Purchasing American miles at up to a 35% discount: Is it worth your consideration?

American Airlines regularly provides bonuses and discounts when you buy AAdvantage miles, giving you an opportunity to earn miles for incredible rewards such as tickets for Cathay Pacific first-class flights. Therefore, it’s no surprise that the airline has returned with another miles purchase promotion.

AA has just introduced a new offer that allows you to buy miles at discounts of up to 35% for a limited time. This lowers the price to as little as 2.45 cents per mile. If this feels higher than usual, it’s due to the significant increase in the standard price for purchasing miles that the Fort Worth-based airline implemented earlier this year.

If you’re considering buying miles during this promotion, there are several factors to consider. This isn’t the lowest price we’ve encountered for American miles, and there are risks associated with buying miles speculatively with American (or any other airline). Here are the specifics and additional considerations if you’re thinking of taking advantage of this offer.

Is it a good time to purchase American miles?

It seldom makes sense to purchase miles without a specific plan.

We recommend buying miles only for a specific upcoming redemption. Therefore, this promotion is likely only beneficial if you’re planning a trip later in 2022 and have already identified available award space. Fortunately, American Airlines does not charge fees for changing or canceling award tickets, offering some flexibility if your plans evolve.

Acquire AA miles starting at just 2.45 cents each

Now, let’s examine American's latest buy-miles promotion. As with most promotions from this airline, the discount you receive varies based on the number of miles you purchase. This offer appears to be accessible to all AAdvantage members, allowing everyone to benefit from the following discounts:

• Purchase between 5,000 and 54,000 miles to receive a 20% discount
• Purchase between 55,000 and 149,000 miles to receive a 25% discount
• Purchase 150,000 miles to receive a 35% discount

The best value per mile comes from buying 150,000 miles, bringing the cost down to just 2.45 cents per mile. This is not the lowest price we've seen for American miles, so if you don't need them urgently, it might be wise to pass on this offer.

This promotion is available for a limited time, but American has not specified when it will end. Additionally, accounts that are less than 30 days old cannot purchase miles. Generally, you can buy a maximum of 150,000 miles each calendar year, so it might be beneficial to hold out for a better offer later this year.

Who is eligible to buy miles?

As mentioned earlier, you should consider buying miles only if you have a specific, high-value redemption in mind. If you don't need miles right away, waiting for a more advantageous sale might be a better option.

There are many ways to earn American Airlines miles beyond purchasing them. A simple method is through credit card sign-up bonuses. For instance, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® is currently offering a welcome bonus of 50,000 miles after you spend $2,500 within the first three months of opening your account.

The details for the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard have been independently collected by Dinogo. The card information on this page has not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

If you're looking for bonus miles along with Admirals Club access when flying American, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® offers 50,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 in the first three months of account opening. These cards also provide opportunities for bonuses through the SimplyMiles site.

Maximizing your American miles

You can often maximize your mileage value by redeeming them for American Airlines' Web Special awards and premium business or first-class flights. For instance, a one-way flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to Doha (DOH) in Qatar's Qsuite costs just 70,000 American miles.

This ticket typically has a price tag of around $5,000, meaning that at a rate of 2.45 cents per mile, you’re effectively paying $1,715 for this journey. However, keep in mind that you won’t earn redeemable or status-qualifying miles on award flights.

Here are additional examples of what you'd be paying for award flights if you buy miles at 2.45 cents each during this promotion:

• American Airlines business class to Europe for $1,409 each way, plus tax
• Cathay Pacific business class to Asia for $1,470 each way, plus tax
• Qatar business class to Africa for $1,838 each way, plus tax

How to purchase American miles

Following the recent price increase, the standard rate for purchasing miles from American Airlines is approximately 3.8 cents per mile (including taxes and fees), making this offer a good opportunity for savings. TPG estimates American Airlines miles at 1.68 cents each, which is significantly 0.77 cents less than this sale price. However, if your travel plans align with the flight examples provided earlier, you can save money with this promotion compared to buying the flight outright.

If you're looking to buy miles at this rate, visit the American Airlines' Buy Miles page and log in with your AAdvantage credentials. Enter the quantity of miles you wish to buy and follow the prompts to complete your purchase. The miles will typically appear in your account immediately, though processing may take up to eight hours.

Which credit card should you use?

In our previous experience, purchases of AAdvantage miles are categorized as airfare. This means you can earn bonus points when using many of the best travel rewards cards, such as:

• The Platinum Card® from American Express: Earn 5 Amex Membership Rewards points for every dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or through American Express Travel (up to $500,000 in purchases per calendar year. Terms apply.)
• American Express® Gold Card: Earn 3 American Express Membership Rewards points for every dollar spent on flights booked directly with airlines or via American Express Travel. Terms apply.
• Chase Sapphire Reserve: Earn 3 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for each dollar spent on travel, including airfare purchased directly from airlines. Earn 5 points per dollar when booking airfare through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.
• Chase Sapphire Preferred Card: Earn 2 points for every dollar spent on travel, including airfare bought directly from airlines. Earn 5 Chase Ultimate Rewards points per dollar when booking travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal.

This also applies to the mentioned American Airlines cobranded cards. You can earn 2 AAdvantage miles for each dollar spent when purchasing American Airlines miles with any of these cards.