AAdvantage is the American Airlines loyalty programme. Launched on May 1 1981, many consider it the first significant frequent flyer scheme of its kind. In actual fact, Texas International Airlines launched one two years previously, but their brand is now history and history tends to favour winners. Certainly, AAdvantage has proved to be a winner for American, it remains the largest airline membership programme in the world, with around 70 million members.
Members of the AAdvantage programme, earn “Miles” whenever they fly on American Airlines, with its Oneworld alliance partners (including British Airways) and on other participating airlines, as well as with over 1,000 partners. These partners include car rental companies, hotel chains and credit card companies, who award Miles with qualifying purchases or allow you to convert their own loyalty currency into Miles,
Once you have earned enough Miles, you can redeem them for American Airlines reward flights, where the airfare is paid for entirely with Miles, on American Airlines or its partner airlines.
In fact, you can book an American Airlines reward flight to around 1,100 different destinations worldwide.
You can also spend your Miles on seat upgrades or discounted holidays, car rental, hotel stays and a range of products from retail partners, mainly based in the US.
AAdvantage is free to join, and if you fly with American Airlines and its partners you can gain Elite status within the programme.
So far so simple? Well, the basic principles of AAdvantage are the same as with most airline loyalty schemes. Yet, for some reason, US carriers seem to love the complexity and *WOW* does the American Airlines AAdvantage programme get complex. So let us try to explain.
American Airlines Reward Flights and Partner Airlines
Ok, first things first. Us Brits refer to flights bought entirely with points as “Reward Flights”. Our American cousins call them “award flights” or sometimes “flight award redemptions”. Essentially they’re the same thing, so don’t stress about the naming.
With AAdvantage, you can earn and redeem frequent flyer points called “Miles” whenever you fly on American Airlines or its partner airlines. So what does this mean? Well, if you have booked a flight that has a flight number starting “AA” then you have booked an American Airlines flight. You will also earn Miles when you fly on American Eagle, which is their regional airline brand, which operates shorter routes within North America.
American Airlines is part of the Oneworld Alliance. This is basically a group of airlines, from around the world, who have agreed to coordinate their flight schedules, operate flights for each other and help out each other’s frequent flyers.
The perks frequent flyers will receive and the number of Miles members will earn, when flying with American Airlines and its partners, depends on their status within AAdvantage. Don’t worry about that for now, we’ll cover it later.
The Oneworld Alliance is a bit like a group of friends from school. There is a hardcore of members that always stick together and more flighty friends (get it?), on the periphery of the group, who come and go.
This is the current list of Oneworld Alliance partners:
American Airlines
British Airways
Cathay Pacific
Finnair
Iberia
Japan Airlines
Malaysia Airlines
Qantas
Qatar Airways
Royal Air Maroc
Royal Jordanian Airlines
S7 Airlines
SriLankan Airlines
The airline also has some partners that aren’t members of Oneworld. The extent to which you can earn and redeem Miles, or access perks like lounge access will vary with these airlines, but there are some reciprocal benefits for AAdvantage members with all of the current list:
Air Tahiti Nui
Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air (joining Oneworld in Spring, 2021)
Cape Air
China Southern Airlines
Etihad Airways
Fiji Airways
GOL Airlines
Hawaiian Airlines
Interjet
Seaborne Virgin Islands
Now let’s get deeper into the details.
How To Earn AAdvantage Miles
Fly With American Airlines
When you fly on American Airlines as an AAdvantage member, earn Miles at a rate determined by the base price of your ticket minus taxes and fees. The amount of Miles you earn also depends on your status within AAdvantage. (Again we’ll cover that off soon, but like most hierarchies in America, it is primarily determined by the amount of money you spend.)
The higher your AAdvantage status, the higher the more Miles you earn for every flight you buy. Here’s how many Miles each status tier earns per US dollar spent:
No status – 5 Miles
Gold – 7 Miles
Platinum – 8 Miles
Platinum Pro – 9 Miles
Executive Platinum – 11 Miles
So, an Executive Platinum AAdvantage member earns over twice the number of Miles a basic member will receive for taking the same flight, in the same cabin and purchased for the same ticket price.
Fly With A Partner Airline
As we mentioned, you can also earn Miles when you fly with one of American Airlines’ partners. If you buy a flight that has an AA flight number but is operated by a partner airline, you will normally earn Miles in the same way as you would on an aircraft operated by American. For example, American Airlines and British Airways codeshare on many transatlantic routes, so you can buy a BA flight, sold as an AA one on the American Airlines website.
If you book a flight with a partner’s flight number on your ticket, such as when you add your AAdvantage membership number to a booking on another airline’s website, the way you earn Miles will change, depending on the partner. With a bit of research, you can find out how your Miles will be calculated for the airline you are flying with.
