Can I Add Flights I Flew To My Aa Points Before I Registered

Founded in 1930, American Airlines is one of America's three "legacy" carriers and ane of the most visible brands in aviation. The airline'due south loyalty plan is called AAdvantage.

American is the ascendant carrier at its home drome, 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. Today, the airline operates an average of 6,700 flights every day, serving 350 destinations beyond l countries.

In this handy guide, we'll introduce all the different means you lot could earn and redeem AAdvantage miles. Nosotros will also discuss elite condition and AA'due south Oneworld and independent airline partners.

American Airlines frequent flyer sign-up

Before you lot can commencement earning miles with American Airlines, you lot'll demand to sign up for an AAdvantage frequent flyer business relationship. It'southward complimentary to join, and you can register hither .

How much American Airlines miles are worth

Based on our well-nigh contempo analysis, NerdWallet values American Airlines miles at one.2 cents apiece, which is exactly boilerplate when compared to its competitors .

After staying steady in value for the last several years, American is one of the few airlines whose miles value increased in 2022.

To determine the value of reward miles, nosotros compared cash prices and reward redemptions for economy round-trip routes across several destinations and dates. Nosotros divided the toll of the greenbacks ticket past the cost of the reward ticket to determine a "cent per mile" value for each flight, then averaged this value beyond several flights and dates.

American Airlines vs. competitors: How it stacks in 2022

American Airlines came in second identify (tied with Hawaiian Airlines) in our most recent assay on the best airline loyalty programs .

Hither's a closer look at how AAdvantage competed across categories:

How to earn AAdvantage miles

You earn AAdvantage miles when y'all fly on American or with one of its partner airlines, and through hotel stays, machine rentals, vacations, cruises, dining, shopping portals , various promotions or just past buying miles (usually a bad idea).

Although they're called "miles," yous earn them based on how much money you spend on tickets, not how far you fly.

In full general, AAdvantage miles volition elapse if you become eighteen months without earning or redeeming miles on American or one of its partner airlines. However, equally of July 1, 2020, members under historic period 21 are exempt from mileage expiration. Also, if you have an American Airlines-branded credit carte, your miles volition remain valid as long as you continue to use the card.

Earning AAdvantage miles when you fly

Earning on American: The number of miles you lot earn for a flight depends on how much yous spend on the ticket (in base fare and carrier-imposed fees). If you have AAdvantage elite status, you will earn boosted bonus miles for your trip.

Status level	Miles earned	Condition bonus
AAdvantage (basic)	5 miles per $1 spent.	None.
Gold	seven miles per $i spent.	40% bonus compared with basic.
Platinum	8 miles per $1 spent.	sixty% bonus compared with basic.
Platinum Pro	ix miles per $i spent.	eighty% bonus compared with basic.
Executive Platinum	xi miles per $1 spent.	120% bonus compared with basic.

Note: Yous earn miles only on airfare and airline fees. Government-imposed taxes and fees do not earn miles.

Earning on other airlines: American's partner airlines in the Oneworld alliance distribute frequent flyer miles based on which course your tickets are booked in. The cheapest economy tickets may earn merely 25% to l% of flown miles, while premium economy, business class and commencement class tickets can earn 100% base miles and a cabin bonus betwixt 10% and 50%.

However, not all routes or flights may authorize. If you lot buy a flight on a booking code non listed equally eligible for awards, y'all will not earn any honour miles for your flight. Also, some routes or affiliate airlines may non earn miles. To ameliorate understand how many miles you could earn with American's Oneworld partners, visit the American website .

Earning AAdvantage miles with a credit card

American Airlines offers co-branded credit cards through both Citi and Barclays.

You as well get a smashing sign-upward bonus to offset: Earn fifty,000 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles after making $2,500 in purchases within the outset three months of account opening.

The annual fee is $99 — merely the checked pocketbook benefit on this bill of fare can make upwardly for information technology rather apace. The commencement checked bag is free for you and upwardly to four others traveling on your reservation. You likewise get preferred boarding, and so you can go on the aeroplane relatively early and find space for your behave-on.

» Leap AHEAD to other credit cards that earn AAdvantage miles .

Earning AAdvantage miles through partners

Hotels: You lot can earn AAdvantage miles at most major hotel chains. In some cases, you earn i or 2 miles per dollar spent; in others, you earn a flat number of miles per stay. See partner hotels and earning rules.
Dining: Register a credit carte with AAdvantage Dining , and every time you utilize that card at a participating eating house, club or bar, you'll earn 1 to 5 miles per dollar spent. There are more than 11,000 participating locations.
Car rentals: Most major motorcar rental agencies offer an option to earn AAdvantage miles. See the rules here.
Fuel: Via a partnership with Shell'southward Fuel Rewards program , AAdvantage members earn 2 miles for every gallon of gas bought at Shell stations. Members also go 100 miles on their start fill-up after linking their AAdvantage account to Fuel Rewards.
Shopping: When you store online through the AAdvantage eShopping mall, you earn miles for every dollar you spend at more than 950 retailers.
Vacations: When booking a flight and hotel through AA Vacations , you could earn extra miles.
Cruises: You lot could earn three miles per $1 (up to xxx,000 AAdvantage miles) for booking a cruise through AA Cruises .

Buying AAdvantage miles

In nearly cases, we recommend you stay away from buying miles, as information technology's an expensive fashion to accumulate them.

Miles generally price ii.95 cents each, although American regularly offers sales that piece of work out to a improve value. Still, even with whatever discounts, purchasing miles should be a last resort (eastward.m., simply do this to top up your business relationship for an award redemption or to keep miles from expiring).

How to redeem AAdvantage miles

You can redeem AAdvantage miles for award flights, upgrades, car rentals, hotel stays, vacations, Admirals Gild airport lounge access and much more than.

AAdvantage miles are redeemable for flights through American Airlines and its partners in the Oneworld alliance. In about cases, yous can redeem by booking through American'south website. Some airlines do not show up on AA.com, and in those cases y'all need to call American Airlines and ask to waive the phone booking fee.

three types of award flight redemptions

American Airlines has a region-based award chart and offers three kinds of honor redemptions: MileSAAver (including off-peak), AAnytime and Web Specials.

MileSAAver honour seats are bookable for every bit piddling equally vii,500 miles on certain one-way trips in North America. MileSAAver awards may exist bachelor in all classes, simply the price yous'll pay for business or first class accolade seats is ofttimes more expensive than economy seats. Given the low price of MileSAAver seats, there may be only a limited number of them available on a given flight. AA also offers off-summit MileSAAver awards to Hawaii and international destinations based on dates the airline considers to exist in a low flavour for travel. The disbelieve for off-acme awards ranges from viii% to 33%, offer considerable mile savings.
AAnytime award seats are available for almost whatsoever flight, but they're significantly more expensive. A flying that costs 7,500 miles for a MileSAAver seat tin price as much every bit 40,000 miles for an AAnytime seat. Booking these awards is more often than not not advisable given the poor cent-per-mile value.
Web Specials are extremely discounted awards (every bit low as 5,000 miles) to certain destinations. The miles price varies past region and date, and the award tickets have some restrictions. American Airlines doesn't publish its Web Specials on any specific landing page, but a quick search volition tell yous whether the road you want falls under the discounted charge per unit.

Good redemption options

Generally speaking, the all-time redemptions are in business and first-class cabins. Why? Because the greenbacks toll increment from an economic system ticket to a business or first-class ticket is less than the cost increment in miles from an economy ticket to a business organization or outset-course ticket.

For example, a round-trip award from the continental U.S. to Europe costs sixty,000 miles in economy or 115,000 miles in business organization class.

Economy honour

That aforementioned ticket in cash costs $one,072.

After deducting the cost of taxes, y'all arrive at a 1.6 cents-per-mile redemption, which is above our one.2 cents -per-mile valuation.

Business concern class award

Let's consider a redemption in business class to show the difference in value due to the high cost of the flying. This flight from New York to Paris costs $three,855 in business concern grade.

In miles, that same flying costs 123,500 and $150.67 in taxes.

This redemption results in a value of three cents per mile, which is nearly triple our one.2 cents -per-mile valuation.

Although the award price increased 106% from 60,000 miles in economy to 123,500 miles in business organisation class, the cyberspace cost in dollars increased from $984 to $iii,704 (276%). This disproportionate miles-to-money increase explains why a premium cabin award often gives a much college redemption value.

However, this is simply an analogy — we're not saying a lower-value redemption isn't useful. Anybody has dissimilar travel preferences and destination goals, and some people may non intendance at all near a premium cabin experience. Call back that miles should exist used for travel rather than hoarded for the best imaginable redemption. As long as you feel like yous're getting a good value, that's all that really matters.

