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American Airlines AAdvantage rewards program guide

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Published on October 18, 2024 | 8 min read

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American Airlines flight with design elements
Pham Le Huong Son/GettyImages; Illustration by Hunter Newton/Bankrate

Key takeaways

  • American Airlines is part of the oneworld alliance, which offers flights to more than 900 destinations in 170 territories around the world.
  • The AAdvantage rewards program is the airline’s loyalty program, and members can climb elite status tiers by earning Loyalty Points.
  • There are numerous ways to earn American AAdvantage miles for free travel as well, including spending on a co-branded airline credit card.
  • AAdvantage miles are valued slightly less than competing carriers’ rewards offerings, but since the program is free to join, there’s no downside to signing up.

If you’re looking for an airline that can take you where you want to go, there’s a good chance American Airlines or one of its partners offers the itinerary you’re looking for. American Airlines offers an average of nearly 6,700 daily flights, making it one of the largest airlines in the world. It’s also a founding member of the oneworld Alliance, which allows you to seamlessly fly to more than 900 destinations and 170 territories around the world with top airlines.

Flying with American Airlines can be improved by joining its loyalty program, AAdvantage. Applying for an American Airlines credit card can also help you score frequent flyer benefits and rack up airline miles for every trip you take. If you’re interested in the American AAdvantage program, wondering how to sign up or trying to figure out if you should, read on for an overview of this program and how it works.

Who is American Airlines AAdvantage best for?

AAdvantage is best for travelers who fly with American Airlines or any of its partners. Although those who travel frequently will benefit more from the program and have the chance to qualify for elite status, those who travel infrequently can still benefit from the program since it’s free to join.

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How to join American Airlines AAdvantage

Once you sign up for AAdvantage, you’ll earn miles and Loyalty Points whenever you travel or shop with American Airlines and its partners. Miles can be used for flights around the world, premium cabin upgrades and other types of travel like vacation packages, car rentals and hotels. Loyalty Points will help you reach AAdvantage elite status, which comes with more travel perks.

To join and use this program, you’ll need to:

Step 1: Create an account: You’ll do this by providing basic information like your name, date of birth, address, email and phone number.

Step 2: Find your frequent flyer number: This ID is made up of a combination of letters and numbers and will be assigned to you after you verify your account. You’ll receive this number via email after you join the program, and you’ll find it within your online loyalty account.

Step 3: Use it when booking flights: When you book flights with American Airlines or its partners, you’ll be able to input your frequent flyer number, which will then allow you to earn rewards for that flight.

How much are American Airlines miles worth?

American AAdvantage miles are worth about 1.0 cents each, according to Bankrate’s latest points and miles valuations. However they can easily be worth more or less depending on how you redeem them.

How do AAdvantage miles compare to other programs?

AAdvantage mile valuations are roughly comparable to those from other airline loyalty programs. Take a look at how AAdvantage miles compare to miles in programs from other major airlines: 

Airline loyalty program Value*
American AAdvantage 1.0 cents
Delta SkyMiles 1.2 cents
JetBlue TrueBlue 1.3 cents
Southwest Rapid Rewards 1.5 cents
United MileagePlus 0.9 cents

How to earn American Airlines miles

Earning miles with the American Airlines AAdvantage program is easy. Here are all the ways you can rack up miles with this frequent flyer program:

How to redeem American Airlines miles

There are plenty of ways to redeem AAdvantage miles, including for:

  • Flights with American Airlines, oneworld airlines and partner airlines
  • Flight upgrades with American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia
  • Main Cabin seat reservations
  • Rental cars, hotel stays and vacation packages
  • Purchasing or renewing an Admirals Club membership
  • Exclusive travel experiences and services (like an airport escort)
  • Charitable donations

Best ways to redeem miles

Generally speaking, the best way to redeem American Airlines miles is for flights. You’ll usually get roughly 1.0 cents in value when you redeem miles for flights, though redemption values can vary depending on demand, travel dates and other factors.

