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While the American Airlines AAdvantage frequent-flyer program has experienced a devaluation in recent years, there are still many reasons to get involved with this program. First of all, it’s completely free to sign up, and if you’re going to take an American Airlines flight, you might as well earn some miles while you’re at it.
Secondly, American Airlines is the largest carrier in the United States by several different metrics, including fleet size and passenger footfall. So, if you’re a U.S. resident and a frequent traveler, chances are pretty good you’ll be stepping on an American flight sooner or later.
American is a member of the Oneworld alliance, meaning that you can earn and redeem miles with a number of international partners. Currently, Oneworld includes the following airlines:
| Alaska Airlines | Malaysia Airlines |
| American Airlines | Oman Air |
| British Airways | Qantas |
| Cathay Pacific | Qatar Airways |
| Fiji Airways | Royal Air Maroc |
| Finnair | Royal Jordanian |
| Iberia | SriLankan Airlines |
| Japan Airlines |
In addition to its Oneworld partners, American also has many non-alliance partners, including:
| Air Tahiti Nui | Hawaiian Airlines |
| Cape Air | IndiGo |
| China Southern Airlines | JetBlue |
| Etihad Airways | Silver Airways |
| Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes |
With its long and diverse list of partners, the American Airlines AAdvantage program offers incredible versatility when it comes to earning and redeeming miles.In addition to earning miles by taking flights, you can also rack up a ton of AAdvantage miles quickly by signing up for a co-branded American Airlines credit card.
Let’s take a dive into everything you need to know about the American Airlines AAdvantage program.
American Airlines AAdvantage Overview
Founded back in 1930, American Airlines is considered to be one of the United States’ “legacy” airlines and is one of the largest brands in the entire aviation industry. In conjunction with its regional partner American Eagle, the carrier currently operates 3,700 daily flights to 350 destinations in 50 countries.
American is the dominant carrier at its home airport of Dallas-Fort Worth and also operates hubs in Charlotte, Chicago-O’Hare, Los Angeles, Miami, New York (LaGuardia and JFK), Philadelphia, Phoenix and Washington-National.
With such a massive network and so much brand recognition, it’s no wonder that American Airlines AAdvantage is such a popular loyalty program. Also, the fact that American has such a long list of airline partners makes it easy for frequent travelers to earn and redeem miles.
You can earn miles in a wide variety of different ways, including spending on American Airlines credit cards, taking surveys online, donating to charity, opening a savings account, booking hotel stays and more.
Of course, you can also redeem your AAdvantage miles for awards other than flights. However, as with most other frequent-flyer programs, booking award flights will yield the most value for your miles.
American Airlines AAdvantage Elite Status
American has four public tiers of elite status: Gold, Platinum, Platinum Pro and Executive Platinum. It also has an invite-only tier called Concierge Key that’s pretty much unachievable for most people.
Luckily, earning elite status with the AAdvantage program is a whole lot simpler than with some other frequent-flyer programs. While other programs have several different metrics that contribute to your elite status (SQMs, SQSs, SQDs, etc.), with AAdvantage, you only need to worry about one metric—Loyalty Points.
You can earn Loyalty Points by taking American Airlines flights, spending with a co-branded credit card or by spending money with select AAdvantage partners.
Generally, you will earn 1 Loyalty Point for every 1 base mile that you earn with American Airlines. For instance, if you earn 1,000 base miles for taking a flight with American, you will earn 1,000 Loyalty Points as well. Likewise, if you spend $1,000 on a co-branded credit card, you will also earn 1,000 Loyalty Points.
Here is how many Loyalty Points you need to achieve each elite status tier:
| Gold | 30,000 |
| Platinum | 75,000 |
| Platinum Pro | 125,000 |
| Executive Platinum | 200,000 |
Between earning Loyalty Points through flying and through spending on co-branded credit cards, it’s fairly easy to achieve elite status with American compared to other airlines.
