{"id":176667,"date":"2024-08-14T16:00:17","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T16:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/?p=176667\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T14:00:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T14:00:49","slug":"earn-miles-paid-upgrades","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/news\/american-aadvantage\/earn-miles-paid-upgrades\/","title":{"rendered":"American Airlines Adds Mileage Earnings (Including Loyalty Points) on Paid Upgrades"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Starting today, American Airlines AAdvantage<sup>\u00ae<\/sup> members will earn miles and Loyalty Points when paying for an upgrade to a premium cabin. This is a development that American Airlines first <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/news\/american-aadvantage\/program-changes-2024\/\" rel=\"noopener\">teased was coming in January 2024<\/a>. Now, this enhancement is (finally) live.<\/p>\n<p>This is welcome news for travelers, whether you're splurging for an upgrade on a special trip or upgrading an economy flight booked through work. Previously, these paid upgrades didn't earn any miles &#8212; outside what you earned from your credit card purchase.<\/p>\n<p>Here's how you'll <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/airlines\/american-aadvantage\/earn-american-miles\/\" rel=\"noopener\">earn AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points<\/a> on paid upgrades &#8212; plus other ways of getting an upgrade on American Airlines besides paying for it.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"AAdvantage_Mileage_Earnings_on_Paid_Upgrades\">AAdvantage Mileage Earnings on Paid Upgrades<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>AAdvantage members will earn miles and Loyalty Points on paid upgrades just like they would on any other American Airlines ticket: a base of <strong>5 AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Elite status holders earn an elite status bonus on top of this base earnings:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Gold:<\/strong> 40% bonus = 7x miles and Loyalty Points<\/li>\n<li><strong><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/airlines\/american-aadvantage\/platinum-status\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Platinum<\/a>:<\/strong> 60% bonus = 8x miles and Loyalty Points<\/li>\n<li><strong>Platinum Pro:<\/strong> 80% bonus = 9x miles and Loyalty Points<\/li>\n<li><strong>Executive Platinum:<\/strong> 120% bonus = 11x miles and Loyalty Points<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>When calculating how many miles you'll earn from an American Airlines flight, you need to subtract the taxes and government\/airport fees on the ticket. Thankfully, the math is easier on paid upgrades. Since all of the payment is going to the airline, you should earn miles and Loyalty Points on the entire purchase.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_176687\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-aspectratio=\"400\/698\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-176687 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/American-Airlines-paid-upgrades-example-172x300.jpg\" alt=\"Screenshot showing American Airlines paid upgrade options from Austin to Puerto Vallarta via Dallas\" width=\"400\" height=\"698\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/American-Airlines-paid-upgrades-example-172x300.jpg 172w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/American-Airlines-paid-upgrades-example-586x1024.jpg 586w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/American-Airlines-paid-upgrades-example-768x1341.jpg 768w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/American-Airlines-paid-upgrades-example-880x1536.jpg 880w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/American-Airlines-paid-upgrades-example.jpg 945w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><center><em>Credit: Stefano W<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n<p>Say that American Airlines offers an upgrade to first class for $200. Here's how you'd earn miles and Loyalty Points if you took advantage of this offer:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Member:<\/strong> 1,000<\/li>\n<li><strong>Gold:<\/strong> 1,400<\/li>\n<li><strong>Platinum:<\/strong> 1,600<\/li>\n<li><strong>Platinum Pro:<\/strong> 1,800<\/li>\n<li><strong>Executive Platinum:<\/strong> 2,200<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As with flight purchases, your mileage and Loyalty Points earnings will be deposited into your AAdvantage account after completion of the flight.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Other_Ways_to_Get_an_Upgrade_on_American_Airlines\">Other Ways to Get an Upgrade on American Airlines<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Outside of paying for an upgrade, travelers have three ways to get an upgrade on American Airlines:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Complimentary upgrades for travelers with <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/airlines\/american-aadvantage\/elite-status\/\" rel=\"noopener\">AAdvantage elite status<\/a> or <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/airlines\/alaska-atmos-rewards\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Alaska Mileage Plan<\/a> elite status<\/li>\n<li>Using an <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/airlines\/american-aadvantage\/systemwide-upgrades\/\" rel=\"noopener\">American Airlines Systemwide Upgrade<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Using an <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/airlines\/american-aadvantage\/upgrade-with-miles\/\" rel=\"noopener\">American Airlines mileage upgrade<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Each of these requires that American Airlines opens some sort of upgrade availability. Systemwide upgrades and mileage upgrades require special fare class availability (&#8220;C&#8221; for business class and &#8220;A&#8221; for first class). You can find and set alerts for these fare classes on <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/travel\/expertflyer\/\" rel=\"noopener\">ExpertFlyer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Complimentary elite upgrades seem to be increasingly offered only when American Airlines revenue management can't convince another passenger to pay for an upgrade. But they're a nice perk when you can get one.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Final_Thoughts\">Final Thoughts<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Today, American Airlines delivered on a pledge it made in January 2024 to add mileage earnings on paid upgrades. This is a welcome development for travelers who take advantage of these offers, as it will get them that much closer to their next award flight and AAdvantage elite status.<\/p>\n<p>Hopefully, this is just one of many improvements that American Airlines is working on to earn back the trust of travelers after <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/news\/american-aadvantage\/ota-bookings-still-earn-american-miles\/\" rel=\"noopener\">threatening to remove mileage earnings from certain tickets<\/a> and <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/airlines\/american-aadvantage\/american-airlines-baggage-fees\/\" rel=\"noopener\">increasing bag fees<\/a> earlier this year.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ftoc\"><div id=\"toc_container\" class=\"toc_light_blue no_bullets\"><p class=\"toc_title\">Page Contents<\/p><ul class=\"toc_list\"><li><a href=\"#AAdvantage_Mileage_Earnings_on_Paid_Upgrades\">AAdvantage Mileage Earnings on Paid Upgrades<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Other_Ways_to_Get_an_Upgrade_on_American_Airlines\">Other Ways to Get an Upgrade on American Airlines<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Final_Thoughts\">Final Thoughts<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a development first teased in January 2024, American Airlines AAdvantage members will earn miles and Loyalty Points when paying for an upgrade to a premium cabin. Here&#8217;s how you&#8217;ll earn AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points on paid upgrades \u2014 plus other ways of getting an upgrade on American Airlines besides paying for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":110546,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12069],"tags":[12776,12624],"coauthors":[36387],"class_list":["post-176667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-american-aadvantage","tag-paid-travel"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176667"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":256493,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176667\/revisions\/256493"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176667"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=176667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}