Bad redemption options

Using your AAdvantage miles to book a hotel with points yields a depression value.

In ane search for a hotel in Miami, the value of using the miles for a hotel room was around 0.eight cent per mile, which is below our ane.2 cents valuation, but a niggling more half the value of using the miles for domestic travel. A better bet would be to utilize hotel points or rewards earned from a cash-back credit carte for hotel bookings.

For instance, a ii-night stay at the JW Marriott Miami Turnberry Resort & Spa is $963.

If you were to book this using AA miles, it would cost 125,400 AA miles.

This redemption would result in a valuation of only 0.8 cent per mile.

American Airlines alter and cancellation policies

American has loosened its change and cancellation policies , making information technology easier for flyers to revise their flights. The airline no longer charges alter fees for domestic flights, short-booty international flights and many long-haul international flights, but you may still be on the claw for any fare differences if your new flight is more expensive. If you lot bought basic economic system, yous will not be able to make changes to your itinerary.

For flights booked with miles, yous'll also be able to change or cancel your reservation without whatever fees.

American Airlines partners

In general, you can earn AAdvantage miles on flights with Oneworld partners and redeem your miles for flights on Oneworld airlines.

Oneworld alliance members

Oneworld partner airlines are:

Alaska Airlines.
British Airways.
People's republic of china Pacific.
Finnair.
Iberia.
Japan Airlines.
Malaysia Airlines.
Qantas.
Qatar Airways.
Royal Air Maroc.
Royal Jordanian Airlines.
S7 Airlines.
SriLankan Airlines.

Other partner airlines

On airlines outside the Oneworld alliance, your ability to earn or redeem miles is more limited. You may be able to earn miles simply not redeem them, for example, or you may be able to redeem merely for certain flights. Other partner airlines include:

Air Tahiti Nui.
Cape Air.
Red china Southern Airlines.
Etihad Airways.
Fiji Airways.
GOL Airlines.
Hawaiian Airlines.
JetBlue.
Silver Airways.

Although you lot can redeem miles for most of these partners on AA.com, you will have to phone call the airline to volume some awards. Awards not bookable online include:

Etihad Airways.
Mainland china Southern Airlines.
GOL Airlines.

The flight award chart for partner airlines tells you lot how you tin earn flights on carriers other than American for no cost.

AAdvantage plan elite condition

Anyone can sign up for the AAdvantage program, merely basic membership only comes with a frequent flyer number and an account where your points accumulate. The real goodies come when you earn AAdvantage elite status.

AAdvantage aristocracy levels and benefits

	Gold	Platinum	Platinum Pro	Executive Platinum
Mileage bonus	40%.	sixty%.	80%.	120%.
Upgrade eligibility	Gratuitous upgrades on certain American flights.	Complimentary upgrades on sure American flights.	Free upgrades on sure American and Alaska Airlines flights.	Complimentary upgrades on certain American and Alaska Airlines flights.
When upgrades confirmed	24 hours before departure.	48 hours before deviation.	72 hours before departure.	100 hours before departure.
Priority seating perks	Free Preferred Seats or Master Cabin Extra Seats at check-in on select flights.	Free Chief Motel Extra and Preferred Seats on select flights.	Free Primary Motel Actress and Preferred Seats on select flights.	Complimentary Master Motel Extra and Preferred Seats on select flights.
Costless checked bags per flight	one.	2.	3.	3.

Elite status with American will provide reciprocal condition and benefits when flying with JetBlue via the Northeast Brotherhood partnership.

How to earn elite status in AAdvantage

Say goodbye to elite qualifying dollars, elite qualifying miles and elite qualifying segments. Starting in 2022, American Airlines completely revamped how passengers earn condition . You can now earn status by flying, using an AAdvantage credit carte or spending with an American Airlines partner.

In that location is now just 1 status metric — Loyalty Points — and the earning organization is really simple.

Each eligible mile earned equals i Loyalty Point. There are three ways to earn Loyalty Points:

Traveling on American Airlines, Oneworld or whatsoever other partner airline.
Making purchases on American Airlines AAdvantage credit cards.
Shopping, dining and spending money with American's partners, including AAdvantage eShopping, AAdvantage Dining, SimplyMiles and more.

How many Loyalty Points do you need to earn status with American Airlines?

Elite condition level	Loyalty Points
Gilt	30,000 points.
Platinum	75,000 points.
Platinum Pro	125,000 points.
Executive Platinum	200,000 points.

