Innocent Trip To Mexico Results In Jail-time And Stolen Passport (Twitter Thread)

AmyBrown

Jan 7, 2020 12:00 PM EST

Andrew Kimmel, a man who decided to use some miles to maintain a certain status with American Airlines, booked a $400 flight to Mexico and had quite the unforgettable experience.

When you fly so often, you often rack up some travel perks in the form of mileage and more. Kimmel is an avid flyer, flying up to three times a week when working in news and twice a week working as a reality producer. Both jobs required Kimmel to travel all over the United States. And whenever he had time off, he would plan trips out of the country.

Last year, Kimmel had obtained the status of 'Executive Platinum' with American Airlines. Such a status gave him three free checked bags, top of the list for complimentary upgrades on all domestic flights, free same-day flight changes and four free system-wide upgrades. Meaning, if you were flying economy to Asia, you would be able to use one system-wide upgrade that would bump you to business. So what would essentially start as an $800 economy ticket could end up being a $5,000 business class seat.

Recently, American Airlines changed what it takes to hold the 'Executive Platinum' status. To achieve the 'Executive Platinum' status you once had to spend $12K a year on flights (pre-tax), now you must spend $15K a year to maintain the status.

In a Twitter thread, Kimmel shared his insane and unbelievable story when traveling to Mexico: