August 24, 2023
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AAdvantage members earn points when they spend money with American, and those points can be redeemed for free flights and other perks. You can also utilize this program to earn elite status and all the VIP privileges it affords.
If you’re eager to travel and hoping to pool your loyalty with a single airline, the American AAdvantage program is worth considering. Our comprehensive guide explains what you need to know about this program.
The AAdvantage program rewards frequent flyers for their travel with American Airlines. As a member, you’ll be able to earn points (also called “miles,” interchangeably) and work your way toward elite status, which offers benefits like free checked bags and seat upgrades.
As a standard AAdvantage member, the biggest benefit you’ll get is the ability to earn miles on American Airlines tickets, as well as car rentals, hotel stays, cruises and vacation packages.
For every dollar you spend with the airline — or one of its partners — you’ll get 5 miles. Elite status members earn anywhere from 7 to 11 miles per dollar spent with American, depending on their status tier.
| American Airlines AAdvantage quick facts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Countries served | 350 destinations in 50 countries; including partners, you can fly to 1,000+ destinations in 150 countries | |
| U.S. Hub airports |
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| Airline alliance | Oneworld | |
| Airline lounges | Admirals Clubs | |
| Number of miles needed for a free flight | Domestic flights start at 7,500 miles | |
| American Airlines miles value | 1 cent each, on average | |
| Pros |
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| Cons |
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To join the program, you’ll need to visit the American Airlines website and enter your basic information. Once you’re signed up, you’ll receive an American Airlines number that you can use when you book tickets on American Airlines and partner airlines. If you meet certain spending and flying requirements with American and its partner airlines, you’ll be able to earn AAdvantage elite status and receive free upgrades and other benefits.
American AAdvantage miles are worth approximately 1 cent each.
This makes them worth slightly less than miles in comparable programs like Delta SkyMiles (1.3 cents each) or Southwest Rapid Rewards (1.5 cents each). Yet, the American Airlines program is still extremely valuable, due to how easy it is to earn miles and the plethora of options you have when it comes to cashing them in.
You should be aware that the average value for American AAdvantage miles is just that — an average. It’s always possible to get more value based on the specific redemption you make, and that’s especially true if you’re able to take advantage of MileSAAver awards or Web Specials on premium cabin flights or unusually expensive itineraries.
For example, an off-peak MileSAAver award to the Caribbean could cost as little as 12,500 miles one-way, which could present a better value for your miles than if you booked an AAnytime award for 27,500 miles one-way.
Ultimately, the value of each American AAdvantage mile will depend on the cash price of the airfare you redeem your miles for.
How do you know if using American Airlines miles is worth it? American Airlines miles are generally valued around 1 cent per mile — if a flight is worth 1 cent per mile or more, then it’s likely worth it to use miles. To calculate the value of miles, use this simple equation:
Cash price (minus taxes and fees) / Number of points needed for flight = Points value for that specific flight
As an American Airlines frequent flyer, you can earn miles toward free travel by buying American Airlines tickets, using American Airlines’s co-branded credit cards and shopping on the airline’s online portal.
Below, we’ve listed earning avenues that can help you get the most mileage from your AAdvantage membership.
The simplest way to earn American Airlines miles is to buy flights on American Airlines or one of the carrier’s partners.
The airline uses a revenue-based miles earning system, which means you earn miles based on how much you spend. (This is in contrast to a distance-based system, which awards points for every physical mile you fly. Alaska Airlines is the last major airline to use a distance-based points earning system.)
