We can’t call ourselves experts at earning miles, however, we can share ways to earn even more miles than what you are currently earning. The full ins and outs of earning miles can be a little overwhelming, but it is important to have a basic idea of how to maximize your earnings. For the purpose of keeping it simple, we don’t go into applying for credit cards to earn a lump sum of miles at once.
In this entry we narrow it down to one program to get you started. In future posts, we will do one entry for other popular programs. Today we will be discussing how you can earn more miles through American Airline’s AAdvantage program.
If you are not a member of the AAdvantage program enroll HERE. Enrollment is free. You just have to add your AAdvantage number to any reservation you do on American Airlines and other partner airlines (we will explain later). Sometimes when I’m booking flights, if there’s an American Airlines flight that is maybe $20 more, I still end up booking on them just to earn miles. It is good to have this option because it’ll help you accumulate miles faster if you’re constantly flying on one specific airline. I recently booked a flight using just miles I earned through flying on American!
Why should i care about earning miles?
A better question is: Why wouldn’t you care? You are flying regardless, so why not earn free miles while doing it? The more miles you earn the faster you will accumulate enough miles to redeem for a free flight!
What are “Partner airlines”?
Partner airlines, are airlines that have an agreement with American Airlines (AA) which you can fly on and still earn miles for AA. For participating destinations and regions, along with exclusions and full details click HERE.
Oneworld airline partners:
airberlin
American Airlines
British Airways
Cathay Pacific
Finnair
Iberia
Japan Airlines
LAN Airlines
Malaysia Airlines
Qantas Airways
Qatar Airways
Royal Jordanian Airlines
S7 Airlines
SriLankan Airlines
TAM Airlines
US Airways
Additional airline partners
Air Tahiti Nui
Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air
Cape Air
EL AL
Etihad Airways
Fiji Airways
Gulf Air
Hawaiian Airlines
Jet Airways
Seaborne Airlines
WestJet
So this means i can get miles for two airline programs one one flight?
For the purpose of keeping this simple and easy to understand: NO. There have been loopholes in the past but as a rule of thumb the rule is no you can’t. So if you claim miles for AA on your flight on Qantas Airways, you can’t also earn miles on Qantas own mileage program. If you hardly ever fly to anywhere Qantas goes to, I would suggest opting to redeem miles on Americn Airlines reward program.
Can i earn miles for AAdvantage for hotel stays?
YES! You can earn miles for staying in select hotel brands and you can even convert current points into AA miles!
For a list of participating brands and information on converting over your hotel points go HERE.
What about for car rentals?
We are glad you asked because American Airlines allows you to earn miles for renting cars with the following companies:
Avis
Budget
Alamo
National
Dollar
Hertz
Thrifty
Carmel
Europcar
Sixt
GroundLink
SuperShuttle
For full details click HERE.
Is there any other way i can earn miles for other bookings i do?
You can earn miles when booking on AAvacations and AAcruises. You can also earn miles by shopping online. Visit their site for more details.
Is that all?
No! One of our favorite ways of earning miles in our everyday lives is by participating in AA Dining (enroll HERE). You just enroll all the credit cards and debit cards you use on a daily basis, and every time you dine at a participating location you automatically earn miles for paying with any of your enrolled cards. A couple days after you dine you will receive an e-mail to leave a short review and the miles will then be posted to your account! Do not forget to fill out the review, if not you will not receive the miles! On their website you can even see a list of participating restaurants before you visit. What is even better is that they have participating restaurants all over the place.
What are you waiting for? Go enroll in AAdvantage to earn miles on American Airlines, enroll in their dining program and start earning miles for things you do anyway! If you recently flew on American Airlines but you weren’t enroll in their rewards program, you have 90 days from the time you flew, to become a member and claim those miles!
Have you booked a flight using just miles yet?