27 Best Ways To Earn American Airlines AAdvantage Miles [2023]

Q: Are American Airlines AAdvantage miles refundable?

Yes. Contact American Airlines reservations at 800-882-8880 to cancel your flight and ask for mileage back. If you cancel online, you’ll still have to call in to have your miles reinstated. American Airlines will reinstate miles at no charge up to 1 year after the ticket issue date. But the ticket must be cancelled before the first flight in your itinerary departs.

American Airlines is the world’s largest airline with the biggest fleet and highest revenue of any airline company in the world.

This translates to the airline not only having a strong route network from its various U.S. hubs, but also a powerful program that can be used to book airfare on all Oneworld airlines and other partners.

For example, you can use American’s AAdvantage miles to book everything from Qatar Airways Qsuites to Etihad Apartments, giving you access to some of the world’s best first and business class products at solid redemption rates.

With so many good redemptions available, we recommend that all U.S.-based travelers keep a stock of AAdvantage miles in their mileage bank. In this article, we’ll show you all the best ways that you can earn them.

Table of contents

Sign Up for an American Airlines AAdvantage Account
Earn AAdvantage Miles With Credit Cards
Earning Miles With Your Everyday Spending
Earning AAdvantage Miles Through Travel
Uncommon Ways To Earn AAdvantage Miles
Do You Earn Extra Miles With the ConciergeKey Program?
Final Thoughts

Table of Contents

Sign Up for an American Airlines AAdvantage Account
Earn AAdvantage Miles With Credit Cards
Earning Miles With Your Everyday Spending
Earning AAdvantage Miles Through Travel
Uncommon Ways To Earn AAdvantage Miles
Do You Earn Extra Miles With the ConciergeKey Program?
Final Thoughts

Sign Up for an American Airlines AAdvantage Account

Airline loyalty programs like AAdvantage differ from bank-established points programs (like Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards) because you don’t need an affiliated credit card to start earning miles right away.

Instead, simply create an AAdvantage account on the American Airlines website and you can start earning AAdvantage miles right away.

Be sure to remember the unique AAdvantage member account number you are assigned. You’ll need this number to earn miles on your flights with American (and its partners), purchases through American’s shopping portal, and other earning methods.

With that out of the way, let’s dig into all the ways to earn AAdvantage miles!

Earn AAdvantage Miles With Credit Cards

1. Citi® / AAdvantage® Credit Cards

Citi AAdvantage Executive Card GIG Champagne — Citi®/AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® grants access to the Admirals Club Lounges. Image Credit: Chris Hassan

Citi provides some of the easiest ways to earn AAdvantage miles through its co-branded cards, which include 3 personal credit cards and 1 business card.

Recommended American Airlines Cards

The most common card is the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard®, which earns 2 miles on purchases with American Airlines, as well as at restaurants and gas stations, making it easy to rack up miles with your everyday spending.

It also comes with the added perk of a complimentary checked bag and preferred boarding. Plus, you can earn a $125 flight voucher after spending $20,000 in a cardmember year and paying your annual fee.

The premium American Airlines card offered by Citi is the Citi®/AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®.

The card earns miles at the same rate as the AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite card and comes with benefits such as a complimentary checked bag, priority boarding in Group 4, up to $100 in credits for TSA PreCheck or Global Entry, and a full Admirals Club membership.

Citi also offers the American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp®. This card earns 2 miles on American Airlines and grocery store purchases and 1 mile on everything else. Plus, cardholders get a 25% rebate on inflight food and beverage purchases.

The CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® has a similar earning structure to the personal version of the card, but cardholders earn 2 miles on telecommunications, rental cars, and gas station purchases.

Additionally, CitiBusiness Platinum Select cardholders can earn a companion ticket after spending $30,000 during their membership year. Preferred boarding in Group 5 is also included with this card.

2. Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Mastercards

American Airlines also has a co-branded card offering with Barclays. The AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard® is very similar to the AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite card. It earns 2 miles with American Airlines and 1 mile on all other purchases. It also comes with preferred boarding in Group 5 and 1 free checked bag.

There are also the AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver Mastercard® (not open to new applicants) and the AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard®.

Hot Tip: For a more in-depth look at these cards, check out our post on the benefits and perks of the best American Airlines AAdvantage credit cards.

3. Marriott Bonvoy Credit Cards

You can earn Marriott Bonvoy points and transfer those to American Airlines at a transfer rate of 3:1.

Here’s more info on these cards, including details on welcome bonuses, annual fees, and more:

Recommended Marriott Bonvoy Cards

4. Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card

Bilt Rewards is a niche program aimed primarily at those who pay monthly rent. You can earn Bilt Rewards points and transfer them to American at a 1:1 ratio with a minimum of 2,000 points transferred. The Bilt card earns Bilt Rewards points on rent, although without a welcome bonus and with a minimum transaction requirement, this card won’t be for everyone.

