Since its inception in 1981, AAdvantage has evolved from a simple coupon program to the largest airline loyalty program (and one of the best), boasting over 100 million members. AAdvantage members can now earn and redeem miles with 20 partner airlines worldwide. To help you navigate these options, we’ve compiled all the essential details to redeem your miles with American Airlines’ partners.
Table of contents
American Airlines partner airlines
American Airlines’ AAdvantage airline partners fall into two categories: Oneworld alliance partners and non-Oneworld partners. This distinction matters when you’re earning AA Loyalty Points for elite status on cash tickets but is less important if you’re redeeming miles.
Oneworld partners of American Airlines
- Alaska Airlines
- British Airways
- Cathay Pacific
- Finnair
- Iberia
- Japan Airlines
- Malaysia Airlines
- Qantas Airways
- Qatar Airways
- Royal Air Maroc
- Royal Jordanian Airlines
- SriLankan Airlines
Other AA airline redemption partners
- Air Tahiti Nui
- Cape Air
- China Southern Airlines
- Etihad Airways
- Fiji Airways
- GOL Airlines
- Hawaiian Airlines
Other AA travel partners
In addition to redeeming your miles for flights on airline partners, there are other ways you can use your AAdvantage miles. You can use them to book hotels with AAdvantage Hotels, rental cars, or even events. However, the best value for AAdvantage miles typically comes from booking flights.
How many AAdvantage points you need for a flight
Earn miles on American Airlines flights
Like its U.S. competitors, American Airlines has shifted to dynamic award pricing and no longer publishes a traditional award chart for its own flights. However, it still provides an award tool showing starting prices, which can help you get an idea of what you might spend.
In reality, the cost of flight redemptions on American Airlines is dynamic. Some awards can cost well above the prices on the chart. Occasionally, redemption costs might be lower than the prices shown on the award chart, with some users reporting “Web Special” deals well below the advertised starting cost.
Note that American Airlines includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands as part of the Caribbean region. Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Guayana are short-haul South American destinations. Meanwhile, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay are considered long-haul South American destinations.
Earn miles on partner airline flights
While American Airlines has moved to dynamic pricing for awards on its own flights, partner redemptions continue to provide outsized value with a published award chart.
Premium cabin redemptions are especially advantageous. For example, you can fly business class from North America to Europe for 57,500 miles one-way. Similar value is found for South America Region 2 and Asia Region 2, with business class flights requiring 57,500 and 70,000 miles, respectively.
Below is the full award chart for redemptions from the contiguous 48 U.S. states and Canada. If you’re based elsewhere, you can access the award chart for your region on the AAdvantage website. We also have a handy guide to booking American Airlines flights with points.
| Destination | Main Cabin | Premium Economy | Business / First | First |
| Contiguous 48 U.S. states and Canada | 12,500 | 22,500 | 25,000 | 50,000 |
| Alaska | 15,000 | 25,000 | 30,000 | 55,000 |
| Hawaii | 22,500 | 50,000 | 55,000 | 80,000 |
| Caribbean | 17,500 | Not available | 27,500 | 52,500 |
| Mexico | 17,500 | Not available | 27,500 | 52,500 |
| Central America | 17,500 | Not available | 27,500 | 52,500 |
| South America Region 1 | 20,000 | Not available | 30,000 | 55,000 |
| South America Region 2 | 30,000 | 40,000 | 57,500 | 85,000 |
| Europe | 30,000 (22,500 during off-peak dates) | 40,000 | 57,500 | 85,000 |
| Middle East | 40,000 | 62,500 | 70,000 | 115,000 |
| Indian Subcontinent | 40,000 | 62,500 | 70,000 | 115,000 |
| Africa | 40,000 | 65,000 | 75,000 | 120,000 |
| Asia Region 1 | 35,000 | 50,000 | 60,000 | 80,000 |
| Asia Region 2 | 37,500 | 50,000 | 70,000 | 110,000 |
| South Pacific | 40,000 | 65,000 | 80,000 | 110,000 |
How to earn AAdvantage miles
There are several ways to earn AAdvantage miles for booking award flights. Here are some common methods:
AAdvantage credit cards
The fastest way to rack up AAdvantage miles is by signing up for one of American’s cobranded credit cards. American offers a selection of nine co-branded cards in the United States: Four issued by Citi and five by Barclays. At the moment, Barclays is only accepting applications for one AAdvantage credit card. The other cards are available via upgrades or downgrades for existing cardholders.
