My Platinum Welcome Kit Came Today

While not as exciting as the Executive Platinum kit, I get a little excited when my Platinum welcome kit from American Airlines comes in the mail. The kit comes with a welcome letter, six employee recognition tickets and most importantly my Platinum membership card. The Platinum membership card is the jewel in the package. It may not look like it but its extremely valuable when traveling internationally.

American Airlines Platinum earns me Sapphire One World status. Sapphire status on One World comes with benefits like:

• Business Class Check-in
• Extra baggage allowance
• Priority baggage
• Priority Boarding
• Preferred Seating
• Priority standby and waitlist
• Access to Business Class frequent flyer lounges

These benefits work when flying on all One World carriers except American. With American Airlines you don’t get access to lounges when flying domestically. The reason why the physical card is so important is because some airlines won’t let you use some of the benefits unless you show the card. For instance I couldn’t use LATAM priority check-in or lounge unless I showed the physical card. The same was true when accessing the British Airlines lounge when flying Qatar Airways. The reason for this is because of fraud. The electronic cards that American gives you are just an image which is easy to fake. So I understand why airlines require the physical card.