Programme guide

How to Earn American Airlines Loyalty Points

American Airlines uses a single metric for elite status: Loyalty Points. Unlike programmes that count distance or segments, AAdvantage gives you one Loyalty Point for nearly every AAdvantage mile you earn — from flying, from co-branded credit card spend, and from partners. This guide covers how Loyalty Points are earned and the thresholds for each AAdvantage status tier.

Estimates only — confirm with the airline. Rates and thresholds change. Check your fare against the official AAdvantage Loyalty Points page before booking for status.

Last verified: 2026-06-01

How Loyalty Points are earned

Every eligible AAdvantage mile earns 1 Loyalty Point. On AA flights, the number of base AAdvantage miles you earn depends on your current status, so higher-status members earn Loyalty Points faster for the same spend:

StatusAAdvantage miles & Loyalty Points per $1
General member5
Gold7
Platinum8
Platinum Pro9
Executive Platinum11

"Eligible spend" is the base fare plus carrier-imposed surcharges, excluding government taxes and fees.

Status thresholds

The qualification period runs 1 March to 28 February, and status earned is valid through 31 March of the following year. For the 2026 programme year the levels are unchanged from the previous two years:

TierLoyalty Points
Gold40,000
Platinum75,000
Platinum Pro125,000
Executive Platinum200,000

Earning on partner airlines

American is a oneworld member, and partner flights earn AAdvantage miles (and therefore Loyalty Points) in one of two ways, depending on who markets the ticket:

  • Revenue-based — flights marketed by American, British Airways (BA), Iberia (IB), Fiji Airways (FJ) or Oman Air (WY) earn 5 miles and 5 Loyalty Points per US dollar of the base fare plus carrier-imposed surcharges (this has applied to BA- and IB-marketed tickets since October 2023). One published exception: Basic Economy fares bought on or after 17 December 2025 earn no miles and no Loyalty Points at all.
  • Distance-based — flights marketed by the other partners, including Qatar Airways (QR), Japan Airlines (JL), Cathay Pacific (CX), Finnair (AY), Qantas (QF), Alaska Airlines (AS), Royal Jordanian (RJ), Royal Air Maroc (AT), Malaysia Airlines (MH) and SriLankan (UL), earn a percentage of the distance flown set by the booking class on your ticket. AA is notable for crediting many partner premium-cabin fares at well above 100% of distance.

Estimate your Loyalty Points

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The figure shown is an estimate based on Status Lark's modelled earning tables — see our methodology for how the numbers are derived.

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