Elite Status Benefits
All AAdvantage elite members, regardless of status tier, have access to complimentary upgrades on flights operated and marketed by American Airlines within the U.S. and between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Caribbean and Central America for themselves and one companion. However, only Executive Platinum members get complimentary upgrades on award flights.
If you have either Executive Platinum or Platinum Pro status with American, you’ll be entitled to availability-based complimentary upgrades on Alaska Airlines flights, except when flying Alaska Airlines Saver Fares.
All AAdvantage elite members also get Oneworld elite status. However, the status tier that you have with Oneworld depends on the status you have with AAdvantage.
On top of all that, here are the other benefits that you’ll receive at each elite status tier with American Airlines AAdvantage:
| Gold | Platinum | Platinum Pro | Executive Platinum | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mileage bonus | 40% | 60% | 80% | 120% |
| Complimentary elite status with Oneworld | Oneworld Ruby | Oneworld Sapphire | Oneworld Emerald | Oneworld Emerald |
| Upgrade confirmation timetable | 24 hours before departure | 48 hours before departure | 72 hours before departure | 100 hours before departure |
| Free checked bags per flight | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Complimentary same-day flight change | N/A | N/A | Yes | Yes |
| Priority bag delivery | N/A | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Complimentary alcoholic beverage and snack in Main Cabin | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes |
| Guaranteed availability in Main Cabin | N/A | N/A | N/A | Yes |
Business class on American’s Airbus A330-300. Image courtesy of American Airlines.
On top of the benefits listed above, you’ll also be eligible for a Loyalty Choice Reward when you qualify for AAdvantage Platinum Pro or higher and fly 30 eligible segments within the qualification period.
Loyalty Choice Rewards are, of course, rewards that you choose. These include American Airlines trip credit, donations to your choice of charity, Admirals Club one-day passes, bonus miles, the ability to AAdvantage elite status to a friend or family member, award discounts and more.
How to Earn AAdvantage Miles
The most obvious way to earn AAdvantage miles is to book seats on American Airlines-marketed and operated flights. However, there are many other ways to boost your miles balance, including spending on credit cards, donating to charity, booking hotel stays, opening a savings account, shopping online and much more.
You should also be aware that AAdvantage miles will expire unless you earn or redeem some number of miles with American or with an AAdvantage partner at least once every 24 months. Your mileage expiration date will be automatically extended 24 months from the date of your most recent qualifying activity.
However, one exception is if you have a co-branded American credit card, your miles will be valid for as long as you continue to have that card account open.
American Airlines 787 Business Class Seat
Flying with American Airlines
First and foremost, you can earn AAdvantage miles by booking flights with American. In most cases, the number of miles that you’ll earn depends on how much you spent on the base fare of the flight ticket. Your miles earnings will also depend on whether or not you have elite status within the AAdvantage program.
Here’s the number of miles you’d earn per dollar spent at each elite status tier:
- No status: 5X miles
- Gold: 7X miles
- Platinum: 8X miles
- Platinum Pro: 9X miles
- Executive Platinum: 11X miles
For instance, if you were to take an American Airlines flight that cost $100 plus $25 in taxes, you’d earn 500 miles if you didn’t have elite status. However, if you were an Executive Platinum member, you’d earn 1,100 AAdvantage miles on the same flight.
For tickets purchased at “special fares” rates, American Airlines may award miles based on the distance and fare class of your flight rather than on the amount of money spent. Some “special fares” rates include bulk fares, cruise fares, consolidator fares, discounted or exclusive tour packages, vacation packages and other tickets for which the base fare isn’t disclosed to you.
Flying with Partner Airlines
It’s also possible to earn both AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points on flights that are marketed by American’s partners. For most partners, you’ll be awarded miles and Loyalty Points based on the distance of the flight as well as the fare class. You can see all partner earnings rates by navigating to the partner-earning page on the American Airlines website.
