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Effective immediately, American Airlines now allows you to use AAdvantage® miles to purchase food and beverages on eligible flights. Prices range from 500 to 1,000 miles, depending on your selection. But is this a redemption you should make? Let's crunch the numbers (pun intended).
Which American Airlines Flights Offer Food for Purchase?
If you're wondering which American Airlines flights offer snacks and drinks for purchase, here’s what you need to know:
- Alcoholic beverages are available for purchase (with miles or card) on flights over 250 miles.
- Snacks can be purchased (with miles or card) on flights over 1,300 miles.
This option is only available on flights operated by American Airlines. It does not apply to flights operated by regional partners flying as American Eagle.
American Airlines Snack and Drink Prices — In Cash and Miles
Here’s a breakdown of in-flight snack and beverage prices when using cash or AAdvantage miles:
Snack prices
- Select Harvest Sea Salt Roasted Almonds: $8 or 800 miles
- Doritos Minis Cool Ranch: $5 or 500 miles
- Fruit and cheese plate: $11 or 1,100 miles
Alcoholic beverage prices
- Wine and sparkling wine: $10 or 1,000 miles
- Beer (12 fl. oz.)
- $9 or 900 miles for Bud Light, Dos Equis, or Truly Hard Seltzer
- $10 or 1,000 miles for Goose IPA or Heineken
- Spirits (50 ml): $10 or 1,000 miles for:
- Aviation American Gin
- BACARDI Rum
- Bailey’s Irish Cream
- Dewar’s White Label
- Disaronno Amaretto
- Jack Daniel’s® Tennessee Whiskey
- Tito’s® Handmade Vodka
- Woodford Reserve® Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Do AA cardholder in-flight discounts stack with mileage redemptions?
Several American Airlines credit cards offer in-flight savings, such as 25% off food and beverage purchases or a $25 per-day statement credit on eligible purchases. However, these benefits only apply when you pay with your card — not when redeeming miles.
Even if you hold an AA credit card with these perks, you’ll still pay the full mileage rate for snacks and drinks if you choose to use your AAdvantage miles instead of cash.
This drops your effective redemption rate even lower. Say you have a qualifying AAdvantage credit card and purchase a drink costing $10. You'd get a $2.50 statement credit for that purchase. That means you're paying $7.50 out-of-pocket. If you redeemed 1,000 miles for the drink instead, you'd only save 0.75 cents per mile.
Related: How To Earn American Airlines Miles and Loyalty Points
Routes Offering Complimentary Food and Drinks
Keep in mind that some American Airlines routes include a complimentary meal service, including a drink. These routes include:
- Flagship routes to Hawaii from Chicago and Dallas Fort Worth.
- Select Flagship Transcontinental routes, including:
- New York Kennedy (JFK) to/from Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO) and Santa Ana / Orange County (SNA)
- Boston (BOS) to/from Los Angeles LAX.
- Select Miami (MIA) flights to/from LAX
- Long haul route to and from Asia, Australia, Europe, New Zealand, the Middle East, and select South American destinations.
In addition, if you're sitting in Main Cabin Extra or domestic first class, you can also enjoy complimentary beer, wine, and spirits. In the front of the plane, you'll also get snacks or meal service (depending on the flight length).
Is Using AAdvantage Miles for Snacks a Good Deal?
While it’s great to have more ways to redeem your AAdvantage miles, using them for snacks and drinks isn’t the best value. At one cent per mile, this redemption rate is relatively poor compared to other options, like award flights or even mileage upgrades.
That said, if you have extra miles and want to save cash on an in-flight purchase, it’s a convenient option to keep in mind. Just be sure to weigh your alternatives and decide if your miles could be put to better use elsewhere.
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