How To Register Flights With Aadvantage Purchased On Another Site

American Airlines is one of the three legacy U.Southward. carriers (forth with Delta and United), and is the merely one out of the iii to still publish a region-based award chart. That makes it among the easiest to know exactly how many miles you lot'll demand to book the flight you lot want.

American Airline's frequent flyer program is called American Airlines AAdvantage , and it allows you to use miles in a plethora of ways. That said, not all redemptions are created equal. While flights tend to be an excellent way to spend points, American also lets y'all spend your points on stuff, like handbags and gift cards. This tends to exist a bad redemption. Here are the 4 most straightforward ways to spend AAdvantage miles — and advice on which ones to go for versus which ones to skip.

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American Airlines miles redemptions

1. Redeem miles for American flights

1 of the simplest ways to redeem your AAdvantage miles is on flights operated past American. The airline offer three types of laurels seats:

MileSAAver awards are discounted award seats that tin be bought for every bit few as 7,500 miles. They are bachelor only on some routes, which change periodically. They may exist available in all classes, but these seats can exist difficult to detect every bit many flights don't offer them — and when they do, they sell quickly.
AAnytime awards are bachelor on about all flights but come up at a higher cost (sometimes several multiples more than a MileSAAver seat).
Web Special awards are offered on certain routes and dates for as low equally five,000 miles. At that place is no official listing of available awards, but when you are searching for a flight, you will encounter the reduced mileage level when booking your trip. These award tickets don't allow any changes.

Domestic flights offer a decent value for about American Airlines award options — especially if you lot tin catch a MileSAAver seat. Flights under 500 miles can be redeemed for as little every bit seven,500 miles in economy and xv,000 miles in business organization/offset class.

International flights are an even better value in most cases. Y'all tin can go a round-trip economy ticket to Europe for as little equally 22,500 in off-top economy seats. Or if you want to travel more comfortably, you tin can get a first class ticket to Asia for as fiddling equally lxxx,000 miles.

What makes a redemption "worth information technology?" Well, NerdWallet values American miles at 1.2 cents each. Use that as a baseline for understanding your redemption options and whether your flying is amend purchased on cash versus points.

2. Redeem American Airlines miles on partners

Americans miles can exist redeemed not just on its ain flights, but also on flights with Oneworld and other partner airlines, including JetBlue, Alaska Airlines and Japan Airlines. Considering of these partnerships, you can book some valuable awards whether yous're flight domestically or internationally, economy or first class.

In full general, redeeming your American miles for a flight on a partner airline will cost you lot the same amount of miles as redeeming them for a flying on the carrier itself. However, you need to pay shut attending to the fees and surcharges each individual airline imposes. For example, British Airways is notorious for adding on loftier surcharges, which are passed on to flyers who apply American Airlines to book British Airways flights.

Fifty-fifty with these fees, there are some dandy redemption options available through American Airlines' all-encompassing partner list.

However, not all partner accolade flights are available through aa.com — for some, y'all'll have to phone call a booking agent. Here's the breakdown:

Partner	Earn miles	Redeem miles on AA.com
Air Tahiti Nui	Aye.	Yes.
Cape Air	Yes.	Yes.
Prc Southern Airlines	Yeah.	No.
Etihad Airways	Yes.	No.
Fiji Airways	Yes.	Yep.
GOL Airlines	Yes.	No.
Hawaiian Airlines	Yep.	Aye.
JetBlue	Yes.	Yes.
Silver Airways	Yep.	Yes.

Beyond its Oneworld and other partners, yous can besides use AAdvantage miles to volume JetBlue flights due to the airlines' Northeast Alliance partnership .

American's partnerships tin exist particularly valuable since these airlines offer some of the all-time premium flying experiences . Etihad, Japan Airlines, Communist china Pacific and others are all known for stellar first class service. Luckily, there are several sweetness spots on American'due south honor charts that offer several ways to go the virtually out of your AAdvantage miles .

3. Upgrade your seats

Some other pick for using your AAdvantage miles is to upgrade your seats on flights operated by American Airlines, American Hawkeye, British Airways or Iberia. The number of miles you'll apply depends on where you lot're traveling and which cabin y'all're upgrading from/to. Information technology tin range from five,000 to 25,000 miles, with additional fees from $0-$550.

While this usually isn't the best value for your miles, information technology can be useful in certain situations, particularly for aristocracy status members.