Since there are and then many more than means to earn status (without even stepping foot on a aeroplane), the number of points needed to reach the top status levels are high.

Credit cards that earn AAdvantage miles

American Airlines is unusual amongst U.S. airlines in that information technology has credit carte du jour agreements with two unlike issuers — a legacy of its merger with U.S. Airways. Cards that earn AAdvantage miles include:

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

2 miles for every $1 spent at gas stations.
2 miles for every $1 spent at restaurants.
2 miles for every $ane spent on eligible American Airlines purchases.
Annual fee: $0 intro for the kickoff year, so $99 .

CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®

2 miles on every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases.
2 miles on every $1 spent on telecommunications services, motorcar rental merchants and gas stations.
1 mile per $1 spent on everything else.
Annual fee: $0 intro for the first year, then $99 .

Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®

2 miles on every $ane spent on eligible American Airlines purchases.
one mile per $i spent on everything else.
Almanac fee: $450 — not waived in the beginning year.

American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp℠ Card

two miles for every $i spent on eligible American Airlines purchases.
two miles for every $1 spent at grocery stores, including grocery delivery services.
1 mile per $i spent on everything else.
Annual fee: $0 .

AAdvantage® Aviator® Crimson World Elite Mastercard®

2 miles per dollar spent on eligible American Airlines purchases.
1 mile per dollar on all other purchases.
Annual fee: $99 .

AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard®

ii miles per dollar spent on eligible American Airlines purchases.
2 miles per dollar spent at eligible office supply, telecom and car rental merchants.
i mile per dollar on all other purchases.
Almanac bonus of 5% of your earned miles.
Almanac fee: $95 .

Ofttimes asked questions

Is American Airlines AAdvantage worth it?

Deciding if a program is worth it depends on your home drome and where you're looking to fly. American Airlines flies to l countries (150 through its Oneworld partners), providing ample opportunity for passengers to utilize its service. AAdvantage, which is the airline's loyalty plan, offers many opportunities for redeeming its miles for award flights. If American flies to your home airport and reaches the destinations yous'd like to visit, it'southward a great airline to earn miles with.

How do I contact American Airlines AAdvantage?

To contact American Airlines past phone in the U.S., call 800-433-7300 or visit the website at aa.com . Yous can also reach American Airlines on Twitter at @americanair .

How many miles do you need to get a free flight on American Airlines?

Honor flights with American Airlines get-go at 7,500 AAdvantage miles for a one-way economic system flight under 500 miles in the contiguous U.Due south. and Canada. Longer distance flights in the contiguous U.S. and Canada start at 12,500 miles.

Is the AAdvantage plan free?

Yes, it is free to join the American Airlines AAdvantage programme. Head over to aa.com to register for an account. Doing so will permit yous to earn AAdvantage miles when you fly on American Airlines and its Oneworld partners.

Is American Airlines AAdvantage worth information technology?

Deciding if a program is worth it depends on your dwelling airdrome and where you're looking to fly. American Airlines flies to 50 countries (150 through its Oneworld partners), providing ample opportunity for passengers to utilize its service. AAdvantage, which is the airline'due south loyalty program, offers many opportunities for redeeming its miles for honor flights. If American flies to your habitation airport and reaches the destinations you'd like to visit, it'south a great airline to earn miles with.

How exercise I contact American Airlines AAdvantage?

To contact American Airlines by phone in the U.South., call 800-433-7300 or visit the website at

aa.com

. You tin also reach American Airlines on Twitter at

@americanair

How many miles practise you need to go a complimentary flight on American Airlines?

Accolade flights with American Airlines first at 7,500 AAdvantage miles for a i-way economy flight under 500 miles in the face-to-face U.S. and Canada. Longer altitude flights in the contiguous U.Due south. and Canada kickoff at 12,500 miles.

Is the AAdvantage program gratis?

Yes, it is free to join the American Airlines AAdvantage program. Head over to aa.com to register for an account. Doing so will allow you to

earn AAdvantage miles

when you fly on American Airlines and its Oneworld partners.

Final thoughts on the AAdvantage program

We've covered all the basic details of the American Airlines AAdvantage program. But if you lot yet aren't sure whether a frequent flyer program is worth the effort, see our absolute beginner'south guide to frequent flyer programs .

The information related to CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® has been collected past NerdWallet and has not been reviewed or provided past the issuer or provider of this product or service.

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