American Airlines AAdvantage Complete Guide

American Airlines AAdvantage Overview

American Airlines AAdvantage is the loyalty program for American Airlines. Given American’s extensive reach within the United Sates and abroad, they are the loyalty program of choice for many. In 2022, American completely changed how elite status is earned with the introduction of Loyalty Points, making it possible to earn all the way up to Executive Platinum status without flying.

This guide has been updated to cover the ways to earn and spend American Airlines AAdvantage miles as well as the key details of elite status in terms of how to earn it and what benefits to expect.

American Airlines AAdvantage Pros and Cons

Pros

• American’s top-tier elites can enjoy systemwide upgrades via elite choice benefits, which can be quite valuable. However, with the launch of the new program on 3/1/23, members will need to earn both the requisite loyalty points and fly 30 segments on American Airlines to get choice benefits.
• American has a unique relationship with Hyatt that allows for members of each program to earn while patronizing the other. American AAdvantage members can earn 1 mile per $1 spent at Hyatt hotels and resorts
• Basic economy flights earn toward status
• There are a number of supplementary ways to earn miles most of which now earn 1 Loyalty Point per mile earned, from credit cards with two different issuers to bank account bonuses, online shopping, SimplyMiles card-linked offers, and more. See more about what counts for Loyalty Points and what doesn’t in this section.
• Web specials awards can sometimes offer excellent values for award tickets.

Cons

• Highly-variable pricing for AA flights. While the partner award chart still exists, there are no longer published prices for American Airlines-operated flights
• Fewer foreign airline partnerships than competitor United means slightly less reach in terms of award destinations (though note that you can still get to many, many destinations worldwide)
• Easier elite status may mean more difficulty getting upgrades (Loyalty Points totals are the tie-breaker for upgrades)

Earn Miles

Flights

Base members earn 5 miles per dollar on American Airlines marketed flights.  Elite members earn more, depending upon their status level, as follows:

• No status – 5 miles per dollar
• Gold – 7 miles per dollar (40% bonus)
• Platinum – 8 miles per dollar (60% bonus)
• Platinum Pro – 9 miles per dollar (80% bonus)
• Executive Platinum – 11 miles per dollar (120% bonus)

Note that there is no longer a mileage cap as to the total number of miles you can earn on a ticket.

Also note that basic economy tickets issued on or after January 1, 2023 earn a base of 2 miles per dollar spent plus elite percentage bonuses (i.e. 2.8 miles per dollar for Gold / 3.2 miles per dollar for Platinum / etc.

Exceptions:

• The following types of tickets earn no miles:
  • All tickets issued as AAdvantage^® awards
  • Charter flight tickets
  • Companion tickets
  • Infant tickets
  • Items occupying a purchased seat
  • Other free ticket promotions including free or reduced rate tickets
  • Tickets purchased through a travel agency where the airline is not disclosed prior to purchase, such as Priceline or Hotwire
  • Tickets issued subject to special provisions
  • Travel agency/industry reduced rate tickets
• Special fares like bulk fares, cruise fares, consolidator fares, and vacation packages earn earn miles and loyalty points as a percentage of the distance flown (percentages vary by fare code and are increased with class of service bonuses). Note that in these “special fares” instances, basic economy will not earn Loyalty Points. See this page for more details.
• Flights on partner airlines earn redeemable miles and Loyalty Points based on a percentage of distance flown and class of service bonuses. See this page for rates on individual partners.

It is worth noting that flights on most non-alliance partners (other than JetBlue of Gol) will earn redeemable miles but will not earn Loyalty Points.

American Airlines AAdvantage credit cards

Miles can be earned from credit card welcome bonuses and from credit card spend.  In general, while we recommend earning lots of miles through new-card welcome bonuses, earning from spend is not usually a good idea.  There are many other cards on the market that offer much better rewards for everyday spend.

However, Citi in particular is known to periodically send targeted spending offers (by email or postal mail) and is also known to sometimes offer excellent retention offers, so there are times when everyday spend might make sense given such an offer.

