get the non-Select version, and would have access. This is moot, because I don't fly UA.
The Amex Platinum also gives me access to the Centurion Lounges, which are apparently very nice, and equivalent to the nicest international lounges. Unfortunately, there are just a few of them.
When I travel internationally, my Exec Platinum status on AA gets me into really nice British Airways clubs, and all of the other OneWorld clubs. So the only time I really use the Admiral's Club is when I'm in a US Airport that does not have a Priority Pass Club.
Since I originate from SFO or SJC, I have SJC covered. SFO does have a Centurion Lounge, but it's in the United Terminal, and I'd have to go through security to get there, and through security again to get back to my AA gate. With TSA Precheck, it's not that big a deal, but still...
So SFO and other US airports without a Priority Pass or Centurion Lounge are the problem.
The default strategy is simply to pay the $450, but I'm not a default type of guy.
Here's some options I'm considering:
1. Signing up for another Exec Platinum card, getting the 50K signup bonus and paying the $450 annual fee. The advantage of the Exec Plat card is that if you spend $40K on it you get 10K EQM. That's EQM not just regular miles, and that's a unique feature.
2. Signing up for a regular AA card, getting the 50K signup bonus and "using" that bonus to buy an Admiral's club membership. It probably will end up costing me 55K miles, because I don't think the Exec Plat card counts as really having a membership, so I won't get the "Renewal" price, but will have to the pay the new member price. The other big advantage for me of this card is that you get a 10% mileage redemption credit. Since I've been flying about 2X per year on miles, this is very useful. There is a 10K credit limit, but 10K is nice. It also comes with 2 Admiral's Club passes, so I would definitely use up those 2 passes before spending the miles on the membership, thus extending the effective period of my membership.
3. Suffer without an Admiral's Club membership. I haven't always had a membership, so this is a viable alternative, and it really depends on how much travel I end up doing for work.
I have some time, but I will need to make a decision in the next 30 days or so.
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