These cards can earn you a significant stash of miles when you meet the requirements for signup bonuses. The cards also come with benefits, which include earning miles on card spending, loyalty points towards AAdvantage status, free checked bags, and Admiral’s Club access in the case of the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®.
There are four personal credit cards and a business credit card available from Barclays:
- AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Silver Mastercard®
- AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Red Mastercard®
- AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Blue Mastercard®
- AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Mastercard®
- AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard®
And another three personal cards and a business card from Citi:
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®
- American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® Mastercard®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Business™ World Elite Mastercard®
Bask Bank Mileage Savings account
Bask Bank offers a unique twist for earning AAdvantage miles — by saving money instead of spending, as interest on your savings. The account offers savers 2.5 American Airlines AAdvantage®️ miles per dollar saved annually. That can work out to be worth quite a bit more than the yield on competing savings accounts and can be a great way to regularly replenish your mileage stash.
It’s important to note that Bask sends out 1099 forms for the value of the miles earned. You might want to compare the AA mileage value against the interest your balance would accrue with a traditional savings account.
Flying with American and partner airlines
Fly American is the obvious way to earn AAdvantage miles. Earning miles on American flights is based on ticket price, fare type, and any elite status you hold. You can also earn miles on American’s partners.
American calculates miles earned from a ticket based on ticket price on its own flights along with flights on British Airways and Iberia. Flights on other partner airlines are based on your fare’s booking code and distance.
Dining and shopping
American’s dining rewards program and online shopping portal let you earn miles on everyday activities. Register your credit card before you dine out at participating restaurants or start your online shopping on American’s portal, and you’ll earn extra miles without any additional effort on your part.
Other earning partners
AAdvantage has other partners you can earn miles with, including car rental companies, hotels, and even cruises. Renting a car or booking a hotel through these partners can stack up your miles. That said, keep in mind that hotel stays often yield more points with hotel loyalty programs than with airline miles, and double dipping is generally not allowed.
Transfer points to AAdvantage
American Airlines does not partner with any of the major transferable points currencies. While Bilt Rewards originally transferred to AAdvantage, that partnership was sunsetted as of June 2024.
You can transfer points from various hotel programs to American indirectly, although this rarely represents a good value.
- Marriott Bonvoy points can be transferred to AAdvantage miles with a 3:1 ratio in increments of 3 points and a minimum of 3,000 points. Members receive 5,000 bonus miles for every 60,000 Marriott points transferred.
- World of Hyatt points can be transferred to AAdvantage miles with a 2.5:1 ratio in increments of 1,250 and a minimum of 5,000 points.
Benefits of AAdvantage status on partner flights
American Airlines is a member of the Oneworld alliance, so earning elite status in AAdvantage unlocks benefits across the alliance. This can include benefits like priority boarding, extra luggage allowance, and access to exclusive lounges when flying with American Airlines and Oneworld partners. Top-tier Oneworld Emerald elites even get access to first-class lounges from Oneworld partners around the world — even when flying coach or business. Note that there are some exceptions and stipulations about lounge access, so be sure to familiarize yourself before booking.
The best partners to redeem AAdvantage points on
While American Airlines has plenty of partners to redeem miles on, a few rise to the top as the crème de la crème. For most points and miles enthusiasts, Cathay Pacific, Etihad, Japan Airlines, and Qatar Airways rise to the top of aspirational AAdvantage redemptions; however, great value can also be found with other partners.
Qsuite on Qatar Airways
Booking business class on Qatar Airways is one of the most popular ways to use AAdvantage miles. Known for its privacy, comfort, and service, the Qsuite has been widely acclaimed as the world’s best business class.
Travelers based in the U.S. can use AAdvantage miles to book Qsuite from the U.S. to the Middle East or Indian subcontinent for just 70,000 miles plus taxes and fees. Extending the journey to select African cities can cost just 5,000 miles more.
This redemption can provide tremendous value compared with cash prices. Even better, if you don’t live near a Qatar Airways gateway airport, you can book a domestic connection with either American or Alaska Airlines as part of your award.
Japan Airlines first class
Another exceptional use of AAdvantage miles is Japan Airlines’ first class. It offers a plush A350 first-class seat with a surplus of personal space, massive 43″ HD screens, excellent service, and exquisite dining, including rare liquors and high-end champagne.