Earning Miles With Your Everyday Spending

Don’t have a credit card? No worries — there are a few different ways to earn AAdvantage miles with your everyday spending.

5. Use the AAdvantage eShopping Portal

Earning American AAdvantage program miles gets even easier when you have a shopping portal at your fingertips. American Airlines has an excellent shopping portal: AAdvantage eShopping.

American AAdvantage eShopping example retailers — You can earn tons of AAdvantage miles through its shopping portal. Image Credit: AAdvantage eShopping

In the featured listing of stores above, you get an idea of the type of offers available. However, there are many other stores and offers to choose from (over 1,200). You can see all of them if you navigate to the portal and then follow the link to See All Offers.

The Additional Offers & Coupons section is especially useful since it has a helpful list of expiration dates for limited-time coupon code offers.

Make sure to check this page often as you can save some serious money with these coupons and see elevated miles-earning opportunities.

Using the American AAdvantage eShopping portal is simple. Just follow these steps before you begin shopping at a participating online store (or once you have a full cart and are ready to check out):

Go to the homepage.
Sign in to your AAdvantage account.
Search for a product or store.
Click on the store offer (such as Earn 3 miles/$).
The next loaded screen should look something like this:

American AAdvantage eShopping eBags — The confirmation screen that you are going to a partner website. Be sure to finish your shopping in a single session: if you close the window or try to come back later, you won’t get your miles. Image Credit: AAdvantage eShopping

Wait a few moments for the store’s website to load so you can begin shopping or finish checking out.
Make sure you are still logged in to the store through the portal before you head to Checkout to be absolutely certain you will receive the extra miles.

Follow the above steps and you’ll be on your way to maximizing the number of AAdvantage miles you can earn on your online purchases! Just note that miles will be credited to your account within a week or 2 of purchase.

To earn even more AAdvantage miles, you can use your AAdvantage-branded card when you shop.

Alternatively, you can use a credit card that earns multiple points per dollar on un-bonused spend to earn more points and diversify your points portfolio.

Hot Tip: Look for promotional periods and special offers to earn extra miles for using the eShopping portal or shopping at specific online retailers.

6. Sign Up for the AAdvantage Dining Program

The AAdvantage Dining program is great because you can earn extra miles for eating out at many of the restaurants you’d be going to anyway.

This is in addition to any miles earned with your credit card, so it’s even more valuable when combined with cards that earn bonus points on dining.

Just follow these steps to maximize your earnings through this program:

AAdvantage Dining program homepage join now — Signing up with the AAdvantage Dining program is a quick and easy process. Image Credit: AAdvantage Dining

Go to the homepage and sign up for an account by clicking the Join Now button at the upper right-hand corner of the window.
You’ll be prompted to add credit cards to your AAdvantage Dining account as you move through the registration process. Make sure to link credit cards that earn bonus points on dining so you can maximize your purchases.
Use the location search at the top to identify participating restaurants near you.
Use your registered credit card at participating restaurants and earn bonus points!

Make sure to link all of the credit cards you use for most dining purchases — you never know when you’ll dine at a participating restaurant and get a boost in your AAdvantage account.

As a new member, you can often earn a welcome bonus as well. Simply navigate to the Bonuses tab at the top and choose the Welcome Bonus.

The most common bonus offer is 1,000 bonus AAdvantage miles after spending $25 at a participating restaurant in your first 30 days of membership, but it changes frequently.

You’ll earn between 1 and 5 miles per dollar spent at participating restaurants with the AAdvantage Dining program. You’ll earn 3 miles per dollar if you opt-in to email notifications, and you’ll earn 5 miles per dollar when you reach VIP status. This status is earned after you dine at participating restaurants 11 times. Note that you’ll only earn 1 point per dollar if you opt out of email notifications, severely limiting your earning potential.

Hot Tip: You can add any and all of your credit cards to AAdvantage Dining — not just your AAdvantage cards. The only catch is your credit cards cannot already be enrolled in other miles-earning dining programs that are part of the Rewards Network. This includes other airline dining programs.

7. Shop Through SimplyMiles

If you’re an American Airlines co-branded credit card holder, you can use SimplyMiles to earn extra AAdvantage miles for in-store purchases. Just register for an account using your AAdvantage number, link any Mastercard, and then activate your targeted offers. It’s a great way to earn bonus miles with little effort.

8. Hotel Partner Credit Cards

If you have a co-branded hotel credit card, you may be able to transfer your hotel points to American Airlines.

