American Airlines made changes to its AAdvantage program in 2021 to become one of the most accessible loyalty programs for earning airline elite status. Before American Airlines revamped its loyalty program, members earned elite status primarily by flying. That changed when American implemented a new metric for earning status, dubbed Loyalty Points.

Now, every dollar that you spend with American Airlines will help you to earn elite status. In other words, everything from credit card spending to shopping online and even completing surveys helps to get you closer to your elite status goals. In fact, you can earn elite status without spending countless hours in the air with American Airlines.

Interested in pursuing American Airlines elite status from the comfort of your own home? Here are the activities that earn Loyalty Points toward AAdvantage elite status, helping you to travel more comfortably with benefits and perks on future flights.

Before jumping into how you can earn Loyalty Points, it’s important to first understand how many of them you’ll need in order to reach your elite status goals. You can earn AAdvantage elite status after reaching just 30,000 Loyalty Points and get top-tier Executive Platinum status at 200,000 points.

Keep in mind the qualification period starts on March 1 and ends on Feb. 28 each year. Once you earn elite status, it’s valid through March 31 of the following year.

Here’s how many Loyalty Points you’ll need for each level of AAdvantage elite status:

Beginning in March 2023, American Airlines is introducing Loyalty Choice Rewards, which will reward members with additional perks as they earn their way toward elite status. The rewards range from Admirals Club passes to systemwide upgrades, bonus miles, carbon emissions offsets, the ability to gift status and more.

Even if you don’t intend on flying extensively with American Airlines and its partners, it’s possible to earn Loyalty Points toward status. That’s because the airline makes it easy to earn on varying kinds of spending beyond just flights. Ultimately, it’s the flexibility in spending options that many travelers find appealing about the Loyalty Points scheme.

Here are some of the most popular ways that you can earn Loyalty Points toward AAdvantage elite status.

Earn Loyalty Points by flying with American Airlines and its partners

Perhaps the most obvious way to earn Loyalty Points toward status is to fly with American Airlines and its partner airlines. When flying with American Airlines or JetBlue Airways with no elite status as a general AAdvantage member, you’ll earn 5 Loyalty Points per dollar spent on airfare, excluding taxes and fees. At that rate, you’d need to spend $40,000 on airfare to earn top-tier Executive Platinum status.

If you’ve got AAdvantage status already, you’ll earn Loyalty Points on flights at slightly higher rates, making it easier to fast-track to requalifying or earning toward your next level of elite status. AAdvantage elite status members earn Loyalty Points at the following rates for American Airlines flights:

Flights with other partner airlines earn Loyalty Points at varying rates. So if you’re flying with the likes of British Airways, Iberia, Cathay Pacific or any of the other Oneworld partners, you’ll want to check to see how many Loyalty Points you’ll earn based on the distance and fare of your ticket.

American Airlines has a portfolio of airline-branded credit cards. And, for those interested in earning elite status, you’ll be pleased to know that AAdvantage credit card spending counts toward elite status.

With the AAdvantage credit cards, every dollar spent is equal to 1 Loyalty Point. Unfortunately, credit card welcome bonuses do not count toward AAdvantage elite status, and nor do category bonuses. For example, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® earns 2 miles per dollar spent at gas stations. Therefore, if you charge $50 in gas to the card, you’ll earn 100 redeemable miles and 50 Loyalty Points.

It’s worth noting, too, that the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® offers an additional 10,000 Loyalty Points when you spend $40,000 per year. For that reason, this is our pick as the best credit card for American Airlines AAdvantage elite status perks.

Here’s a look at the American Airlines-branded credit cards on offer that will earn you Loyalty Points.

If you need to stay in a hotel during your travels, American’s partnerships with hotel chains and booking platforms allow you to earn Loyalty Points and miles on those stays. With American’s partnership with Hyatt, you’ll earn 1 Loyalty Point and mile for every eligible dollar spent on Hyatt stays and experiences once you link your accounts.

You’ll earn 2 Loyalty Points and miles for every dollar you spend on eligible Marriott Bonvoy stays (some Marriott brands only earn 1 Loyalty Point and mile per dollar spent). Meanwhile, with IHG Rewards, you’ll earn 2 Loyalty Points and miles for every dollar spent on qualifying room rates with Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo, Crown Plaza, InterContinental and EVEN brands. For stays at Candlewood Suites and Skybridge Suites, you’ll earn 1 Loyalty Point and mile per dollar spent.

If you plan to book with American Airlines Hotels or through Rocketmiles, you can earn up to 10,000 Loyalty Points and miles per night. This could be a handy way to earn points quickly toward elite status.

American Airlines has its own booking platform wherein you can often find deals on hotels and bundled vacation packages. In fact, the American Airlines Vacations page sometimes offers 20,000 miles or more for booking a vacation package through the platform. However, these bonuses won’t translate to Loyalty Points.

Instead, you’ll earn just 1,000 Loyalty Points per booking. That can still add up and provide an incentive for you to book your next trip through AA Vacations if you’re just a few thousand points shy of meeting your status goal.