To get the most bang for your buck, look for American Airlines redemption deals. These online frequent flyer deals change frequently, but if you catch one at the right time, it’ll let you book flights to select destinations for fewer miles than usual.

As a frequent American flyer, I can also add that the best way to maximize these miles is being as flexible as you can with your travel dates and destination. This one step will ensure you find award flights for a lower total cost, which can help you stretch your miles as far as they can go.

And even though American no longer sticks to an award chart, there are definitely deals to be had and awards that let users get a lot more than one cent per mile in value. For example, you can frequently find awards from mainland U.S. to the Caribbean or Mexico for less than 10,000 miles one-way. However, you’ll want to be flexible with dates as I mentioned. As you can see from the example flight below (Indianapolis, Indiana to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic), awards on some days cost double what you’ll pay if you travel a day later or a few days earlier.

You can also find some pretty sweet international fares from the U.S. to Europe, but again, you’ll want to watch out for days that cost more than others. See the example below where a one-way economy flight from Chicago, Illinois to Rome, Italy costs more than 50,000 miles some days and 30,000 on others.

American also has a “calendar” feature (at the right hand top corner of the screenshot above) that lets you see the lowest award fare price for each day of any month, so make sure you use it. When you do, you’ll see an overview of the month’s awards for your chosen travel destination.

You can even click the arrows on either side to see results for the months before and after the month of your original search.

Redemption options to avoid

Since you’ll get the most value out of AAdvantage miles that are redeemed for flights, you’ll want to strongly reconsider any redemption options that aren’t for airfare. For example, hotel bookings made with American Airlines miles will usually net you less than 1 cent per mile in value. The same is true for car rentals and vacation packages.

While redeeming airline miles for upgrades to a premium cabin is worth considering, you’ll usually have to supply a cash copay to do so. This reduces the value of the miles used to make the upgrade.

American Airlines elite status and memberships

Like other frequent flyer programs, the American AAdvantage program offers several status tiers with varying benefits for its most loyal members. 

As a regular AAdvantage member, you’ll earn 1 Loyalty Point for every 1 eligible AAdvantage mile. And remember, Loyalty Points are awarded separately from the miles you earn for flights.

AAdvantage elite status members can then earn more bonus miles on top of base flight miles, among many other benefits. Additional Loyalty Point Rewards are also available for reaching specific reward levels outside of the four designated Elite status levels.

Loyalty Points needed to earn each status level and elite status benefits are:

Elite status Loyalty Points needed Benefits
AAdvantage Gold 40,000
  • 40% status mileage bonus
  • 24-hour upgrade windowPriority check-in, security and Group 4 boarding
  • Same-day standby priority
  • Unlimited, auto-requested complimentary upgrades on select American-marketed and -operated flights
  • Complimentary upgrade for you and 1 companion on American and Alaska Airlines flights
  • Complimentary Main Cabin Extra Seats at check-in, when available
  • Complimentary Preferred Seats, when available1 free checked bag
  • oneworld® Ruby status
  • Discounted Admirals Club® membership
  • Access to an exclusive Gold service desk and exclusive partner offers
AAdvantage Platinum 75,000
  • 60% status mileage bonus48-hour upgrade window
  • Priority check-in, security, Group 3 boarding and bag delivery
  • Same-day standby priority
  • Unlimited, auto-requested complimentary upgrades on select American marketing and operated flights
  • Complimentary upgrade for you and 1 companion on American and Alaska Airlines flights
  • Complimentary Main Cabin Extra and Preferred Seats, when available2 free checked bags
  • oneworld® Sapphire status
  • Discounted Admirals Club® membership
  • Access to an exclusive Platinum service desk and exclusive partner offers
AAdvantage Platinum Pro 125,000
  • 80% status mileage bonus72-hour upgrade window
  • Priority check-in, security, Group 2 boarding and bag delivery
  • Same-day standby priority
  • Unlimited, auto-requested complimentary upgrades on select American marketing and operated flights
  • Complimentary upgrade for you and 1 companion on American and Alaska Airlines flights
  • Complimentary Main Cabin Extra and Preferred Seats, when available
  • Complimentary same-day flight changes
  • Access to an exclusive Platinum service desk and exclusive partner offers3 free checked bags
  • oneworld® Emerald status
AAdvantage Executive Platinum 200,000
  • All of the benefits of AAdvantage Platinum Pro120% status mileage bonus100-hour upgrade window
  • Priority check-in, security, Group 1 boarding and bag delivery
  • Complimentary upgrades on award tickets
  • Guaranteed availability in the Main Cabin
  • Waitlist priority for purchased First or Business Class
  • Complimentary alcoholic beverage and snack in the Main Cabin
  • oneworld® Emerald status
  • Access to an exclusive Executive Platinum service desk and exclusive partner offers

