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Update: Entries for this AAdvantage sweepstakes have now closed. Watch your email to see if you won one of the grand prizes.
On May 1, 1981, American Airlines launched one of the first airline mileage programs: AAdvantage. Now, American Airlines is celebrating the month leading up to AAdvantage's 40th anniversary with a sweepstakes to give away 1,000,000 AAdvantage miles to 40 lucky members. Plus, AAdvantage member can also win a share of almost 1.4 million instant-win prizes.
In total, AAdvantage is giving away 292 million miles through these giveaways. Here's how to enter to win a share.
AAdvantage 40th Anniversary Sweepstakes Key Terms
- Sweepstakes begins April 5, 2021 and runs through May 3, 2021
- Must be an AAdvantage member to enter. Not a member yet? Join here.
- Must be a legal resident of one of the 50 United States or D.C.
- Open to members 18 years and older
- For the promotion, a day starts at 12am Eastern and ends at 11:59:59pm ET
- Mileage prizes will be deposited “within 8-10 weeks after the promotion ends”
Grand Prizes
At the end of the sweepstakes, AAdvantage will award 40 lucky members 1,000,000 AAdvantage miles (ARV: $22,400). There's also one second prize: a 2-night trip for up to 4 people to Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Club & Lounge in Orlando plus $1,000 in American Airlines gift cards to cover airfare (ARV: $3,500). The drawing for these prizes will be held on (or around) May 4, 2021.
There are three ways to earn sweepstakes entries toward the grand prizes:
- Log into your AAdvantage account through the sweepstakes page (1 entry)
- Log into the sweepstakes page daily (1 entry per day)
- Play the instant win game. If you don't win, you'll earn 1 sweepstakes entry.
Instant Win Prizes
In addition to the grand prizes, AAdvantage members can win dozens of prizes through an instant-win game. You'll get one Instant Win Game play each day you log into the sweepstakes page. Plus you can earn bonus entries through “You've got options”, Read the Daily Fact, social share, and trivia questionnaire options.
Excluding coupons and other prizes with no Approximate Retail Value (ARV), AAdvantage is giving away 774,040 Instant Win prizes — including:
- One-year Admirals Club membership (200 prizes, $650 ARV)
- Two consecutive nights' accommodations at the Park MGM Las Vegas for 2 (40 prizes, $225 ARV)
- 4,000 AAdvantage miles (35,000 prizes, $89.60 ARV)
- Admirals Club Day Pass (7,500 prizes, $59 ARV)
- $20 Mastercard digital gift card (1,300 prizes, $20 ARV)
- 400 AAdvantage miles (230,000 prizes, $8.96 ARV)
- 40 AAdvantage miles (500,000 prizes, $0.90 ARV)
Value of AAdvantage Mile Sweepstakes Winnings
As with any contest, there are potential tax consequences from winning a prize. If you win one of the 40 grand prizes, you'll be on the hook for paying taxes on $22,400 of income. Or, you'll have to pay tax on $89.60 of income if you win one of the 35,000 giveaways of 4,000 AAdvantage miles.
That works out to 2.24 cents per AAdvantage mile. Depend on how you use your AAdvantage miles, you can easily get more than this in value by taking advantage of AAdvantage sweet spots. For instance, the 1,000,000-mile grand prize is enough for:
- 200 one-way 5,000-mile Economy Web Specials
- 114 one-way Reduced Mileage Awards flights
- 25 round-trips to Brazil in economy (or 16 round-trips in business class)
- 7 round-trips to the Middle East or Indian Subcontinent in business class (like Qatar Qsuite)
- 6 round-trips to Africa in business class (again, including in Qatar Qsuite)
- 6 round-trips to Japan or Korea in first class
With that said, this 2.24-cent valuation is a bit more than we've seen AAdvantage value miles in prior giveaways — such as a recent AAdvantage Dining sweepstakes where miles were valued at 1.7 cents each.
If you're one of the grand prize winners, keep in mind that you may be able to dispute the tax value of the prize. Gary Leff from View From the Wing shares how to do so here. However, it's probably not going to be worth the hassle disputing the value of any of the smaller prizes.
Bottom Line
AAdvantage is giving away 292 million miles — plus over 627,000 non-mileage prizes — to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Free miles are free miles. It's worth setting yourself a reminder to log into the sweepstakes page once a day to maximize your entries and instant-win prizes.
If you're looking for other ways to earn free AAdvantage miles, remember that you can earn bonus AAdvantage miles through American Airlines credit cards:
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®: 60,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®: 70,000 bonus miles after spending $7,000 within the first 3 months of account opening.
- CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®: 65,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening.
- AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®: 50,000 bonus miles after making your first purchase and paying the annual fee in full, both within the first 90 days.
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Has anyone seen the prizes from this sweepstakes show up yet?
Understanding that the rules indicate Mileage prizes will be deposited “within 8-10 weeks after the promotion ends” and it’s now 3 weeks after the promotion ending, I’d like to keep a finger on the pulse of receiving these prizes…
Thanks for any updates!
The valuations used for tax purposes in these sort of winnings always seem remarkably optimistic: the actual liability would be at the marginal tax rate, so considerably less than the $22,400 quoted.
How much is a 1-Year Admirals Club Membership worth? Is it worth paying the tax to claim the prize?
I guess it really depends on how often you can use the Admirals Club.
Thanks for the info AwardWallet! Do you happen to know if multiple 40 AA point wins are cumulative? I’ve won several times but haven’t been credited with anything yet. Secondly, do you know when the winnings will be available for use?
I’m not sure. For me, it says to check your email to claim winnings. I haven’t seen any of the miles post yet, but I assume each globe spin is cumulative.
The rules state that:
“Mileage prizes will be deposited “within 8-10 weeks after the promotion ends”
This giveaway is engaging content and a great way to add new followers to your site. I will be back tomorrow.
I’m new to these programs, so I’m curious…does AA celebrate their anniversary like this every year, or am I seeing this because it’s a major milestone for their rewards program? Either way, you’ll hear no complaints from me. So far I’ve got 4,040 in bonues miles (surprised to read I’ll have to pay taxes on that???) and a discount code for a rental car through one of their partners. Can’t wait to see what else I can pad my Aadvantage account with over the next week!
I can’t believe they will provide a 1099 tax form for winning just 4000 miles. I thought the trigger to send out those forms was $600 in winnings.
I would agree since $600 is usually the threshold for requiring taxes be paid on income. It’s a bit confusing because it states under the Value of Aadvantage Mile Sweepstakes Winnings towards the bottom that “If you’re one of the grand prize winners, keep in mind that you may be able to dispute the tax value of the prize. Gary Leff from View From the Wing shares how to do so here. However, it’s probably not going to be worth the hassle disputing the value of any of the smaller prizes.”. The second sentence kind of suggests that there may be value to the smaller prizes. Either way, I can’t imagine being issued a 1099 unless the value of all the smaller prizes amounts to $600 or more.
What a fun way to engage with the flying public while we are all for the most part grounded. Participating is getting me excited for getting out there again!
Looks like fun , too bad it is only available for US residents. No sweepstakes for the Caribbean community
Playing everyday, hoping to win something good for a post COVID vacation for this healthcare provider !!
Nice! I’ll try to win something…
This tax discussion reminds me of winners on The Price is Right. If you win a $10,000 trip, you could be hit with a tax bill of a couple thousand dollars, which contestants may not have to spare. Prizes are regularly turned away because the tax bill isn’t worth the effort.
Too bad about the contest eligibility.
Finally won something worth winning, a one-segment upgrade
Seems like the most simple of giveaways is not included – lifetime miles without expiration.
I won 4000 miles on my 2nd spin…wooohoooo!
Shame you need to be an US resident to win; would be good for Latinoamericans to be able to participate.
Thanks
It’s amazing how they have been around for 40 years. That’s impressive.
I think FTD is co-sponsoring this game. It’s all I’ve won so far…
Won a Hyatt discount, but tried 3 different hotels: not usable at any of them.
Shame you need to be an US resident to win; would be brilliant for Europeans to be able to participate.
I’ve won 440 AA Miles so far, as well as a few extra goodies. Really hope I win something spicy!
Getting a little frustrated with “Destination: Charting off-course”
?
This type of “giveaway “ brings up all kinds of interesting human nature questions.
How long would people continue to “play” if they don’t win?
If a person “wins” something early in the process, are they more likely or less likely to continue playing?
Will people be more likely, less likely or indifferent to actually make purchases through the links? Does that depend on whether they win something or not?
I’d love to see the results at the end of the month.
Me too! I got ~10 straight “off-course” results. Then, with my last spin, I waited about 5 seconds before clicking… and I won a coupon code. Probably not related, but I couldn’t help making the connection.
At least when we don’t win an instant-win prize we earn an additional entry for the grand prizes!
I too would be curious to know…I’m currently up to 26 straight “off-course” spins. If I didn’t see other people winning, I would have assumed that the game was rigged.
It really does seem strange!
I tried to register for this promotion, but it was a little bit confusing. I will try again. I would love to win some miles to travel (as soon as we can cause of covid) with my family. Congratulation AA!!
