American Airlines Miles is among the most valuable miles and one of the toughest to earn outside the USA. However, it is not impossible to earn. You can earn American Airlines miles in India or outside the USA in a few ways.
Why would you want to earn American Airlines miles?
American Airlines has a fixed award chart, and some sweet spots are hard to ignore. With better availability and good airline partners, there are several routes to use American Airlines miles.
Here are some of the reasons why American Airlines Miles are good:
- Travel to Japan from India in Japan Airlines Business Class for 40K AA Miles
- Fly to London from India on British Airways Business Class in 42.5K Miles
- One of the lowest fuel surcharges charged
- Free Cancellation
- Good Availability
Earn when Fly American Airlines
American Airlines shifted to revenue-based mile earning a few years back. As a base member, you will earn 5 AA miles for every $. For example (refer to the image below), if our base fare and surcharge is $977 out of the total fare of $ 1083, you will receive 4885 miles. You can check how many miles you can earn while flying American Airlines here.
If you become American Airlines elite, you will also receive bonus miles. However, becoming American Airlines Elite in India or outside the USA would be difficult.
Buy AA Miles Using AAdvantage Mileage Multiplier
Unlike most mileage multipliers, the AA one is a bit different. The AAdvantage Mileage Multiplier allows you to multiply your miles when booking your flight on aa.com. You can multiply your miles before you fly, not later. And the pricing is dynamic.
Earn while Flying OneWorld Alliance Airlines
You can earn American Airlines miles if you travel on a revenue flight with any OneWorld alliance airline, such as Qatar Airways, British Airways, or Cathay Pacific.
Except for British Airways and Iberia, each member airline has a different AA mileage earning chart based on miles travelled, fare type, and cabin travelled in. You will continue to earn 5 Miles per $ on British Airways and Iberia. For others, you can refer to each member earning mileage here. If unsure, use wheretocredit; though it’s a bit outdated, it’s good.
Here is the Qatar Airways AA Mileage Accrual chart.
Earn when Flying Non-Alliance Airline Partners
American Airlines has non-alliance airline partners, of which Etihad Airways, Fiji Airways, GOL Airlines, and Aer Lingus would be interested outside the USA. On Aer Lingus flights, you earn the same rate as AA. That is based on spending, and for others, you earn mileage based on multiple factors such as distance, cabin, and fare type.
I recently flew Etihad Airways and credited that flight to AA, earning more miles than I could have on Etihad. If you are an Etihad elite, then it is better to go ahead and earn Etihad miles.
You can find out how many miles you earn for each airline partner. If you have missing miles, you can request them here.
Shop via the AA Shopping Portal
One of the best ways to get AA Miles outside the USA is to use the AA Shopping Portal. There are multiple promotions now and then. Also, sometimes, extra miles are given for spending over a threshold.
I have used this shopping portal multiple times and recently earned miles by booking a tour on Viator Via AA.
Several partners with which you can earn miles, including Hotel stays.
Earn on Hotel Stays
American Airlines also partners with big hotel chains such as Marriott, IHG & Hyatt. However, this may not be the best way to earn AA Miles. It also runs a Hotel booking platform.
Marriott
You can earn up to 2 AA Miles for every $ spent at Marriott. However, it is not recommended that you do that.
IHG
IHG also allows you to earn up to 2 AA Miles for every $ spent at IHG. Again, not a great way to do it. At the moment American Airlines is running a promotion of 1000 Bonus miles on stay of more than 2 nights.
Hyatt
At Hyatt, if you select AA as an earning partner, you will earn 500 miles for each stay—however, this is not a great way to earn miles.
AA Hotels Platform
Booking hotels via the AA Hotels website earns AA Miles. However, booking directly is always recommended, and there may be great promotions. The maximum miles earned on a reservation are 15K, and the lowest is 100 miles. This works well if you somehow have an AAdvantage Credit Card with status, which most of us won’t. For example, a beach property in Dubai going for $681 per night earns 1700 miles for a base member and 10K miles for a credit cardmember with elite status.
Link Hyatt Accounts
In addition to earning Hyatt points, you can earn one AA mile for every $ spent at Hyatt if you hold American Airlines gold status or higher.
If you aren’t an AA elite status holder but a Hyatt elite status holder, you can sometimes receive an offer for a status match. Make sure to link both accounts and have a valid email ID.
Transfer Hotel Loyalty Points
As I said earlier, earning AA miles on hotel stays isn’t great because earning hotel points and transferring them are better options.
Transfer Marriott Bonvoy Points
Marriott has a standard 3:1 ratio for transferring points to airlines. However, it doesn’t offer a 5K bonus on transferring 60K points to American Airlines. So, if you earned 10 Marriott points on every $ at Marriott, you can get 3 AA miles against direct earning of 2 AA miles.
One of the best ways to earn Marriott Points in India is Amex. Plus, a bonus transfer offer sometimes gives you more Marriott points and more options to explore.
Transfer IHG Points
IHG has a 5:1 transfer ratio for American Airlines. As there are multiple ways to earn IHG points, you can rack up those points and transfer them. However, the minimum transfer is 10K points. You can also buy IHG points for cheap, as low as INR 0.42 or 0.5 cents, cheaper than directly buying AA miles.
Transfer Hyatt Points
Hyatt Points are among the most valuable hotel points in the world. Transferring them to any airline should give you exceptional value.
If you want to transfer Hyatt points, a minimum of 5000 points should be transferred in a multiple of 1250 points. You get 2 AA miles for every 5 Hyatt points. Plus, there is a 5K miles bonus when you transfer 50K miles together. One Hyatt value is INR 1.8, so one AA mile should give me an INR 4.5 value. That, however, is achievable.
Buy AA Miles
I have to say AA miles are one of the most expensive items to buy, even during promotions. AA is running targeted promotions on buying miles. I have a discount offer of up to 35%, and even at the maximum level, it will cost me INR 2.05 or 2.45 cents per mile. However, the best part is American Airlines sells its miles directly.
Book a Car Rental
You can earn AA miles when booking a car rental with Avis, Budget, or Hertz. You can earn 2 AA miles for every $ as a base member. Elite status holders can earn up to 5 AA miles per $ spent.
American Airlines is running a 500-mile bonus promotion on booking an Avis or budget rental.
American Airlines Car Rental Partners:
- Avis
- Hertz
- Dollar
- Alamo
- National
- Payless
- Thrifty
Book a Cruise
Do you travel on a Cruise? American Airlines lets you earn AA miles when booking a cruise with them. Standard earning is 1 AA mile per $. Till 30th September 2024 bookings, you can earn 2 miles. Also, on booking Princess Cruise by 30th Sep 2024 you can also earn bonus 20K miles and 1 Lakh bonus miles on booking seabourn cruises.
You can check out or book the cruise here. There are also a number of ports outside the USA from which you can start your journey.
Make a Donation
Many airlines allow miles to be earned when donating. When making a donation for cancer, you can earn AA miles. Until 30 September, you can earn 25 miles for every $ of donation. The usual earning is 10 miles per $. Sometimes, the miles are even higher.
Track Promotions
You can track all promotions, which allow you to earn bonus miles, here. There could be something you were looking for. These promotions are also visible in your AA account.
When does AA Miles expire?
Usually, AA miles expire after 24 months on no activity. Any earning or redemption activity extends the validity of AA miles by 24 months.
Bottomline
There are many ways to earn American Airlines (AA) miles In India & outside of the USA. You do not necessarily have to be in the US to rack up AA miles. You don’t need many AA miles to book a flight. I have racked up over 5K miles on a few transactions, including a flight on Etihad.