In many cases, you will earn Miles based on how long your flight is and which fare class you booked, instead of the ticket price. For example, this chart from the American Airlines website shows your earnings on its Oneworld Alliance partner, British Airways:
As you can see, the lower fare classes earn a smaller percentage of Miles, whereas premium fare classes can earn bonuses beyond 100%. You can see the fare class you are buying on your booking summary, by looking at your e-ticket after you have purchased it or by asking the airline.
Use a Partner Credit Card
One of the easiest ways to earn enough AAdvantage Miles for an American Airlines Reward flight is to spend money using a partner credit card. Of course, we would never advise you to make additional spending just to earn Miles; simply to choose your card carefully for planned spending, making sure you pay off your balance each month. Some cards also offer Miles as a bonus when you sign up.
In the UK, your best option is likely to choose Avios as your loyalty currency, rather than AAdvantage Miles, which you can redeem for flights on AA via British Airways.
However, if AAdvantage makes more sense for you, then look at an American Express Rewards card that will allow you to transfer Membership Rewards earned on everyday spending, directly into AAdvantage Miles. Many of the hotel partner credit cards will allow you to exchange any of the loyalty points you earn from them into Miles too, but the exchange rate tends to be less favourable.
Citi do offer their range of American Airlines AAdvantage credit cards in the UK, but unless you are an expat that splits their time between countries, or an avid AAdvantage programme member, you are likely to get better value from a British Airways credit card or one designed with UK consumers in mind.
If you are based in the US, Citi and Barclays currently issue six different American Airlines Mastercard credit cards with different welcome bonuses, fees and point-earning potential.
Earn AA Miles With Partners
American Airlines has over 1,000 partners for AAdvantage, which you can earn Miles with. However, unsurprisingly, most of these partners are in the US and earning potential is lower for British based fans of American flying metal.
If you are likely to stay frequently in US hotel chains or rent cars in the States, however, then the benefits can be more lucrative than you’ll get with the equivalent UK programmes. Of course, if you are permanently based in the US then this isn’t an issue.
American Airlines partners with the major car rental companies operating in the US, such as Alamo, National, Hertz, Avis and Budget, allowing you to earn Miles on car rentals. The airline’s car rental partner page gives detailed information on how many points you’ll earn. In some cases, those with Elite status or an American Airlines partner credit card will earn more points than other members.
You can earn Miles when you stay at partner hotels too, and double-dip if you pay with a credit card that earns Miles on spend.
American Airlines Hotels (Earn up to 10,000 Miles each night)
Hyatt (500 Miles each stay)
Intercontinental Hotels (Earn up to 2x Miles per dollar spent at select Intercontinental hotels)
Marriott Bonvoy (Earn up to 2x Miles per dollar spent at select Marriott hotels)
PointsHound (Earn up to 10,000 Miles each night)
Rocketmiles (Earn up to 10,000 Miles each night)
Wyndham (Earn up to 2x Miles per dollar spent on all qualifying stays)
Hyatt and American Airlines also offer loyalty programme members, who have achieved the highest status with their respective schemes, reciprocal membership of the other’s highest tier.
American Airlines’ AAdvantage eShopping mall operates in a similar way to BA’s Avios e-store. awards bonus Miles for everyday online purchases. Using the portal is simple: sign up for an account and find your merchant on the shopping portal before purchasing.
By clicking through this site rather than going directly to the merchant, you’ll take home bonus Miles in addition to any Miles earnings you’ll get with the credit card you use.
Each vendor offers a different number of Miles per US dollar spent and there are often spend based bonuses too. AAdvantage eShopping is unfortunately not available for residents of the European Union, United Kingdom, Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway.
Another way to earn American Airlines Miles for US residents is AAdvantage Dining.
AAdvantage Dining is similar to the AAdvantage shopping portal, but for eating out. You sign up for an account, link your payment cards, and earn Miles when you eat at participating restaurants. You will earn 5 AAdvantage Miles per US dollar spent as a VIP member, 3 AAdvantage Miles per US dollar spent as an online member and 1 AAdvantage Mile per US dollar spent as a standard member. You will qualify for online member status if you opt-in for email communications from AAdvantage Dining. Then, you’ll qualify for VIP status after dining with the programme 11 times.
Joining The Elite
Ok, we keep teasing you with what American Airlines calls Elite Status within the AAdvantage programme. So what is it and how do you qualify?
American Airlines has four public levels of elite status within AAdvantage: Gold, Platinum, Platinum Pro and Executive Platinum.
Concierge Key is an invite-only tier that can be typically earned by spending at least $50,000 Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQDs) in a calendar year, but that is unofficial.
Understanding how to attain each tier isn’t as simple as with most of the equivalent European frequent flyer schemes. It involves a lot of three-letter acronyms: Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs), Segments (EQSs), and Dollars (EQDs).
