[Expired] You Can Now Buy American AAdvantage Miles With up to a 45% Discount

Update:The offer mentioned below has expired and is no longer available.

American Airlines is offering its first promotion on purchasing AAdvantage miles for 2023.

From now through March 3, 2023, you can get up to a 45% discount when you purchase at least 2,000 AAdvantage miles.

Here’s what you need to know.

Purchase AAdvantage Miles With a 45% Discount

American Airlines is offering a discount on purchased AAdvantage miles through March 3, 2023. The more miles you buy, the greater your discount will be, as shown in the tiers below:

• Purchase 2,000 to 5,000 miles and get a 5% discount
• Purchase 6,000 to 54,000 miles and get a 30% discount
• Purchase 55,000 to 149,000 miles and get a 35% discount
• Purchase 150,000 and get a 45% discount

It’s worth noting that other UP staffers have seen other offers, including one that offers up to a 40% bonus, so it appears this discount may vary based on the individual account and other factors including elite status.

Typically, American Airlines charges 3.5 cents per mile, but if you maximize this promotion and purchase 150,000 miles, you’ll be charged a total of $3,104.07, which brings the cost of each mile down to about 2 cents.

We value American Airlines AAdvantage miles at 1.4 cents apiece, so even with the 50% discount, it’s a relatively expensive proposition.

You can head to American’s buy miles page to complete your purchase — American will allow you to purchase a maximum of 150,000 AAdvantage miles per year.

Note that American processes the purchases of miles directly, so any transaction will count as an airfare purchase. This means you’ll want to use a credit card that rewards you for spending on airfare. The Platinum Card^® from American Express, for example, earns 5x points per $1 spent directly with airlines (up to $500,000 per year; then 1x points), which is the best you’ll find in the industry.

How To Redeem AAdvantage Miles

The AAdvantage program offers numerous compelling ways to use miles. For example, you can fly from the U.S. to the Middle East with Qatar Airways Qsuites for just 70,000 miles each way, between the U.S. and Japan with Japan Airlines in first class for 80,000 miles, or between the U.S. and Europe in British Airways in Club World for just 57,500 miles each way, among many other options.

Hot Tip: Check out the complete list of the best ways to redeem your American AAdvantage miles for maximum value!

AAdvantage miles aren’t the easiest currency to earn, either. Miles can only be transferred from Bilt Rewards and Marriott Bonvoy. You can transfer Bilt Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio or transfer Marriott Bonvoy points at a 3:1 ratio, but AAdvantage doesn’t have numerous transfer relationships like some other programs do.

Final Thoughts

Discounts on purchasing AAdvantage miles are relatively infrequent, so this presents an interesting opportunity to acquire a large number of them with up to 45% off.

We don’t typically recommend buying miles speculatively, but if you are eyeing pricey premium-cabin tickets on routes that happen to have award space, this could be a great way to travel up front for a lot less out-of-pocket.