Air Canada Altitude devalued once again.....

On August 19th Air Canada's Elite program, Altitude, announced some changes to this already negatively modified program that are once again.... negative (well there is one slight positive).

Here are the details as announced on FlyerTalk by an Air Canada Altitude representative:

More miles with many Air Canada fares

Starting tomorrow – August 20 – all members will earn more Altitude Qualifying Miles on many Air Canada fares:

• Earn 25% Altitude Qualifying Miles when you purchase a Tango fare for travel within Canada on flights operated by Air Canada and Air Canada Express. Tango fares for travel across all other markets will remain at 50% Altitude Qualifying Miles.
  
• Earn 125% Altitude Qualifying Miles when you purchase a Latitude or Premium Economy fare on all flights operated by Air Canada and Air Canada Express across our network.
  
• Earn 150% Altitude Qualifying Miles when you purchase an Executive First or Executive Class fare on all flights operated by Air Canada and Air Canada Express across our network.
  
• Earn Altitude Qualifying Miles when you purchase any fare – including Tango fares, which previously earned non-qualifying Aeroplan Miles – on flights operated by Air Canada rouge .

Note that this change will apply to all reservations, regardless of booking date, for travel effective tomorrow.

eUpgrade Add-ons

In order to preserve the sustainability of the eUpgrade benefit on overseas International flights, beginning March 2014, certain Altitude members will see the introduction of eUpgrade Add-ons. eUpgrade Add-ons are a supplementary payment, in addition to the required number of eUpgrade Credits that will apply as follows:

• eUpgrade Add-ons will apply for Altitude Prestige 25K, Elite 35K, Elite 50K and Elite 75K members. Add-ons will also apply to the upgraded travel companions of members who hold one of those Altitude status levels. Add-ons will not apply for Super Elite 100K members or their companions.
  
• eUpgrade Add-ons will apply only for travel on longhaul, international flights. Specifically, add-ons are applicable for travel between Canada and Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and South America. Add-ons will not apply for travel within North America, including Sun destinations.
  
• eUpgrade Add-ons will apply to upgrades from Flex fares. Add-ons will not apply to upgrades from Latitude or Premium Economy fares.
  
• eUpgrade Add-ons will not change how you request an upgrade. As today, you will continue to be able to request an upgrade at aircanada.com/upgrade, through Air Canada Reservations or with an agent at the airport. Where applicable, however, you will be required to provide a credit card in order to pay for the add-on. Note that the credit card will only be charged if your upgrade is successful, and all charges will be processed in Canadian Dollars (CAD).
  
• eUpgrade Add-ons will vary by market. The rate you pay will include any applicable taxes, and will be priced as follows:
  • Between Canada and Europe, the Middle East & South America: $500
  • Between Canada and Asia & Australia: $750

Other changes to eUpgrades

Also beginning in March 2014, a few additional changes to eUpgrades will take effect:

• The eUpgrade Travel Companion benefit will be expanded, and will replace eUpgrade Nominees. On the day of departure, all Altitude members will now be able to upgrade one companion who is not travelling on the same reservation, as long as they are traveling on the same flight. This will give members more flexibility when upgrading companions who may not be traveling on the same reservation as them.
  
• Altitude Super Elite 100K members will retain 2 eUpgrade Nominees. This will be in addition to the new expanded travel companion benefit.
  
• eUpgrades with Aeroplan ClassicFlight Rewards will no longer be available. This benefit, currently exclusive to Super Elite 100K members, will be removed.

We'll begin with the little bit of good news out of these changes. The ability to earn Altitude Qualifying Miles on more Air Canada fares and increased Altitude Qualifying Miles on Latitude, Premium Economy and Executive Class fares. These changes went into effect as of yesterday.

And now on to the bad news, as of March 2014 you can expect these changes to take place:

eUpgrade Add-ons
What does this mean? Essentially it means you will now have to co-pay to be able to use your eUpgrade credits on Flex fares for International travel (Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and South America). All Altitude Elite members except for Super Elite 100K will be affected by this change.

The Add-on rates are as follows and per flight segment, per upgraded passenger:

That is good chunk of change to be able to use your eUpgrade credits if you are traveling on a Flex Fare which are already quite a bit more expensive than other fares. These upgrade rates are similar to the Last Minute Upgrade options that are sometimes offered during online check in or airport check in and of course with those you don't have to use your eUpgrade credits. Watch the LMU rates will be drastically increased in March so that Altitude members are forced to play the upgrade lotto with eUpgrade credits + co-pay rather than just hope for the best and only pay cash at check-in.

