Summary
Our detailed guide to the American Airlines AAdvantage program tells you everything you need to know about earning and redeeming AAdvantage miles.
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As one of the world’s largest airlines, boasting the largest fleet in the world and a massive list of destinations, American Airlines is a great choice for world travelers. And, if you are member of the AAdvantage program, American Airlines offers yet another advantage: some of the most valuable award miles in the industry. You can fly far with AAdvantage miles – if you can find availability, and if you can deal with restrictive award routing rules.
What is AAdvantage?
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The AAdvantage program comes with about as many downsides as upsides. A major plus for the AAdvantage program is its MileSAAver awards. With MileSAAver awards, you can book award flights to most destinations for a very low number of miles. But you need to have a lot of flexibility in your schedule to locate these awards and you’ll have to deal with a lot of other quirks in the AAdvantage program, including a rule that prevents you from routing an award flight over three zones.
Essentially, the AAdvantage program isn’t the best option for someone who prefers to redeem their miles simply and painlessly, but it could be a great option for value hunters.
Read on to see if the AAdvantage miles are a good fit for you.
AAdvantage program overview
| Type of currency | Miles |
| Average point value | 1.9 cents |
| Credit cards | Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard, AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard, AAdvantage Mileup Mastercard, CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Mastercard, AAdvantage Gold World Elite Mastercard, Aviator Silver World Elite Mastercard, Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard, Aviator Blue World Elite Mastercard, Aviator Mastercard, Aviator Business Mastercard, American Express/American Express Business Extra Corporate |
| Redemption options | Flight awards, flight upgrades, car rentals, hotels, vacation packages, Admirals Club membership, magazine and newspaper subscriptions, gift cards, LifeLock identity theft protection, charity donations |
| Minimum required to redeem | 7,500 miles for flight awards |
| Do rewards expire? | After 18 months of no activity (earning or redeeming miles) |
| Airline partners | 12 oneworld Alliance partners and 11 additional partners |
| Flight coverage | Excellent. More than 14,250 daily flights to more than 1,000 destinations in more than 150 countries |
| Booking restrictions |
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The Basics
- What are American Airlines miles worth?
- Which American Airlines credit card is best for you?
- Best ways to earn AAdvantage miles
- Best ways to redeem AAdvantage miles
- American Airlines partners
- American Airlines elite status
- Admirals Club membership
- Booking a flight with AAdvantage miles
- American Airlines shopping mall guide
Latest offers from AAdvantage
- Earn up to 50,000 bonus miles with the Citi/AAdvantage World Elite cards
- New American Airlines MileUp card offers 10,000 bonus miles for a limited time
- Get up to 100,000 bonus American Airlines AAdvantage miles
Other news and advice
- American Airlines AAdvantage Dining guide
- Avoiding big surcharges when booking award flights
- Is it worth it to transfer Hilton hotel points to American Airlines?
- How to save reward points on American Airlines flights
- Save up to 7,500 miles on American Airlines flights with reduced mileage awards
Editorial Disclaimer
The editorial content on this page is based solely on the objective assessment of our writers and is not driven by advertising dollars. It has not been provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. However, we may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners.
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