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When American Airlines replaced its status qualification system with Loyalty Points, it signaled a new era. But would earning AAdvantage® elite status become easier or harder? The answer depends on how you play the game. Loyalty Points give every AAdvantage member a chance to chase status in various ways, some of which don’t even require stepping foot on a plane.
Now that we’re a few years into the Loyalty Points era, let’s break down how to maximize this system and how you can play to win.
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Basics of the American Airlines Loyalty Points Game
Earning AAdvantage status comes down to one key metric: Loyalty Points. Whether you're aiming for entry-level perks when you fly American or the full suite of elite benefits available to top-tier elites, here’s the breakdown of just how many you need to earn to unlock elite status:
- Gold: 40,000 Loyalty Points
- Platinum: 75,000 Loyalty Points
- Platinum Pro: 125,000 Loyalty Points
- Executive Platinum: 200,000 Loyalty Points
Unlike most airline programs, American Airlines doesn't use a calendar year for earning AAdvantage elite status. Instead, your status is based on the Loyalty Points you accumulate from March 1 to the end of February of the next year. That means you have until February 28 to hit these thresholds.
There are many ways to earn Loyalty Points, so let's dig into the most effective ways to earn them quickly — and without breaking the bank.
American Airlines AAdvantage eShopping Portal
If you’re not using a shopping portal for online purchases, you’re leaving miles and Loyalty Points — and potentially status — on the table. The AAdvantage eShopping portal lets members earn Loyalty Points for every base mile earned, with regular opportunities to earn even more miles on select purchases with different retailers.
The best part? When the AAdvantage eShopping portal boosts the earning rate, you'll earn that higher rate in Loyalty Points. Say the standard earning rate for Viator is 4x miles/Loyalty Points. When the portal boosts that to 6x miles, you'll also earn 6x Loyalty Points. The only “bonus” miles that don't count as Loyalty Points are the periodic shopping portal bonuses.
However, before checking out, you should check sites like Cashback Monitor to ensure you’re not missing out on better rewards elsewhere. For example, while the AA portal might offer 1X miles for a retailer, another portal like Rakuten could offer 10% (or 10X American Express Membership Rewards points) back.
In such situations, you should consider whether AA status is worth the trade-off for better rewards elsewhere.
SimplyMiles
Another way to earn Loyalty Points without flying comes from SimplyMiles. It's available to anyone with a Mastercard and works similarly to other card offer programs. Instead of earning cash back or transferrable points, SimplyMiles users earn American Airlines miles in addition to Loyalty Points.
Signing up for the program is easy, and it links automatically to your AAdvantage account. Available offers rotate regularly and must be activated before being used. Be sure to check offers frequently to ensure purchases earn the most Loyalty Points possible.
The amazing thing about SimplyMiles is that these offers stack with anything purchased through the American Airlines eShopping portal, so you can multiply your rewards when the stars (offers) align! Let's explore more below.
Related: Earn AAdvantage Miles From Everyday Mastercard Purchases Through SimplyMiles
Stack Multiple Offers To Boost Your Loyalty Point Earnings
Fortunately, the two opportunities above aren’t mutually exclusive — you can combine them to amplify your earnings.
With around 100 SimplyMiles offers available at any given time and hundreds of retailers on the AAdvantage eShopping Portal, there’s no shortage of opportunities to stack rewards and maximize your Loyalty Points. Let's take a look at an example:
On the American Airlines shopping portal, TurboTax offers 400 miles for tax filing (at the time of writing).
That same retailer appears on the SimplyMiles offers page, allowing users to earn 930 miles (and Loyalty Points) on a purchase of $39 or more.
Combining the two offers would consist of activating the SimplyMiles offer, navigating through the American Airlines shopping portal, and paying for a purchase with the Mastercard registered in your SimplyMiles account.
By stacking these offers and spending $39 or more, you'd earn 1,330 miles and Loyalty Points. And you'll earn the same number of Loyalty Points as the number of base miles earned here (basically, this excludes limited-time bonus offers).
And since you have to pay with a Mastercard in SimplyMiles, it's worth highlighting that American Airlines co-branded credit cards in the U.S. are Mastercards. You'll earn another 1X Loyalty Points per $1 spent on your credit card itself, further increasing your stacking in the Loyalty Points game.