For example, here’s the earnings chart for Cathay Pacific from the American Airlines website:
As you can see from the chart above, if you were to take a flight in first class with Cathay Pacific that was 1,000 miles long, you’d earn 1,500 miles and 1,500 Loyalty Points.
If you were to take the same flight in business class, you’d earn 1,250 miles and 1,250 Loyalty Points. It’s also worth noting that certain economy class tickets with Cathay Pacific wouldn’t earn any miles or any Loyalty Points.
If you want to figure out how many AAdvantage miles you’ll earn for a partner flight, you can look at your ticket or call the airline that you’re flying with to find the fare class. Then, you can look up the base mileage-earnings rate and the cabin bonus for that fare class on the partner-earnings page and multiply them by the flight distance.
Any mileage bonus that you receive from holding elite status within the AAdvantage program will also be honored when earning miles with one of American’s partners.
Spending with American Airlines Credit Cards
Another great way to quickly rack up AAdvantage miles is to sign up for a co-branded credit card. American has a total of 11 co-branded credit cards to choose from, six of which are issued by Citi and five are issued by Barclays.
Some of these cards come with no annual fee and have basic rewards bonuses while others have annual fees of up to $450 and come with valuable perks like complimentary Admirals Club membership. So, there’s an American Airlines credit card for everyone.
Here’s a breakdown of all six Citi-issued American Airlines credit cards.
| Card name | Annual fee | Spending bonuses | Notable benefits |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp℠ Card | $0 | • 2X miles at grocery stores, including delivery service • 2X miles on eligible American Airlines purchases • 1X miles on all other purchases | • 25% discount on in-flight food and beverages on American Airlines flights |
| Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® | $595 | • 4X miles on eligible American Airlines purchases • 1X miles on all other purchases | • Complimentary Admirals Club membership • Application fee reimbursement up to $100 for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry • First checked bag free on domestic American Airlines itineraries for you and up to eight travel companions on the same reservation • Priority boarding on American Airlines flights • Priority check-in and priority airport screening for you and up to eight travel companions • 25% discount on in-flight food and beverages on American Airlines flights |
| Citi® / AAdvantage® Gold World Elite Mastercard® | $50 (not available to new applicants) | • 1X miles on all purchases | • 25% discount on in-flight food and beverages on American Airlines flights |
| Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard® | $99 | • 2X miles at restaurants and gas stations • 2X miles on eligible American Airlines purchases • 1X miles on all other purchases | • 25% discount on in-flight food and beverages on American Airlines flights |
| CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Mastercard® | $99; waived for the first 12 month | • 2X miles on cable and satellite providers • 2X miles on eligible American Airlines purchases • 2X miles at gas stations • 2X miles on select telecommunications merchants • 2X miles on car rentals • 1X miles on all other purchases | • First checked bag free on domestic American Airlines itineraries for you and up to four travel companions on the same reservation • Preferred boarding on American Airlines flights • 25% savings on American Airlines in-flight Wi-Fi • 25% discount on in-flight food and beverages on American Airlines flights • Earn an American Airlines Companion Certificate for domestic travel after $30,000 in purchases each cardmember year |
Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®
75,000
American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles
after spending $3,500 within the first 4 months of account opening.
Annual Fee:
$0 for your first year, then $99.
Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®
70,000
AAdvantage® bonus miles
after spending $7,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
Annual Fee: $595
CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®
75,000
bonus miles
after $5,000 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening.
Annual Fee:
$0 for your first year, then $99.
As you can see, the Citi-issued American Airlines card offerings are pretty strange in that certain cards with annual fees aren’t discernibly better than cards without annual fees. For instance, we’d argue that the $0 annual fee AAdvantage MileUp card is definitely better than the AAdvantage Gold Mastercard, which has an annual fee of $50.
It’s also strange that the no-fee AAdvantage MileUp card has better spending bonuses than the top-of-the-line AAdvantage Executive Mastercard, which has a whopping annual fee of $450. Yes, the AAdvantage Executive Mastercard comes with a complimentary Admirals Club membership and perks when flying with American Airlines, such as priority boarding and $100 application fee reimbursement for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry. However, if you don’t take full advantage of those perks, then you’re probably better off going with the MileUp card.