American Airlines partners with many of the major rental car companies to offer bonus miles and Loyalty Points toward elite status. Taking a road trip can get you closer to your AAdvantage status goals if you book through the dedicated American car rental platform. By doing so, you’ll earn 2 miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent. Just be sure to compare rates against direct bookings to ensure you’re not paying more for the privilege of earning rewards.

If you’re eyeing a cruise as your next vacation, you can earn Loyalty Points toward AAdvantage elite status just for booking. If you book your next cruise through American Airlines Cruises, you’ll earn 1 Loyalty Point per dollar spent in addition to 1 AAdvantage mile per dollar.

Through Dec. 31, 2024, AA Cruises is offering AAdvantage credit card holders an extra Loyalty Point and AAdvantage mile per dollar spent, up to 20,000 bonus miles, when booking a cruise on the platform with your eligible AA credit card. With cruise bookings, you can make significant progress toward your AAdvantage status and mileage-earning goals.

Earning Loyalty Points and redeemable miles is icing on the cake when it comes to doing your online shopping. The AAdvantage shopping portal has more than 1,200 stores — from Apple to Nike, Macy’s and more — where you can earn Loyalty Points and redeemable miles on every purchase. For every AAdvantage mile that you earn through AAdvantage Shopping, you’ll earn 1 Loyalty Point in return. These Loyalty Points can add up quickly if you’re doing lots of online shopping with lucrative bonuses.

SimplyMIles is an exclusive program that allows AAdvantage Mastercard credit card holders to earn extra miles and Loyalty Points at select retailers. Members can earn between 1 and 2.5 extra miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent at popular retailers like Levi’s, J. Crew, The Body Shop and others.

To earn rewards with SimplyMiles, you’ll need to register using your AAdvantage username and qualifying credit card number. Once you’re registered, simply add offers that interest you to your card. When you make a qualifying purchase with your registered card, you’ll earn bonus miles and Loyalty Points toward elite status.

You can double up on miles and Loyalty Points by combining SimplyMiles offers with AAdvantage shopping portal bonuses. If you’re shopping with a retailer that participates in both programs, you can earn extra Loyalty Points and redeemable miles with minimal effort. Factor in the rewards from your AAdvantage credit card and hit your elite status goals even faster.

The AAdvantage dining rewards program is a great way to earn Loyalty Points when you eat at your favorite restaurants. The program is free to join and you’ll earn up to 5 Loyalty Points and AAdvantage miles per dollar spent at participating restaurants. All you have to do is sign up and register a debit or credit card. When you pay for your meal with the registered card at a participating restaurant, you’ll earn redeemable miles and Loyalty Points.

All members earn 1 Loyalty Point and mile per dollar spent, which increases to 3 Loyalty Points and miles if you opt-in to receive email communications from AAdvantage Dining. After 11 dines in a calendar year, you’ll get upgraded to VIP status and earn 5 Loyalty Points and miles per dollar spent.

Aside from maximizing credit card category bonuses, you can earn Loyalty Points at the pump through Shell Fuel Rewards. Simply link your AAdvantage account to your Fuel Rewards account. You’ll start earning 2 Loyalty Points and AAdvantage miles per dollar spent on up to 20 gallons per fill-up.

While your utility costs are likely up this year, the silver lining is that paying these expenses can help you earn American Airlines elite status faster. Other than charging your bills to your AAdvantage credit card, you can earn Loyalty Points and redeemable miles with select energy partners, depending on where you live.

With NRG Energy, you can earn up to 15,000 bonus Loyalty Points and miles (12,500 for switching electricity, 2,500 for switching natural gas) for switching to NRG, plus 2 miles per $1 spent on monthly service.

With Xoom Energy, you can earn 10,000 bonus miles for switching your electrical account to Xoom Energy or 5,000 miles for natural gas. In addition, you’ll earn 2 Loyalty Points and miles per dollar spent on monthly service.

You can earn 15,000 AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points for signing up for Reliant Secure 24 plan and 500 bonus miles and Loyalty Points each month for the next 24 months.

Filling out surveys for miles isn’t the most efficient way to earn miles and Loyalty Points. However, if you want a way to pass the time, it’s a productive option. You can earn Loyalty Points and redeemable AAdvantage miles for filling out surveys with e-Rewards and Miles for Opinions.

Payouts vary by survey, but you’ll typically earn between 50 and 250 Loyalty Points per completed survey. You’ll also earn rewards for partial surveys if you fill out the preliminary questions and don’t qualify for the entire survey.

Unfortunately, not everything will earn you Loyalty Points toward AAdvantage elite status. In general, bonus point activity will not count towards elite status on American Airlines. For example, credit card welcome bonuses, category bonuses and bonus miles on AA Vacations don’t qualify for bonus Loyalty Points. Additionally, donations to organizations like Stand Up to Cancer earn 10 miles per $1 spent but don’t award Loyalty Points.

Some other activities that typically award bonus AAdvantage miles but don’t earn Loyalty Points include buying miles, transferring points from Marriott Bonvoy and miles earned for having an account with Bask Bank.

You don’t have to spend hours flying in a plane for thousands of miles to earn American Airlines elite status. In fact, you can now earn elite-qualifying Loyalty Points for activities right from the comfort of your home. From filling out surveys to dining at your favorite restaurants, there are plenty of ways to start earning Loyalty Points toward elite status perks and benefits.

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