If you’re a new AAdvantage member and don’t have elite status, you’ll have a base earning rate of 5 miles per dollar on plane tickets.
| AAdvantage membership level | Base miles per dollar spent |
|---|---|
| General member | 5 |
| Gold | 7 |
| Platinum | 8 |
| Platinum Pro | 9 |
| Executive Platinum | 11 |
There are a few ways that you can increase the number of miles you earn per dollar:
The example below illustrates how a $1,000 fare earns vastly different award miles depending on its fare class:
| First Class (F) and First Class (A) | Business Class (J) | Business Class (R) | Business Class (D) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base miles at 5 miles per dollar | 5,000 | 5,000 | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| Bonus miles | 5,000 | 5,000 | 3,750 | 2,500 |
| Fare class bonus | 100% | 100% | 75% | 50% |
| Total miles earned | 10,000 | 10,000 | 8,750 | 7,500 |
When you fly on a partner airline, such as British Airways, you typically earn miles based on the number of miles flown with an added cabin bonus for first class, business class and premium economy fares. Cabin bonuses range from 10% to 50%.
You’ll earn miles when you fly with American Airlines, but you can also earn miles when you fly with its oneworld airline partners. The number of miles varies depending on the airline and the fare class you select.
The American Airlines partners page can tell you everything you need to know about earning miles with each oneworld partner. Be aware that this changes frequently, so you should check back before you book to find out how many miles you can expect to earn.
Here’s a list of the 22 American Airlines partners:
Oneworld airline partners
Other airline partners
Earning elite qualifying miles on partner airlines
American Airlines uses elite qualifying miles (EQMs) and elite qualifying dollars (EQDs) to determine which AAdvantage members qualify for elite status with American. The American EQMs and EQDs that you earn on partner airlines generally will be based on the class you fly.
For example, on British Airways, Iberia and some other partners, you’ll earn 0.5 EQMs per mile flown for the cheapest economy fare and up to 3 EQMs per mile flown for the most expensive first class fare. You’ll also earn between 5% and 30% EQDs per mile flown based on the class you fly.
Savvy traveler tip: Keep an eye on your inbox for targeted offers sent to select customers.For example, American double miles is a targeted promo the airline sometimes offers that allows travelers to earn twice the miles for purchases of premium economy, business and first class tickets in a certain timeframe.
You do not earn miles on American Airlines award flights. In fact, most airlines won’t allow you to earn miles on flights booked with miles. American reward miles are based on the number of dollars you spend on a flight; when you purchase an award ticket, you pay for the flight in miles rather than dollars.
Second to earning miles with paid flights, the most effective and consistent way to earn AAdvantage miles is to open an American Airlines credit card and use it for your everyday purchases.
| Card | Earning rate | Sign-up bonus | Annual fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® | Earn 2 AAdvantage® miles for each $1 spent at grocery stores, including grocery delivery services. Earn 2 AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases. Earn 1 AAdvantage® mile for every $1 spent on other purchases. | Earn 10,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles and receive a $50 statement credit after making $500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening | $0 |
| CitiBusiness®/ AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® | Earn 2 AAdvantage® miles per $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases. Earn 2 AAdvantage® miles per $1 spent on purchases at telecommunications merchants, cable and satellite providers, car rental merchants and at gas stations. 1 AAdvantage® mile for every $1 spent on other purchases. | Earn 65,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening. | $99, waived for first 12 months |
| Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® | Earn 2 AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent at gas stations and restaurants, and on eligible American Airlines purchases | Earn 50,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $2,500 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening | $99, waived for first 12 months |
| Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® | Earn 1 Loyalty Point for every 1 eligible AAdvantage® mile earned from purchases | Earn 70,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $7,000 within the first 3 months of account opening. | $595 |
| AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® | Earn 2 AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases and 1 AAdvantage® mile per $1 spent on all other purchases | Earn 50,000 AAdvantage® bonus miles after making your first purchase and paying the $99 annual fee in full, both within the first 90 days. | $99 |
You’ll earn at least 1 mile per dollar on every purchase you make. Premium cards earn 2 miles per dollar on American Airlines purchases, and some cards will also earn 2 miles per dollar in bonus categories like gas, groceries and restaurants.