Now that we’ve covered all of the Citi-issued American credit cards, here’s a breakdown of the five Barclays-issued American credit cards.
| Card name | Annual fee | Spending bonuses | Notable benefits |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAdvantage® Aviator® Blue World Elite Mastercard® | $49 (not available to new applicants) | • 2X miles on eligible American Airlines purchases • 1X miles on all other purchases | • 25% discount on in-flight food and beverages on American Airlines flights |
| AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® | $99 | • 2X miles on eligible American Airlines purchases • 1X miles on all other purchases | • 25% discount on in-flight food and beverages on American Airlines flights • Up to $25 per cardmember year in statement credits on in-flight Wi-Fi on American Airlines flights • Earn a Companion Certificate good for one guest at $99 (plus taxes and fees) if you spend $20,000 on purchases in a cardmember year • First checked bag free on domestic American Airlines itineraries for you and up to four travel companions on the same reservation • Preferred boarding for you and up to four companions on your reservation on American Airlines flights |
| AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver World Elite Mastercard® | $199 (not available to new applicants) | • 3X miles on eligible American Airlines purchases • 2X miles on eligible hotel purchases • 2X miles on eligible rental car purchases • 1X miles on all other purchases | • Up to $25 per day in statement credits on in-flight food and beverages on American Airlines flights • Up to $50 per cardmember year in statement credits on in-flight Wi-Fi on American Airline flights • Earn a Companion Certificate good for two guests at $99 each (plus taxes and fees) if you spend $20,000 on purchases in a cardmember year • Application fee reimbursement up to $100 for Global Entry • First checked bag free on domestic American Airlines itineraries for you and up to eight travel companions on the same reservation • Preferred boarding for you and up to eight companions on your reservation on American Airlines flights |
| AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard® | $95 | • 2X miles on eligible American Airlines purchases • 2X miles on eligible rental car purchases • 2X miles on select telecom purchases • 2X miles on select office supply purchases • 1X miles on all other purchases | • 25% discount on in-flight food and beverages on American Airlines flights • Earn a Companion Certificate good for one guest at $99 (plus taxes and fees) if you spend $30,000 on purchases in a cardmember year • First checked bag free on domestic American Airlines itineraries for you and up to four travel companions on the same reservation • Preferred boarding for you and up to four companions on your reservation on American Airlines flights • 5% mileage bonus every cardmember anniversary based on the number of miles you earned during that year |
| AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Mastercard® | $0 (not available to new applicants) | • 1X miles on eligible American Airlines purchases • 0.5X miles on all other purchases | • 25% discount on in-flight food and beverages on American Airlines flights |
AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®
50,000
AAdvantage Bonus Miles
after making your first purchase and paying the $99 annual fee in full, both within the first 90 days.
Annual Fee: $99
Out of all the cards listed above, the AAdvantage Aviator Red Mastercard probably provides the best value. When you compare it to the AAdvantage Executive Mastercard from Citi, you see that the two cards are extremely similar except for the fact that the AAdvantage Executive Mastercard comes with a complimentary Admirals Club membership and has an annual fee that’s about $350 higher.
So, if you think you’ll get $350 worth of benefits out of that Admirals Club membership, then maybe you should go for the AAdvantage Executive Mastercard. Otherwise, the AAdvantage Aviator Red Mastercard is probably the better option.
Remember that regardless of which American Airlines co-branded card you have, you won’t earn Loyalty Points on bonus categories or sign-up bonuses. You’ll simply earn 1 Loyalty Point per dollar spent on any American credit card.
American Airlines AAdvantage eShopping
Like most other loyalty programs, American Airlines AAdvantage has its own shopping portal that allows you to earn miles by making purchases with select merchants. You can access more than 1,200 popular stores through the eShopping portal and earn miles as well as Loyalty Points toward your next elite status while you shop.
