Here's My Most Valuable Perk of American Airlines Executive Platinum Status

Executive Platinum status is the highest publicly available tier in the AAdvantage loyalty program. In ascending order, the tiers of AAdvantage elite status are:

• Gold
• Platinum
• Platinum Pro
• Executive Platinum
• Concierge Key (available by invitation only)

To earn Executive Platinum status, you'll need to get 200,000 Loyalty Points in a status year (March through February), but this doesn't necessarily mean you have to fly a lot.

You can earn Loyalty Points by flying, but you can also get them from using a cobranded American Airlines credit card, shopping through the AAdvantage e-shopping portal, and through several other methods. To be clear, my Executive Platinum status came from a combination of the first three, with a lot from strategic credit card usage.

Key differences from lower status tiers

In some ways, Executive Platinum status gets you the same perks as lower tiers, but of a higher-priority or enhanced nature. For example, members of the lowest (Gold) elite tier get one free checked bag on American Airlines flights. Executive Platinum members get three.

Similarly, all AAdvantage elite members are eligible for complimentary upgrades for themselves and one companion. Executive Platinum members are simply higher on the priority list and get upgrades more frequently.

Other key benefits of Executive Platinum status include (but are not limited to):

• Select the best available main cabin seats for free, even those that typically come with an upcharge.
• Eligibility for upgrades on award travel (tickets booked with miles instead of money).
• Free alcoholic drinks and snacks in economy seats.
• Priority check-in and security, where available.
• Guaranteed seats on any flight when you book at least 24 hours in advance -- even if the flight is sold out.
• A dedicated phone support line, exclusively for Executive Platinum members.
• Loyalty points rewards, which can include systemwide upgrades, bonus miles, or a selection of other benefits (technically, you get this at a 175,000 loyalty point threshold)

Some perks of Executive Platinum status I've never used and don't think I will anytime soon. For example, I've never checked more than one bag when flying, and can't really see any situation where I would need three.

Other Executive Platinum benefits have significant value to me. For example, even if I don't get upgraded on a flight, Group 1 boarding is a nice perk -- especially since I carry my bags whenever possible and want to use the overhead space right by my seat.

I also find that I get upgraded far more frequently with Executive Platinum status than I did at lower tiers (I spent several years at the Gold and Platinum levels).

My most valuable perk of Executive Platinum -- and it isn't even close

However, there's one benefit that has proven far more valuable to me than others in the two years I've been an Executive Platinum member -- the ability to get first-class upgrades on award tickets.

This is a benefit that is not available at any lower status level. Here's why it's so important to me. Since my go-to travel credit card is an American Airlines card and I use it for most of my day-to-day and travel expenses, I tend to accumulate quite a few miles. For obvious reasons, I prefer to book most of my flights with miles instead of paying for them.

When I had Gold or Platinum status, booking a flight with miles guaranteed that I wasn't getting an upgrade. As an Executive Platinum, I (and my travel companion) have just as much chance of an upgrade as if I had paid for the ticket. Last year, I flew on award tickets on about half of the trips I took, and I got upgraded to business/first class on about three-fourths of those.

Now, it's important to point out that the ability to upgrade award tickets is my top benefit of Executive Platinum status because of my travel preferences. Yours might be different. But the highest readily available status tier offers quite a bit for flyers and the perks might surprise you.

If you are loyal to American Airlines, check out the American Airlines lineup of credit cards to see if one of them could help you gain status (and valuable perks!) with the airline.