According to Air Canada, here is why they are doing this (sounds like Delta a few weeks back with their reasoning behind Business Class award ticket increases for their new premium product)

eUpgrade Add-ons applied to eUpgrades by Altitude Elite 75K, Elite 50K, Elite 35K and Prestige 25K on long haul international overseas flights will allow us to better balance the system-wide eUpgrade benefit with the cost of delivering and maintaining the premium travel experience of Executive First. Even with this change, the eUpgrade benefit continues to deliver exceptional value to Altitude members in terms of access to the Executive First cabin, for less then the published fare

eUpgrade eligibility and transferability Finally, the last change to the Altitude program is for eUpgrade eligibility and transferability. Gone will be the ability to 'share' eUpgrade credits with your nominees. Now you have to be on the same flight to be able to upgrade a traveling companion who does not have to be on the same reservation however. Also gone is the ability for Super Elites to use eUpgrade credits on ClassicFlight rewards however Super Elites do retain the nominee option but that has been dropped from 4 nominees to 2 because of the new 'travel companion' rule that all Altitude members get.

Of course if you want to see all this on Air Canada's site you can do so here.

In conclusion these changes are primarily negative unless you are a Super Elite 100K member or simply earn AQM's for other status benefits outside of the upgrade options. The biggest hit is to those who are Altitude Elite 75K, Elite 50K, Elite 35K and Prestige 25K because of the new co-pay requirement. Plus when you combine these Air Canada changes with the Aeroplan changes over the past few years (the increased mileage requirements for premium International travel) you can see why some mid-level Air Canada elite members are seriously considering a switch to other Star Alliance based programs.

What are your thoughts on these changes? Comment below, we'd love to hear them and we're also sure many of readers would too!

Aug 28 Update: Read commentary about the changes from a Super Elite 100K member 

Cathay Pacific: Double Miles in First, Business and Premium Economy Class between Canada and Hong Kong

Cathay Pacific has just launched their latest flight promotion for flights out of Canada to Hong Kong. Like many of their Canadian promotions in the past it covers only premium fare cabins (ie no economy class) but is a welcome promotion nonetheless if you are planning to fly CX this fall. Here are the details on the offer as they will appear on RC's Asia Miles page later today:

Earn Double Asia Miles when you register and fly one-way or round-trip in First, Business or Premium Economy Class on Cathay Pacific from Canada to Hong Kong. Plus, newly joined members who take advantage of this offer will earn an additional 500 Asia Miles. Register Online (registration is required) Sep 1 - Nov 30, 13

SPG's "Take Two" - Double Starpoints + 2,500 Bonus Starpoints for every 5 nights - Now open for registration

Starwood's latest systemwide promotion called "Take Two" is now open for registration. Here are the details on the promo along with the registration link:

SPG Take Two: Double Starpoints + up to 10,000 Bonus Starpoints on all eligible stays at participating Starwood Hotels Worldwide. Double Starpoints are awarded on all eligible stays plus earn 2,500 bonus Starpoints for every five eligible nights up to 10,000 bonus Starpoints.Full Details, online registration and booking (Registration is required) Register by Oct 31 for stays Sep 1 - Dec 15, 13

Looking to earn more Starpoints? Check out this limited time offer for the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express:

- Earn 20,000 Welcome Bonus Starpoints®* after you charge $1,000 in purchases to your Card in your first three months of Cardmembership - enough for up to 5 free nights. Apply online
- Earn 1 Starpoint for every $1 in purchases charged to the Card
- Enjoy a Free Weekend Night Award when you reach $40,000 in purchases each year
- Experience Starwood Gold Preferred Guest status when you reach $30,000 in purchases each year
- $120 annual fee (annual interest rate 19.99%)

Aug 20 Update: WestJet adds new 'Plus' fare category, Hyatt bonus in Atlanta, Accor Hotels Private Sale

Everything today revovles around loyalty promotions!

