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If you're after American Airlines AAdvantage® elite status, you'll need to focus on one thing: Loyalty Points. In this comprehensive guide, we look at the many ways to earn American Airlines Loyalty Points — what counts and what doesn't — to help you on your way toward earning or maintaining your AAdvantage elite status tier.
Let's dig into the many ways to earn American Airlines Loyalty Points — and the ways that yield AAdvantage miles but no elite status earnings.
Page Contents
What Are American Airlines Loyalty Points?
In 2022, American Airlines completely overhauled its AAdvantage loyalty program and introduced Loyalty Points. Ever since, Loyalty Points have been the single metric you need to accrue to earn AAdvantage elite status. These can be earned by flying, spending on American Airlines credit cards, and leveraging its other partners.
You'll need to earn the following amounts of Loyalty Points for the status tiers in American Airlines AAdvantage:
- Gold: 40,000 Loyalty Points
- Platinum: 75,000 Loyalty Points
- Platinum Pro: 125,000 Loyalty Points
- Executive Platinum: 200,000 Loyalty Points
You can also earn Loyalty Point Rewards as you reach set tiers of Loyalty Points — with the first choice starting at just 15,000 Loyalty Points. Depending on the level, you either get to pick a reward or receive set rewards. Rewards range from bonus miles to Hyatt free night certificates.
While it takes a lot of Loyalty Points to earn status and Loyalty Point Rewards, there are dozens of ways to earn them. This goes well beyond flying, with cobrand credit card spending, shopping portal purchases, and other partner Loyalty Point earning opportunities.
How to Earn American Airlines Loyalty Points
Here are the primary activities for earning Loyalty Points and the rates at which you earn.
Flying with American Airlines
You'll earn Loyalty Points (almost) every time you fly with American Airlines. On AA flights, every AAdvantage mile that you earn nets you a Loyalty Point. Unfortunately, as of December 17, 2025, these basic economy no longer earn miles or Loyalty Points.
The earn rate will depend on how much you pay for your ticket and your AAdvantage status level. When flying with American Airlines, you earn AAdvantage miles based on the base cost of your ticket at the following rates:
- General member (no status): 5 miles per $1 spent
- Gold: 7 miles per $1 spent
- Platinum: 8 miles per $1 spent
- Platinum Pro: 9 miles per $1 spent
- Executive Platinum: 11 miles per $1 spent
Earning example
If you book a $100 (before taxes and fees) Main Cabin fare, you will earn the following AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points:
- General member: 500 AAdvantage miles and 500 Loyalty Points
- Gold: 700 AAdvantage miles and 700 Loyalty Points
- Platinum: 800 AAdvantage miles and 800 Loyalty Points
- Platinum Pro: 900 AAdvantage miles and 900 Loyalty Points
- Executive Platinum: 1,100 AAdvantage miles and 1,100 Loyalty Points
Flying with American Airlines partners
Travelers also earn Loyalty Points when flying most fare types on American Airlines' many partners.
You'll earn miles and Loyalty Points on Oneworld airlines and with the majority of AA's non-alliance partners. Most non-alliance partner airlines award Loyalty Points on flights credited to AA, but only if AA markets the itinerary.
It's worth checking AA's partner webpage to confirm that you'll earn miles and Loyalty Points on your itinerary before you book. This way, you'll know for sure that miles and Loyalty Points are in your future. Plus, if AA changes the earning structure for a particular partner, you'll catch it before you pay for a flight you won't earn towards status on.
Some partners — including British Airways and Iberia — earn miles based on how much you spend, even if you book directly with the partner airline. Meanwhile, most other partners earn based on your fare class and the physical distance of the flight.
Here's an example of how you'd earn AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points on a partner ticket that earns based on distance flown. For this example, you'd fly round-trip from New York (JFK) to Tokyo-Haneda (HND) in X-fare business class. This fare earns 100% miles flown, plus a 100% cabin bonus per this earn chart.
In turn, this round-trip ticket would earn 27,088 redeemable miles and Loyalty Points, since the round-trip distance is 13,544 miles. If you have top-tier Executive Platinum status, you'd earn a whopping 43,341 miles and Loyalty Points, thanks to the 120% bonus included at that elite tier.
AA Vacations
When you book a combination of flights, hotels, and rental cars through AA Vacations, you earn miles and Loyalty Points on the total package value, less the taxes and fees.
Earnings depend on whether or not you have American Airlines elite status. Those with any level of status will earn 5 miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent, while those without will earn 1 mile and Loyalty Points per dollar spent.
Plus, remember that American Airlines flights booked as part of these packages will also earn Loyalty Points.
AA Cruise portal
Travelers can earn AAdvantage miles by booking cruises through American Airlines Cruises. You'll earn 1 mile per $1 spent on cruises. Any “base” AAdvantage miles earned on this site will also earn Loyalty Points at a 1:1 ratio. Any AAdvantage mileage bonuses on top of this base earning rate likely won't count as Loyalty Points.
