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’d like 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 as the 2026-2027 AAdvantage program year has just launched (as of March 1, 2026), 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 2026-2027 program year goes from March 1, 2026, until February 28, 2027, and then status is valid through March 31, 2028
- 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 you never know how your travel demands will evolve
With that out of the way, what are the Loyalty Points Rewards options at each threshold for the 2026-2027 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
- A personalized luggage tag
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, since it gets you closer to requalifying for status.
Loyalty Point Rewards at 60,000 Loyalty Points
When earning 60,000 Loyalty Points, you receive:
- Avis Preferred status
- A 25% Loyalty Points bonus on spending with AAVacations, AAHotels, AAdvantage eShopping, AAdvantage Dining, and SimplyMiles, for up to 25,000 bonus Loyalty Points
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 25% 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
- World of Hyatt Discoverist status
As you can see, there’s no selection here, but rather you receive two things. On the plus side, Avis President’s Circle status at least offers a bit more value than the entry level status, and Discoverist is World of Hyatt’s entry level status, and offers modest value.
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
- A $250 credit toward American Airlines Vacations packages
- 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
- World of Hyatt Explorist status
- One AAdvantage Exchange gift
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. Explorist is World of Hyatt’s mid level status, and while it offers some value, I think the opportunity cost is too high.
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
- A $500 credit toward American Airlines Vacations packages
- The ability to gift AAdvantage Gold status to two people
- 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
- One AAdvantage Exchange gift
- One AAdvantage Exchange premium gift (this requires both choices)
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
- A $500 credit toward American Airlines Vacations packages
- The ability to gift AAdvantage Platinum status
- 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)
- A World of Hyatt Category 1-4 free night award
- One AAdvantage Exchange gift
- One AAdvantage Exchange premium gift (this requires both choices)
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.
For what it’s worth, a Hyatt Category 1-4 free night award is worth up to 18,000 World of Hyatt points, and I value World of Hyatt points and American AAdvantage miles roughly equally. So it’s not the option I’d select, personally.
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)
- A World of Hyatt Category 1-7 free night award
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.
For what it’s worth, a Hyatt Category 1-7 free night award is worth up to 35,000 World of Hyatt points, and I value World of Hyatt points and American AAdvantage miles roughly equally. So it’s not the option I’d choose, given the opportunity cost.
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)
- A World of Hyatt Category 1-7 free night award
Okay, I can’t imagine many people will reach this threshold, but once again, all the options could be valuable, perhaps with the exception of the Hyatt free night award. 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)
- A World of Hyatt Category 1-7 free night award
I imagine the people reaching this threshold is very low. 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 85,000 AAdvantage bonus miles, six 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?
250,000, choose two...
"20,000 bonus miles, or 30,000 bonus miles for AAdvantage credit card members"
60,000 bonus miles is conservatively valued at over $1,000.
Certainly will be interesting to see how the progream progresses in the next few years. The sweet spots cannot last forever.
Avis President’s Club status
World of Hyatt Discoverist status
Avis President's Club status is of value, but World of Hyatt Discoverist status isn't of value. Odd one is the highest status and one is the lowest status.
As an Executive Platinum with AA for the last several years, that was earned by flying and credit card spend, I am switching back to my Amex Platinum for credit card spend. While I have been upgraded on most of my domestic flights, I am tired of waiting to get to the gate to find out. They are not loyal with their new policies, and I am no longer going to be loyal. I have...
As an Executive Platinum with AA for the last several years, that was earned by flying and credit card spend, I am switching back to my Amex Platinum for credit card spend. While I have been upgraded on most of my domestic flights, I am tired of waiting to get to the gate to find out. They are not loyal with their new policies, and I am no longer going to be loyal. I have a flight scheduled in 48 hours, there are 7 of the 12 first class seats available, and I once again have not gotten upgraded yet. Because I do most of my domestic travel from a smaller airport, I can probably get upgraded until next March 1, even if I do not spend on my card. At least with Amex, I can transfer to other airlines programs for more flexibility. I made the same decision with United being Premium Platinum this year after cashing in my miles for an international trip this summer. There really is no loyalty anymore with the airlines.
This is a timely post! Have two awards (175k and 250k) to pick by the end of the month. I have picked systemwide upgrades in the past but have not used successfully. Looked for international flights later this year- saw one flight from Germany to the US right before Christmas, that's it. Even for transcontinental travel (East coast to West) there is nothing available. I think miles are the way to go, now. It's a...
This is a timely post! Have two awards (175k and 250k) to pick by the end of the month. I have picked systemwide upgrades in the past but have not used successfully. Looked for international flights later this year- saw one flight from Germany to the US right before Christmas, that's it. Even for transcontinental travel (East coast to West) there is nothing available. I think miles are the way to go, now. It's a shame that this reward for AA's best customers is so hard to use.
Hi Ben, Could you please clarify what reward you value? In the main article (ie, 175k points) you say that you find the Systemwide Upgrades to have the most value, but at the end you state your preference would be for miles. Thanks
I picked the SWUs and I regret it. They're completely useless. Ben, maybe you need to do a post about how to use them properly? Because if there is a way to make them useful I'm missing it.
I go for the trip credit or maybe miles. The SWU are becoming harder to use. I was actually able to use one at booking on a JFK/SFO flight on the 321T but that's a rarity to be able to use at booking.
A few years back, got burned by System Wide Upgrades, so I cannot recommend SWUs, and instead have gone with the points offerings (plus the AA credit card bonuses).
I wish SWUs were as good as Delta Global Upgrade Certificates (usually confirmable in-advance, even for long-haul J), but unfortunately, they're more like United PlusPoints (rarely confirmed in-advance, often dying on the Waitlist.)
For the past several years, SWUs have always seemed to be a bad bet. Choosing points is a smart move.