Simply sign up for an account and then click through to your desired merchant. When you make a purchase, any miles or Loyalty Points that you’ve earned will be credited to your AAdvantage account. The number of miles per dollar that you earn will depend on the specific vendor from which you make your purchase.
It’s also worth noting that you’ll earn AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points in addition to any points or miles that you earn by making the purchase with a rewards credit card.
SimplyMiles
Similar to the American Airlines AAdvantage eShopping portal, the SimplyMiles program, allows you to earn miles for making purchases with specific vendors. However, the SimplyMiles program is a bit more direct and personalized.
To enroll in the program, you must be at least 18 years old, have an AAdvantage account and have at least one Mastercard. Once you’ve created an account, you can simply log in and see the offers that are available to you. Offers will typically offer a certain number of miles for making a purchase exceeding a certain dollar amount with a specific merchant.
For example, you might see an offer for 1,000 miles for any purchase of $75 or more at Macy’s. If this offer intrigues you, you can simply click the “Add to Card” button to activate the offer. Then, if you make a purchase of $75 or more at Macy’s either online or at a store with your linked Mastercard, you’ll earn 1,000 miles.
AAdvantage Dining
You can earn AAdvantage miles by dining at some of your favorite local restaurants. With the AAdvantage Dining program, you can simply sign up, link a credit card and earn AAdvantage miles whenever you spend money on that card at a restaurant that’s linked with the program.
Signing up for AAdvantage Dining is completely free, and you’ll still earn points or miles on your rewards credit card, so there’s really no downside. Plus, you can earn points for dining in, taking out or even ordering delivery.
As a basic member, you’ll earn 1X AAdvantage mile per dollar. However, if you opt in for email communications from AAdvantage Dining, you’ll be upgraded to a Select member and start earning 3X miles. If you dine at AAdvantage Dining-participating restaurants at least 11 times in a calendar year, you’ll achieve VIP status and start earning 5X miles per dollar.
Other Travel Partners
American Airlines AAdvantage has several other partnerships with travel companies that allow you to earn AAdvantage miles on hotel stays, car rentals, gas station purchases, cruises and vacation packages. Here are some of the other AAdvantage partnerships that you can earn points with:
- AA Cruises: Earn 3X miles per dollar (up to 30,000 AAdvantage miles) for booking a cruise through AA Cruises.
- AA Vacations: Earn miles by booking flight and hotel packages through AA Vacations.
- Alamo: Earn 50 base miles per rental day on auto rentals.
- American Airlines Hotels: Earn up to 10,000 miles per night.
- Avis and Budget: Earn 2X base miles per dollar spent on auto rentals. Plus, earn even more by using a co-branded AAdvantage credit card.
- Dollar: Earn 50 base miles per rental day on auto rentals.
- Fuel Rewards: Earn 2X miles per gallon of gas that you purchase at a Shell gas station. Plus, earn 100 miles on your first fillup after linking your AAdvantage account to your Fuel Rewards account.
- Hertz: Earn 1X base mile per dollar spent on auto rentals. Plus, you’ll receive special discounts on the base rate of your rental.
- IHG One Rewards: Earn 2X miles per dollar spent on qualifying room rates.
- Marriott Bonvoy: Earn 2X miles per dollar spent on qualifying purchases.
- National: Earn 50 base miles per rental day on auto rentals.
- Payless: Earn 1X base mile per dollar spent on auto rentals.
- Rocketmiles: Earn up to 10,000 each night.
- Thrifty: Earn 50 base miles per rental day on auto rentals.
- World of Hyatt: Earn 500 miles for each stay at a qualifying property.
For some of these partners, you can earn AAdvantage miles in addition to that program’s own rewards currency. However, for others, you’ll be earning AAdvantage miles in lieu of that program’s currency. So, it’s best to check on this and decide whether you want to earn AAdvantage miles or another rewards currency if you have to make a choice.