Related: Here's How to Earn 25k AA Miles and Loyalty Points Quickly
Stack Your Loyalty Points With Cash Back Offers
Even more opportunities exist to be rewarded on purchases. However, these chances to earn won't be in the form of Loyalty Points. Instead, you'll get cash back.
Still, any possible way to reduce the net cost of a purchase counts. Amex Offers, Chase Offers, and Citi Merchant Offers all stack with American Airlines shopping portal opportunities. Plus, Citi Merchant Offers enjoy the added benefit of stacking with SimplyMiles offers, as well.
Just be sure to check the terms and conditions of each offer to ensure you meet the requirements — and enroll if necessary.
Eligibility is limited for the Amex Offers discussed in this post. Enrollment is required in the Amex Offers section of your account before redeeming.
Super stack by triple-dipping
If the stars align, you can find situations where a shopping portal offer stacks with a SimplyMiles offer and a Citi Merchant Offer. This triple stack, or super stack, opportunity can make the value of AA miles you earn higher than the cost of acquiring them.
In addition, the Loyalty Points earned become the cherry on top. Those kinds of situations are quite rare. Typically, when all of these offers line up, the earnings/savings combo is substantial.
An example always helps highlight the opportunities, so let's take a look at one that's live. As mentioned above, TurboTax is a Citi Merchant offer at the time of writing.
So, in this example, your $39 purchase or more will not only earn you 1,330 bonus loyalty points, but you'll receive an additional $20 cashback as well on your tax filing!
Other Ways To Earn Loyalty Points Quickly
Outside of leveraging offers via SimplyMiles and AAdvantage eShopping and booking flights, you can supplement your Loyalty Point-earning abilities through two primary methods: booking hotel stays through American Airlines channels and using an AA credit card.
Book hotel stays through AAdvantage Hotels
While many other options exist to earn Loyalty Points, hotel stays offer the chance to earn large quantities of Loyalty Points at a time. The AAdvantage Hotels platform allows travelers to earn thousands of Loyalty Points (and AA miles!) for hotel stays across the globe.
To provide a personal anecdote, I recently had a two-night stay in Venice and wanted to stay on the main island by the Grand Canal. Without stashes of Marriott points for somewhere like the Gritti Palace, I opted to find an independent property that would reward me in the form of Loyalty Points/AA miles.
This stay helped with a final push toward the next status tier and yielded 12,000 redeemable AA miles in the process. My account was credited on the day I checked out of the hotel.
Keep in mind that there's a big opportunity cost with this method, mainly forgoing valuable status benefits if staying at a branded hotel. However, this is a great option when no better option is available!
Spend on an American Airlines credit card
While not exactly a revolutionary tactic, credit card spending lets players add an additional 1X (in almost all situations) Loyalty Points on purchases.
Although one would lose out on opportunities to earn a higher points rate on spend using other credit cards, those seeking everything possible to reach the next status tier might consider spending on an AA co-branded card to get over the finish line. Big spenders might also be able to reach top-tier Executive Platinum status just through credit card spending alone!
Signing up for American Airlines co-branded credit cards and meeting any minimum spend requirements is the fastest way to earn American Airlines miles. To be clear, you'll earn Loyalty Points on the spending activity to earn the welcome bonus, but you won't earn Loyalty Points from the bonus itself — just the promised bonus miles.
With these perks, it's easy to justify the annual fee of $99, waived for first 12 months.
- Free checked bags for you and up to 4 companions on domestic itineraries
- Priority boarding to help you win the race for overhead bin space
- A 25% discount on inflight food, beverage, and Wi-Fi purchases
- 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
Related: Which Citi American Airlines AAdvantage Credit Card is Right for You?
Final Thoughts
The American Airlines Loyalty Points system allows creative travelers to earn top-tier status without flying. By stacking opportunities across the eShopping Portal, SimplyMiles, and offer programs offered through other card issuers, you can maximize rewards and inch closer to top-tier Executive Platinum status.
Even if you rarely fly American, elite status can still unlock perks on partner airlines and make the times you do fly AA cheaper and more rewarding.
The game is there to be played — so why not play it to win?
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