Nowadays American AAdvantage has the Loyalty Points system for status qualification. Your elite status is exclusively based on how many Loyalty Points you rack up. Not only can you earn Loyalty Points through flying, but you can also earn them through all kinds of other activities, from using shopping portals to credit card spending.
In this post I wanted to cover the details of the Loyalty Point Rewards benefits, which are earned by passing certain Loyalty Points thresholds over the course of the membership year. This is a large part of the value proposition of going for elite status with the AAdvantage program.
I’m covering this again as the 2024 AAdvantage program year has just launched (as of March 1, 2024), and there were some minor tweaks to the Loyalty Point Rewards program as of this membership year.
In this post:
What are American Loyalty Point Rewards?
With the AAdvantage program, you earn status exclusively based on how many Loyalty Points you rack up (they reset with each membership year). Here are the current requirements for the program:
- AAdvantage Gold status requires 40,000 Loyalty Points
- AAdvantage Platinum status requires 75,000 Loyalty Points
- AAdvantage Platinum Pro status requires 125,000 Loyalty Points
- AAdvantage Executive Platinum status requires 200,000 Loyalty Points
Since you can earn Loyalty Points through credit card spending and other partner activity, you could in theory earn all published AAdvantage elite tiers without stepping foot on a plane (though that wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense).
Separate from earning elite status, American also has Loyalty Point Rewards, which offer further valuable benefits at a variety of thresholds. These perks range from bonus miles, to mileage rebates, to lounge memberships, to systemwide upgrades.
American’s Loyalty Point Rewards thresholds & choices
American AAdvantage offers 11 tiers of Loyalty Points Rewards. You can even start unlocking these before you qualify for status. To start, here are the 11 Loyalty Points thresholds at which you receive further rewards:
- 15,000 Loyalty Points
- 60,000 Loyalty Points
- 100,000 Loyalty Points
- 175,000 Loyalty Points
- 250,000 Loyalty Points
- 400,000 Loyalty Points
- 550,000 Loyalty Points
- 750,000 Loyalty Points
- 1,000,000 Loyalty Points
- 3,000,000 Loyalty Points
- 5,000,000 Loyalty Points
A few things to note when it comes to selecting Loyalty Points Rewards:
- You no longer receive a selection when you qualify for Platinum Pro or Executive Platinum, but rather valuable Loyalty Point Rewards are earned at thresholds that are 50,000 Loyalty Points above what’s required for those tiers (namely 175,000 and 250,000 Loyalty Points)
- At some thresholds you’ll just receive specific benefits, while at other thresholds you can make a selection, or even make multiple selections
- There’s no segment requirement to unlock Loyalty Point Rewards, so you can earn these even if you never step foot on an American Airlines flight
- The AAdvantage program year doesn’t follow the traditional calendar year, but rather goes from the beginning of March until the end of February of the following year — this means the 2024 program year goes from March 1, 2024, until February 28, 2025, and then status is valid through March 31, 2026
- Once you qualify for Loyalty Point Rewards, you’ll have until March 31 (a month after the end of the membership year) to make your selection; it could make sense to wait to make your selection, since it gives you more flexibility, and potentially more time to redeem your rewards (for example, systemwide upgrades are valid for a year from when they’re issued)
With that out of the way, what are the Loyalty Points Rewards options at each threshold for the 2024 membership year, and which should you select? Let’s go over all the details.
Loyalty Point Rewards at 15,000 Loyalty Points
When earning 15,000 Loyalty Points, you receive Group 5 boarding for the membership year, and can select one of the following:
- Priority check-in, security, and Group 4 boarding for one trip
- Five preferred seat coupons
- 1,000 Loyalty Points toward status
If you’re not an AAdvantage elite member, then there could be merit to selecting either the priority benefits or preferred seat coupons. Meanwhile if you’re an elite member, you’ll probably want to select the 1,000 bonus Loyalty Points.
Loyalty Point Rewards at 60,000 Loyalty Points
When earning 60,000 Loyalty Points, you receive:
- Avis Preferred status
- A 20% Loyalty Points bonus on spending with AAVacations, AAHotels, AAdvantage eShopping, AAdvantage Dining, and SimplyMiles
As you can see, there’s no selection here. I’d say this threshold is of fairly limited value. Avis entry level elite status is better than nothing, but not much more than that. A 20% bonus of Loyalty Points for some online activity could be helpful if you earn lots of Loyalty Points through non-flying means.