It’s a pity that Canadian residents are not eligible to enter 🙁
I’m surprised that they didnt email AAdvantage members about this deal
Excellent, just won 600-900 miles on my own and my wife’s account, with about 5 spins each. Glad I checked the blog, shame I missed a couple of days.
Another thanks for noting the tax consequences. We won 25000 United miles 15 years ago, and United valued the miles twice as high as I would, and the taxes were significant.
It took a few days, but I finally won 40 AA miles. I got errors every time I tried before today, so maybe they have the website fixed now.
Thank you for the reminder of the taxes we would have to pay if we win miles. It does make it harder to win miles if I’d have to pay taxes on the higher amount. I know that I would be thinking more when I spin that globe. I have so far gotten a percentage off at hertz and with flowers. Probably not what I will use but it’s something. I’d rather do small amounts of miles.
It has been a great promotion for people who are traveling all around world!!
Wow! I love things like this, thanks for the post. Looks like the site might be a bit buggy though, I keep getting an error when I try to spin.
Shame this is restricted to the US! Could’ve done with some air miles for when international travel resumes!
Four spins, no wins! Nonetheless it was fun 🙂
Six spins and only 40 points today. Oh well, better than nothing. I will keep trying.
Whilst there are some good prizes I think they have missed an opportunity to provide AAdvantage status or lifetime status as a prize.
That would have been a great prize!
Thank you for helping us keeping our miles alive. And also thank you for the expiration reminder.
7 spin, zero wins.
However, with the similar Starbucks game going on now I win on nearly ever spin. I’ve won 540 stars and a free drink.
Entered, and did the spins and shares! How cool would it be to win enough to be in a position to dispute the tax value of the prize!
I won a one day club pass on my first day.
Wow. This looks great. Hope I can get some miles. I’ve been itching to fly since having not taken one flight all 2020. Hoping that’s the last year of my life where I log 0 flights!
Quería ganar millas pero es solo válido para EEUU? Soy de Argentina
I do not find the % off discount codes / vouchers particularly valuable. 🙁
Amazing! Need some miles to get a well deserved vacation ??!!
Five spins, for a total of one discount on the FTD website. Womp womp.
I got the email from AA notifying me of this contest several hours after the articles appeared on TPG and Awardwallet, funny that. I got four spins to start with, but three turned up nothing, and the fourth was a 20% off coupon for a retailer I’ve never heard of. Well, get back to it tomorrow, I suppose.
I logged in and did the activities to get globe spins but when I tried to play the instant win game, I got an error message. I’m not surprised. I’ll try again later. Thanks for letting me know. I’m surprised that I didn’t get an email announcing this contest.
Appreciate the heads up. Overall looks like a good promotion for fairly little effort on the member’s part. Hope, as the other FF programs hit milestones such as this, they will equal or surpass American in honoring the milestone and rewarding members.
I have just had 5 spins on their game and got nothing. Did anybody on here get more luck?
The actual cost of the prizes is the income tax due, which, depending on your marginal income tax bracket, could be quite a lot less than the ARV, which makes the prizes much more interesting. For example, if you’re in the 25% tax bracket, then the cost per mile would be 0.56 cent per mile.
Won a 10% off rentals and 2X miles with Thrifty Car Rentals
I wish these were available outside the US
You could always try moving your AA account to the US for a month. 😉
I had three spins today and I did not win anything. I may try again tomorrow.
Looks like fun, free prizes are always nice. Good job AA.
This is a good way to earn a few extra miles.
Why not! Thanks for the tip about tax dispute…interesting!
very nice. the winner will travel a lot. good luck for everyone.
Shame its only for US residents, great competition! Hope to get back travelling with AA soon!
A promo likes this feels much better yet with things the way they are
I recently commented on another post about my thanks for the company extending miles expiration through the pandemic. I’m very grateful for that and looking forward to getting back to normal travel soon. Having just seen this contest, I am doubly thankful to the company. Appreciate it and looking forward to hopping back on an AA plane very soon!
I cancelled my card 1.5 years ago, When can I sign-up for the bonus offer again?
It depends on the card. For the AA Platinum Select: “American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles are not available if you have received a new account bonus for a Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® account in the past 48 months.” So, on this card, it’s all about when you earned the bonus.
Sería bueno que se pudiera participar desde otros países en el sorteo de millas y no solo los residentes de Estados Unidos
It should be for everyone who is part of the AA program, not just US residents.
it’s a shame ….
Hello, Honolulu. I’m in, American Airlines!
I know I’m not going to win the Million points (it would be nice), but free is free.
Easy way to score miles, took 5 minutes to earn 240 miles.