10 Best Ways to Use American Airlines AAdvantage Miles
If you are a frequent traveler, then you should get advantage of airlines’ advantage programs. They provide you with several great benefits.
American Airlines is one of the companies that offer its customers the option to use AAdvantage miles. It’s one of the most popular award programs in the world. If you fly with this air carrier regularly, then it’s good to learn the details about its awards program.
American Airlines loyalty program gives you the opportunity to get many advantages. You can receive great value from your miles, if you choose to fly on American Airlines, Oneworld or other partner airlines.
What is AAdvantage Miles program?
American Airlines AAdvantage program was created on May 1 , 1981. It’s a frequent flyer program which allows you to earn points when you fly on American Airlines or one of its partner airlines. AAdvantage is the largest airline loyalty program in the world with its 67 members.
If you choose this awards program, the number of miles you can earn depends on the price you pay for the flight ticket. It’s important to know that you can earn miles on airfare and airline fees. Fees and taxes that are imposed by the government cannot be used for earning miles.
You can also earn miles on other airlines. American Airlines have partner air carriers that are part of the Oneworld alliance. They offer frequent flyer miles that depend on the air travel class you choose to book your ticket in. One way to learn exactly how many miles you can earn with Oneworld partners of American Airlines is to check the airline’s website.
For example, the cheapest tickets for regular economy class can earn from 25% to 50% of flown miles. On the other hand, tickets for business and first class cabin can earn 100% of base miles. They can also help you earn a cabin bonus of 10% or 50%.
But not all types of flights and routes count. If you buy a flight ticket using a booking code which is not categorized as eligible for awards you won’t get awards for your flight. Certain routes or affiliate airlines may not help you earn miles.
Ways to use American Airlines AAdvantage miles:
1.To visit new places
One of the ways to use American Airlines AAdvantage Miles is for traveling. With the airline’s AAdvantage program you can travel to more than 1000 destinations around the world. You can either choose to travel on American Airlines, American Eagle, Oneworld airlines or partner airlines.
2.To get upgrades
Upgrades enable you to move to the next cabin and enjoy premium quality air travel. If you choose American Airlines upgrades, this will guarantee you high quality air travel experience.
3.Go to a vacation
American Airlines AAdvantage program also gives you the opportunity to spend a vacation in more than 500 destinations. This program is called AA Vacations. If you make your booking through AA Vacations, you can earn extra miles.
4.Make a hotel reservation
AAdvantage program gives you the option to book hotel stays. Most large hotel chains offer you the option to earn AAdvantage miles. Customers can earn 1-2 miles per each spent dollar.
In some cases you can earn a flat number of miles per stay. You should learn the earning rules of this option and check what are the airline’s partner hotels.
5.Rent a car
Large car rental agencies offer their customers the opportunity to earn AAdvantage miles.
6.Go on a cruise
For each dollar you spend you can earn 3 miles. The program AA Cruises offers you the option to earn up to 30,000 AAdvantage miles if you choose to book a cruise.
7.Buy retail products
American Airlines gives its customers the option to use shopping portals. If you choose to fly with this airline, you can earn miles for each spent dollar at more than 950 retail locations. You just need to shop online through the AAdvantage eShopping mall.
8.Become a member of Admirals Club
AAdvantage program offers you the option to get an elite status inside the Admirals Club.
9.Buy or renew a membership in Admirals Club
Your status level in the airline determines how many miles you can earn for your trip and what bonus you will get.
Having an AAdvantage elite status, you can earn additional bonus miles for your travel.
10.Enjoy fine dining
You can make use of this offer by American Airlines, if you register a credit card with the program AAdvantage dining.There are some restaurant and bar chains that participate in the awards program of American Airlines.
The number of participating locations is close to 11,000. You can get from 1 up to 5 miles per each dollar spent every time you use a credit card for registration at a partner restaurant, club or bar.
If you are an American Airlines flyer, you can buy additional AAdvantage miles. You can do this through the airline’s website. This can be done for international advantage miles. However, this option isn’t highly recommended.
Buying miles is an expensive method to get miles. It should be used in special cases like getting the account needed for award redemption or save you miles from expiring. The general cost for miles is 2.95 cents each.
AAdvantage flights can be redeemed for flights through American Airlines and its partner airlines in the Oneworld alliance. Mostly, you can redeem your flight through American Airlines’ website. You should know that some airlines are not on the airline’s webpage.
Another great way to redeem American Airlines miles is to book your flight with AA’ s partner airlines.
If you want to book domestic flights, check out the monthly reduced mileage awards which offer discounted flight prices.
American Airlines offers you also the option to get special flight awards.The airline has an award chart that is based on regions. There are different types of award programs in it:
MileSAAver Awards
If your flight schedule is flexible, the MileSAAver Awards program is suitable for you. If you choose the MileSAAver Awards program, you can book seats for as low as 7,500 miles on some one-way trips in North America. This includes carrier-imposed fees and applicable taxes. This awards program doesn’t have a blackout date but it has a limited availability.
You can use the MileSAAver Awards program for all air travel classes. But first and business class award seats have a higher price than regular economy class. MileSAAver Awards seats tend to have a low price and for this reason their number is limited on a certain flight.
Sometimes the airline makes seasonal discounts. American Airlines offers off-peak MileSAAver Awards to international destinations and Hawaii. They are based on low-season dates for traveling determined by the airline. For off-peak awards the discount ranges from 8% to 33%.
AAnytime awards
With AAnytime Awards you can book a flight any time you want and pick up any seat. AAnytime awards seats are available for almost all flights with American Airlines or American Eagle. There are no black-out dates.
The AAnytime Awards program is considerably expensive. You can use this awards program for as low as 20,000 miles each way. But the price for an AAnytime seat can go up to 40,000 miles. It includes carrier-imposed fees and applicable taxes.
The levels AAnytime Awards depend on the region and flight date. Some dates require a higher number of miles. When you are booking your flight and searching for awards, you can find the applicable award level.
Web Specials
Web Specials is an awards program that offers really good discounts. Web Specials awards are available on certain dates and flights for less miles than Mile SSaver and AAnytime award programs.
With Web Specials you can get as low as 5,000 miles to some destinations. The price of miles and mileage level is determined by the region and the date. These awards tickets have some limitations.
The airline publishes its Web Special Awards on its official website only. But if you make a research, you can find out if the route you want to travel on is eligible for a discounted rate.
Flight tickets that are booked with a Web Special award cannot be a subject to changes. This means a passenger can still cancel or reinstate their miles but there will be some fees.
Another great option by American Airlines is that you can also redeem credit card points to get discounted flight tickets.
If you are an owner of American Airlines credit card, you can use a discount of up to 7,500 miles for a round-trip MilesSAAver Awards. The discount is available if you book your flight by phone. This discount depends on the type of your credit card and your destination.
Co-branded cards offer you the option to get an award too. You can get from 2,500 p to 3,750 miles from a one-way route to a list of cities.
American Airlines offers its customers redemption options for first and business class flights. The reason behind this is the fact that the increase in miles from an economy to business or first class ticket is higher than the increase in cash cost from an economy ticket to a business or first class ticket.