News, Tips & Tricks
WestJet has added a third price category to their fare structure. The new category called 'Plus' is their top end fare which could almost be considered a Premium Economy fare as it offers instant access to their new Premium Economy seats that offer more leg room. Over and above that there are lot of other features to the Plus fare. Here is what Plus includes:

• complimentary flight change and cancel options
• extra baggage allowance (two free checked bags)
• extra legroom (36-inch seat pitch)
• a complimentary food item and alcoholic beverages from our inflight menu
• advance boarding and overhead bin space
• priority security screening at available airports

A quick check of fares between Calgary and Vancouver reveals that the Plus option may not be a bad option even for those who may be price conscious:

You can see the price difference is $115.50 between Econo and Plus but if your were to book either the Econo or Flex fare you would have to pay $20-$23 to check a second bag (assuming you are checking a second bag), seat selection would be $10 -$11.50 assuming regular seating, but if you wanted Plus seating it would be an extra $45-$51.75 and then you get a food selection and an alcoholic beverage which would cost you up to $14 on board.

Lets do the math on this:

	Base Fare	Second Bag	Plus Seat Selection	Food & Beverage	Total
Econo	$172.33	$20	$45	$14	$251.33
Flex	$251.08	$20	$45	$14	$330.08
Plus	$287.83	0	0	0	$287.33

So even for price conscious people the Plus fare can be attractive if you meet all of the above assumptions that you have a second bag, want to eat on board and want the extra leg room. I know if I met those criteria I would consider to take on the extra $36 for the ability to have complimentary flight changes and cancellation options. For this example the only reason to consider Flex Fare would be if you did not want advance seat selection or have the need for a second checked bag.



Big Bonuses coming?
With September fast approaching and everyone ending their summer holidays, people are going to start exploring how they can earn back the miles and points they redeemed on their summer vacation and this may include switching credit cards or loyalty programs. The Credit Card companies know this are getting ready to pounce with new offers and more. We know of some new offers coming this September so be sure to follow us here on the blog, Facebook and Twitter to make sure you don't miss out these new promotions!


Travel Deals
Accor Hotels has launched their latest 'private sale' with savings of up to 50% of their regular rates. For example stays in the U.S. and Canada of at least 2 nights are being discounted by 40%. Stays must be booked by August 29. Full details can be found here

Bonus Offers
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan
- Earn up to 3 Mileage Plan Miles per dollar spent when you use GroundLink car services. More... Until Sep 30, 13

China Southern Sky Pearl Club
- 2,000 SkyPearl Kilometers for stays at participating Langham properties in China. More... Sep 1 - Dec 31, 13
- Double SkyPearl Kilometers for stays of 2 or more nights at any Shangri-La hotel, resort, Traders hotel or Kerry hotel Worldwide. More... Sep 1 - Nov 30, 13

Emirates Skywards
- Triple Skywards Miles for at all Jumeirah Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30 , 13

Hyatt Gold Passport
- 1,500 Bonus Gold Passport Points for stays at any of 15 participating hotels in Atlanta. More... Until Nov 30, 13

La Quinta Returns
- Get up to a 25% Discount when buy La Quinta Returns Points. More... Until Aug 25, 13

Royal Air Maroc Safar Flyer
- Double Safar Flyer Miles on Europcar rentals in France and Morocco. More... Until Sep 30, 13
- Earn up to Triple Safar Flyer Miles on Sixt rentals Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 13

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
- 500 BonusMiles&Smiles and a free upgrade to the next room category for stays on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday night on the Best Available Rate at the Movenpick Istanbul. More... Sep 1 - Dec 29, 13

Air France KLM: Earn over 50,000 Flying Blue Miles on Avis car rentals

Here at Rewards Canada we list hundreds of car rental bonus offers each year from the 160+ programs that we track but for the past couple of years no offer has topped Air France KLM's Avis Accumulator offer. This year we originally brought it to you back in March in this post but with just a little over four months left in the year the offer deserved mention once again to either remind you of it or if you weren't aware of it to give you enough time to get to the top bonus level.

The offer is a tiered bonus that will award you with a total 50,500 Flying Blue miles when you complete six rentals of 3 more days each, which are enough miles for a classic award ticket in economy class between North America and Europe. If you haven't credited any such rentals to your Flying Blue account you better hope that you can get in 18 days (6 rentals x 3 days) with Avis in the next four months!