However, this is almost always a terrible use of your hotel points unless you have a very specific redemption in mind or need to quickly top-up miles.

9. Sign Up for Fuel Rewards

Sign up for Shell’s Fuel Rewards program and you’ll earn 2 AAdvantage miles for every gallon of Shell gas purchased at participating locations.

As a bonus, new members can earn 100 AAdvantage miles when joining Fuel Rewards, but you must link your AAdvantage account to your Fuel Rewards account and ensure your first and last names on both accounts match.

It’s also worth noting that you will forfeit your Shell Fuel Rewards Gold or Silver status fuel savings if you choose to earn AAdvantage miles instead.

10. Enroll in Vinesse’s American Cellars Wine Club

Vinesse wine — You can earn miles just by shopping for wine! Image Credit: Vinesse Wines

When you join Vinesse’s subscription club, the American Cellars Wine Club, you can earn 2,000 AAdvantage miles with your first shipment.

After that, you can earn 5 miles per dollar spent on subsequent shipments.

Earning AAdvantage Miles Through Travel

Don’t forget your AAdvantage account when traveling. There are several ways to earn AAdvantage miles while on the road (or in the air).

11. Flying on American Airlines or Partner Airlines

American Airlines Plane in Phoenix — You can earn miles when flying on American Airlines or any of its many airline partners. Image Credit: BCFC via Shutterstock

As you’d expect, you can earn AAdvantage miles when you fly on American Airlines. You’ll earn miles based on how much your ticket costs, with more expensive tickets earning more miles.

Also, those with American Airlines elite status will earn more miles per flight than those without status. Here’s how many miles each status tier earns on American Airlines flights:

No status: 5 miles per dollar spent
Gold: 7 miles per dollar spent
Platinum: 8 miles per dollar spent
Platinum Pro: 9 miles per dollar spent
Executive Platinum: 11 miles per dollar spent

Earning Miles With American Airlines’ Partner Airlines

Further, American Airlines is a part of the Oneworld alliance. This means you can earn AAdvantage miles by flying with any of its Oneworld partners in addition to several other airline partners.

Just use your AAdvantage account number when purchasing the tickets.

Oneworld Partners
Alaska Airlines	Malaysia Airlines
American Airlines	Oman Air (joining in 2024)
British Airways	Qantas
Cathay Pacific	Qatar Airways
Fiji Airways (Oneworld Connect Partner)	Royal Air Maroc
Finnair	Royal Jordanian
Iberia	S7 Airlines (temporarily suspended)
Japan Airlines	SriLankan Airlines

American Airlines also has several other partner airlines, including the world-renowned Etihad Airways.

Air Tahiti Nui
Cape Air
China Southern Airlines
Etihad Airways
GOL
Hawaiian Airlines
IndiGo
JetBlue
Silver Airways

How you earn miles when flying on a partner airline will depend on whether you booked through American Airlines’ site or the partner’s site.

If you book a partner flight through aa.com, you’ll earn miles the same way you earn when flying on an American Airlines flight. If you book your ticket on a partner’s site (and add your AAdvantage number), you’ll earn miles based on the distance of your flight and the fare class of your ticket.

American Airlines Partner BA Chart — Earnings chart for British Airways-operated flights. Image Credit: American Airlines

To calculate this, find your match your ticket’s fare class to a fare class listed on your partner’s information page on American’s website.

Then, multiply the distance (in miles) of your flight by the percentage displayed underneath the Base Miles and Cabin Bonus (if applicable) columns.

For example, a flight from New York (JFK) to London (LHR) clocks in at 3,451 miles one-way.

If you flew this in W fare premium economy, you’d earn 5,176 AAdvantage miles. The math looks like this: 3,451 miles flown * 100% base miles * 50% cabin bonus miles = 5,176 miles.

Just note that certain low-cost or discount fares do not allow you to earn miles, so make sure to double-check your fare class before booking a ticket.

Hot Tip: For more information, check out this in-depth guide to help you know where to credit your airline miles.

12. American Airlines Purchases

Make sure to purchase your American Airlines tickets, seat fees, and other incidental costs with your American Airlines credit card. This will help you rack up miles in addition to what you’ll earn when flying.

13. Book an Airport Shuttle

Use SuperShuttle for your trip to and/or from the airport, and you can earn 50 AAdvantage miles for each one-way ride or 100 miles for a round-trip ride. The service operates in over 50 cities, so be sure to check its site to see if you need a ride on your next trip.

14. Booking Rental Cars

As discussed earlier in the article, the CitiBusiness Platinum Select card earns 2x miles on car rentals, but there are other ways to earn bonus miles on rental cars, too.