Open a Savings Account
If you open a savings account with Bask Bank (a division of Texas Capital Bank), you can elect to earn AAdvantage miles instead of cash interest on your savings. According to their website, you will earn 1.5X American Airlines AAdvantage miles per dollar saved annually when you open a Bask Mileage Savings Account.
Take Surveys
If you have some free time and you want to earn a few extra AAdvantage miles, you can fill out surveys on Miles for Opinions in exchange for miles. AAdvantage members are eligible to earn up to 250 miles for taking their first survey.
Donating to Charity
You can earn 10X points per dollar donated to Stand Up To Cancer as long as you make your donation online through StandUpToCancer.org/AmericanAirlines and you donate at least $25.
Buying Miles
American Airlines also gives you the option to purchase AAdvantage miles. Typically, they sell for 2.95 cents apiece, but American Airlines regularly has sales during which you can buy miles at a discount. However, even with any discount, buying miles is usually still a bad deal considering AAdvantage miles are usually valued at around 1.5 cents apiece.
How to Redeem AAdvantage Miles
Typically, you can get the most value out of your AAdvantage miles by redeeming them for flights (either with American Airlines or one of their partner airlines). However, that’s far from the only way to use AAdvantage miles. You also can redeem your miles for Admirals Club lounge access, car rentals, hotel stays, vacation packages and more.
So, while we’re going to cover all of the different ways that you can spend your miles, keep in mind that booking award flights is probably your best bet for maximizing the value that you get out of your points.
American Airlines Award Flights
Of course, the most straightforward way to redeem your AAdvantage miles is to purchase American Airlines award flights. To do so, you can just go to aa.com, check the “Redeem miles” box and search for your flight like you normally would. Your results will be displayed with their prices in miles.
While you can always check the price of a particular award by searching for it on the American Airlines website, American Airlines also has published award charts that you can use as a reference. The charts display prices for one-way MileSAAver and AAnytime rates in each fare class. All of these rates are subject to taxes and fees.
You may be able to find a great deal, particularly if you look for MileSAAver off-peak awards. For example, you can book a round-trip ticket in the Main Cabin to Europe at the MileSAAver off-peak rate for just 45,000 miles.
However, when you search for award flights online, you may find rates that are even cheaper than those displayed on the American Airlines award chart. That’s because they offer Web Special awards that are cheaper than both AAnytime or MileSAAver awards at any cabin level. The drawback of Web Special rates is that you can’t change your itinerary. However, you can cancel your booking and reinstate your miles for free.
In general, you can probably get more value out of your AAdvantage miles by using them for award flights with one of American Airlines’s partners. However, you also can find some high-value redemptions with Web Specials. For instance, they occasionally offer one-way domestic flights for as few as 5,000 miles.
American has a fantastic award map tool that allows you to search for available award flights by inputting your departure city, your desired dates and your destination region. You can then set a maximum number of miles that you’re willing to spend. The tool will then show you all of the different destinations that you can travel to for that number of miles. This is a great way to find award flights at affordable Web Specials rates.
Web Specials rates also aren’t limited to domestic flights in economy class. You also can find international flights and flights in premium cabins at Web Specials rates.
Partner Award Flights
As mentioned earlier, partner award flights are often the highest-value way to redeem your AAdvantage miles. American Airlines currently has more than 20 airline partnerships, and some of their partners are renowned for their classy premium-cabin products.
However, when booking partner awards, you should always be wary of carrier-imposed fees and surcharges. For example, British Airways has been known to add on over $500 in fees for award flights between Europe and the U.S.
Still, you can book some of the most luxurious cabins in the airline industry at fairly affordable rates with AAdvantage miles. For instance, you can find one-way Japan Airlines flights from New York to Tokyo in business class for as few as 60,000 miles.
You also can find some great redemptions for flights in Qsuites business class with Qatar Airways to the Middle East, Maldives and India.