Here are the full details on the bonus offer as we posted it to RC's Flying Blue page back in March:

Earn up to 50,500 Flying Blue Miles on your Avis rentals of 3 or more days per rental Worldwide.
Earn 2,000 bonus miles on your second rental
Earn 5,000 bonus miles on your third rental
Earn 7,500 bonus miles on your fourth rental
Earn 14,000 bonus miles on your fifth rental
Earn 20,000 bonus miles on your sixth rental
For a total of 47,500 bonus miles plus 3,000 base miles unless you are a Platinum member in which case you'll earn 3,600 base miles.

To qualify, reservations at Avis.com must be made using a Flying Blue/Avis Worldwide Discount (AWD) number: Ivory members F982700;
Silver members F982800;
Gold members F982900;
Platinum members F983000

or with a KLM Flying Blue AWD number:
Ivory Z266200;
Silver members Z266100;
Gold members Z190300;
Platinum members K885100

or with an Air France AWD number:
Ivory members i939600;
Silver members i939700;
Gold members i939800;
Platinum members i939900.

There is no registration required for this offer, you just need to ensure that you use on of the above AWD numbers when you a book a 3 day or longer Avis rental anywhere Worldwide at Avis.com

Aug 19 Update: Air Miles Madness, Preferred Hotel Group relaunches iPrefer, plus over a dozen new bonus offers

Welcome to another week of travel rewards news, views and more here on Rewards Canada!

News, Tips & Tricks
Air Miles has a new promotion called "Air Miles Madness Back-to-School Event" that features printable/emailable coupons for use in store at select retailers like Staples, The Shoe Company, Toys R Us and more. Plus every coupon you use enters you into the contest portion of the promotion for a chance to win a trip for 4 to Cancun or Staples Gift Cards. Check it out here

Preferred Hotel Group's iPrefer officially relaunched last week with their new points based system. The program overall is extremely weak and the only real benefit that comes from joining the program is complimentary internet. Find out more about the program here.

Travel Deals
Marriott: Visit Hawaii and get an Extra Night FREE + Daily Breakfast for 2! Book by Dec 5, 13

 Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- 1,000 Aeroplan Miles for a minimum of two days at HotelParc Montreal. More... Until Oct 31, 13

Air Miles
- 3X Air Miles Reward Miles when you book a Transat Holidays vacation package or cruise with Marlin Travels. More... Book by Sep 5 for travel Nov 1, 13 - Apr 30, 14

airBaltic BalticMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double BalticMiles Points for stays at the Grand Rose Hotel. More... Until Oct 11, 13
- Triple BalticMiles Points when you rent a car from CaRent in Lithuania. More... Until Sep 30, 13

Delta SkyMiles
- Triple SkyMiles for stays on the Bed & Breakfast Package for Two at participating Radisson & Hotels in North and South America. More... Until Sep 30, 13

Garuda Indonesia Frequent Flyer (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple GFF Miles for Garuda flights in Executive Class between Jakarta and Semarang. More... Aug 20 - Dec 20, 13

Gulf Air FalconFlyer (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Triple Falconflyer Miles for stays at the Al Ghurair Arjaan & Al Ghurair Rayhaan by Rotana More... Until Sep 30, 13
- Double Falconflyer Miles on Budget rentals of 2 days or more in UAE and 3 days or more in Kuwait and 4 days or more in Egypt. Double miles applicable on all rentals in Bahrain. More... Until Sep 30, 13
- Triple Falconflyer Miles for Hertz rentals of 7 or more days Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 13
- Quadruple Falconflyer Miles for Sixt rentals of 7 or more days Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 13

Marriott Rewards
- Earn up to 5,000 Rewards Points rent any car at participating Hertz locations in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Europe, Mexico, New Zealand and Puerto Rico. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Saudia Alfursan
- Double Alfursan Miles for stays at any participating Marriott Hotel Worldwide. More... Until Nov 30, 13

United MileagePlus
- Earn up to 100% Bonus MileagePlus miles when you fly on non-stop flights marketed and operated by United Airlines or All Nippon Airways (ANA) between Seattle and Tokyo, Narita. More... Until Nov 30, 13
- Earn up to 1,000 Bonus MileagePlus Miles per night on paid qualifying hotel stays booked through united.com/hotels. More... Book by Aug 31 for stays until Sep 30, 13




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Aug 16 Update: 30% Bonus HawaiianMiles from Diners Club, Half off China Southern Award tickets between Vancouver & Guangzhou

Everything revolves around loyalty promotions today!

