American Airlines' Loyalty Program Revamp Drives Benefits To Elite, While Budget Travelers Lose

Loyalty programs across the legacy carriers have been evolving over the last two years to become leaner and less lucrative for passengers. Delta and United both changed their programs starting last year to incorporate ticket revenue into their calculation for elite status and earned miles. In a nutshell, the more passengers spent, the faster they would earn elite status and miles to redeem for awards.