Loyalty Point Rewards at 100,000 Loyalty Points
When earning 100,000 Loyalty Points, you receive:
- Avis President’s Club status
- A 30% Loyalty Points bonus on spending with AAVacations, AAHotels, AAdvantage eShopping, AAdvantage Dining, and SimplyMiles
As you can see, there’s no selection here. On the plus side, Avis President’s Circle status at least offers a bit more value than the entry level status. A 30% bonus of Loyalty Points for some online activity could be helpful if you earn lots of Loyalty Points that way.
Loyalty Point Rewards at 175,000 Loyalty Points
When earning 175,000 Loyalty Points, you can choose one of the following:
- Two systemwide upgrades
- 20,000 bonus miles, or 25,000 bonus miles for AAdvantage credit card members
- Six Admirals Club day passes
- A $200 trip credit, or $250 for AAdvantage credit card members
- A $250 donation to a partner charity
- The ability to gift AAdvantage Gold status to two people
- 35,000 AAdvantage miles toward a Mastercard Priceless Experience (only for AAdvantage credit card members)
- 5,000 Loyalty Points toward status
This is where Loyalty Point Rewards start to get valuable. Personally I think the two systemwide upgrades are the best value here, though selecting 25,000 AAdvantage bonus miles could be a good option as well, if you don’t have much luck with systemwide upgrades.
Loyalty Point Rewards at 250,000 Loyalty Points
When earning 250,000 Loyalty Points, you can choose two of the following:
- Two systemwide upgrades
- 20,000 bonus miles, or 30,000 bonus miles for AAdvantage credit card members
- Six Admirals Club day passes
- An Admirals Club membership (this requires both choices)
- A $200 trip credit, or $250 for AAdvantage credit card members
- A $250 donation to a partner charity
- The ability to gift AAdvantage Gold status to two people
- A selection of Bang & Olufsen products (this requires both choices)
- A Flagship Lounge single visit pass, or two passes for AAdvantage credit card members
- 35,000 AAdvantage miles toward a Mastercard Priceless Experience (only for AAdvantage credit card members)
- 15,000 Loyalty Points toward status
For many AAdvantage members, this will be the most valuable Loyalty Point Rewards tier, since it’s attainable and rewarding. Personally I think the two systemwide upgrades are the best value here, though selecting 30,000 AAdvantage bonus miles could be a good option as well, if you don’t have much luck with systemwide upgrades.
Loyalty Point Rewards at 400,000, 550,000, and 750,000 Loyalty Points
When earning 400,000, 550,000, or 750,000 Loyalty Points, you can choose two of the following at each threshold:
- One systemwide upgrades
- 25,000 bonus miles
- An Admirals Club membership (this requires both choices)
- A $200 trip credit, or $250 for AAdvantage credit card members
- The ability to gift AAdvantage Platinum status
- A selection of Bang & Olufsen products (this requires both choices)
- Two Flagship Lounge single visit passes
- One Flagship First Dining visit pass
- 40,000 AAdvantage miles toward a Mastercard Priceless Experience (only for AAdvantage credit card members)
It’s interesting how for these three thresholds, the relative value of the options changes. At these thresholds, I tend to think that for many, selecting the bonus miles could be a better value than selecting the single systemwide upgrade.
Loyalty Point Rewards at 1,000,000 Loyalty Points
When earning 1,000,000 Loyalty Points, you can choose one of the following:
- Four systemwide upgrades
- The ability to gift AAdvantage Platinum Pro status
- A mileage rebate of 100,000 AAdvantage miles
- 150,000 AAdvantage miles toward a Mastercard Priceless Experience (only for AAdvantage credit card members)
You can’t go wrong with any of the options here. Four systemwide upgrades could be quite valuable, being able to gift Platinum Pro to someone (with oneworld Emerald status) is great, and a mileage rebate of 100,000 miles is also excellent.
Loyalty Point Rewards at 3,000,000 Loyalty Points
When earning 3,000,000 Loyalty Points, you can choose one of the following:
- Six systemwide upgrades
- The ability to gift AAdvantage Executive Platinum status
- A mileage rebate of 300,000 AAdvantage miles
- 350,000 AAdvantage miles toward a Mastercard Priceless Experience (only for AAdvantage credit card members)
Okay, I can’t imagine many people will reach this threshold, but once again, all the options could be valuable. It all depends on your travel patterns.