Redeem for Upgrades
Another way to use your AAdvantage miles is to upgrade your seat on flights operated by American Airlines, American Eagle, British Airways or Iberia. The specific cost of redeeming this way will depend heavily on what fare class you’re upgrading to and from as well as your origin and destination. However, upgrade costs usually fall in the range of 5,000 to 25,000 miles with additional fees from $0 to $550.
While this redemption option usually doesn’t provide the best value, it may be worth it if you can find a good deal.
Car Rentals
American Airlines has partnerships with several different car rental companies, so they give you the option to redeem your AAdvantage miles for car rentals. To do so, you can go to Cars.UseAAMiles.com and put in your pick-up and drop-off location, your desired dates, pick-up and drop-off time and the age of the driver. Then, you’ll be presented with your rental car options and their prices in miles.
Hotel Stays
You can use your AAdvantage miles to book hotel stays with one of American Airlines’s hotel partners. To do so, you can go to Hotels.UseAAMiles.com and search your desired location, check-in and checkout dates and number of guests. Then, you’ll be presented with any hotels that match your search and their prices in miles.
You also have the option to pay with a combination of miles and cash.
American Airlines Business Extra
The American Airlines Business Extra program allows companies to earn rewards for their employees’ flights. Signing up is free, but you need to have at least three employees in your company to qualify.
Once you sign up, you can earn AAdvantage miles as you normally would and earn 1X Business Extra point per $5 spent on qualifying flights for your business on top of that. You and the other employees of your company are eligible to earn Business Extra points on certain flights with American, British Airways, Iberia and Japan Airlines, as well as Finnair and Qantas flights that are marketed by American.
The Business Extra program has its own set of redemption options separate from the AAdvantage program. However, if you’re going to enroll in this program (which you absolutely should if you qualify), just know that the best ways to use your Business Extra points are redeeming for free flights and upgrades. You can redeem your points for flights with American, British Airways, Iberia and Japan Airlines.
You can use your Business Extra Points for upgrades on American Airlines flights only. Keep in mind that you have to be booked in a specific fare class to redeem for an upgrade.
To enroll in the American Airlines Business Extra program, navigate to BusinessExtra.com and click the “Join Now” button at the top right corner of the screen. Put in your personal information and some information about your business organization. Your business will then be reviewed to determine its eligibility.
The Bottom Line
Even though the American Airlines AAdvantage program has experienced some devaluation in recent years, it’s definitely still a program worth paying attention to.
First of all, American is the largest carrier in the United States by fleet size and passenger footfall, meaning most U.S.-based travelers will probably find themselves flying on American Airlines metal quite often.
Second, earning elite status with American Airlines is simple. Rather than paying attention to several different metrics as with other airlines’ elite status programs, earning elite status with American depends on one metric: Loyalty Points. A great way to rack up Loyalty Points and AAdvantage miles alike is to sign up for an American Airlines co-branded credit card.
Since signing up for the AAdvantage program is free and easy, there’s no reason not to enroll and start earning miles. Once you rack up a balance of miles, you can find some high-value redemptions through the AAdvantage program.
Specifically, you can use AAdvantage miles to purchase business-class tickets with both Qatar Airways and Japan Airlines (which have some of the most luxurious business-class cabins in the airline industry) at fantastic rates. If you want to use your miles to fly on American Airlines-operated flights, you can usually find some great deals on domestic short-haul flights.
New to the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the best card to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening. , 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
after spending $7,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
after spending $3,500 within the first 4 months of account opening.
after making your first purchase and paying the $99 annual fee in full, both within the first 90 days.
after $5,000 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening.
Editors Note: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
10xTravel is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
Editors Note: Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
bonus points
after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening.
Chase Ultimate Rewards® Points
after you spend $4,000 in 3 months
Venture Miles
after you spend $4,000 in purchases in the first 3 months.
Membership Rewards® Points
after you spend $6,000 on eligible purchases with your new Card within the first 6 months. Terms apply.