Keep in mind that base miles earned from credit card spend also earn 1 Loyalty Point per base point earned. In other words, you’ll earn 1 Loyalty Point for every $1 spent on an AAdvantage credit card. Note that new cardmember intro bonuses and category or other spending bonuses do not count as Loyalty Points.

Transfer from other points programs

Bilt Mastercard

While you will not earn Loyalty Points through the Bilt Mastercard, it is worth noting that Bilt Rewards points transfer 1:1 to American Airlines AAdvantage. This means you can effectively earn 1 mile per dollar spent on rent, 3 miles per dollar spent on dining, and 2 miles per dollar spent on travel. Given that the Bilt card has no annual fee, this can be a useful tool for generating more American Airlines miles. See more under the credit cards section below.

Marriott Bonvoy

Marriott points can be transferred to American Airlines at a rate of 3 Marriott points to 1 American mile.  Additionally, when you transfer 60,000 Marriott points at a time, you get 5,000 extra American miles.  So, the best you can do is transfer 60,000 Marriott points to 25,000 American miles.

For more, see: Marriott Bonvoy Complete Guide.

Non-flight options for earning miles and loyalty points

Now that American Airlines is awarding Loyalty Points for each mile earned through many of its partners, the many ways of earning American Airlines miles beyond flight activity have become much more interesting. For instance, see some of our previous pursuits of status without flying: AA’s Loyalty Point Pursuit game: Earn status w/out flying

The following options earn both redeemable miles and loyalty points:

• Online Shopping: You can earn both redeemable miles and Loyalty Points when you shop through the AAdvantage eShopping portal.  Note that you’ll generally earn 1 Loyalty Point per redeemable mile earned through these channels except when the shopping portal is offering a general spending bonus like “spend a cumulative $500 through AAdvantage eShopping from Date A to Date B and get 2,000 bonus miles”. While the miles earned from your purchases themselves will count as Loyalty Points, the additional 2,000-mile bonus will not. In cases where the reward is a set number of miles (i.e. subscribe to the Wall Street Journal and get 2,500 miles) you will earn that number of redeemable miles and Loyalty Points.
• In-Store and Online Shopping: SimplyMiles is a unique card-linked program offered to all US members with a valid Mastercard (note that it does not need to be an American Airlines Mastercard). These offers often provide a fixed number of miles for meeting a specified spend threshold and can sometimes represent a significant return. Many of these offers can be completed in-store or online. For stacking opportunities, see: (Updated) Card-Linked Programs & The Networks They Run On (AKA Which Programs Stack).
• Dining: You can earn miles for dining at local restaurants via the AAdvantage Dining program. Note that you may even be able to stack these bonus miles with rewards earned in another card-linked program. See: (Updated) Card-Linked Programs & The Networks They Run On (AKA Which Programs Stack).
• Credit card spend: One mile per dollar spent on the Citi and Barclays co-branded cards. Note that welcome bonuses, category bonuses, and temporary spending bonuses will not earn Loyalty Points — you’ll just earn 1 mile per dollar spent on your card (some cards issued in foreign countries earn 1.5 or 2 base miles per dollar spent and in those cases Loyalty Points will be earned based on the base earning rate of the card).
• Rocketmiles: This could be an attractive deal given that the mileage payouts can sometimes be generous. You won’t earn elite credit or hotel points through Rocketmiles, but I’d certainly consider Rocketmiles in a situation where I’d be looking at an independent boutique hotel or a property where I don’t care about earning elite credit or hotel points.
• Hotels credited to American Airlines: Many hotel programs let you forgo hotel earnings to credit to an airline program. That usually isn’t an attractive deal, but it could be useful when you don’t care about hotel rewards. An exception here is Hyatt, which shares a unique partnership with AA. See below.
• Hyatt stays: American Airlines AAdvantage members can earn 1 AAdvantage mile per $1 spent on qualifying Hyatt stays and experiences in addition to earning World of Hyatt points for the stay. This partnership could be useful for those with a lot of paid Hyatt stays since you can earn both Hyatt points and 1 AA mile per dollar spent with Hyatt up to 10,000 miles per year. See more detail here.
• Hotels booked through BookAAHotels.com. This booking portal appears to be powered by Rocketmiles.
• Rental Cars: You can book rentals through American Airlines or book through most of the major US companies and credit the rental to American, earning both redeemable miles and Loyalty Points.
• Vacations and cruises booked through American Airlines. We’ve written before about how vacation packages can sometimes be a great way to build your own business class fare sale. Now you can earn Loyalty pPoints, too.
• Fueling up: Members can earn miles for filling up their gas tanks via the Shell Gas partnership
• Sharing your opinions: American Airlines offers the chance to earn both redeemable miles and Loyalty Points through Miles for Opinions.
• Other earning options: American lists other options for earning miles through partnerships here.