Booking hotels
If you book a stay at aadvantagehotels.com (powered by Rocket Travel), you can earn up to 10,000 miles per night. However, that is the maximum; most stays earn far less than this. These AAdvantage mileage earnings count as Loyalty Points and can be an excellent way to earn a lot of them.
However, when you book through AAdvantage Hotels, you won't earn hotel elite status on these bookings, nor will hotels recognize elite status you have with them. Always do a cost-benefit analysis before you book to see which offers the most valuable perks and rewards.
Many hotel loyalty programs let you choose to earn airline miles in lieu of hotel points when you book directly. For example, you can earn 500 AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points per stay with Hyatt.
With Marriott (including Vacations by Marriott), you earn 1-2 miles per dollar spent. Lower-tier properties earn 1 mile, while higher-tier properties earn 2 miles per dollar spent. These earnings qualify for Loyalty Points at a 1:1 ratio.
For stays at IHG properties, you earn 2 miles per $1 spent at all brands — except Candlewood Suites and Staybridge Suites. At these properties, you earn 1 mile per $1 spent. All of these AAdvantage mileage earnings count as Loyalty Points (at 1:1 ratio).
Important note: To earn American Airlines miles (and thus Loyalty Points) with Hyatt, IHG, or Marriott, you need to change your account settings in the partner program. You won't earn points from the hotel program when you choose to earn AA miles on your hotel stays.
Take that into consideration, as this means you wouldn't earn Marriott Bonvoy points on Marriott stays, for example. This is especially important given that many hotel promotions require you to earn their points (not airline miles) to qualify. You'll need to decide if it's worth forfeiting the hotel points to bank AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points.
Car rentals
As with vacations, hotels, and cruises, American Airlines offers a rental car portal at aa.com/car. All miles earned from these bookings qualify for Loyalty Points at 1:1.
For example, with Avis, Budget, and Payless, you will earn miles and Loyalty Points based on a few factors, such as AAdvantage status and whether you use an AA credit card. But at a bare minimum, you'll earn 2 miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent with preferred rental partners.
All base mileage earnings will give you 1 Loyalty Point for each mile you earn on rentals with these partners. Any mileage bonuses or promotions likely won't count for Loyalty Points.
You can also earn AA miles (and Loyalty Points) on bookings with Alamo, Avis, Budget, Hertz, National, Payless, and Sixt. As with the hotels above, you will need to choose to earn AA miles (and not points from the car rental program) to earn Loyalty Points on these bookings.
Online shopping portals
American Airlines' own shopping portal and SimplyMiles both offer mileage rewards when clicking through to make purchases. You will get 1 Loyalty Point for each base mile you earn through these portals.
Be sure to check any current new member bonuses if you have never used the AA eShopping portal before. Just note that this new member bonus likely won't count as Loyalty Points. Likewise, other spend bonuses — like this Welcome Back Shopper bonus for existing members— will not earn Loyalty Points.
To enroll in SimplyMiles, you must live in the U.S. and have a Mastercard. This program lets you take advantage of card-linked offers, which you can use to earn miles at select merchants. Sign up for an account, link your Mastercards, and you can then add offers to your account. You'll earn miles and Loyalty Points when you make an eligible purchase.
Related: Beginner's Guide to Shopping Portals
American Airlines dining program
The AAdvantage Dining program offers miles if you sign up, store a credit card in your profile, and then eat at participating restaurants. You'll find these restaurants in most major cities and their surrounding suburbs, and you can earn up to 5 AA miles per dollar.
As with other earning opportunities, any miles you earn with AAdvantage Dining also earn Loyalty Points at a 1:1 ratio.
New member bonuses for this program are common, so be sure to check for any bonus mile opportunities. Again, though, these mileage bonuses likely won't count as Loyalty Points.
Related: Beginner's Guide to Dining Programs
Credit card spending on AA credit cards
Every $1 spent on U.S.-issued American Airlines credit cards from Citi yield 1 Loyalty Point. This includes the following U.S. cards:
- American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® Card
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Globe™ Mastercard®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®
- Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Gold World Elite™ MasterCard® (no longer open to new applicants)
$0
- 2 AAdvantage® miles for each $1 spent at grocery stores, including grocery delivery services
- 2 AAdvantage® miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases
- 1 AAdvantage® mile for every $1 spent on other purchases
$99, waived for first 12 months
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent at restaurants
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent at gas stations
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases
- Earn 1X mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases
$595
- Earn 10X miles for every $1 spent on eligible hotels booked at aa.com/hotels and eligible rental cars booked through aa.com/cars
- Earn 4X miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases (increased to 5X miles through the end of the calendar year after you pass $150,000 in purchases annually)
- Earn 1X mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases
Remember, you earn only 1 Loyalty Point per $1 spent. Category multipliers, where you earn extra miles for certain types of spending, will not yield extra Loyalty Points. For example, the AA MileUp Card earns 2 miles per $1 spent at grocery stores. While you would earn 100 AA miles after spending $50 at the supermarket, you would still earn just 50 Loyalty Points.