The table below illustrates the rewards possibility at the flat rewards rate of 1 AAdvantage mile per dollar spent.
| Annual spend | Miles earned | Possible redemption |
|---|---|---|
| $10,000 | 10,000 | One-way MileSAAver award ticket for flights of less than 500 miles within the contiguous U.S. |
| $30,000 | 30,000 | Round-trip MileSAAver fare to Caribbean |
| $50,000 | 50,000 | Round-trip MileSAAver off-peak fare to Hawaii |
Another way to earn points for your everyday purchases is to sign up for AAdvantage Dining. This program allows you to earn miles for every qualifying purchase you make at an affiliated restaurant. You can check for restaurants in your area at the AAdvantage Dining website.
To join AAdvantage Dining, all you have to do is sign up for an account and link your debit and credit cards. You’ll automatically earn miles each time you spend at an eligible restaurant at the following rate:
Savvy traveler tip: If you want to earn miles for shopping without going to the portal, American Airlines offers a browser extension that you can install to shop and earn miles directly at more than 950 online stores. The extension lets you bypass the AAdvantage portal and shop as you normally would, alerting you when there are miles available on a website.AAdvantage members can get extra miles for online shopping by making purchases through the AAdvantage eShopping portal. Through the portal, you can shop at hundreds of hotels, booking companies, clothing companies and other retailers, earning miles on each purchase. There are also one-time bonus offers that reward you with a few thousand miles for making a purchase at a select retailer.
You can also rack up miles when you book other types of travel with American Airlines. Opportunities exist with select rental car partners and hotel brands like Hertz, Avis, Hyatt, Marriott and Best Western.
The number of miles varies depending on the travel you book, but it’s possible to earn up to 500 miles or more per car rental or 500 miles or more per hotel stay.
You can book entire vacation packages through American Airlines, and you’ll earn bonus miles when you do. The deals change all the time, but you could earn 20,000 miles (or more) for purchasing a vacation package with hotel and airfare included. You can frequently score special discounts or upgrades in these packages, so make sure to check them often.
You can earn up to 10,000 bonus miles when you book select cruises through the American AAdvantage program. All the major cruise lines are available, including brands like Carnival and Royal Caribbean.
Buying miles should be a last resort option, as purchased miles are often priced unfavorably.
On the American Airlines website, you can buy up to 150,000 miles. Keep in mind that they don’t come cheap: The current going rate for 10,000 miles is $322.50 (3.2 cents per mile).
The American Airlines Mileage Multiplier — American’s site for buying AAdvantage miles as part of purchasing a trip — may be a good deal only if you need to earn AA miles fast for an upcoming trip. The Mileage Multiplier is available only when you fly American and American Eagle, and it can allow you to earn double or triple miles for your trip. Each extra mile that you purchase through the Mileage Multiplier will cost you about 3 cents plus a 7.5% federal excise tax
If you want to add the Mileage Multiplier to a flight, you have three options:
If you’ve already checked in, you can still add Mileage Multiplier up to 45 minutes before your flight departure time. To do this, you can either go to an airport kiosk to reprint your boarding pass or you can log into your account at AA.com, click “My reservations” and choose the Mileage Multiplier option. You can even request Mileage Multiplier after your flight.
American Airlines bonus miles purchased through Mileage Multiplier should post rather quickly and may even hit your account before your plane touches down.
It’s important to note, though, that bonus miles purchased through Mileage Multiplier won’t count toward AA elite status qualification and can’t be transferred to a family member or friend.
American has over 1,000 partners that can help you earn miles. These companies offer goods and services in a range of categories, including business products, financial services, home, health and even charities. You can earn anywhere from a few hundred miles for taking a survey to tens of thousands of miles for buying a house.
Here are nine ways to pump up the balance in your AAdvantage account:
Of course, it only makes sense to buy or sign up for a product or service if it actually will benefit you. But if you’re in the market for one of these items or already thinking of making a purchase anyway, it may make sense to rack up AAdvantage miles at the same time.
