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In 2022, American Airlines completely overhauled its AAdvantage loyalty program. Now those pursuing AAdvantage elite status need to focus on just one thing: Loyalty Points. In this comprehensive guide, we look at the many ways to earn Loyalty Points — what counts and what doesn't — to help you on your way toward AAdvantage elite status.
Let's dig into the many ways to earn American Airlines Loyalty Points — and the ways that don't yield any elite status earnings.
Page Contents
What Are American Airlines Loyalty Points?
On March 1, 2022, American Airlines completely overhauled its loyalty program (AAdvantage) and introduced Loyalty Points. Now, Loyalty Points are now the single metric you need to follow when pursuing elite status with AA.
Instead of the complicated math involved with the old system and three metrics to track (EQM/EQD/EQS), you now just need to care about one thing: Loyalty Points.
You'll need to earn the following amounts of Loyalty Points for the status tiers in American Airlines AAdvantage going forward:
- Gold: 40,000 Loyalty Points
- Platinum: 75,000 Loyalty Points
- Platinum Pro: 125,000 Loyalty Points
- Executive Platinum: 200,000 Loyalty Points
How to Earn American Airlines Loyalty Points
So, how do you earn these Loyalty Points? Here are the various activities for earning and the rates at which you earn.
Flying with American Airlines
The most obvious, you earn Loyalty Points every time you fly with American Airlines. The following chart from AA shows that all of its fare codes for American Airlines-operated flights qualify for Loyalty Points.
However, the rate is going to 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 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
Basic Economy flights qualify for Loyalty Points earning. However, as of March 1, 2023, travelers only earn a base of 2 Loyalty Points per dollar spent on basic economy fares — instead of the standard 5x.
For American Airlines flights, every AAdvantage mile that you earn nets you a Loyalty Point.
Example:
If you book a $100 flight (before taxes and fees) Main Cabin fare, you would 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 800Loyalty Points
- Platinum Pro — 900 AAdvantage miles and 900 Loyalty Points
- Executive Platinum — 1,100 AAdvantage miles and 1,100 Loyalty Points
Flying with Partners
Unfortunately, earning Loyalty Points through partners isn't as clear-cut.
You can earn Loyalty Points when flying with numerous American Airlines partners. And AA has a ton of partners. The simplest way to understand which partners qualify for Loyalty Points is this: You'll earn Loyalty Points when flying Oneworld alliance members, JetBlue, and GOL. You will always earn Loyalty Points on these flights by crediting your flight earnings to your AAdvantage account.
For other partners, it's more complex.
When flying on certain non-alliance partners, you'll only earn AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points when you fly an American Airlines marketed flight (booked as an AA flight number). These airlines include Air Tahiti Nui, Cape Air, and Silver Airways.
However, you won't earn Loyalty Points at all on other partners, including Fiji Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, China Southern Airlines, and Etihad Airways.
For all partners except JetBlue, you will earn miles and Loyalty Points based on the fare class you book, the distance of the flight, and your status level. With JetBlue, you earn based on the cost of your ticket — just like you do when flying American Airlines. You can see the partner earning rates for each airline here, since they vary.
Except as noted, for each AAdvantage mile you earn from these flights, you will also earn 1 Loyalty Point.
AA Vacations
When you book a combination of flights / hotels / rental cars at AAvacations.com, you earn 1,000 miles per booking. These miles count as Loyalty Points.
However, any “bonus miles” promotions won't. For example, a promotion marketed as “up to 30,000 bonus miles for booking featured hotels” will earn you AAdvantage miles, but no Loyalty Points toward AAdvantage elite status.
While you'll only earn 1,000 base miles / Loyalty Points from AA Vacations bookings, remember that American Airlines flights flown as part of these packages will earn Loyalty Points as well.
AA Cruise Portal
Cruise bookings made through bookaacruises.com earn 1 mile per $1 spent on cruises. If you pay with an American Airlines co-branded credit card, you get an extra mile per $1 spent.
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 bookaahotels.com (which is powered by booking.com), you can earn up to a maximum of 10,000 miles per night. However, that is the maximum, and most stays earn far less than this. These AAdvantage mileage earnings count as Loyalty Points and can be an excellent way to get a lot of Loyalty Points in the new system.
