You Can Now Earn American AAdvantage Miles and Loyalty Points on Paid Upgrades

Updated: April 26, 2026, 10:35am CDT

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Upgrade Your American Flight, Earn Miles and Loyalty Points
Is It Worth It?
Final Thoughts

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Upgrading your next American Airlines flight got significantly more rewarding.

Starting today, August 14, all paid upgrades on American Airlines will be eligible to earn AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points. Here’s an inside look at how these earnings will be doled out.

Upgrade Your American Flight, Earn Miles and Loyalty Points

Earlier this year, American Airlines announced it would make sweeping changes to the AAdvantage program. Many of these were positive for all AAdvantage members, not just elite status holders, including free same-day standby to an earlier domestic flight for all members and trip credit validity extended by another 6 months.

Among these major changes was the ability to earn Loyalty Points and AAdvantage miles on paid upgrades. Up until this point, paid upgrades haven’t been eligible for either.

American Airlines Business Class A380 — How’s this for a paid upgrade? Image Credit: Christine Krzyszton

Curious to know how many miles and Loyalty Points you’ll earn? It will depend on how much the paid upgrade costs and what level of elite status you have in the AAdvantage program:

AAdvantage (regular) member: 5x miles
Gold member: 7x miles
Platinum member: 8x miles
Platinum Pro member: 9x miles
Executive Platinum and Concierge Key members: 11x miles

Hot Tip:

There are several ways to earn Loyalty Points, including eligible purchases on the AAdvantage shopping portal and bookings on AAdvantage Hotels. You also can earn 1 Loyalty Point per dollar spent on American’s co-branded credit cards from Citi.

Is It Worth It?

If you were thinking of upgrading your flight with a buy-up offer, then this added incentive to earn miles and elite-qualifying points is a fantastic benefit for travelers.

After all, complimentary upgrades for elite status members aren’t what they used to be. As American (and other carriers) try to earn as much revenue as they can, the airline has been offering some excellent paid upgrade rates to all flyers.

If you’re going to take advantage of these upgrade opportunities, then the ability to earn miles and Loyalty Points is just the cherry on top. That way, you can earn your way to more free flights and popular loyalty benefits, such as free checked bags and access to Main Cabin Extra seats.

Final Thoughts

It’s great to see American make these improvements, and its AAdvantage program has fans across the country. American miles are quite valuable for partner redemptions, and accruing Loyalty Points is rather simple if you’re interested in elite status.