Loyalty Point Rewards at 5,000,000 Loyalty Points
When earning 5,000,000 Loyalty Points, you can choose one of the following:
- 10 systemwide upgrades
- The ability to gift AAdvantage Executive Platinum status
- A mileage rebate of 500,000 AAdvantage miles
- 550,000 AAdvantage miles toward a Mastercard Priceless Experience (only for AAdvantage credit card members)
I imagine the people reaching this threshold will be the single digits, if that. The relative value of systemwide upgrades and the mileage rebate is better here compared to the tier at three million Loyalty Points.
My take on American’s Loyalty Points Rewards
Everyone will value these Loyalty Point Rewards benefits differently based on their travel patterns and preferences, though I’ll share my broad take on which options make sense:
- Personally I value American AAdvantage miles at 1.5 cents each, so to me the bonus miles are the option to beat; if you rack up 250,000 Loyalty Points in a year and have a co-branded American credit card, you’ll essentially have the option of 55,000 AAdvantage bonus miles, four systemwide upgrades, or some combination thereof
- I find the inconsistency of the valuation of awards at each tier to be odd; for example, at some thresholds you can choose between 25,000 bonus miles or one systemwide upgrade, while at other thresholds you can choose between 25,000 bonus miles and two systemwide upgrades
- Many people may like the systemwide upgrades, but personally I don’t value them that much; American just doesn’t make enough confirmable upgrade space available, and I’d rather get AAdvantage bonus miles I can redeem however I’d like for travel on superior partner airlines
Bottom line
American AAdvantage offers the Loyalty Points Rewards program, whereby members can receive rewards for passing certain thresholds. These rewards aren’t tied to earning specific status tiers, but rather are intended to create an incremental incentive to be loyal to the airline. This program lets you select everything from systemwide upgrades to bonus miles, and more.
What do you make of American’s Loyalty Point Rewards? Which do you plan on selecting?
@omatt
Hey Lucky, so for the current year, AA still has the 15% Miles Rebate option for the 175k level. Is that a better option that the 2 SWU's? I still have the 175k and 250k choices to make. The previous year I was able to get up to the 350k level, so I chose the 15% rebate, then 2 SWUs & then 4 SWU's (total of 6, 5 cleared, 1 expired sadly).
This...
@omatt
Hey Lucky, so for the current year, AA still has the 15% Miles Rebate option for the 175k level. Is that a better option that the 2 SWU's? I still have the 175k and 250k choices to make. The previous year I was able to get up to the 350k level, so I chose the 15% rebate, then 2 SWUs & then 4 SWU's (total of 6, 5 cleared, 1 expired sadly).
This year I could get the 15% rebate and 4 SWU's or I could just get 6 SWU's. Nor sure what to do. I live in DFW, am an EXP, and married, so we could have a big reward trip this year, or not. Not sure.
I know that the 15% rebate is going away for this next year too.
Thanks for your advice.
@ BenjaminGuttery — That’s a toughie. It seems like you have a good track record of being able to redeem your SWUs, so if your travel plans over the next year look similar, then I think that’s probably the best bet, and can offer the most outsized value. So much partner award availability is tough to come by at the moment, limiting the value of the 15% rebate, in my opinion.
Thanks Ben! Yeah I figured as much. Much appreciated!
I'm going to Frankfurt on Monday and sadly my last 2023 SWU didn't clear in time. I called to ask to extend, but AA acted like it was impossible and has never been done before. Anyways, yes I had fairly good luck with them, RT to Munich, RT to NYC, and one way to Vegas, all from DFW, the MUN were with a stop in CLT.
Can I pick 2* 2 systemwide upgrades at 250k or only 1* 2 systemwide upgrades and something else?
@PCT already asked this here but I noticed it too and seems odd- the rule on the gifting the status is that you can only apply it once the recipients status has expired. So seems like a gamble that the system will work, since my status will expire at the end of the month and the gifting window also expires then. So I need to trust that it'll all work come April 1, otherwise it...
