Effective for flights purchased starting yesterday (12/17/25), American Airlines is no longer awarding any redeemable miles or Loyalty Points for flights in Basic Economy. JonNYC reported this on X and One Mile at a Time flagged it yesterday, and it is certainly bad news for those who prefer to buy the cheapest fares but still want to be rewarded for being loyal to American Airlines.
American Airlines previously awarded 2 redeemable miles and 2 Loyalty Points per dollar spent on Basic Economy tickets (plus elite status bonuses) and 5-11 miles per dollar spent on other fares (depending on elite status). The change as of 12/17/25 only affects Basic Economy, but it entirely eliminates the ability to earn any redeemable miles or Loyalty Points on Basic Economy fares.
On the one hand, this is a terribly customer-unfriendly move as it is a deliberate choice not to recognize or reward loyalty among price-conscious consumers or those unwilling to pay up for add-ons that they don’t need. That stinks.
On the other hand, as One Mile at a Time notes, Basic Economy is a product that seems designed to compete for the segment of customers who might otherwise fly low-cost carriers like Spirit or Frontier. Through that lens, the most price-conscious consumers are likely more loyal to choice than any particular airline. One would assume that American’s internal data must show that, and on the whole, those customers are less engaged in the loyalty program.
One Mile at a Time suggests that the primary goal here is to generate additional revenue from customers who want to earn rewards (by encouraging them to buy up to higher fares) while still filling excess seats with price-loyal customers. One could also hope that perhaps American realizes that Basic Economy customers generally aren’t engaging with the program, so cutting whatever small cost was associated with issuing rewards on those flights (since some of those customers must redeem miles) will enable more generous rewards elsewhere in the program. That’s probably wishful thinking, but toss “American Airlines becomes more rewarding for loyal customers” on the holiday wish list (just don’t hold your breath waiting for it to materialize).
If you have been eyeing Basic Economy fares, be aware that newly-purchased Basic Economy tickets will no longer earn rewards or credit toward elite status.
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Last weekend I flew to Orlando. My options were a pricey (for Orlando) nonstop flight each way on Allegiant or even pricier basic economy flights with a connection each way on American. I chose the more expensive and less convenient basic economy option. Now with zero earnings for those I’ll probably fly the competition. I’m EXP with American and they’re driving me away on some trips with this shortsighted move.
Sure but you still get your status benefits. Was there an MCE seat for you? How many miles/ LP are you really losing out on for that trip? 1k?
Buying up to higher fares to get AAdvantage miles? Say you pay $250 for a basic economy ticket. That gets you 500 miles, worth about $7.25. Which higher fare can you get for $7.25? I suppose there might be someone, somewhere, someday that buying up for this reason might make sense, but I don’t know who it is.
I’m Platinum Pro and buy BE fares whenever it makes sense (i.e. flight I feel I am certain to take, with a low enough fare that the extra $100 for a round trip makes no sense versus accepting the risk and the lower miles/LPs, etc.). For flights like that, them taking away the already minimal miles/LPs will not change my decision-making process. The effect for me of the other changes (especially capping at 15K the bonus LPs) will be disengaging from AAdvantage once I hit Platinum. Will no longer even think about going for Plat Pro. So they will lose substantial credit card spend and partner spend from me going forward. If anyone at AA thinks BE buyers don’t include a substantial number of customers like me, they are nuts. But the LP thing is especially a self-inflicted wound. What idiots.
Agree with your thoughts on when to buy BE. Not sure why the changes other than the loss of the 30% bonus at 100k are really bad?
I’ll earn more than 15k LP from the bonuses this year, although not so much more (somewhere between 18-20k LP most likely), and once you now factor in that this is limited to a 6 month period, I’m not sure that I’d get much more than 15k in 6 months anyway. So let’s say between limiting the time period and dropping from 30% to 25% this costs me ~5k LP a year – it’s not great, but maybe not as brutal as I first thought yesterday. I love AA hotels, but obviously if you are a very heavy user, it may have more of an impact.
I also like that you now have to register for the promo – usually registering is not good for many people as they forget to register, but 1) reduces the frustration of getting to 60k/100k and then waiting days for the system to process your promo and send you “the email’ and 2) this allows you to time the promo for the best 6 months for you. I feel like I was always getting to 60k and then with the AA Exec card it didn’t exactly take me another 6 months to earn another 30k to get to 100k (30+10 from the AA Exec). So you never really got two six month periods anyway – maybe 8-9 months?
Also – doesn’t this actually allow for better gaming of status? It’s 6 months from registration and you usually have until March 31 of the following year to redeem. So the move might just be to “save it” – go for Plat next year or whatever, but then the year after on March 31, 2027, activate the 2026 bonus, that takes you through September 30, 2027, and then on October 1, 2027, activate the 2027 60k bonus. And just make a run for PPro / EP in 2027. Assumes there will be a similar 25% bonus in 2027 of course.
The other thing I’ve been thinking about is that I’ll end the year EXP and P2 will end the year at Plat (kids will be Gold, oh to be a kid again). I wonder if next year I should just focus on getting both of us to PPro instead. That would be another way of effectively using the 2 bonuses (assuming I choose to use them in 2026) and then can get us both to OWE so that we can use OWE lounges with the 2 kids when traveling.
And of course – let’s see what they actually roll out (although I have to imagine it will be very similar if not exactly the same as what AA accidentally posted).
Wow – way to tell loyal fliers they mean nothing to you. Only credit card spenders matter now. I have been a loyal AA flier for 20 years, and now buy 3 tickets for every flight (kids). It’s a good thing I switched half my flights to Allegiant and Southwest this year.
Yeah those rewarding programs at Southworst and Allegiant only get you more Southworst and Allegiant. I guess that’s great if you never want to use your passport or experience anything premium.
I use transferable points when I fly internationally and don’t need AA for that. When I’m flying domestic with my kids twice a month, I want cheap. That’s why I have a companion pass.
I think the far more significant change announced yesterday is the double whammy of capping of the 60k LP bonus for partners at 15k (and raising the bonus to 25%), and removing the 30% bonus at 100k LPs entirely. That change has personally removed pretty much all incentive for me to try and get status above Platinum, since it has the perk I value the most (MCE at booking).