Non-flight options for earning miles that do not count as Loyalty Points

Bank accounts

Bask Bank offers American Airlines AAdvantage miles instead of cash interest on savings. They currently award 2 miles per dollar saved annually (note that this can vary with interest rates). This is how Bask explains it:

The Bask Savings Account awards two AAdvantage^® miles for each dollar saved annually. Miles are accrued daily and awarded monthly based on your average monthly balance. 

Depending on how you value the miles, that may not be a bad deal. For tax purposes, Bask values the miles at 0.42c per mile, meaning that every 1,000 miles earned counts as $4.20 in interest income. Read more and open an account at Bask Bank.

Note that Citi has also periodically offered up to 60,000 American Airlines miles for opening a checking account, though these offers are sometimes targeted.

In either case (Bask Bank or Citi), miles earned from bank accounts will not earn Loyalty Points.

Spend miles

Booking flights with American miles is easy.  On AA.com, simply check the box to “Redeem miles” when searching for flights.  American defaults to showing results for a week at a time, but you can then click “View Calendar” to see results for a month at a time.

Award Booking Tips

Here are a few miscellaneous tips:

• No round-trip advantage.  While Delta often charges fewer miles for round-trip awards, we don’t see the same pattern with American.
• Scroll down or sort.  American won’t always show the best priced award at the top, especially when partner flights are involved.
• Even Web Specials can be cancelled for free. Note that while Web Specials can not be changed, they can be cancelled and redeposited for no fee.
• Sometimes adding an extra leg can drop the price. See this post for more detail.

Best Uses of Miles

In our experience, most domestic U.S. economy award flights offer only about 1 cent per mile in value (see this post for details).  It is possible to do significantly better, though.  American has some solid sweet spots, including:

• The US to Europe in business class for 57.5K each way
• The US to Asia in business class (60K each way to Japan or Korea or 80K to most of the rest of Asia)
• The US to Japan or Korea in first class for 80K each way
• The US to the Indian Subcontinent in business class for 70K each way

We sometimes see “web specials” with exceptional deals on American Airlines flights. See this as an outlier example.

The highest value for American Airlines miles in terms of dollars and cents will be found using miles for premium cabin award travel on partner airlines.

Award Partners

Flights on partner airlines can be booked with American Airlines AAdvantage miles as long as the partner has saver-level award space available for the given flight. See the American Airlines partner award chart here. Note that not all partner airlines can be booked online; you will need to book via a call center for award flights on some partner airlines. Note also that in some cases, foreign AAdvantage call centers may be better equipped to assist. For example, the Australian call centers have often been able to book Etihad award flights that US agents were unable to see as available. Google Voice can be a cheap way to phone overseas call centers when necessary.

Here are American’s partner airlines:

• American Airlines 
• Alaska Airlines 
• British Airways 
• Cathay Pacific 
• Finnair 
• Iberia 
• Japan Airlines 
• Malaysia Airlines 
• Qantas 
• Qatar Airways 
• Royal Air Maroc 
• Royal Jordanian Airlines 
• S7 Airlines 
• SriLankan Airlines 
• Air Tahiti Nui 
• Cape Air 
• China Southern Airlines 
• Etihad Airways 
• Fiji Airways 
• GOL Airlines 
• Hawaiian Airlines 
• Seaborne Virgin Islands 

Award Change & Cancellation Fees

American Airlines no longer charges award change or cancellation fees. Keep in mind that if your new award is more expensive, you will pay any difference in terms of miles or taxes, but there is no fee for making the change itself.