Savvy traveler tip: You may be able to get a better deal and a break on some fees with American Airlines miles promotions.While these offers change frequently, previously in August 2019 American Airlines offered 3,500 to 85,000 AA bonus miles plus a discount of 5% to 10% for purchasing miles, with the offer depending on the amount of miles purchased.
Do you need to get American Airlines miles right away so you can book a flight to Paris for your honeymoon or join a family getaway in the Berkshires without breaking the bank? If you’re in a pinch and need AA miles fast, you do have options.
Buying American Airlines miles is just one way to pad your AAdvantage account right away. Here are some of the best ways to top off your AAdvantage account quickly:
| How to earn AA miles fast | Cost to get AA miles | How quickly can you get the AA miles? |
|---|---|---|
| Buy AA miles | About 3.2 cents/mile plus federal excise tax of 7.5% and $20 to $40 processing fee | Usually right away, but may take up to 8 hours |
| Get a gift of AA miles | About 2.95 cents/miles plus federal excise tax of 7.5% and $20 to $40 processing fee | Usually right away, but may take up to 8 hours |
| Make a big purchase on AA credit card | None, as long as you pay your bill in full to avoid interest | Within 30 days of making purchase requirements |
| Reactivate expired AA miles | $40 to $2,000 per transaction, depending on the number of miles you reactivate | May take up to 24 hours |
| Use AAdvantage Mileage Multiplier on an upcoming flight | About 3 cents/mile plus federal excise tax of 7.5% | Within 48 hours of taking the flight |
| Transfer AA miles from spouse or other relative | 1.25 cents per mile transfer cost plus $15 to $40 processing fee | Usually right away, but may take up to 8 hours |
| Open an AA credit card with a sign-up bonus | None, but you have to make the required dollar amount of purchases on the card | Within 30 days of making purchase requirements |
Once you’ve accumulated AAdvantage miles, you can use them on award travel, upgrades, lounge access, vacation packages and Main cabin seat selection. You can also use your miles to purchase newspaper subscriptions, or donate them to important causes and nonprofit organizations.
Savvy traveler tip: To redeem American miles on a partner airline, you can’t actually transfer your miles to that partner. Rather, you redeem your miles through the American Airlines AAdvantage program for a flight on the partner airline. Not all partners are searchable on AA.com, so you may need to search the partner site to find the flight then call AAdvantage customer service at 800-882-8880 to book.One of the most valuable options for redeeming miles is on American Airlines tickets. You can do this online at American Airlines’ award booking portal. The number of miles needed for a flight redemption changes depending on award type, time of year, cabin and destination.
Unlike Delta and United, American Airlines still publishes region-based award charts. That means you can find the cost of an award flight by referencing your departure region, destination region and class of service.
American has four award ticket options that provide different levels of ticket change flexibility. The cheapest award option is MileSAAver Off Peak, which has limited region and date availability.
| Fare type | Synopsis |
|---|---|
| MileSAAver Off Peak |
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| MileSAAver |
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| AAnytime Level 1 |
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| AAnytime Level 2 |
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There are plenty of sweet spots in the American AAdvantage award chart, including the following:
From cheap Economy Web Specials to unpublished AAnytime award levels, American Airlines charges a very wide range of prices for award flights. This wide range of award prices can make it hard to know in advance how much an award might cost.
AAdvantage eliminated Reduced mileage awards on Oct. 1, 2021. This benefit has been replaced by Web Special awards.
For especially cheap award flights, you should check out American Airlines Web Special awards, which are exclusively available on American Airlines’ website. Web Special awards are discounted from a flight’s current MileSAAver or AAnytime award level. In exchange for that discount, you won’t be allowed to make changes to the ticket.
American Airlines may apply Web Special pricing to discount the price of any one of the four published award rates.
Generally speaking, American Airlines upgrades may or may not be a good value depending on the itinerary you book and the normal cash price. Since American Airline miles are worth around 1 cent each, an upgrade on that long international flight would set you back $600 in value, including the miles and cash copay required.