News, Tips & Tricks
Today was simply an add bonus offers and other program promotions to FFB and Rewards Canada. In those additions however there are two offers that are worth more of a look here in the news, tips & tricks section.

The first offer is only good for existing Canadian Diners Club Club Rewards members and is a transfer bonus to the Hawaiian Airlines Hawaiian Miles program. The same offer is available in the U.S. and is better there as their transfer ratio is 1:1 while ours is 1.25:1 (Diners still has not responded to a question I posed to them about this since this transfer ratio was developed back when the Canadian dollar was only worth about 70 U.S. cents but now that it is at or a little below par they really should reevaluate the ratio but that discussion can be saved for another day) Now back onto the topic, for us Canadian DC holders we can redeem 1,250 points for 1,300 HawaiianMiles which isn't great but there are some decent redemption options in the HawaiianMiles program. Now Hawaiian Airlines does not serve Canada but you can redeem the miles for flights on their partners like American Airlines, Delta, Virgin Atlantic and more. If you can find availability you could get a flight within North America on Delta for only 24,038 Club Rewards points (25,000 HawaiianMiles) which is slightly better than most other programs that are also at that 25,000 mile level. Like I said, it isn't the greatest offer because of the 1.25:1 transfer ratio but it is better than not having it all! See the bonus offer section below for more details on this promotion.


The second offer is a discounted award promotion from China Southern Sky Pearl Club. They are offering Sky Pearl award flights for 50% off and that includes their Vancouver-Guangzhou route for flights between Nov 7 and Dec 7. Sky Pearl Club award flights aren't cheap to begin with as these amounts are for one way awards:

However with this promotion they do become more tolerable. Other than flying on China Southern the best way to get Sky Pearl Kilometers in Canada is via the Starwood Preferred Guest program (and its associated Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express) as you can transfer Starpoints to Sky Pearl at a rate of 1:1 plus the 5,000 bonus miles for every 20,000 Starpoints redeemed. If you were to look at redeeming for an round trip economy class flight with this promotion you would want to transfer 50,000 Starpoints and get 10,000 bonus Kilometers) for the requirement of 60,000 Kilometers. As a comparison the same type of redemption from Aeroplan is 75,000 Aeroplan miles or 60,000 Starpoints. So overall it is not a bad option if you need to get to Guangzhou during that time period but be aware that there are a limited amount of seats available at the 50% off rate. See the bonus offer section below for more details on this promotion.


Bonus Offers
AeroMexico Club Premier
- Double Club Premier Kilometers on all Sixt car rentals in Europe. More... Until Sep 30, 13

Air China Phoenix Miles
- 600 Bonus Phoenix Miles Kilometers per car rental when you book through Rentalcars.com. More... Until Sep 30, 13

Air France KLM Flying Blue
- Save up to 50% with Promo Awards Save 25% to 50% on the Award Miles usually required for award ticket. Destinations vary by each promotional period. More... Until Oct 31, 13

airberlin topbonus
- 1,500 topbonus Miles per rental with Sunny Cars in over 100 countries. More... Until Oct 15, 13

Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- Earn up to 50% Bonus Gold Points when you purchase Gold Points. More... Until Oct 15, 13

China Southern Sky Pearl Club
- 50% SkyPearl Kilometers Discount on award ticket redemptions for select China Southern domestic and international routes. More... Various dates until Dec 7, 13

EVA Air Evergreen Club
- 8 Bonus Evergreen Miles for for every TWD100 spent on the HRS website. More... Until Nov 30, 13

Hawaiian Airlines HawaiianMiles (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)

- 30% Bonus HawaiianMiles when you convert Diners Club Club Rewards points into HawaiianMiles. More... Until Sep 16, 13 For Canadian Residents only

IHG Rewards Club
- Earn up 5,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club points for individual hotel stays in China. More... Until Oct 31, 13
- Earn up 4,000 Bonus IHG Rewards Club points for individual hotel stays in the Middle East and Africa. More... Until Sep 30, 13

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Loyalty Club
- Triple Loyalty Points for stays at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel Los Angeles. More... Until Dec 28, 13
- Double Loyalty Points for stays at the Millennium Hotel Minneapolis. More... Until Sep 8, 13
- 50% Bonus Loyalty Points for stays any day from Thursdays to Sundays at the ONE UN New York, Millennium Broadway Hotel New York / The Premier New York. More... Until Dec 28, 13