What are Loyalty Choice Rewards?

The American AAdvantage program reimagined the Loyalty Choice Rewards benefit in the last few years while also changing its name to Loyalty Point Rewards. While this benefit used to be available to the two highest tiers of status within the AAdvantage program, it’s now given out in a different way.

Essentially, AAdvantage members get specific new benefits and the chance to pick from new Loyalty Point Rewards as they reach a new threshold of Loyalty Points. The chart below shows how these awards are given out and the benefits flyers can choose from.

Threshold reached You get: 
15,000 Loyalty Points Group 5 boarding (for the membership year), plus:

Choose 1 reward:

  • 1,000 Loyalty Points
  • Priority privileges and Group 4 boarding for a trip
  • 5 Preferred Seat coupons
60,000 Loyalty Points AAdvantage Gold® benefits, plus:
  • Unlock Avis Preferred Plus® status
  • Unlock 20% Loyalty Point bonus when you spend with select partners within 6 months of unlocking this reward
100,000 Loyalty Points AAdvantage Platinum® benefits, plus:
  • Unlock Avis President’s Club® status
  • Unlock 30% Loyalty Point bonus when you spend with select partners within 6 months of unlocking this reward
  • 175,000 Loyalty Points AAdvantage Platinum Pro® benefits, plus:
    Choose 1 reward:
    • 5,000 Loyalty Points
    • 2 systemwide upgrades
    • 20,000 bonus miles (25,000 bonus miles – AAdvantage® credit cardmember exclusive)
    • 6 Admirals Club® One-Day Passes
    • $200 Trip Credit ($250 Trip Credit – AAdvantage® credit cardmember exclusive)
    • Carbon offset
    • $250 donation to select nonprofit organization
    • 2 Gifts of AAdvantage Gold® status
    • 35,000 AAdvantage® miles toward a Mastercard Priceless® Experience* (AAdvantage® credit cardmember exclusive)
    250,000 Loyalty Points AAdvantage Executive Platinum® benefits, plus:
    Choose 2 rewards:

    • 15,000 Loyalty Points
    • 2 systemwide upgrades
    • 20,000 bonus miles (30,000 bonus miles – AAdvantage® credit cardmember exclusive)
    • 6 Admirals Club® One-Day Passes
    • Admirals Club® membership(requires 2 choices)
    • $200 Trip Credit ($250 Trip Credit – AAdvantage® credit cardmember exclusive)
    • Carbon offset
    • $250 donation to select nonprofit organizations
    • 2 Gifts of AAdvantage Gold® status
    • Bang & Olufsen product(requires 2 choices)
    • 1 Flagship® Lounge Single Visit Pass (2 Flagship® Lounge Single Visit Passes – AAdvantage® credit cardmember exclusive)
    • 35,000 AAdvantage® miles toward a Mastercard Priceless® Experience* (AAdvantage® credit cardmember exclusive)
    400,000 Loyalty Points AAdvantage Executive Platinum® benefits, plus:
    Choose 2 rewards:

    • 1 systemwide upgrade
    • 25,000 bonus miles
    • Admirals Club® membership(requires 2 choices)
    • $200 Trip Credit ($250 Trip Credit – AAdvantage® credit cardmember exclusive)
    • Carbon offset
    • Gift of AAdvantage Platinum® status
    • Bang & Olufsen product(requires 2 choices)
    • 2 Flagship® Lounge Single Visit Passes
    • 1 Flagship® First Dining visit pass
    • 40,000 AAdvantage® miles toward a Mastercard Priceless® Experience* (AAdvantage® credit cardmember exclusive)
    550,000 Loyalty Points AAdvantage Executive Platinum® benefits, plus:
    Choose 2 rewards:

    • 1 systemwide upgrade
    • 25,000 bonus miles
    • Admirals Club® membership(requires 2 choices)
    • $200 Trip Credit ($250 Trip Credit – AAdvantage® credit cardmember exclusive)
    • Carbon offset
    • Gift of AAdvantage Platinum® status
    • Bang & Olufsen product(requires 2 choices)
    • 2 Flagship® Lounge Single Visit Passes
    • 1 Flagship® First Dining visit pass
    • 40,000 AAdvantage® miles toward a Mastercard Priceless® Experience* (AAdvantage® credit cardmember exclusive)
    750,000 Loyalty Points AAdvantage Executive Platinum® benefits, plus:
    Choose 2 rewards:

    • 1 systemwide upgrade
    • 25,000 bonus miles
    • Admirals Club® membership(requires 2 choices)
    • $200 Trip Credit ($250 Trip Credit – AAdvantage® credit cardmember exclusive)
    • Carbon offset
    • Gift of AAdvantage Platinum® status
    • Bang & Olufsen product(requires 2 choices)
    • 2 Flagship® Lounge Single Visit Passes
    • 1 Flagship® First Dining visit pass
    • 40,000 AAdvantage® miles toward a Mastercard Priceless® Experience* (AAdvantage® credit cardmember exclusive)
    1,000,000 Loyalty Points AAdvantage Executive Platinum® benefits, plus:
    Choose 1 reward:

    • 4 systemwide upgrades
    • Carbon offset
    • Gift of AAdvantage Platinum Pro® status
    • Up to 100,000 miles back on award redemptions
    • 150,000 AAdvantage® miles toward a Mastercard Priceless® Experience* (AAdvantage® credit cardmember exclusive)

    How long does AAdvantage status last?

    Whenever you qualify for AAdvantage status, the status year will start on March 1 of that year and extend through February of the next year. Your membership year will begin on the date you qualify (or April 1, whichever comes first) and extend through March 31 of each year.

    American Airlines partners

    Top credit cards that earn American Airlines miles

    American Airlines credit cards make accumulating airline miles a breeze — regardless of how often you fly with the airline. The following airline cards offer plenty of reasons to sign up, including generous bonuses and frequent flyer benefits.

    American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® Card image
    Best for no annual fee

    American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® Card

    Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® image
    Best for everyday spending

    Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®

    Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® image
    Best for airport lounge access

    Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®

    Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard® image
    Best for business owners

    Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard®

    The bottom line

    American Airlines AAdvantage miles are easy to earn and redeem, and they can be easily transferred to other AAdvantage members, as well as a large number of American Airlines partners. Plus, if you sign up for one of their co-branded travel credit cards or earn elite status, you can earn bonus miles and receive travel perks or discounts.

    If you prefer flying with American Airlines — regardless of how frequently you fly — joining the free AAdvantage program would be worthwhile since you’ll have nothing to lose by signing up.

    American Airlines AAdvantage FAQs

    Issuer-required disclosure statement

    Information about the American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp Card, American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp®, Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® and CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® has been collected independently by Bankrate. Card details have not been reviewed or approved by the issuer.