In addition to this credit card offer, American Airlines lets you earn miles through various its various car rental partners. See the table below to review the participating rental companies and their corresponding bonus miles offers.

Rental Company	Bonus Miles	Rental Company	Bonus Miles
Alamo	50 miles per day	Hertz	1 mile per dollar spent
Avis	500 miles per rental, more for elite members and credit card holders (use code K817100)	National	50 miles per day
Budget	500 miles per rental, more for elite members and credit card holders (use code UO72400)	Payless	500 miles per rental (use code K105200)
Dollar	50 miles per day	Thrifty	50 miles per day

Since Avis and Budget are considered “preferred” car rental partners, they will get you the most miles for each rental. Certain AAdvantage cardholders or elite status members can earn even more than 500 miles per rental.

If you are an AAdvantage cardholder, you can earn 750 miles per Budget or Avis rental.

If you are an AAdvantage Platinum or Gold member, you can earn 1,000 miles per Budget or Avis rental.

Finally, if you are an AAdvantage Executive Platinum status member, you can earn 1,250 miles per Budget or Avis rental. These are some excellent perks for being loyal in different ways to the American Airlines AAdvantage program!

15. Park at the Airport

Need to leave your car at the airport? Consider using PreFlight Airport Parking, which operates out of 5 airports. With PreFlight, you can earn 1 AAdvantage mile per $1 spent on airport parking. Again, this is another way to earn miles for spending you’d be making anyways.

16. Hotel Partnerships

American Airlines has several hotel partners where you can earn extra miles for each night you stay or based on how much you spend, depending on the hotel in question.

Check out all hotel partners on its website, or look at the table below to help you decide which hotel you might stay at next to earn bonus AAdvantage miles.

Hotel	Miles/Stay	Hotel	Miles/Stay
American Airlines Hotels	Up to 10,000 per night	Marriott Hotels	Up to 2 miles per $1 spent
Hyatt	500 miles per stay	RocketMiles	Up to 5,000 miles per stay
IHG Hotels	Up to 2 miles per $1 spent

As you can see, American partners with RocketMiles for hotel bookings. The RocketMiles portal lets you earn up to 5,000 AAdvantage miles per night at thousands of hotels worldwide.

We recommend comparing and contrasting earnings between the 2 booking portals to see which offers you the most miles for your next hotel stay.

17. AAdvantage – World of Hyatt Partnership

AAdvantage members with Gold status and above can earn 1 mile per dollar spent at Hyatt with the AAdvantage – World of Hyatt partnership.

This is in addition to the World of Hyatt points you’ll already earn for your stays, making it an exceptionally good way to earn points and miles for American frequent flyers.

To enroll, simply link accounts and you’ll start earning AAdvantage miles on your Hyatt stays automatically.

18. Rewards for Show Tickets

If you sign up for Audience Rewards, you can earn up to 2,200 miles per ticket for various performances. These include Broadway shows, off-Broadway shows, cabarets, operas, exhibitions, workshops, and more.

To earn miles, simply enroll with your AAdvantage account number and find tickets for a show in a city near you. Participating cities include Chicago, Durham, Los Angeles, New York City, San Diego, San Jose, and Tucson.

Here’s how to earn miles on tickets through Audience Rewards:

Go to the Audience Rewards homepage.
Joining Audience Rewards is simple — just click the Join for Free button and follow the on-screen prompts. Image Credit: Audience Rewards
Create an Audience Rewards account by clicking the Join for Free button on the homepage. You’ll be prompted to link your AAdvantage account to your Audience Rewards account as you move through this process.
Head back over to the Audience Rewards homepage and select your location from the drop-down menu at the center of the screen.
Look for a show you’d like to see. You can do this by using the search bar at the bottom of the screen or by using the Browse by Category section at the center of the screen.
Image Credit: Audience Rewards
Click Buy & Earn underneath the show name and look at the center of the screen.
Image Credit: Audience Rewards
Click the + button next to the Earn [points] Bonus ShowPoints per ticket and you can see which dates are eligible for points-earning with Audience Rewards.
Copy and paste this code in the Audience Rewards box when you buy your tickets from Telecharge or another merchant. Image Credit: Audience Rewards
Click Buy now at the center of the screen and copy the number appearing in the pop-up window.
Click Continue and you’ll be redirected to an authorized ticket dealer website to purchase the tickets (Telecharge, TicketMaster, etc.).
Find tickets available within the bonus offer date period and add the Audience Rewards number you received in step 7 at checkout.

Now, enjoy the show and the extra miles in your AAdvantage account! Make sure to check Audience Rewards every time you buy a Broadway ticket — otherwise, you’re leaving valuable miles on the table.

