AAdvantage miles are earned from purchased flights, credit card spending, and several other sources. The fun, of course, comes from spending them. Spending on flights with American Airlines or its many partners is the most obvious - and best value - way to redeem miles in the AAdvantage program. But if you really aren’t flying or have miles to use up, there are other ways to spend them.

Spending AAdvantage miles on American Airlines flights

Just a few years ago, almost all airline mileage programs had fixed-priced flight awards. The airline would make a certain number of seats available for award redemption on each flight, and these would always cost the same fixed number of miles.

Many airlines are switching now to dynamic award prices, where the number of miles required changes depending on the equivalent cash price of the ticket. All the US legacy airlines have now done this to a certain extent. This can make awards better or worse value. Apart from early bookings with lots of flexibility, this usually prices worse.

American Airlines was the last of the US legacy carriers to move to entirely dynamic pricing for awards on its flights. In 2022, there was still a mixed offering of dynamic and fixed awards (known as Mile SAAver). Major changes were announced from 2023, and all pricing is now dynamic and can be varied at any time.

AAvantage publishes a table of the minimum "starting at" prices for all awards, by flight region (shown below). Note that these are prices for one-way trips, and for two long-haul international flights, two separate awards will be needed.

Mileage pricing then increases above these minimum levels. There is no fixed or published determination for this - it is entirely at the airline's discretion. In reality, it will be hard to find flights at these absolute lowest levels, unless looking at off-peak routes well in advance. The example below shows a search for New York to Dallas Fort Worth flights, about two weeks in advance.

Spending AAdvantage miles on partner airline flights

One of the best value ways to use miles is for flights on partner airlines. This is possible on all oneworld alliance members, plus several other partners. These include JetBlue (not including transatlantic flights), Hawaiian Airlines, and Etihad Airways.

Award rates are based on zones and travel class. These are all fixed-priced awards - partner flights have not moved to a dynamic pricing system, and there have been no confirmed plans to do so. With fixed-priced awards, availability for each flight is determined by each airline - a flight is either available for miles or not.

For a full breakdown of rates by region, see the tables on the AAdvantage website. The example below shows pricing for all awards from Europe. A business class award between Europe and Asia is priced at 75,000 miles one-way. Economy class would be just 35,000 miles, and first class is 90,000 miles. This would be the same whichever airlines are chosen – so for this example, you could use Cathay Pacific, British Airways, Finnair, or Qatar Airways.

Each award can use one or more partner airlines. Partner airlines can also be combined with American Airlines flights. The award pricing is based on the route and will be the same even if several flights are included. This is a great advantage and useful for flying between hard-to-access locations. For Europe to Asia, this could involve a main long-haul flight from London to Hong Kong, with connecting flights from anywhere in Europe into London and an onward flight from Hong Kong to another Asian city.

There are some routing rules to be aware of, but in general, AAdvantage is very flexible. Up to four segments can be included, routes must not backtrack and must remain within a (generous) maximum total flight distance. Stopovers are not permitted (all connections must be less than 24 hours). Also, be aware of taxes and charges, as these can be high for some airlines (such as British Airways). The excellent booking tool will quickly price this up for comparison.

Using miles for upgrades

Upgrading cabin of service is another often good value use of miles. This was generally better value before the introduction of premium economy cabins, when direct upgrades could be made from low-priced economy airfares direct to business class.

On American Airlines flights, upgrades are possible one cabin higher. If upgrading from a discount fare (i.e., any fare that is not Y, W, J, D or R class), then higher miles and a cash co-payment are needed. The table below shows the current upgrade rates for American Airlines flights, based on the destination and purchased fare (you can access this on the AAdvantage website). For now, American Airlines still operates international first class, but there are plans to phase it out.

Upgrading is also possible with British Airways and Iberia. This is more restrictive, though, and only possible from full fare (Y, B, W, C, J, D, or R class fares). Up to three flight sectors can be upgraded as one award. One major restriction to be aware of is that the ticket must either be originally booked through American Airlines or include at least one American Airlines flight to be eligible for an upgrade. See full details on the AAdvantage website.

Non-flying redemption opportunities

Flight awards or upgrades are usually the best value use of miles. There are other options, though, including the following:

• Using miles for hotel stays. AAdvantage offers a hotel booking platform in partnership with a third party. Hotels can be booked internationally, and options include private and chain hotels. You can choose to pay in full with miles or partly with cash.

• Use miles for car rentals. Again, this is possible in the US and internationally. AAdvantage has its own partnered portal, offering deals with several major rental companies.
• Access to Admirals Club lounges. American Airlines does not offer elite members complimentary lounge access on domestic itineraries. Instead, members must purchase annual Admirals Club membership with cash or miles.
• Gifting miles to friends or charities. There is also a final option to give your miles away. To transfer to family or friends, there is a charge, and the value will depend on their intended use. Remember, you can use miles in your account for tickets for someone else as well.

While flying remains the best way to redeem miles, there are more options out there and plenty of ways to benefit from your AAdvantage points. Some of the best benefits are unlocked with status - read on to find out more.