Aug 15 Update: IHG shutting down online shopping mall, 250 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for AC's new Red Deer route, 2x Dividend Miles for Choice Hotel stays

Here are your travel rewards news and bonuses for August 15th:

News, Tips & Tricks
Interesting news in the online shopping world for miles considering the posts this week we had on Back to School shopping and bonuses for online shopping. What is that news? Priority Club Shopping, the online shopping mall for IHG Rewards Club is shutting down as of August 20th. So if this was one of your go to places to earn points for online shopping you only have 5 more days to do so.

Travel Deals
Receive 5% off, time and mileage only, when you book on Dollar.com and rent from one of their participating U.S. locations through December 20, 2013. Use promo code LS13D.


Bonus Offers
Air Canada Aeroplan
- 250 Bonus Aeroplan Miles for every segment flown between Red Deer and Calgary. More...Register and book by Sep 10 for travel between Sep 3 and Oct 14, 13
- Triple Aeroplan Miles on any purchase of $50 or more with Bentley . More... Until Sep 8, 13

American AAdvantage
- Earn up to 3 AAdvantage sMiles per dollar spent when you use GroundLink car services. More... Until Sep 30, 13

Coast Hotels Coast Rewards
- 50% Coast Rewards Points Discount on award nights (Comfort/Superior rooms), room upgrades and/or free parking. More... Until Sep 18, 13

Iberia Plus
- Triple Avios for each weekend night you stay at participating Hilton Hotelsin Europe, Middle East and Africa. Full details, registration More... Until Dec 16, 13

Le Club accorhotels
- Receive free luggage and luggage accessories for stays at participating Accor hotels in Australia. More... Until Oct 31, 13
- Earn up to Triple Le Club Accorhotels Points and receive breakfast for 1 EUR for stays at participating Accor Hotels in Italy or Greece. More... Until Sep 8, 13

Starwood Preferred Guest
- 500 Bonus Starpoints for Starwood bookings made via the SPG Chinese Android app. More... Until Sep 7, 13

US Airways Dividend Miles
- Double Dividend Miles for each qualifying stay at any participating Choice Hotels location worldwide. More... Until Sep 23, 13

Virgin America Elevate(on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Elevate Points on all Sixt rentals Worldwide. More... Until Sep 30, 13

Virgin Atlantic Flying Club
- Earn up to 3 Flying Club Miles per dollar spent when you use GroundLink car services. More... Until Sep 30, 13



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5x Aeroplan Miles on all eSTORE purchases until August 18th

As a quick update to our Back to School shopping post earlier in the week, the Aeroplan eSTORE is running a very short promotion that comes just in time for Back to School Shopping.

For all purchases made via the eSTORE until August 18th, Aeroplan member will earn 5x the Aeroplan Miles. No registration is required, simply shop online at the eSTORE!

[OFFER GONE] Amazing Fast Track Offer for American AAdvantage Elite Status

THIS OFFER HAS BEEN PULLED FROM AA's WEBSITE AND IS NO LONGER VALID
This is an amazing fast track to elite status offer if you are planning any American Airlines flights for the last four months of the year or can move your travels to AA and/or select AA airline partners. You cannot hold status with American AAdvantage currently and you must register by August 27 to participate. Even if you don't fully know your travel plans I would register for this if you have a slight feeling that you can meet the requirements. There hasn't been such a 'amazing' fast track to Elite Status like this in a long, long time!

Simply register by 11:59 p.m. (CT) on August 27, 2013, using promotion code H3TLI. Then, start flying on American or select airlines** to earn the required elite-qualifying miles between September 1, 2013, and December 31, 2013. Full details and online registration can be found here

And here are the mileage requirements of this fast track offer:

*This is an exclusive offer only for non-elite status AAdvantage members. AAdvantage members with Gold, Platinum, and Executive Platinum elite status are not eligible for this offer. You must register by 11:59 p.m. CT on August 27, 2013, and prior to travel in order for your elite-qualifying miles to count toward this promotion.
**Eligible airlines include American Airlines, American Eagle®, American Connection^® carrier, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines and Qantas flights, as well as eligible codeshare flights.