To try and simplify the program if it’s possible. AA’s program runs 1 Apr to 1 Apr each year for status (loyalty points) You however accrue the loyalty points toward status 1 Mar to 1 Mar. This means that on 1 Mar each year your loyalty points drop to zero until your Mar statement posts sometime in Apr. Your FF miles don’t go away and continue to accrue normally. Your loyalty points as of 28 Feb will determine your FF status starting 1 APR for the next year. Because of the one month offset you will show zero loyalty points in the month of Mar. in addition you get paid 10,000 bonus loyalty points when you hit the 50,000 and 90,000 point level in a given year.
It is worth it to reach basic platinum status of 75,000 points. It vastly improves your seat selection options. With the first 10,000 point bonus you need 65,000 earned points. You can be creative on how to get there especially if you have some big spend items. If a policy limits how much you can charge as a deposit ect.. it’s almost always negotiable if you agree to pay part of the their card fee. Many things like Medicare premiums can be paid by card at zero cost.
As far as using FF miles to book flights I purchased quite a view tickets at under 20,000 points roundtrip from CLT to STT. Here is a pro tip. Once you purchase a FF ticket it can be cancelled unlike a normal ticket at zero cost to you. Check back every week or so on the mileage pricing for the flights you are booked on. If it drops cancel and rebook! One roundtrip flight I took last year dropped from 38,000 to 16,000 points. I rebooked twice as it dropped. One last thing to mention. If you have the advantage credit card booking hotels and rental cars through the AA site can be very lucrative for FF points. I am on a current two day hotel stay that netted me 15,000 points. Pricing is the same as if you book directly and you will get an offer for status with Avis after about a 35,000 spend on the AA advantage card.
To summarize FF points don’t expire and are how you buy tickets. Loyalty points reset to zero each March and determine your status for the next year. That’s all loyalty points are used for.