Similarly, hotel bookings made with rocketmiles.com will earn up to 10,000 miles per night. That is the maximum, and many bookings will earn less than that. All miles earned here qualify for Loyalty Points earnings.
You can also earn Loyalty Points on stays with Hyatt. You get 500 miles and will earn 500 Loyalty Points on each stay. AAdvantage elites can enroll to also earn 1 mile per $1 spent. The maximum earning in this partnership is 10,000 miles per year.
With Marriott (including Marriott Vacations), 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 earnings qualify for Loyalty Points at 1:1.
Stays at Wyndham do not qualify for Loyalty Points. More on that in the section on “what doesn't count”.
Important note: In order to earn American Airlines miles (and thus Loyalty Points) with these programs, you need to change your account settings in the partner program. You must choose to earn AA miles (not points from the hotel program) on your hotel stays.
Take that into consideration, since you wouldn't earn Marriott Bonvoy points on future Marriott stays, for example. This is especially important when considering the fact that many hotel promotions require you to earn their points (not some partner program) to qualify for the promotions.
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.
You can also earn AA miles (and thus 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) in order to earn Loyalty Points on these bookings.
As an example, with Avis/Budget, you will earn a minimum of 500 miles per rental (basic members) or 1,250 miles as a maximum for Executive Platinum members. Rentals from Alamo or National will give 50 miles per day.
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.
Online Shopping Portals
American Airlines' own shopping portal and SimplyMiles both provide mileage earning when clicking through before making purchases. You will get 1 Loyalty Point for each 1 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.
For SimplyMiles, you must live in the U.S. and have a Mastercard to enroll.
See also: 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. 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.
As with other programs, any miles you earn will also earn Loyalty Points at a 1:1 ratio. However, promotions and new member bonuses do not count toward Loyalty Points earning.
See also: Beginner's Guide to Dining Programs
Credit Card Spending on AA Credit Cards
This represents the most significant change to AAdvantage status because you can earn Loyalty Points by spending on American Airlines co-branded credit cards. The earning of Loyalty Points applies only to daily spending, however.
Every $1 spent on virtually all U.S.-issued American Airlines credit cards from Barclays and Citi will yield 1 Loyalty Point. This includes the following U.S. cards:
- AAdvantage® Aviator® Blue Mastercard®
- AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard®
- AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver Mastercard®
- AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard®
- American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Gold World Elite™ MasterCard®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®
- CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®
Remember that you only earn 1 Loyalty Point per $1 spent. Category multipliers where you earn extra miles for certain types of spending will not yield extra Loyalty Points. An example is the American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp®, which 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.
There is also the AAdvantage® Aviator® Mastercard® issued in the U.S. As a no-fee card, it earns just 1 mile / 1 Loyalty Point for every $2 spent.
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 what the earning rates are.
As mentioned, only daily spending counts toward Loyalty Points earning with credit cards. Bonus category earnings, welcome offers, sign-up bonuses, retention offers, referrals for your friend to sign up for the card — none of those will generate Loyalty Points.
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 spending $40,000 in eligible purchases during the qualification year.
- AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver Mastercard® — earn 5,000 Loyalty Points if you spend $20,000 on purchases, another 5,000 Loyalty Points if you spend $40,000 on purchases, and another 5,000 Loyalty Points if you spend $50,000 or more on purchases during the qualification year.
Utility Payments
American Airlines has partnered with NRG Energy, Reliant Energy, and Xoom Energy. Payments to these companies earn 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). Take that into consideration if you sign up, but 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.
Retail Partners
You can earn AA miles (and Loyalty Points at 1:1) when purchasing gas with Shell. You will need to link your rewards accounts on this page. Note that the same thing applies as with 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 choose to 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 select partners on the AA promotions page. Partners that qualify for Loyalty Points include Vinesse, FTD, and Vivid Seats.
Additionally, you can earn miles for taking surveys with Miles for Opinions. These will 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 Non-Alliance Partners
Simply put: if it's not a Oneworld partner and the partner page on AA's website doesn't say you will earn Loyalty Points, then you won't.