Additionally, American Airlines issues some international co-branded credit cards. Some of these can earn 1.5-2 Loyalty Points per $1 spent. Check the list of countries here to see which cards are available in your country and their earning rates.
As mentioned, you'll only earn 1 Loyalty Point per dollar with credit cards. Bonus category earnings, welcome offers, sign-up bonuses, and retention offers do not earn Loyalty Points.
Related: AA adjusts how card spending counts toward AAdvantage status
Bonus Loyalty Points from credit card spending
Although credit card “bonus miles” don't count toward Loyalty Points, you can still earn bonus Loyalty Points through credit cards. Clear as mud, right?
Cardholders of certain American Airlines credit cards can earn bonus Loyalty Points by hitting credit card spending thresholds:
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® — Earn 10,000 additional Loyalty Points after reaching 50,000 Loyalty Points in a qualification year. Then, earn another 10,000 Loyalty Points after reaching 90,000 Loyalty Points in a qualification year.
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Globe™ Mastercard® — Earn 5,000 bonus Loyalty Points after every 4 qualifying American Airlines flights, up to 15,000 Loyalty Points per qualification year.
Utility payments
American Airlines has partnered with NRG Energy and Reliant Energy. Payments to these companies earn AA miles, which also earn Loyalty Points at 1:1.
Only available in select states in the U.S., these electricity companies offer energy at variable rates (meaning prices can go up and down). These companies sometimes offer welcome bonuses of 10,000-15,000 AA miles for new members. While these new member bonuses might not qualify as Loyalty Points, you'll earn AA miles and Loyalty Points when paying your monthly bill.
Make sure to compare energy rates from these programs with those from your current provider. In some cases, it might make sense to switch for a few months to earn the new member bonus, then switch back to your local provider for potentially lower rates.
Retail partners
You can earn AA miles (and Loyalty Points) when you buy gas at Shell. You will need to link your rewards accounts on this page. Note that the same applies to the hotel and rental car partners: You will no longer earn Fuel Rewards points or save 3-5¢ per gallon at the pump if you earn AA miles via this program. Additionally, you only earn miles (and thus Loyalty Points) on the first 20 gallons of fuel in each purchase.
You can also earn Loyalty Points from other partners on the AA promotions page. The list of partners fluctuates, and reading the fine print is an easy way to see which partners offer Loyalty Points and which don't.
Additionally, you can earn miles for taking surveys with Miles for Opinions. Miles earned from these surveys also qualify for Loyalty Points.
What Doesn't Count for American Airlines Loyalty Points?
Now that we know what counts, here's a look at what doesn't. These activities can generate AAdvantage miles (which you can redeem for flights), but those will not translate to Loyalty Points. Thus, they don't help you achieve elite status.
Flying with some non-alliance partners
AA has a large list of partners, but flights on China Southern Airlines, Etihad Airways, and others will not earn Loyalty Points. Likewise, you cannot earn AA miles or Loyalty Points on flights with Air Tahiti Nui or Porter Airlines do not earn miles or Loyalty Points if you book them directly with the operating airline.
That said, if you can book the flight with an American Airlines flight number (typically through AA.com), you'll earn AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points as if you're flying on an American Airlines flight ticket and flight number. However, these tickets can often be more expensive than purchasing the ticket directly from the operating carrier.
Bask Bank
While the Bask Bank savings account is popular because you can earn AA miles as interest on your account, these earnings will not count as Loyalty Points. Instead, you will only earn redeemable AA miles.
Related: Bonus AAdvantage® miles for opening a new Bask Bank account
Points transfers
Transfers to AAdvantage from Citi ThankYou, Marriott Bonvoy, and other partner loyalty programs do not earn Loyalty Points.
Buying and gifting miles
Gifting, buying miles outright, and transferring miles to a friend or family member won't count toward Loyalty Points.
Charity donations
You can earn 10 miles per dollar if you donate $25+ to Stand Up to Cancer through its partnership with American Airlines. These donations do not qualify for Loyalty Points.
Loyalty Points Impact American Airlines Upgrade Priority
One of the perks of having elite status with American Airlines is complimentary upgrades to domestic first class. But what happens when you have a few people with the same status tier on the upgrade list? Simply put, the tiebreaker is based on the rolling 12-month Loyalty Point earnings of those awaiting an upgrade.
Note on Loyalty Points & American Airlines Status Timeline
The American Airlines status qualification year runs from March 1 to the end of the following February. Status earned during that period will be valid through March 31 of the year following the end of the qualifying year.
For example, suppose you earn 75,000 Loyalty Points between March 1, 2026, and February 28, 2027. At the moment your 75,000th Loyalty Point posts to your account, you'll earn AAdvantage Platinum status. You will enjoy that status from that date until the end of March 2028, since that's the end of March in the year after the end of the qualifying period.
Final Thoughts
If you want American Airlines elite status, you'll want to get to know Loyalty Points. There are hundreds of ways to earn them, but, admittedly, it's a challenge to figure out which activities earn Loyalty Points and which don't.
Next time you're unsure about what counts, consult this guide. For those chasing AAdvantage elite status, this is a resource you'll want to keep in your back pocket.
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