@PCT already asked this here but I noticed it too and seems odd- the rule on the gifting the status is that you can only apply it once the recipients status has expired. So seems like a gamble that the system will work, since my status will expire at the end of the month and the gifting window also expires then. So I need to trust that it'll all work come April 1, otherwise it was a waste. Separately, if someone happens to have a flight on April 1 or early on in April then I wonder whether it will be applied immediately or they're not flying with the gifted status.
Looking at my account I have the 15000 level but am not offered the 1000 Loyalty Point option.....is tis just me?
That is for NEXT year (basically the year that just started). So if your CURRENT LP's are less than 15k, you will be seeing LAST YEARS choices until April 6th. (All LP choices from 2023 have to be made by April 5th)
American's program is gradually becoming irrelevant unless you want a coach seat, which frankly, most travelers can buy on their own on a better airline. Dynamic pricing of their mileage awards for business class is beyond absurd. A NYC-TYO 60K points business class ticket on JAL (on the rare occasion you can find it) is 450K on American. Have switched to United and while not the greatest, is a marked improvement over American.
I think I’ll continue to earn my oneworld status through Alaska, rather than American…
the 60,000 milestone benefit gives Avis Preferred Plus status, not Avis Preferred. I happened to cross that threshold Less than 2 weeks before the end of the qualifying year, and AA indicated the benefit would expire at the end of March 2024, or less than 6 weeks.
@Lucky: would you at one point consider writing about the bleak future of using AA miles? I got used to the fact that AA doesn't offer award seats for its own metal, but was disappointed to realize that I also do not see 57.5k transatlantic or 70k US to Asia availabilities on partner airlines either. What concerns me specifically is that since transitioning to Avios, QR seems to have stopped offering availabilities to AA account...
@Lucky: would you at one point consider writing about the bleak future of using AA miles? I got used to the fact that AA doesn't offer award seats for its own metal, but was disappointed to realize that I also do not see 57.5k transatlantic or 70k US to Asia availabilities on partner airlines either. What concerns me specifically is that since transitioning to Avios, QR seems to have stopped offering availabilities to AA account holders (flights are available on BA, IB, QR). Have you heard anything about what we can expect in the near future? No AA and partner award availabilities going forward? I am considering moving funds out of my AA miles earning account into interest earning ones. Thank you.
I little OT here. LP for cash upgrades will they get credited for flights upgraded for cash starting today OR upgrades purchased from today on? Also, when will the LPs be awarded? When upgrades are purchased or when the actual flight gets credited?
@ George Romey -- Has it actually been confirmed that cash upgrades earn LP as of today, or are we just assuming based on it being a new year? Maybe I missed something...
This is what is on the website. Very vague.
Earn miles on upgrades: Earn miles when you pay with cash to upgrade to a premium cabin.
Ben did you make it to Executive Platinum again?
But no rollover. I had 388K which earned the 250K tier, short 12K for the 400K tier and as I look at my 0 balance this morning it means 138K points are poof.
No rollover does kind of suck! We wound up with I think around 422K so only 22k points are “poof”! Not sure we will pursue the same strategy this year?? The UPGs are becoming a joke and frustrating!! Of course, we also do not have a back-up plan, LOL!!
Really not until I hit 175K LP do much of these rewards interest me. I rarely rent cars and when I do so I get a great corporate rate with Enterprise. I can check in online and go right to my car selection.
how do you get 6 system wide and 250K I only see 4?
@ applesa -- Sorry, not sure where I got that from. I updated the post to correct that mistake. My apologies.
We made the decision to use only one CC to achieve 400k loyalty points so that my spouse, the business traveler, has EP and I will be gifted PL. I currently am PL and cannot be gifted until Apr 1. Reading the fine print, it seems you only have to redeem the choice by Mar 28 but not actually gift the status?? At least we hope so or this entire endeavor was pointless. Thoughts…..
OT @Ben.
If LH is showing F5 one day and F7 the next day, will LH "automatically" open Award space for Aeroplan?
Or is it hit or miss?
@ RetiredATLATC -- Nothing is guaranteed, but if there are five or seven first class seats left on a particular flight, then odds are that seats will be released in the days leading up to departure. Good luck!
Thanks @Ben.
I got her LH F last minute last week, which she loved, however....
the experience out of IAH was less than desired.
Was hoping to get her F (M,T,W) this week so she could experience the FCT.