Note that Web Specials can be cancelled and redeposited but can not be changed.

American Airlines Elite Status

Most airlines offer extra benefits to their most valuable customers. This is usually handled through elite status. If you fly enough with an airline, you can become “elite”. Of course, not all elites are equal. Most airlines have multiple elite tiers to differentiate their valuable customers from their really valuable customers. And, of course, airlines offer the best perks to their highest tier elites.

American does the same. They offer published elite tiers ranging from Gold status to Executive Platinum status (and they also offer an invitation-only Concierge Key status). Gold status perks are only slightly better than those you get from holding a American Airlines branded credit card. Executive Platinum perks, though, can be very nice.

American’s Platinum Pro and Executive Platinum members can choose systemwide upgrade certificates as a choice benefit, but need to both earn the required number of Loyalty Points and fly at least 30 segments on American Airlines to get choice benefits (award tickets flown on American Airlines count). Systemwide upgrades can be used to upgrade from economy to lie-flat business seats on international flights.

American Airlines elite status requirements

American Airlines offers elite status based on Loyalty Points. Generally speaking, Loyalty Points are earned 1:1 along with redeemable miles, which is to say that in most cases, when you earn 1 redeemable mile, you also earn 1 Loyalty Point. There are some exceptions, like shopping portal bonuses (like “Spend $500, get 2,000 miles”) do not count (the base miles earned for the purchase count, but not the bonus 2,000 miles for meeting a promotional spending threshold).

Required Loyalty Points for each status tier are as follows:

• Gold: 30,000 Loyalty Points
• Platinum: 75,000 Loyalty Points
• Platinum Pro: 125,000 Loyalty Points
• Executive Platinum: 200,000 Loyalty Points

The American Airlines elite year runs from March through the following February rather than by calendar year as with most other programs. In other words, you’ll need to earn the required points for your desired status between March and the following February to have status for the upcoming year.

Moving forward, as an example, Loyalty Points earned from March 1, 2023 to February 28, 2024 will secure status from the date the tier is achieved through the end of February 2025.

Elite Benefits

Elite earning on flights

On American marketed flights, elite earnings are straightforward: you earn 1 Loyalty Point per 1 mile earned. Typically, this meanings you earn at least 5 Loyalty Points per dollar spent on American Airlines fares with additional bonuses based on status. Basic Economy fares only earn 2 base Loyalty Points per dollar spent (and the additional status boosts).

Exceptions to mileage earning based on ticket price:

• Special fares like bulk fares, cruise fares, consolidator fares, and vacation packages earn earn miles and loyalty points as a percentage of the distance flown (percentages vary by fare code and are increased with class of service bonuses). Note that in these “special fares” instances, basic economy will not earn Loyalty Points. See this page for more details.
• Flights on partner airlines earn redeemable miles and Loyalty Points based on a percentage of distance flown and class of service bonuses. See this page for rates on individual partners.
• Note that members will not earn Loyalty Points for flights on non-alliance partners except with JetBlue and Gol.

Elite Choice Rewards

American Platinum Pro elites get to choose 1 Elite Choice Reward each year they qualify and American Executive Platinum elites get to choose 2 Elite Choice Rewards (in addition to the one from earning Platinum Pro status) if they earn both the required number of Loyalty Points and they fly 30 segments.

To view your Choice Benefits options, click here to jump directly to the Choice Benefits page.

In general, the best-value option is the systemwide upgrades. Platinum Pro members can choose 1. Executive Platinum members get 2 choice benefits and a pair of systemwide upgrades counts as one choice. This means that an Executive Platinum member can use 2 Elite Choice Rewards to choose a total of 4 systemwide upgrades if they wish (again, provided they have met both the Loyalty Points and segments requirements for Choice Benefits).

