Summary American Airlines is enforcing account closures for inactive members after years of inactivity. AAdvantage members can keep accounts active by traveling, booking flights, using credit cards, or staying in partner hotels. Members are encouraged to take action before September 25 to avoid account closure.
Inactive American Airlines AAdvantage program members may have received an email this week advising them that, given their lack of activity in the program, their account may be destined for permanent closure. The program's terms and conditions outline that inactivity permits account closure, but it has not been enforced for some time; it is more common to see points expire than your account be destined for closure. Fort Worth-based American Airlines' actions this year are due to a back-of-house cleaning and a purge of the 115 million AAdvantage members who have been dormant for many years and have not accrued miles through any source.
A Loyalty Lobby report even alluded to the fact that some members are inactive in accruing points as they could be deceased. Sign up now On the contrary, both members and the airline need to acknowledge that American Airlines encourages you to sign up for AAdvantage at every opportunity, which includes: During the booking stage At check-in On board In the airline lounge Opening an airline credit card Terms and conditions Closure of accounts is a new enforcement strategy from the oneworld carrier that will follow through to the terms and conditions agreed to by members, which will see the airline delete accounts in a dormant status. The terms and agreements set out are: American Airlines reserves the right to terminate your AAdvantage® account for inactivity.
Your account may be deemed inactive and terminated without notice if: (i) you have not had any mileage earning or redeeming activity for at least 36 consecutive months, which may include not meeting the 24-Month Qualifying Activity Requirement (as defined in Part H.1 of the “General Terms” Section); (ii) your AAdvantage® account has a current balance of zero miles; (iii) you do not have an AAdvantage® co-branded credit card open and in good standing associated with your account; (iv) you do not respond to repeated communication attempts regarding the status of your account; or (v) you do not have any lifetime benefits (such as Million MilerTM or Lifetime AirPass) or an active AAdvantage® Status. With respect to new AAdvantage® accounts (i.
e., those created within the prior twenty-four months), American Airlines reserves the right to terminate such accounts that do not have any mileage earning or redeeming activity for 12 months. Get the latest aviation news straight to your inbox: Sign up for our newsletters today.
American Airlines has sent out a mass email to all accounts with inactivity for the last several years, meaning they would have a zero mileage balance as all miles would have expired. Inactive members have also been told their account will be closed within a month unless action is taken to keep the account 'alive.' So, if you're now scrambling for ideas on how to keep your AAdvantage account active, Simple Flying has outlined five easy steps to keep your name in the game: 1 Travel with American Airlines You must take flight before September 25 Probably the most logical way to earn AAdvantage points is to have a reservation before the September 25 deadline.
Traveling with American Airlines before late September will result in AAdvantage points accrued on your journey being credited to your AAdvantage account. This is enough to ensure your account remains active. If you don't have plans before next month, don't worry; our next step will allow you to remain a member.
Earning AAdvantage miles can be on partner carriers within the oneworld alliance, which include: Airline Destinations Countries served Alaska Airlines 125 Seven American Airlines 352 60 British Airways 198 72 Cathay Pacific 80 28 Finnair 100 35 Iberia 137 46 Japan Airlines 199 64 Malaysia Airlines 55 20 Qantas 98 25 Qatar Airways 178 82 Royal Air Maroc 82 41 Royal Jordanian 45 29 SriLankan Airlines 112 58 Fiji Airways (Oneworld Connect partner) 26 15 Oman Air 41 20 Some are free, while others come with a fee – but you must meet the challenge to maintain your status 2 Make a booking Reservation must be before September 25 American Airlines could see an influx of bookings, granted that AAdvantage members have been reassured their account won't be closed if they make a booking for travel. Their account will stay active if this booking is made before September 25 and includes their AAdvantage membership number. There are no minimum spends on this option, so travel plans could range from: Domestic Trans-border Short-haul international Long-haul international It is worth noting that these bookings must be on American Airlines-operated flights on an American Airlines ticket to be eligible to retain your AAdvantage account.
Bookings with other Oneworld carriers are not eligible. Everything you need to know about the American Airlines' frequent flyer scheme. Have you heard the Simple Flying podcast recently? 3 Spend on your AAdvantage credit card Citi and Barclays Two major US banks offer the opportunity to earn miles while you spend.
Both banks have AAdvantage credit cards in their product range, which allows frequent fliers to earn miles on their everyday purchases. If you hold one of these credit cards but don't use it, get out and about in the months of August and September to start accruing miles. Bank partners include: Bank Credit card Citi American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard Barclays AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard Barclaycard Arrival World Mastercard Your points must be added to your account before September 25 to remain eligible for your AAdvantage to remain active.
