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For those of us who appreciate the opportunity to double-dip on points and miles earning, May 1, 2024 July 11, 2024 was a date circled in red on the calendar. Why? Multiple times this year, American Airlines teased it would eliminate AAdvantage® miles and Loyalty Point earnings on flights booked through online travel agencies (OTAs). And come mid-April mid-July, we'd know the names of these “preferred” agencies.
But wait no more; American Airlines has called yet another audible and scrapped these plans entirely. Here's what you need to know.
American Airlines Scraps ‘Preferred Partner’ Changes for How You Earn
Undoubtedly, stripping the ability to earn AA miles and Loyalty Points on third-party bookings was a big deal. Sure, the airline would prefer you book directly; nonetheless, this would have been a significant policy change. That's why the news about American Airlines scrapping this change entirely is an even bigger deal.
In a statement this morning at the Bernstein Conference, American Airlines' CEO, Robert Isom, walked back the airline's plans for only offering rewards for direct or preferred agency bookings, sharing the following:
“…[N]ext month, we were going to differentiate who earns AAdvantage miles and who didn't, based on where they booked. That's off. We're not doing that because it would create confusion and disruption for our end customer, and we're going to make sure that we take care of it.”
In other words, you no longer have to worry about where you book your ticket if you want to earn AA miles.
Isom didn't share whether the airline would revisit cracking down on miles earned through indirect bookings but did indicate American is “unequivocally committed to getting those customers back” that it had previously driven away. Hopefully, this means positive things are in store for the world's largest airline.
Final Thoughts
The long-awaited change to how you'll earn AAdvantage miles on bookings is no more. American Airlines scrapped its plans to only award miles on bookings made directly through the airline and preferred travel agencies.
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