You earn Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQDs) plus Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs) or Elite Qualifying Segments (EQSs) on eligible-fare tickets to qualify for Executive Platinum, Platinum Pro, Platinum or Gold status when you fly:
American Airlines or American Eagle
Oneworld alliance member airlines
Codeshare flights with an American Airlines flight number
Plus, Full-fare Economy, Business and First tickets on American-marketed flights will earn EQMs at a higher rate – getting you to elite status faster.
EQMs
EQMs represent a percentage of the actual miles flown based on the airline and the booking code purchased. AAdvantage members earn a base of 500 EQMs for eligible flights under 500 miles on American and Oneworld airlines. Since January 1, 2021, Basic Economy fares don’t earn EQMs, EQSs or EQDs.
To calculate final EQMs earned, the multiplier for airline and booking code flown is applied to this base.
EQMs don't include class-of-service bonus Miles, elite bonuses, other participant Miles, any other AAdvantage bonus mileage, or Miles bought or gifted.
EQSs
EQSs are segments you earn on eligible purchased tickets for flights on American or its partner airlines.
EQDs
EQDs are awarded based on ticket price including base fare plus carrier-imposed fees, but excluding government-imposed taxes and fees, on American Airlines-marketed flights.
Flights sold by Oneworld partner airlines earn EQDs based on a percentage of the flight distance and the fare class purchased.
Your EQMs and EQSs earned from January 1 to December 31 determine your AAdvantage Elite status.
Easier Elite Qualification
Still with us? Ok, some good news. American Airlines reduced the requirements for earning Elite status in 2021 due to the pandemic. The tables below show the reduced and normal qualifying levels.
The Benefits of Status
AAdvantage Gold members get several perks like upgrades on flights under 500 miles, a 40% elite mileage bonus, priority check-in, security and boarding and more. Fly a million miles on AA and you’ll get Gold status for life.
Platinum members receive a 48-hour upgrade window, a 60% elite mileage bonus, complimentary Main Cabin Extra seats and two free checked bags.
Gold and Platinum members are also eligible for upgrades on flights longer than 500 miles, but you’ll have to use 500 Mile Upgrade certificates to request them. Gold and Platinum earn four 500 Mile Upgrades every 12,500 Elite Qualifying Miles (EQM) flown. They can also be purchased for $40 each. You’ll need to use enough certificates to cover the entire length of your trip.
Platinum Pro is a fancier version of Platinum status. These members receive a 72-hour upgrade window, an 80% elite mileage bonus, complimentary Main Cabin Extra and preferred seats and two free checked bags. Those with Platinum Pro status and above do not need to use 500 Mile Upgrades to request upgrades on flights over 500 miles.
Finally, the top standard tier status level is Executive Platinum. Executive Platinum members receive four network-wide upgrades, a 100-hour upgrade window, a 120% elite mileage bonus and more.
Each of these elite status tiers is matched to a Oneworld alliance elite status level too, meaning some reciprocal benefits are offered on partner airlines, such as priority boarding and lounge access.
AA Gold = Oneworld Ruby
AA Platinum = Oneworld Sapphire
AA Platinum Pro = Oneworld Sapphire
AA Executive Platinum = Oneworld Emerald
Redeeming American Airline Reward Flights
There are a bunch of things that you can redeem your AAdvantage Miles for other than reward flights. But using them for lounge access, flight upgrades, cars or hotel stays almost always means you are getting a far lower monetary value for your Miles than if you book an AA reward flight.
With most airlines, the exchange rates you get, when you redeem points for flights, are determined by the cabin class, the distance of the flight and the time of year- whether it is a peak or off-peak flight. All those components do play a role with AA flight redemptions, but once again, it’s complicated.
American’s award flight chart sets redemption rates based on the following regions:
Contiguous 48 U.S. states & Canada
Alaska
Hawaii
Caribbean
Mexico
Central America
South America Region 1
South America Region 2
Europe, Asia Region 1
Middle East
Asia Region 2
Indian Sub Continent
South Pacific
There are then three parallel types of reward flight redemption on American Airlines.
The three main types of reward flights on AA are:
MileSAAver awards
If your plans are flexible, MileSAAver awards are available for as low as 7,500 miles each way plus any applicable taxes and carrier-imposed fees. MileSAAver awards have no blackout dates but have limited availability compared to AAnytime awards.
Eight regions are eligible for MileSAAver off-peak awards which start at just 12,500 Miles each way, though dates are limited and you’ll have to fly on an American operated aircraft to redeem the available redemptions, for travel to most regions. Off-Peak awards can offer significant savings versus the number of Miles required for a peak season redemption.