19. Booking Vacation Packages

Earn a minimum of 1,000 AAdvantage miles when you book packages through American Airlines Vacations. Image Credit: American Airlines Vacations

American Airlines has long offered vacation packages. These vacation packages often combine flights, hotels, and car rentals at a discounted price. And better yet, you’ll earn bonus AAdvantage miles in the process.

You’ll earn 1,000 per vacation package booked, and you can earn up to 30,000 bonus AAdvantage miles by booking at preferred hotels and locations. You can view these bonus offers on the American Airlines Vacation website.

Plus, you’ll earn miles for flying on American Airlines or one of its partners when booked as a part of a vacation package.

To book a vacation package, head over to the American Airlines Vacations website. Enter your destination and dates at the center of the screen and click the search button. Then, all available vacation packages will be listed on-screen.

Make sure to sign in to your AAdvantage account when booking to receive your bonus miles.

20. Book AA Cruises Around the World

Earning With American Airlines Cruises — You can earn tons of bonus AAdvantage miles when you book a cruise through American Airlines. Image Credit: American Airlines Cruises

You can also earn AAdvantage miles when you book cruises through American Airlines’ cruise portal.

Check American Airlines Cruises for the latest bonus offers on cruises to places like Alaska, the Caribbean, Europe, and Hawaii. Currently, you can earn 1 mile per dollar spent on all American Airlines Cruises, up to 10,000 miles per cruise.

Plus, some cruise lines offer 10,000 to 100,000 additional AAdvantage miles when you book select cruises.

For example, as of the time of writing this article, you can earn up to 100,000 bonus AAdvantage miles by booking cruises with Seabourn. You can view all available bonus offers on the American Airlines Cruises homepage.

Uncommon Ways To Earn AAdvantage Miles

The American Airlines AAdvantage program also has tons of partnering companies that offer unique ways to earn miles — this includes everything from charity donations to opening a new checking account.

Here are some of the best offers available.

21. Make a Donation to Stand Up To Cancer

American Airlines has partnered with Stand Up To Cancer to offer 25 AAdvantage miles per $1 donated (on donations of $25+) to the organization.

Stand Up to Cancer is a premier cancer research charity that funds cancer research and awareness. Earn miles when you donate through this link and add your AAdvantage number.

22. Switch Your Home Utility Providers

Earn American Miles by Switching to NRG — You can earn miles by switching home utility providers — just make sure the miles outweigh a possibly higher cost. Image Credit: NRG

American Airlines has partnered with 2 home utility providers to offer bonus AAdvantage miles when you switch your home utilities like electricity and gas.

These companies service different parts of the U.S. and each offers a different number of miles for both signing up and paying your bill every month. Here’s a look at the current earning structure:

Company	Service Area	Bonus Miles
NRG	Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C.	Up to 15,000 miles; 2 miles per $1 spent on electricity charges
Reliant	Texas	15,000 miles plus 500 miles per month, up to 27,000 miles total

Make sure to do your homework before you sign up for one of these services. The miles you earn may look tempting, but for some of these services, it may be more expensive than your local utility provider.

So with this in mind, it may not be worth staying with the service after you receive your initial bonus miles.

23. Sign Up With an American Airlines Financial Services Partner

The AAdvantage program has tons of partners in the business and financial space. Some of the products and services these companies offer will earn you extra miles when you digitally enter or verbally notify a sales agent of your AAdvantage miles number.

Many of these options offer multiple ways to earn miles through various products or services, including the offers below.

Company	Product/Service	Example of Largest Bonus Miles Offer
LifeLock	Credit and social security monitoring that protects you from identity theft	12,000 miles when you enroll in Lifelock ID Theft Protection
Miles From Home	Sell your home and earn miles based on the sale price	2,000 miles for every $10,000 of the sale price of your home

You should check the rates on these offers before signing up. Make sure the rates offered do not outweigh the miles benefits, as you may end up earning less interest or paying more than if you skipped the miles.

24. Fill Out Surveys With e-Rewards

American Airlines AAdvantage is a participant in e-Rewards, an online data collection company wherein you can participate in marketing research and earn miles in return.

There is no public registration directly with e-Rewards. Instead, you’ll need to be invited through American Airlines AAdvantage to participate.

You can receive daily surveys by email or view them by logging into your account online. Usually, you’ll be offered a certain dollar amount in e-Rewards currency for completing the survey.

You can earn as little as $0.10 and up to $15 in e-Rewards currency for completing a single survey. As soon as you complete it, you’ll see your balance increase, and you can convert your balance into miles.

AA eRewards eMiles — Different examples of miles you can earn through e-Rewards. Fill out online surveys and get rewarded. Image Credit: e-Rewards

The above example from e-Rewards shows that once you accumulate as little as $25, you have the option to turn this balance into 500 AAdvantage miles.

