Stephen is an established voice in the credit card space, with over 70 to his name. His work has been in publications like The Washington Post, and his Au Points and Awards Consulting Services is used...
Edited by: Chris Dong
Chris is a freelance writer and editor with a focus on timely travel trends, points and miles, hot new hotels, and all things that go (he’s a proud aviation geek and transit nerd). Formerly full time ...
& Juan Ruiz
Juan has been involved in credit cards, loyalty, travel, and personal finance for more than 10 years. He has worked for several outlets including The Points Guy and Forbes and was previously Editor-in...
15 comments
Ingrid Rey
July 02, 2022
E-rewards doesn’t earn loyalty points (just aadvantage miles) but miles opinions does. I have tested this recently.
Amy Dawn Everett
October 28, 2022
I earned miles flying Fiji Airways but not loyalty points. I booked directly with Fiji Airways as the same exact ticket trough American was twice as much.
Michael Powers
January 17, 2023
I have Platinum status through April from a promotion but have booked a couple flights in May. Do I get Platinum bonus loyalty points even after my promo status expires before I fly? I booked while having the Platinum promotion.
Katie Seemann
January 18, 2023
Hi Michael,
No, you wouldn’t get the Platinum bonus points since you won’t be Platinum at the time of the flight. You should, however, be able to go in and switch to Main Cabin Extra seats now and those should stick even after your status is downgraded.
Devon Street
January 25, 2023
Great and comprehensive article. However I am not clear on one thing and hoping you could clarify.
So let’s assume to travel to India and can purchase a round-trip economy ticket on AA.com for $1,300 (let’s assume $1,000 base price to keep the math simple). A roundtrip to India is roughly 16,000 miles in distance. Also let’s assume I have GOLD status with American.
If I buy my ticket on aa.com will I get 1,000 x 7 = 7,000 Loyalty points as I spend on aa.com.
Will I also get 16,000 miles I fly + 40% due to me being Gold Member, I.e. additional 6,400 miles.
And finally if I use Citi AA card that earns 2X on aa purchases, will that get me 1,000 loyalty points.
Are all the above stackable is essentially my question.
Please let me know.
Katie Seemann
January 25, 2023
Hi Devon,
Great question. In your scenario, you’d earn 7,000 miles/Loyalty Points based on the cost of your ticket. American doesn’t award miles based on the flight’s distance so you wouldn’t earn any extra miles that way. The 7x miles per $1 already takes into account the 40% bonus from Gold status as the base amount is 5x miles per dollar. You would, however, be able to earn 2x miles from your City AA card. That would be based on the entire purchase price (including taxes and fees), which would be 1,300 in this case. So in total, you’d earn 8,300 miles/Loyalty Points here.
DisAdvantaged
March 14, 2023
AA has ruined the mileage award acquisition.
It’s SO confusing and difficult to attain status that I don’t want to fly with AA anymore.
JayB
May 13, 2023
What about using Cash + Avios points or straight up award ticket with Avios points – would this ticket, say on British Airways or Cathay Pacific, earn you loyalty points with American per the usual formula?
Christine Krzyszton
May 22, 2023
Hi Jay. Any ticket on partner airlines that you would normally earn AAdvantage miles on when crediting the flights to American Airlines will also earn Loyalty Points. You would normally earn miles on a Cash + Avios flight but not on an Avios award ticket.
Luke
June 23, 2023
Your comment around getting 500 miles per Hyatt stay is incorrect. It is 1 mile per $1 spent.
Jarrod West
June 23, 2023
Hi Luke,
Thanks for pointing that out, I’ve corrected the post.
Carla
June 30, 2023
If I am an executive platinum member I understand I can earn 11 miles for every $1 I spend. Do I have to us an AA advantage credit card to earn those 11 miles? Or can I pay with my Amex card and still earn those miles? Does it have to be on AA flights only?
Jarrod West
June 30, 2023
Hi Carla,
You can pay with whatever credit card you’d like and still earn those miles.
Bob
August 16, 2023
If I am already a permanent Gold member, do I have to get 75000 loyalty points to attain Platinum, or only 35000 since I am already gold?
Jarrod West
August 16, 2023
Hi Bob,
You would still need to earn 75,000 Loyalty Points in order to qualify for Platinum status.
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