AAnytime awards
AAnytime awards are significantly more expensive to redeem than MileSAAver or Web Special awards but give you more choice of available times, routes, cabin classes and ticket types. They are sometimes referred to as “last available seat” awards.
With no blackout dates, you can use AAnytime awards for any seat on an American Airlines or American Eagle flight for as low as 20,000 Miles each way, plus any applicable taxes and carrier-imposed fees. AAnytime award redemption levels vary by date and region. There are some peak season dates that require a higher number of Miles. When you search for available reward flights while booking, you’ll see the applicable redemption price in Miles.
Web Special Awards
Web Special awards are special offers that may be offered on AA.com for select flights and dates, that can typically be redeemed for fewer Miles than the MileSAAver or AAnytime award level. However, Not all Web Special tickets are cheaper than MileSAAver rates- sometimes they are discounted AAnytime awards, on routes that still have MileSAAver award seats available.
Mileage redemption levels will vary by date and flight. When Web Special Awards are available, you’ll see the applicable mileage redemption level when researching your trip. Keep in mind, tickets that include a Web Special award don’t allow changes, but you can cancel and reinstate your Miles at no charge.
Keep an eye out for Web Special rewards in premium cabins, particularly to Asia Region 1 and the Middle East. These can be significantly cheaper than MileSAAver Awards and a premium cabin ticket can sometimes be cheaper than MileSAAver in a lower class and frequently so when compared to an AAnytime award. Plus you can find business class flights operated by Qatar Airways, featuring their amazing Qsuite seats and on Japan Airlines, who offer one of my favourite in-flight services.
Sweet Spots for Value
As with many airline loyalty programmes, the sweet spots, in terms of value-per-redeemed-point/mile, tend to be found with long-haul flights, flown in a premium cabin. The fact Japan and South Korea fall into the Europe/Asia 1 category makes these particularly attractive destinations, along with the Middle East. Look for off-peak MileSAAver and Web Saver Awards.
Finally, we’ll cover some further considerations for those that want to fly with one of AA’s partners or are booking a business flight.
Partner Redemptions
Unlike some Oneworld airlines, AA offers plenty of partner reward flight availability that can be redeemed through its website. You’ll notice some differences when redeeming your AA Miles with American Airlines’ partners, one of which is the consistency of redemption rates, which can be higher on a partner-operated flight than on an AA one.
Another consideration is taxes, reward/award flight redemption rates exclude taxes and fees. The tax element can vary significantly by country. For example, the UK has some of the highest airfare taxes in the world and BA can levy fees and surcharges of up to $500 or so on a European business class flight via a British airport.
American Airlines Business Extra
The American Airlines Business Extra programme lets organisations, with at least two employees, earn rewards for their employees’ travel and pool the Business Extra Points their employees earn to exchange for future business travel or incentives.
This programme is free to join, and the registration process is easy for US registered companies. By signing up, you can also ‘double-dip’ with AAdvantage Miles on American and select Oneworld alliance flights. Business Extra members earn 1x point per $5 spent on qualifying flights on American, British Airways, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Finnair and Qantas flights sold by American Airlines.
The redemption options within the Business Extra programme vary from high quality to low value. And, depending on how many points you have at your disposal, you might be forced into some sub-optimal redemptions before your points expire every two years. One option is to redeem 3,200 points for AAdvantage Gold status, which could make a nice employee incentive. As ever, the best value is by using your Business Extra points for free flights, though upgrades may also make more sense to redeem with this scheme, compared to AAdvantage. Business Extra points can be redeemed for reward flights on AA, British Airways, Iberia and Japan Airlines. Upgrades are only possible on American Airlines flights and there are some terms and conditions. Upgrades from discounted fare classes cost more than buying new, full-fare tickets.
In Conclusion
The American Airlines AAdvantage loyalty programme is complicated. We have only scratched the surface by covering its most significant rules and quirks and rules here. But, whilst it is imperfect, if you know how to make it work, there are some tremendous deals to be found and you can get excellent value by booking premium seats on American or partner flights, particularly for long haul flights. There are also some deals that might make sense on US domestic flights if you are primarily planning to travel through the US on American.
However, if you live in the UK, or another country that is well served by another, more “local” Oneworld alliance carrier, it might make more sense to choose their loyalty programme. Do the research, but you will probably be able to earn and redeem points more easily, as the AAdvantage partner network is very US-centric.
Certainly, the BA Club offers more points earning opportunities through partners and a wider variety of reward flight destinations for Brits flying from the UK.
Nothing here should be construed as financial advice, and it is your own responsibility to ensure that any product is right for your circumstances. You should seek separate specialist advice if unsure. Opinions are based primarily on the ability to earn Avios. Reward Flight Finder (RFF) discusses products offered by lenders but is not a lender itself.
Douglas