A systemwide upgrade can be used for a confirmed upgrade to the next class of service anywhere American flies, pending availability. They are good for one-way travel for up to 3 segments and are valid for 1 year from the date of selection. Note that systemwide upgrades can be used for travel beyond the expiration date as long as the upgrade is confirmed before the upgrade expires.

Credit cards

Both Citi and Barcalys offer both business and consumer American Airlines credit cards. The following are current bonus offers, card benefits, and earning structures. Keep in mind that bonuses do not count as Loyalty Points. Base earnings (1 mile per $1 spent) do count as Loyalty Points.

Note also that Bilt Rewards can be transferred 1:1 to American Airlines AAdvantage. Those miles will not count as Loyalty Points, but this card does provide a useful way to earn AAdvantage miles for paying your rent or for dining (3x) or general travel (2x) and it carries no annual fee.

Consumer

Card Offer and Details

American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp Card     ➥More   ⓘ $172 1st Yr Value Estimate 10K miles + $50 Earn 10K AA miles + $50 statement credit after $500 spend in 3 months No Annual Fee     FM Mini Review: Not bad for grocery spend if you highly value AA miles Card Type: Mastercard World Elite Base 1X (1.3%) Grocery 2X (2.6%) Brand 2X (2.6%) Earning rate: 2X grocery ⚬ 2X AA ⚬ 1X everywhere else Noteworthy perks: Save 25% on inflight food and beverage purchases

Card Offer and Details

Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite MasterCard     ➥More   ⓘ $729 1st Yr Value Estimate 60K miles 60K miles after $3,000 spend in the first 3 months No Annual Fee First Year, Then $99     Info about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy.     FM Mini Review: Excellent choice for a great signup bonus. Plus it offers the usual collection of perks for flying AA (free checked bag, priority boarding, etc.) Card Type: Mastercard World Elite Base 1X (1.3%) Dine 2X (2.6%) Gas 2X (2.6%) Brand 2X (2.6%) Earning rate: 2X restaurants ⚬ 2X gas ⚬ 2X AA Big spend bonus: $125 AA Flight Discount with $20K membership year spend Noteworthy perks: ⚬ First checked bag free ⚬ Priority Boarding ⚬ Save 25% on inflight food and beverage purchases

Card Offer and Details

Citi AAdvantage® Executive World Elite MasterCard®     ➥More   ⓘ $228 1st Yr Value Estimate 60K miles 60K miles after $6,000 spend in first 3 months $450 Annual Fee     Info about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy.     FM Mini Review: Excellent choice for those who need Admirals Club access (included for both the primary member and authorized users). Plus, it offers the usual collection of perks for flying AA (free checked bag, priority boarding, etc.). Card Type: Mastercard World Elite Base 1X (1.3%) Brand 2X (2.6%) Earning rate: 2X AA Noteworthy perks: ⚬ First Checked Bag Free ⚬ Admirals Club® access for both primary and authorized users ⚬ 25% savings on eligible in-flight purchases on American Airlines and US Airways flights ⚬ Up to $100 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit

Card Offer and Details

AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite MasterCard     ➥More   ⓘ $749 1st Yr Value Estimate 50K miles + waived annual fee 50k miles after 1st purchase with annual fee waived for the first year (then $99) No Annual Fee First Year, Then $99     Info about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy.     Card Type: Mastercard World Elite Base 1X (1.3%) Brand 2X (2.6%) Earning rate: ⚬ 2X AA ⚬ 1X everywhere else Big spend bonus: Earn $99 + tax domestic companion certificate with $20K membership year spend. Noteworthy perks: First checked bag free ⚬ Preferred boarding for the primary cardmember and up to 4 companions traveling on the same reservation ⚬ 25% off in-flight purchases ⚬ $25 wifi credit per membership year ⚬ Flight cents: round up purchases to earn more miles