Some American Airlines credit cards have no annual charges and come with a sign-up bonus of thousands of travel miles. 4 Check into a hotel Ten hotel partners You don't need to take a flight to earn AAdvantage miles, and you don't even need to hold an AAdvantage credit card. American Airlines has partnered with global hotel chains to ensure you can rest easily, with points added to your AAdvantage account while you sleep.
Next time you spend the night away from home, consider staying at one of these American Airlines hotel partners. We've included the hotel and earning rates as published by Nerdwallet: AAdvantage Hotels Ten times more base miles Fiesta Americana Hotels and Resorts Up to 2,000 miles when staying for a minimum of two nights Hyatt Hotels and Resorts 500 AAdvantage miles per stay InterContinental Hotels For every $1 spent on qualifying room rates, you can earn between 1-2 miles Langham Hospitality Group 500 miles per night, up to a maximum of 1,500 miles Marriott Bonvoy For every $1 spent on qualifying charges, you can earn between 1-2 miles Melia Hotels International Rate not published Millennium Hotels and Resorts Earn up to 500 miles at Millennium or 250 miles at participating Copthorne Hotels Okura-Nikko Hotels and Resorts Stay at these properties to earn AAdvantage miles: Hotel Jal City - 200 miles per stay Okura Chiba Hotel - 300 miles per stay 500 miles per stay at other Okura-Nikko Hotels and Resorts properties Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts 500 AAdvantage miles per stay Wyndham Hotels and Resorts Platinum and Diamond Wyndham Rewards Members: Two miles for every $1 spent on qualifying stays Blue and Gold Wyndham Rewards members earn: One mile for every $1 spent on qualifying stays Remember, to ensure your AAdvantage account remains active, points must be added to your account before September 25, and bookings made via the AAdvantage Hotels platform are eligible. When traveling on a connecting itinerary, most passengers want a layover that is long enough to ensure they make their transit flight but short enough that they don't find themselves twiddling their thumbs in between.
While this is often achieved, booking engines sometimes generate itineraries that feature very long layovers, lasting either all day or even overnight. In most instances, this forces passengers to wait it out from the (dis)comfort of an airport bench, or exit the airport to stay in a landside hotel before checking back in for their next flight. However, airside hotels provide a much more practical alternative to this, and I believe they should be a key feature of any major transit hub, with passengers able to book in either overnight or for a given daytime period.
What do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments! Get all the latest airline route news right here 5 Go cruising Powered by World Travel Holdings If sailing is more your thing, American Airlines, through its platform American Airlines Cruises , enables its AAdvantage members to earn at sea. When making bookings and completing a sailing, you can earn both AAdvantage miles and status for taking a vacation with plenty of its cruise partners. Benefits of booking with American Airlines Cruises include: Earn 1 AAdvantage mile for every $1 spent If you find a cheaper cruise elsewhere, American Airlines Cruises offers a 110% Best Price Guarantee Dreaming of sailing away? Cruises must be booked on the American Airlines Cruises platform , and cruise lines include: Cruise lines Carnival Cruise Line Celebrity Cruises Costa Cruises Cunard Disney Cruise Line Holland America Line MSC Cruises Norwegian Cruise Line Princess Cruises Royal Caribbean Virgin Voyages Luxury Cruise lines AmaWaterways Avalon Waterways Azamara Cruises Crystal Cruises Cunard Explora Journeys Oceania Cruises Paul Gauguin Cruises Regent Seven Seas Cruises Seabourn SeaDream Yacht Club Silversea Cruises Uniworld River Cruises Viking Ocean Cruises Viking River Cruises Windstar Cruises At the time of publication, American Airlines Cruises is also running a promo where you could win up to 500,000 AAdvantage miles and a cruise for two people by simply signing up for their mailing list.
What are you waiting for? Find out more details here . American Airlines won't be retiring any of its aircraft for the next six years. Much of what you see now is what you'll get through 2030.
Keeping members active While this is just a snapshot of ways to earn AAdvantage miles, there are plenty of other ways to earn. Other avenues include: AAdvantage Dining American HomeMiles Bask Bank Miles for Opinions Miles from Home Parking at the airport with PreFlight LAXcar Utilities through NRG, Reliant, or Xoom Buying gas at Shell Converting points from other partners What is more interesting is that if AAdvantage members have been inactive for this long, is their loyalty elsewhere? Is American Airlines expecting an influx of dormant members to become active? Only time will tell. The real question is how many of the 115 million members are on the chopping block this September.
Looking at how to accumulate those points!.
