【6/6】Starting next year, AA will add Platinum Pro between Executive Platinum and Platinum, and will also add Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQD) requirements for elite status. The requirements for the four tiers, from highest to lowest, will be $12,000, $9,000, $6,000, and $3,000. At the same time, the requirement to fly at least four AA segments will be removed.
After acquiring US Airways, American Airlines became what AA calls the world’s largest airline. It has an extensive domestic and international route network and is part of the Oneworld alliance. AA’s frequent flyer program, AAdvantage, is also the only one among the three major US airlines that still awards miles based on actual flight distance, which makes it unusually consumer-friendly. AA miles can be a great value whether you redeem them for AA flights or partner award tickets. This article covers the basic things you need to know about AAdvantage.
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Elite status
AAdvantage has 3 elite tiers: Gold, Platinum, and Executive Platinum (EXP). By flying AA, Oneworld airlines, or Alaska Airlines, you can earn Elite Qualifying Segments, Elite Qualifying Miles, and Elite Qualifying Points. As long as, within a calendar year, any one of these metrics reaches the minimum threshold in the table below, and you have flown at least 4 AA/US segments, you can qualify for the corresponding elite tier. Status remains valid through the end of February of the second year after qualification.
Benefits of elite status
AA elite status gives you access to Priority AAccess security lanes, complimentary Main Cabin Extra seats or upgrades, bonus miles on flights, free checked bags, and more generous customer service during irregular operations. For the full benefits, see here.
Elite status challenge program
AA occasionally offers status challenges, which let you qualify with fewer flown miles over a short period of time. If you need elite status, this can be worth considering, and it can be an easy way to get to Platinum. For the updated 2016 elite status challenge program, see this article.
How to earn AAdvantage miles
Apply for/use AAdvantage co-branded credit cards
Apply for Citi AA credit cards:
- Citi AAdvantage Executive,
- CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select (Business),
- Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select,
After meeting the minimum spending requirement, you can earn 50,000, 50,000, and 50,000/60,000 AAdvantage Miles respectively. Even excluding the Business card, you can still earn 110,000. Regular spending on these cards also earns miles, though that is not always the most rewarding option compared with other cards.
Fly AA flights
First, an important point: mileage earning depends on the operating carrier, not the marketing carrier. A flight with an AA flight number that is actually operated by Cathay Pacific does not earn as an AA flight; it earns as a Cathay Pacific flight instead. See the next section. Flights actually operated by AA (including regional affiliates such as American Eagle) earn base miles based on actual flight distance. Gold members get a 25% bonus, while Platinum and Executive Platinum members get a 100% bonus. Business class and first class also receive a 50% bonus. If you are an AA elite, flights under 500mi will be bumped up to 500mi under the Minimum Mileage Guarantee.
Fly Oneworld airlines or other AA partners
You can also credit partner airline flights to AA. However, you must check the ticket’s booking code carefully. Sometimes discounted fares earn very few miles, or even none at all.
For Cathay Pacific flights, only booking code H (economy), Y and B (full-fare economy), W, R, and E (premium economy), plus business class and first class, earn 100% mileage credit. Other discounted economy fares earn no miles at all. In general, tickets you buy yourself on Cathay Pacific often fall into the non-earning categories, so pay close attention.
Japan Airlines is even more interesting: international economy earns anywhere from 30%-100% mileage credit, while domestic Japan flights earn 50%-100%. For details, refer here. Other airlines are less common, so here is the list of all partners that let you earn miles. If needed, click here to check the earning rules:
Online shopping
If you use links from the AAdvantage eShopping Portal to shop with partner merchants, you can earn AA miles. So before shopping on any site, it is a good idea to use Cashback Monitor to compare which shopping portal offers the best return. If AAdvantage offers the best value, then use its link and earn AA miles.
Dining
You can also earn AA miles by dining at restaurants participating in the AAdvantage Dining Program.
Car rentals / rides
You can also earn miles by renting cars or taking shuttles through AA partners, though you should read the terms carefully. AA’s car rental partners include major companies such as AVIS/Budget, Alamo/National, Hertz, Dollar/Thrifty, and Sixt, as well as shuttle companies like Supershuttle, which covers most major US airports. One noteworthy detail is that AVIS/Budget awards 500mi per rental for general members, 750mi for AA credit card holders, 1000mi for AA Gold/Platinum, and 1250 for AA Executive Platinum. That can be especially worthwhile for short rentals. Sixt also gives 500mi per rental.
Be careful, though: if you choose to earn miles from a car rental, the rental company will usually charge an extra fee. For example, Budget charges an additional $1 per day to earn AA miles, plus the Federal Excise Tax (7.5% of the miles earned, which is not a large amount). If the added cost is too high, you may be better off not earning miles.
Mileage expiration
If there is no activity in your AAdvantage account for 18 months, all miles in the account will expire. However, there are very cheap ways to extend the life of all your miles. For example, if you use the AAdvantage Shopping Portal to buy a $1 song on iTunes, you can earn 3 miles and reset the expiration clock for the entire account. It is a good idea to do this a few months before your miles expire, in case something goes wrong with the Shopping Portal at the last minute and you end up losing the account balance.
How to use AAdvantage miles
After working hard to build up AA miles, you naturally want to use them well. Here are some ways to redeem them:
Redeem for car rentals and hotels
AA miles can be redeemed for car rentals and hotels on this website. I did a quick search:
Pretty shocking: one night at a Hilton costs more than 30,000 miles. But then
it costs only $179 in cash, which comes out to 0.49 cent/mile. That is worse than even Delta SkyMiles. Unless you are sitting on a huge pile of miles with no better use, this is not a good redemption.
Use AAdvantage miles for award tickets
Booking award flights is the best use of AA miles. AA award redemptions are a fairly complex topic. Round-trip awards between the US and mainland China cost 35,000/55,000/67,500 miles in economy/business/first respectively, and the premium-cabin prices are cheap compared with most airlines. We will cover how to search award space and book tickets in a separate article.
Do you have an AA account? Come share your thoughts with everyone.