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It's easy to rave about American Airlines AAdvantage® miles. After all, you can redeem them for an award ticket to virtually anywhere on Earth. On top of that, they're easy to earn. But what if you're short the miles necessary to make a redemption?
One option for growing your mileage balance is to transfer miles from one account to another. And in the right circumstances, it can make a lot of sense. Plus, American Airlines just made it far cheaper to move miles between accounts.
Here's what you need to know about transferring American Airlines AAdvantage miles.
American Airlines Slashes Miles Transfer Fees by 66%
Mileage transfers between AAdvantage accounts cost two-thirds of what they did before a recent alteration to the going rate. Now, American Airlines charges 0.5 cents for every mile you transfer (or $5 per 1,000 miles transferred) — far less than the now-old 1.5-cents-per-mile fee.
How To Transfer American Airlines Miles
Transferring AAdvantage miles to a friend or family member can make sense in the right situation. For example, it might be cheaper to top off another account through mileage transfer than buying the miles outright for 3.5 cents apiece (the standard price if there's no current sale on AA miles). This way, you can make an award redemption for the lowest out-of-pocket cost.
Steps to transferring AAdvantage miles
So, how do you transfer American Airlines miles? Let's walk through the steps.
Kicking off a mileage transfer starts with a visit to AA's dedicated “buy, gift, and transfer” homepage. At the bottom of the website, click on “Transfer miles” and use your AAdvantage credentials to log in.
The next step involves entering the number of miles you want to transfer and the recipient's information. At a minimum, you can move 1,000 miles. And if you want to transfer more, you can do so in 1,000-mile increments — up to 200,000 per calendar year. Remember, you'll pay a $5 fee per 1,000 miles you transfer.
After confirming your recipient's details are correct, click the blue “Continue” button at the bottom of the page. American will prompt you to enter your payment details before initiating the transfer. All transactions are nonrefundable and nonreversible.
Clicking “Pay now” will kick off the transfer. You can expect the miles to post to the recipient's account within eight hours.
Related: Do American Airlines AAdvantage Miles Expire?
Final Thoughts
There's more than one way to fill your AAdvantage account with American Airlines miles. One of those options is to transfer miles from one account to another. With recent changes, American Airlines cut the cost of moving miles from $15 per 1,000 miles transferred to just $5 per thousand. In the right circumstances, it might be worth taking a few minutes and completing a transfer.
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