When you fly with American Airlines, you'll accumulate American miles and Loyalty Points. American AAdvantage miles can be used to redeem free flights, while Loyalty Points help track your progress toward earning elite status.
Loyalty Points also unlock Loyalty Point Rewards, a program that lets AAdvantage members choose from a list of perks each time they hit a certain threshold. You don't even need to earn elite status to get your first reward.
Here's how to earn these valuable Loyalty Point Rewards perks and your choices at each of the new reward levels.
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How to earn Loyalty Point Rewards
AAdvantage members can earn Loyalty Point Rewards starting at 15,000 Loyalty Points and going all the way up to 5,000,000 Loyalty Points.
15,000 Loyalty Points
AAdvantage members earn the first tier of Loyalty Point Rewards after earning 15,000 Loyalty Points. At this point, you'll get Group 5 boarding for the remainder of the year plus one choice from the following:
- Priority privileges and Group 4 boarding for one trip.
- Five preferred seat coupons.
- 1,000 Loyalty Points.
- Personalized centennial luggage tag.
- Two coupons for inflight food and beverages.
60,000 Loyalty Points
Upon reaching this threshold, AAdvantage members will be rewarded with two new benefits (members will receive both):
- Avis Preferred Plus status.
- 25% Loyalty Point bonus for six months with American Airlines Vacations, SimplyMiles, AAdvantage eShopping, AAdvantage Cruises, AAdvantage Dining and American Airlines Hotels (must register within 30 days of reaching threshold; earn up to 25,000 Loyalty Points).
» Learn more: Your guide to airline bonus point promotions
100,000 Loyalty Points
AAdvantage members will get an improvement on the rewards they earned at 60,000 Loyalty Points threshold:
- Avis President's Club status.
- World of Hyatt Discoverist status.
175,000 Loyalty Points
Once you hit this threshold, you'll start to get access to significantly better perks, including systemwide upgrades, the ability to gift status, trip credits and more.
However, you'll only be able to select one choice from the following list:
- Two systemwide upgrades.
- 20,000 bonus AAdvantage miles (25,000 miles for AAdvantage credit cardholders).
- $200 trip credit ($250 trip credit for AAdvantage credit cardholders).
- An allocation toward sustainable aviation fuel.
- $250 donation to a select nonprofit organization.
- Two gifts of AAdvantage Gold status.
- A gift from AAdvantage Exchange.
- 35,000 AAdvantage miles toward a Mastercard Priceless Experience.
- World of Hyatt Explorist status.
- 5,000 Loyalty Points.
250,000 Loyalty Points
AAdvantage members who hit 250,000 Loyalty Points can choose two of the following:
- Two systemwide upgrades.
- 20,000 bonus AAdvantage miles (30,000 miles for AAdvantage credit cardholders).
- $200 trip credit ($250 trip credit for AAdvantage credit cardholders).
- $500 credit for American Airlines Vacations.
- An allocation toward sustainable aviation fuel.
- $250 donation to a select nonprofit organization.
- Two gifts of AAdvantage Gold status.
- A gift from AAdvantage Exchange.
- One Flagship Lounge single-visit pass (two passes for AAdvantage credit cardholders).
- 35,000 AAdvantage miles toward a Mastercard Priceless Experience.
- World of Hyatt Explorist status.
- 15,000 Loyalty Points.
Alternatively, you can use both choices to choose one of the following:
- Admirals Club membership.
- A premium gift from AAdvantage Exchange.
400,000 and 550,000 and 750,000 Loyalty Points
Upon earning 400,000 Loyalty Points, 550,000 Loyalty Points and 750,000 Loyalty Points, AAdvantage members can choose choose two of the following:
- One systemwide upgrade.
- 25,000 bonus AAdvantage miles.
- $200 trip credit ($250 trip credit for AAdvantage credit cardholders).
- $500 credit for American Airlines Vacations.
- An allocation toward sustainable aviation fuel.
- One gift of AAdvantage Platinum status.
- Two Flagship Lounge single-visit passes.
- A Flagship First Dining visit pass.
- 40,000 AAdvantage miles toward a Mastercard Priceless Experience.
- A gift from AAdvantage Exchange.
- A Hyatt Category 1-4 free night award.
Alternatively, you can use both choices to choose one of the following:
- Admirals Club membership.
- A premium gift from AAdvantage Exchange.
1,000,000 Loyalty Points
To incentivize big spenders to continue earning, American Airlines offers three additional rewards levels, starting at 1,000,000 Loyalty Points.
Upon reaching seven figures of Loyalty Points, AAdvantage members will get one choice from the following:
- Four systemwide upgrades.
- An allocation toward sustainable aviation fuel.
- Gift of Platinum Pro status.
- Up to 100,000 miles back on award redemptions.
- 150,000 AAdvantage miles toward a Mastercard Priceless Experience (must be an AAdvantage credit card holder).
- A Hyatt Category 1-7 free night award.
3,000,000 Loyalty Points
The penultimate choice is earned at 3,000,000 Loyalty Points. At this threshold, AAdvantage members can choose one of the following:
- Six systemwide upgrades.