Hot Tip: Use e-Rewards to top up your AAdvantage miles account when you’re getting ready to purchase award flights on American Airlines. Alternatively, use this currency to keep your AAdvantage miles from expiring.

25. Take Surveys With Miles of Opinions

Similar to e-Rewards, you can earn AAdvantage miles for taking surveys through Miles of Opinions. Once you enroll using your AAdvantage number, you’ll earn AAdvantage miles for every survey you take. And the miles will be automatically deposited into your account. This is another easy way to keep your AAdvantage miles from expiring.

26. Bank With Bask Bank

Bask Bank has the innovative approach of allowing you to open a savings account that lets you earn American Airlines miles instead of cash interest. With Bask Bank, account holders earn 2 AAdvantage miles for every dollar deposited annually. So, if you were to deposit $15,000 in your Bask Savings Account, after 1 year you will earn 30,000 AAdvantage miles.

Bask has also run point bonuses with opening account deposits, as well as for maintaining a certain balance level over the course of a year.

27. Buy AAdvantage Miles

Buying miles is the last way we’ll mention to earn miles, although it is often a poor way to get AAdvantage miles.

However, when American Airlines has mileage sales that earn bonus miles, you might be able to get a decent value for the miles if you need to top off your account so you can book an award ticket.

Leave buying miles for times when you absolutely need the miles in your account immediately to book an award.

Do You Earn Extra Miles With the ConciergeKey Program?

Concierge Key is American’s non-publicized elite-status program that American Airlines offers to its top-paying customers. There is no publicly available way to earn the status and you must be invited by American.

Unfortunately, while there are many great perks to American Airlines Concierge Key, you do not earn any additional bonus miles for being a member.

For more information, check out our complete guide to American Airlines Concierge Key status.

Final Thoughts

As shown in this article, there are plenty of ways to earn extra AAdvantage miles, including American Airlines credit cards, the AAdvantage eShopping portal, and the AAdvantage Dining program.

With little to no effort, you can use these programs to earn extra miles on purchases you’d make anyway. Just sign up for accounts and remember to use them whenever you eat out or make online purchases.

If you’re really savvy, you’ll have tons of AAdvantage miles in your account in no time — so be sure to check out our recommendations on the best ways to use 100,000 AAdvantage miles.

Safe travels!

The information for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard®, CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®, AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®, AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver Mastercard®, AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard®, and Bilt World Elite Mastercard® Credit Card was independently collected by Upgraded Points and not provided nor reviewed by the issuer.

For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express^® Card, click here.
For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card, click here.

Featured Image Credit: Kunertus via Shutterstock

Frequently asked questions

What are American Airlines miles?

American Airlines AAdvantage miles are American Airlines’ in-house mileage currency. You can earn these miles by flying on American Airlines or by using one of the methods outlined in this article.

Can American Airlines AAdvantage miles be transferred?

American Airlines AAdvantage miles cannot be transferred to partner airlines. They can, however, be used to redeem tickets on award flights with partner airlines. They can also be redeemed for car rentals, hotel stays, and more, but for less value.

Are American Airlines AAdvantage miles refundable?

Yes. Contact American Airlines reservations at 800-882-8880 to cancel your flight and ask for mileage back. If you cancel online, you’ll still have to call in to have your miles reinstated.

American Airlines will reinstate miles at no charge up to 1 year after the ticket issue date. But the ticket must be cancelled before the first flight in your itinerary departs.

Which credit cards earn AAdvantage miles?

American Airlines issues credit cards from both Citi and Barclays. Here’s a look at the card lineup from both banks.

Citi cards include:

AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite card
AAdvantage Executive World Elite card
AAdvantage MileUp card
CitiBusiness Platinum Select card

Additionally, Barclays provides the AAdvantage Aviator Red card, AAdvantage Aviator Silver card (not currently available for application), and AAdvantage Aviator Business card.

The best frequent flyer credit card for earning AAdvantage miles is the AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite card, simply because it has the widest variety of earnings categories.

What are American Airlines AAdvantage miles worth?

We currently value AAdvantage miles at 1.4 cents per point. However, you may be able to redeem for more value when you use your miles for first and business class tickets on partners like Qatar Airways.

How many AAdvantage miles do I need to get to Europe?

You will need at least 22,500 AAdvantage miles to fly to Europe in economy class during off-peak dates from November 1 to December 14 and January 10 to March 14.

You may be able to score a trip to Europe for fewer miles if you stumble upon an Economy Web Special award. These promotional awards change frequently and are only available for a limited time.

Who are American AAdvantage partners?