Card Offer and Details

AAdvantage® AviatorTM Silver World Elite MasterCard®     ➥More   ⓘ $-195 1st Yr Value Estimate Available by invitation only $195 Annual Fee     Info about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy.     FM Mini Review: $25 per day of in-flight food & beverage credits is pretty interesting. If you fly AA enough to make good use of this, this card is well worthwhile. Card Type: Mastercard World Elite Base 1X (1.3%) Travel 2X (2.6%) Brand 3X (3.9%) Earning rate: ⚬ 3X AA ⚬ 2X hotel and car rentals ⚬ 1X everywhere else Noteworthy perks: $25 per day in-flight food & beverage credit ⚬ First checked bag free ⚬ Priority Boarding ⚬ $100 Global Entry application fee credit ⚬ 25% off in-flight purchases ⚬ $50 wifi credit per membership year ⚬ Round up purchases to earn more miles

Card Offer and Details

Bilt Mastercard     ➥More   ⓘ $0 1st Yr Value Estimate None This card features no welcome bonus, but it offers the chance to earn 1x points when paying rent (on up to $50K per year in rent payments) with no annual fee. No Annual Fee     FM Mini Review: If you pay rent and haven't been earning rewards, this card is a no-brainer as you can pay your rent and earn rewards with no fee. A surprisingly good set of transfer partners makes the rewards for using this for rent worth getting the card for that main purpose alone (as long as you remember to use the card 5 times per month). Card Type: Mastercard World Elite Base 1X (1.55%) Travel 2X (3.1%) Dine 3X (4.65%) Other 3X (4.65%) Earning rate: Must use your card for 5 purchases per month, then: 3x Dining ⚬ 3x Lyft ⚬ 2x Travel ⚬ 1x rent (up to 50,000 points per year) ⚬ 1x everywhere else Noteworthy perks: Transfer points 1 to 1 to airline and hotel programs (including American Airlines, United, Hyatt, Aeroplan, and more) ⚬ Redeem points for 1.25 cents each towards travel booked through Bilt's travel portal ⚬ Cell phone insurance ⚬ No fee to pay rent and earn rewards See also: Read more about Bilt's recent improvements here.

Business

Card Offer and Details

CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select World MasterCard     ➥More   ⓘ $777 1st Yr Value Estimate 65K miles 65K after $4K spend in first 4 months No Annual Fee First Year, Then $99     Recent better offer: 75K after $5K in the first 5 months (Expired 1/16/20)     FM Mini Review: This card usually has a great signup bonus, but if you're looking for a card to keep long term, you'll find better options. Card Type: Mastercard World Base 1X (1.3%) Travel 2X (2.6%) Gas 2X (2.6%) Phone 2X (2.6%) Brand 2X (2.6%) Earning rate: ⚬ 2X AA ⚬ 2X certain telecommunications merchants ⚬ 2X car rental merchants ⚬ 2X gas Big spend bonus: Earn $99 plus taxes domestic companion certificate after $30K spend Noteworthy perks: ⚬ First checked bag free ⚬ Priority Boarding ⚬ Save 25% on inflight purchases

Card Offer and Details

AAdvantage® AviatorTM Business MasterCard®     ➥More   ⓘ $781 1st Yr Value Estimate 70K Miles 60K bonus miles after spending $2K in first 90 days + additional 10K miles after one purchase is made on an employee card. $95 Annual Fee     Info about this card has been collected independently by Frequent Miler. The issuer did not provide the details, nor is it responsible for their accuracy. Recent better offer: Expired 2/6/23: 80K miles + a $95 statement credit after $2K spend in first 90 days.     Card Type: Mastercard Base 1X (1.3%) Travel 2X (2.6%) Phone 2X (2.6%) Office 2X (2.6%) Earning rate: ⚬ 2X AA, office supply, telecommunications services, and at car rental agencies ⚬ 1X everywhere else Big spend bonus: $99 companion certificate with $30K account year spend Noteworthy perks: ⚬ First checked bag free ⚬ Preferred boarding ⚬ 5% bonus on miles earned the previous year after AF is paid ⚬ 25% statement credit on in-flight purchases

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