AA has a large list of partners, but flights on China Southern Airlines, Etihad, Fiji Airways, and Hawaiian Airlines won't earn Loyalty Points — even though you can earn AA miles when flying on these airlines.
There's a workaround though. If you're able to book the flight with an American Airlines flight number, you'll earn AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points as if you're flying on an American Airlines flight number.
Bask Bank
While the Bask Bank savings account is popular because you can earn AA miles as the interest on your account, these earnings will not convert to Loyalty Points. They are miles that you can redeem for travel, but these are not elite status-qualifying earnings.
Points Transfers
While you can transfer numerous different types of points and miles to American Airlines AAdvantage, none of these generate Loyalty Points. This includes transfers from bank partner Bilt and even transfers from Marriott — despite Marriott being a preferred hotel partner (see above).
Buying and Gifting Miles
Gifting or buying AAdvantage miles won't count toward Loyalty Points. Otherwise, that would be a really easy way to secure AAdvantage elite status!
Wyndham Hotel Stays
Even though you can earn AA miles from stays with Wyndham, these do not earn Loyalty Points. This is different from the hotel partners mentioned above, which do generate Loyalty Points.
Charity Donations
You can earn 10 miles per dollar if you donate $25+ to Stand Up to Cancer, due to its partnership with American Airlines. Unless AA changes course, these donations will not qualify for Loyalty Points.
Loyalty Points Will Impact American Airlines Upgrade Priority
When American Airlines introduced Loyalty Points, it changed the way that the airline prioritizes members for upgrades on flights.
In years past, priority was given to those with higher Elite Qualify Dollar (EQD) spending in the rolling 12 months before the flight. This would put one member in front of another when other factors like status and type of upgrade request were equal.
As of March 2022, the tiebreaker is solely the rolling 12-month Loyalty Point earnings.
Note on Loyalty Points & American Airlines Status Timeline
Remember that the introduction of the new American Airlines AAdvantage program represented a complete overhaul, not just with the introduction of Loyalty Points but also in the qualifying timeframe. Previously, you qualified from January 1-December 31 for status in the ensuing year.
Now, American Airlines travelers qualify from March to the following February. Status earned during that period will be valid through March 31 of the year following the end of the qualifying year.
Here's an example: Between March 1, 2023 and February 28, 2024, you earn 75,000 Loyalty Points. At the moment your 75,000th Loyalty Point posts to your account, you'll get Platinum elite status. You will enjoy that status from that date until the end of March 2025 — since that's the end of March in the year after the end of the qualifying period.
Bottom Line
Loyalty Points represent not just a new way to earn status with American Airlines AAdvantage but something truly novel in the world of airline loyalty programs. In this guide, we took a deep look at what does and what doesn't qualify for Loyalty Points.
If you are pursuing AAdvantage status, this is the one metric that matters going forward. This guide should help you understand the various ways to earn your Loyalty Points, so you can chart the path that best suits you.
The comments on this page are not provided, reviewed, or otherwise approved by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
This is a joke. You can’t even redeem them for anything right? Waste of everyone’s time.
That’s like giving out 400,000 worthless tokens and to boot we’ll toss in a free paper straw. Pandemic systemic hallucenogenic. Person who chimed in about how this “streamlined” everything cracked me up.
Anyone who’s ever dealt with any of this knows this is a joke. Don’t give them your hard earned business.
I´d like to have a local Bank again to earn miles. I’m from Argentina.
I bet you would! It’s sad that AA hasn’t found another bank partner in Argentina since ending its partnership with Santander in August 2020.
I can see that they have made it to where elite status can just be bought. I am hoping this means that they might just become a transfer partner of Citi. I can see where if they fly and do these other things status will be quicker but it makes me wonder just how many elites they will have and how often the elites will be able to take advantage of benefits if there are so many doing the same.
I think the latest program changes do clarify the earning requirement and streamline the whole procedure, and there are numerous ways to earn miles/points with the introduction of the new program. Thanks for the comprehensive guide shared here.
So glad they simplified things.
Qué buena decisión de AAdvantage. Todo más fácil ahora.
Este sistema es mucho más sencillo. Bienvenido.