4. Redeem AAdvantage miles for merchandise, other travel and more

Beyond flights, in that location are many ways to use your AAdvantage miles. However, the redemption value of these options will nigh always be less than redeeming your AAdvantage miles for honor flights, so they are hardly e'er worth it.

Notwithstanding, for the right circumstance, your AAdvantage miles tin exist redeemed for other travel expenses like rental cars, hotels or vacation packages. Y'all can also purchase or renew an Admirals Club membership with miles, besides every bit purchase physical products like magazines, newspapers or gift cards through points.com.

Maybe you've moved to a city served by an airport that doesn't operate American Airlines flights. Maybe y'all can no longer fly or medical reasons. In those cases, redeeming your miles for "stuff" like magazines and gift cards might exist worth information technology. If you're feeling generous, you can also donate your miles to charity. While maximizing your miles is generally a great goal, non every redemption you pursue has to solely maximize value. If yous're sitting on more points than you know what to exercise with or desire to empty your account, these last-resort redemptions may be worth because.

Concluding thoughts on redeeming American Airlines miles

Y'all now know meliorate how to use AAdvantage miles. These miles are flexible and can score you some great honor tickets on both American and its partner airlines. Any other use will seriously cheapen your miles, and so award flights are the way to go with this loyalty program.

Just be sure to volume far in advance to be able to catch a seat that will get the most value out of your miles.

Frequently asked questions

How do I use my American Airlines miles?

To book a flight using your American Airlines miles, log in to your AAdvantage account at aa.com and input your origin, destination and travel dates. Make sure to choose the "redeem miles" pick before submitting your search. For other ways to employ your miles, choose "AAdvantage" from the drop-downwards bill of fare and select the Redeem Miles option.

How many miles do you demand for a costless flying on American Airlines?

Y'all can volume an American Airlines MileSAAver award flight for as little as 7,500 AAdvantage miles. These award flights cover trips in the contiguous U.S. and Canada for 500 miles or less.

When can I employ my AA miles?

When you fly on a paid ticket with American Airlines, the miles will exist credited to your account within i to iii days after your travel date. For other airline partners, it can take upward to 15 days to credit the miles. For other partner transactions, AAdvantage miles can accept up to thirty days to post to your business relationship but in some instances may take longer.

Do American Airlines miles elapse?

Unless you are under 21, miles will expire after 18 months of inactivity in your account. To keep your miles from expiring, earn or redeem miles with American Airlines or with an AAdvantage partner once every 18 months. The mileage expiration date gets extended by eighteen months after each qualifying action.

Can you transfer American Airlines miles to a family unit member?

Yeah, you could transfer American Airlines miles from ane account to some other. To begin, you will demand to log into your AAdvantage account . The minimum transfer amount is i,000 miles, and it volition toll $xv to do the transfer. The maximum number of miles that tin be transferred each year is 200,000.

How do I use my American Airlines miles?

To volume a flight using your American Airlines miles, log in to your AAdvantage business relationship at

aa.com

and input your origin, destination and travel dates. Make sure to choose the "redeem miles" option before submitting your search. For other ways to employ your miles, choose "AAdvantage" from the driblet-downwardly menu and select the

Redeem Miles

option.

How many miles do yous need for a free flight on American Airlines?

You can volume an American Airlines MileSAAver award flying for every bit little as 7,500 AAdvantage miles. These award flights cover trips in the contiguous U.S. and Canada for 500 miles or less.

When can I use my AA miles?

When you fly on a paid ticket with American Airlines, the miles volition exist credited to your business relationship within one to iii days after your travel appointment. For other airline partners, it can take upward to fifteen days to credit the miles. For other partner transactions, AAdvantage miles can have up to thirty days to mail to your account simply in some instances may have longer.

Do American Airlines miles elapse?

Unless you lot are under 21, miles will expire later on 18 months of inactivity in your account. To proceed your miles from expiring, earn or redeem miles with American Airlines or with an AAdvantage partner once every 18 months. The mileage expiration date gets extended by 18 months afterwards each qualifying action.

Tin you transfer American Airlines miles to a family unit member?

Yes, y'all could transfer American Airlines miles from one account to another. To begin, y'all will need to log into your

AAdvantage account

. The minimum transfer corporeality is 1,000 miles, and it will cost $fifteen to do the transfer. The maximum number of miles that can be transferred each year is 200,000.

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