- An allocation toward sustainable aviation fuel.
- Gift of AAdvantage Executive Platinum status.
- Up to 300,000 AAdvantage miles back on award redemptions.
- 350,000 AAdvantage miles toward a Mastercard Priceless Experience (must be an AAdvantage credit card holder).
- A Hyatt Category 1-7 free night award.
5,000,000 Loyalty Points
The final Loyalty Point Rewards threshold is achieved by hitting a whopping 5,000,000 Loyalty Points. At this level, AAdvantage members can pick one choice of the following:
- 10 systemwide upgrades.
- An allocation toward sustainable aviation fuel.
- Gift of AAdvantage Executive Platinum status.
- Up to 500,000 AAdvantage miles back on award redemptions.
- 550,000 AAdvantage miles toward a Mastercard Priceless Experience (must be an AAdvantage credit card holder).
- A Hyatt Category 1-7 free night award.
If you reach this threshold, you'll have a choice of 13 Loyalty Point Rewards — factoring in the two choices you earn at several levels. Depending on which perks you value the most, you could choose up to:
- 32 systemwide upgrades.
- $1,800 in American Airlines trip credits — or $2,250 as an AAdvantage cardholder.
- 210,000 bonus AAdvantage miles — or 235,000 as an AAdvantage cardholder — plus up to 900,000 in mileage rebates.
» Learn more: Loyalty Points aren’t as easy to earn as you might think
What Loyalty Point Rewards are worth
Each traveler will value rewards a bit differently — which is one of the benefits of giving travelers their choice.
For travelers who book business class tickets or travel during peak times, systemwide upgrades may provide little benefit. Likewise, flyers who earn more than enough miles from travels and spending may find that bonus miles provide little additional benefit. However, other travelers may find these two choices the most-valuable rewards choices. The bonus points are one of the easier rewards to quantify (see the example in the next section).
What Loyalty Point Rewards should you choose at 175,000 Loyalty Points?
The first real choice starts at the 175,000 Loyalty Point threshold. At this level, there are two frontrunners:
- Two systemwide upgrades.
- 20,000 bonus miles (or 25,000 bonus miles for cardholders).
Travelers can use systemwide upgrades to upgrade to business or first class anywhere American Airlines flies. That makes choosing systemwide upgrades a potentially high-value option. But travelers who find these upgrades difficult to use might consider a different reward.
NerdWallet values AAdvantage miles at 1.3 cents each. At this valuation, the option to choose 20,000 bonus miles is worth at least $260, up to $325 for AAdvantage cardholders. Make sure that you're getting at least this much value before choosing another option.
» Learn more: What you need to know about American Airlines upgrades
Value of other Loyalty Point Rewards options
Starting at 175,000 Loyalty Points, each tier provides some sort of mileage option — from bonus miles to a miles rebate. As miles are the easiest option to value, this option should provide a baseline of value.
For example, at the 250,000-point tier, AAdvantage members can choose 20,000 bonus miles, worth around $260. If you're an AAdvantage credit cardholder — which you should consider if you're a top-tier elite — the 30,000 bonus miles are worth at least $390 worth of miles. You can select this option twice to get 60,000 miles, worth at least $780.
Each tier starting at 175,000 Loyalty Points also gives the option to gift AAdvantage elite status. The big caveat here is this value assumes that the traveler enjoys these perks while holding elite status. A friend or family member might not use AAdvantage elite status perks enough to justify using your Loyalty Point Reward.
The Admirals Club membership might be a tempting option. However, this reward generally costs both of your choices. That means you're passing on up to four systemwide upgrades or up to 60,000 bonus miles to get this lounge membership. Remember that you can get Admirals Club membership (plus more perks) for a $595 annual fee through the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® .
American Airlines Loyalty Point Rewards recapped
American Airlines offers AAdvantage members a choice of benefits starting at 15,000 Loyalty Points. From there, you can earn additional rewards by reaching Loyalty Points thresholds — from 60,000 Loyalty Points all the way up to 5,000,000 Loyalty Points.
For the first three Loyalty Point Rewards tiers, you receive minor rewards like car rental elite status and bonus earnings with select American Airlines partners. The real choices start at 175,000 Loyalty Points. Starting at this level, travelers can generally choose between systemwide upgrades, bonus miles, American Airlines trip credit and other travel and non-travel rewards.
Giving travelers choices lets them customize the rewards they earn — rather than simply earning systemwide upgrades that not all travelers can maximize. Plus, expanding the number of Loyalty Point Rewards incentivizes AAdvantage members to continue earning Loyalty Points.
How to maximize your rewards
You want a travel credit card that prioritizes what’s important to you. Here are some of the best travel credit cards of 2026:
- Flexibility, point transfers and a large bonus: Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
- No annual fee: Wells Fargo Autograph® Card
- Flat-rate travel rewards: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- Bonus travel rewards and high-end perks: Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- Luxury perks: American Express Platinum Card®
- Business travelers: Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card
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