American Airlines is a part of the Oneworld alliance, so they are partners with all Oneworld carriers, including Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Fiji Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian Airlines, and SriLankan Airlines.

They are also partners with Air Tahiti Nui, Cape Air Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Etihad Airways, GOL, Hawaiian Airlines, IndiGo, JetBlue, and Silver Airways.

What is the American Airlines ConciergeKey program?

American has an elite status tier to their frequent flyer program called ConciergeKey. It offers extra special treatment like a dedicated service line, priority boarding, and more. But you must be invited to the program to participate.

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About Andrew Kunesh

Andrew was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs and now splits his time between Chicago and New York City. He’s a lifelong traveler and took his first solo trip to San Francisco at the age of 16. Fast forward a few years, and Andrew now travels just over 100,000 miles a year, with over 25 countries, 10 business class products, and 2 airline statuses (United and Alaska) under his belt.

Disclaimer: Any comments listed below are not from the bank advertiser, nor have they been reviewed or approved by them. No responsibility will be taken by the bank advertiser for these comments.

38 comments

Craig A. McNeal February 15, 2018

I have used my Citi American Airlines AAdvantage credit card for many years, but if I was assigned an account number for points redemption, I have no knowledge of what it is. Since I am considering one or two upcoming trips, how do I obtain the account number and total miles in my account?

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- Alex Miller February 16, 2018
  
  If you give Citi a call, they’ll tell you the American Airlines account that is linked to your card. Alternatively, you should also find it pretty easily by logging into your Citi account online.
  
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Safuvan Padannayil March 10, 2018

Hi, do you have any suggestion for earning AA Miles while in England? I’ve CITI AA Bronze Credit Card, but due to 3% Foreign Transaction Fee, it is not great idea to spend abroad. I need 2K AA Miles for my next award. Appreciate any help.

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- Alex Miller March 12, 2018
  
  If you have an SPG card you could use that on your spend abroad as AA is a transfer partner of theirs. There are no foreign transaction fees with that card, either!
  
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Safuvan Padannayil March 15, 2018

Thanks for your response. Unfortunately I don’t have an SPG card.

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You Fly We Pay August 14, 2018

My American Airlines miles will expire in 4 days. I decided to dine at a restaurant which was registered with their rewards network. From what I know, this count as an activity so technically my miles would be extended. However, seems like this activity will not show up in my account for many days, possibly after my miles expire. Will my miles be saved since I dine there before they expire?

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- Christine Krzyszton August 15, 2018
  
  If you used an American Airlines-branded credit card the activity will extend your miles if the charge shows up in time. Another last minute option, but not as cost-effective, is to purchase 1000 American miles. You’ll pay close to $60 to do this but miles are processed quickly. You may even want to call 800-882-8880 AAdvantage customer service since the miles haven’t expired yet. Perhaps they can offer an option as well.
  
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Mother Nature April 11, 2019

Been wondering how to earn points for my cards. thanks for your help!

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- Christine Krzyszton April 11, 2019
  
  And thank you for your comment. Glad you found the information useful.
  
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Dennis F Dutton May 13, 2019

If I purchase tickets for my family to fly American Airlines, can I get mileage credit when they fly?

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- Christine Krzyszton May 14, 2019
  
  Hi Dennis. Unfortunately, only the person who flies on the ticket receives mileage credit. They must sign up for a frequent flyer account with American Airlines AAdvantage and make sure their frequent flyer number is in the reservation to receive credit.
  
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Lisa D May 15, 2019

I am about to buy a car, can I use my card to place the down payment and get points for that?

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- Christine Krzyszton May 15, 2019
  
  Hi Lisa. Yes, it is possible to use your credit card for a down payment when purchasing a car. The amount you can put on your card will depend on the dealership and of course, your credit limit. It’s not advised to do this if you cannot pay off the total amount due when your statement comes because interest charges will negate any points/miles received.
  
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Calsha May 20, 2019

My son was accepted into a college in Ohio. American Airlines is the only airlines that flies nonstop from LAX to Columbus. We are both AAdvantage and Alaska Airlines miles members. I just realized that they are partners. I wanted to get an AA credit card that will give me perks like free bags fees, since he will be flying back and forth the next four years. Which do you think the best AA card I should apply for? Thanks

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- Christine Krzyszton May 21, 2019
  
  Hello Calsha. Congratulations on your son getting accepted to college. The best American Airlines credit card for you will depend on how often you will be flying American Airlines, whether lounge access is important to you, and your tolerance for paying an annual fee. We have an article that might help you decide as it breaks down all the benefits of the best American Airlines credit cards. https://upgradedpoints.com/credit-cards/best-credit-cards-for-american-airlines-flyers/ Hope this helps.
  