Amazingly, this seat is bookable to Japan with American Airlines miles for just 80,000 miles one-way. Business class is also a fantastic option, available for 60,000 miles one-way with some routes featuring JAL’s A350 with its brand-new business class suites.
Cathay Pacific business class
Hong Kong’s home carrier, Cathay Pacific, offers another excellent use of AAdvantage miles to travel to Asia. Flying with Cathay Pacific and experiencing its world-class business and first-class lounges in Hong Kong is always a treat. For just 70,000 miles each way, you can fly Cathay Pacific business class from the United States to China and Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and other countries.
Cathay Pacific’s first class is available for 110,000 miles each way and is also well regarded — if you can find award space, as these days Cathay Pacific usually only releases first class space to its own Asia Miles members. But, if you look far in advance or close to departure, you may be able to find first-class space.
Iberia and Finnair to Europe
While 57,500 miles one-way for business class on partner carriers to Europe might sound like a great value, steep taxes and fuel surcharges on British Airways can wipe out a lot of that value. Luckily, American’s Oneworld partners Iberia and Finnair can be standout partners if you want to avoid these fees on flights to Europe.
Finnair offers flights to Europe from its Helsinki hub with no fuel surcharges while Iberia only charges a fraction of British Airways’ surcharges for flights on its network from its hub in Madrid.
Finding award availability on Finnair and Iberia is not usually a problem if you search in advance. Finnair guarantees that at least two business class seats will be bookable with awards on all transatlantic flights. From our experience, Iberia also generally releases a minimum of two business class seats per flight when publishing its schedule, although it does not formally guarantee it.
South Pacific Shores with Qantas, Fiji Airways, and Air Tahiti Nui
American Airlines AAdvantage can help you fly to the South Pacific, including destinations like Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji, using miles. American has two Oneworld partners flying to the South Pacific in Qantas and current Oneworld-connect (and future full member) Fiji Airways.
American also partners with Air Tahiti Nui, which connects Los Angeles or Seattle to Papeete, and Hawaiian Airlines flies from Honolulu to various South Pacific destinations, including Papeete, Rarotonga, Pago Pago, Auckland, and Sydney. Between the four partners, they offer plenty of options for redeeming AAdvantage miles to the South Pacific, with business class awards costing just 80,000 miles one-way.
How to redeem AAdvantage miles on partner airlines
You can currently redeem AAdvantage miles for 20 partner airlines online. To redeem AAdvantage miles for partner flights, start by logging into your AAdvantage account on the American Airlines website.
On the homepage, enter your trip details, select “redeem miles,” and initiate the search for reward flights. On the results page, refine your search by selecting the “Airlines” filter to include specific partner airlines in your results.
After updating your search, review the available award flight options and select your preferred flight. Proceed by confirming passenger details, selecting seats, and completing the checkout process, while keeping in mind that taxes and fees apply.
For certain partners like China Southern, you’ll need to call an American Airlines booking agent to complete your reservation.
Using point.me to find AAdvantage award flights
point.me can help you streamline your search for available award flights using AAdvantage miles. It will also list ways to book flights with numerous other programs so you can compare your options and maximize your savings.
You even isolate American Airlines flights by checking American Airlines or select partner flights operated by any other Oneworld member. Once you’ve found award availability and settled on an itinerary, you can book it on the American Airlines website, or select the “book with an expert” option to have a points pro walk you through every step of booking via a live screen share.
AAdvantage’s customer-friendly award booking policies
American Airlines has some of the most flexible policies for award bookings in the industry. American allows you to hold award tickets for up to five days, providing flexibility when planning trips. In addition, taxes and fees on mileage awards are generally low, except for British Airways, which has higher surcharges. There are no close-in booking fees either.
AAdvantage offers flexible change policies for award tickets. Flights booked with AAdvantage miles are flexible — you can adjust your plans until the time of travel without any change or cancellation fees, making the program very user-friendly.
Summary
American Airlines AAdvantage offers a wide range of airline partners for booking flights globally, including Oneworld members like British Airways, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, and Iberia, as well as non-Oneworld partners like Etihad, Air Tahiti Nui, and Hawaiian Airlines. Redeeming AAdvantage miles for partner flights often provides great value, especially for premium cabins. Booking partner flights is easy via the American Airlines website. For even easier access to the best awards, use point.me to search multiple programs and find the best redemption for you.
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