On most American Airlines flights, you can use your miles to move up to the next cabin:
Make sure to compare the full cash price of a flight and the cost of upgrading later before you select this option.
Due to impacts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, elite status qualifications for the AAdvantage program were lowered for 2021. Status earned in 2021 lasts until February 28, 2022.
Here are the different levels of status you can earn with American AAdvantage and how to get there. You’ll need to meet the EQD dollar requirement, along with the EQS or the EQM requirement for each tier.
| American AAdvantage Status Qualifications | Gold | Platinum | Platinum Pro | Executive Platinum |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elite Qualification Miles (EQMs) | 20,000 | 40,000 | 60,000 | 80,000 |
| Elite Qualification Segments (EQSs) | 20 | 45 | 70 | 95 |
| Elite Qualification Dollars (EQDs) | $2,000 | $4,500 | $7,000 | $12,000 |
The level of benefits you receive from American Airlines elite status vary depending on how high you climb on the elite status ladder. Obviously, Gold benefits are less substantial than perks for Executive Platinum elites, but all levels of status come with some incentives. Here are the main perks of status you can expect with each tier:
Pursuing American Airlines AAdvantage elite status is worth it if you fly with American often.
Joining the frequent flyer program is free, and there are so many more ways to earn miles for free flights. The right airline credit card could also net you 50,000 miles or more right off the bat — enough for several round-trip domestic flights in economy, an off-peak round-trip flight to Europe in economy or a round-trip economy flight from the contiguous 48 U.S. states and Canada to South America Region 1 (including countries like Peru and Colombia).
You have nothing to lose by joining this program, but you can gain free flights, upgrades and elite perks. With that in mind, what are you waiting for?
These questions and answers can help you learn more about the loyalty program of American Airlines.
The American Airlines AAdvantage program is free to join.
To sign up for the American AAdvantage program, all you have to do is head to the AA.com website and select the option to create a new account. From there, you’ll provide basic information like your name, address, birthdate, gender and contact information. You’ll also answer some security questions that’ll be used to protect your account information and your miles.
The American AAdvantage program is a frequent flyer program that awards its members with miles when they fly or make qualifying purchases. You can redeem your miles for free flights, flight upgrades, vacation packages, charitable contributions and more.
American Airlines AAdvantage is a frequent flyer program, but there are plenty of airline credit cards affiliated with this program. With American Airlines credit cards, you can earn American miles for each purchase you make.
The American AAdvantage program does let you request miles for flights you have already flown through its request flight miles page. All you need to do to submit a request is enter your AAdvantage number and your flight ticket number.
You can find your American AAdvantage number by logging into your American AAdvantage account. Your AAdvantage number is made up of a combination of letters and numbers and it will be listed prominently on the home page under your name.
You cannot add a family member to your American Airlines AAdvantage account, but each family member can sign up for their own account and earn their own miles.
You can add your American AAdvantage number to an existing reservation by heading to “Manage trips/Check in” on the home page and entering your record letter, which is made up of six letters. From there, you can update information on your flight, such as your American AAdvantage number and your Global Entry membership.
To formally change the name on your frequent flyer account, you’ll need to call into the airline. You’ll be asked to provide some information to confirm your new identity, which you can provide through an email address.
American Airlines miles expire if you don’t earn or use miles for 24 months. However, you can keep your miles from expiring by making a small purchase on an American Airlines credit card, flying with the airline to earn miles, redeeming miles for a hotel or rental car or taking any other steps that involve earning or redeeming miles from your account.
Your child can have their own American AAdvantage account, and you can sign them up using the same process you used to create your own account. Head to the American Airlines website and choose the option to open an American AAdvantage account. From there, you’ll provide your child’s name, your address, their birthdate and their gender. You’ll also answer some security questions to help protect their account.
You cannot directly transfer points from Chase credit cards to the American AAdvantage program. However, you can use Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book flights on American Airlines through the Chase travel portal.
The above offers and/or promotions may have since changed, expired, or is no longer available. Check the Issuers’ website for more details.