  Reply
  - Calsha May 22, 2019
    
    Christine –
    Thank you so much for taking the time to reply so quickly to my comment. Your article is the most comprehensive and helpful article.
    
    Reply
    - Christine Krzyszton May 22, 2019
      
      Glad you found it useful, Calsha. And thanks for reading.
      
      Reply
Gaffgolf June 24, 2019

United currently offers 10,000 mileage point bonus (max of 50,000/year) for mileage members/Chase credit card holders who “refer a friend” who is approved for their eligible United Explorer Credit cards from Chase Bank. Does the AA Advantage plan currently offer a similar or any type promotion for referring friends ultimately approved for their eligible cards through Citibank? Thanks for a prompt reply!!!

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- Jarrod West June 30, 2019
  
  Hi Gaffgolf,
  
  Unfortunately, the Citi American Airlines cards do not offer a referral bonus at this time.
  
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salim hasmani June 27, 2019

British Airways Avios can transfer to American airline Advantage program?

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- Jarrod West June 28, 2019
  
  Hi Salim,
  
  You cannot transfer your British Airways Avios into an American Airlines Advantage account. But since the two carriers are partners you can redeem your BA Avios to for flights operated by American Airlines.
  
  Reply
Robin July 23, 2019

Hi how many miles do I need to qualify for Elite status.

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- Stephen Au July 23, 2019
  
  Hi Robin,
  
  Please refer to the information presented in this link:
  
  https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-program/elite-status/aadvantage-elite-status.jsp
  
  We are not American Airlines, so you can double check directly with them regarding your elite status.
  
  Reply
Dan August 22, 2019

Thanks for the info. I just recently received the 50k bonus miles from Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard. If I sign up for Barclay Aadvantage Aviator and meet the minimum spending, would I get the 60k bonus miles? Or I need to wait for certain months to get AA bonus? I’m guessing I could get the bonus miles as they are two different banks. Thanks!

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- Jarrod West August 23, 2019
  
  Hi Dan,
  
  You would be able to get the welcome bonus for both cards since they are two separate products offered by different banks.
  
  Thanks for reading!
  
  Reply
  - Chris December 31, 2019
    
    24. Rocketmiles can be quite lucrative.
    
    Reply
Mary L Wilson November 20, 2019

Can I earn miles by paying my mortgage and utilities with my Citicard? And if so, how many per dollar?

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- Christine Krzyszton November 20, 2019
  
  Hi Mary. If your mortgage and/or utility companies allow you to pay them with your Citi American Airlines AAdvantage card you would earn just 1 mile per dollar spent.
  
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Audrey January 28, 2020

I believe Aviator Red gives 1 mile per dollar on non-American spending, not 2.

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- Jarrod West January 29, 2020
  
  Hi Audrey,
  
  Thanks for pointing that out! I’ve just corrected the post to the accurate info.
  
  Reply
Jack Bauer March 9, 2020

Can I transfer my AMEX MR points to Hilton (current bonus is pretty nice at 3:1) then transfer those points, which would now be Hilton, to American Airlines?

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- Jarrod West March 10, 2020
  
  Hi Jack,
  
  You cannot transfer Hilton points into AA miles. The only airline transfer partners that Hilton offers is Hawaiian Airlines and Virgin Atlantic Airways.
  
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Dave June 22, 2020

Can I link my wife’s AAdvantage account number to my card, so she earns the points when I spend, and they will count towards her million Mile status?

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- Jarrod West June 22, 2020
  
  Hi Dave,
  
  Unfortunately, this is not allowed as the name on the AAdvantage account needs to match the name on the credit card. Thanks for reading!
  
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Jeff G March 24, 2021

Just a cautionary tale regarding #21 – Miles for Surveys. I was invited to the program, and used it a lot over the first month. Then it stopped providing new surveys. When I wrote to ask why there were no surveys, they wrote back to say that I had abused the system and was permanently banned. Mind you, I wasn’t intending on “abusing” anything, but it’s their points, their rules. Just wanted to let folks know it’s possible to kill the golden goose without realizing it.

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- Jarrod West March 24, 2021
  
  Hi Jeff,
  
  Thanks for sharing that, and I’m sorry to hear they axed you from the program. About how many surveys would you say you filled out during that first month?
  
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Jared L.. July 12, 2021

When Sprint and T-mobile merged they canceled their partnership with American. The Sprint Perks for American Airlines AAdvantage program and associated benefits has ended. You can no longer earn AA miles with a Sprint account.

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- Jarrod West July 14, 2021
  
  Hi Jared,
  
  Thanks for pointing that out – I’ve just updated the post. Thanks for reading!
  
  Reply