Free and almost free tickets, pretty easy upgrades, a massive sign-up bonus, and access to 22 airline programs— yes, with a hurdle, yet there’s a workaround for that…
American Airlines co-branded MasterCard is not my first choice credit card and not even my third.
Yet when the current enormous sign-up bonus is considered, the “minimum spend hurdle”—in this case $10,000 in three months—is achievable by many, especially business owners, and many others through strategic purchasing opportunities (more on that in a minute).
13 Great Ways to Spend 100,000 Miles
I’ve also included some award redemptions that cost more than 100,000 miles round-trip, keeping in mind that American miles can be purchased or transferred easily, so awards that are 125,000 are relevant to this dialogue. (More on getting more miles in a minute.)
13 Great Ways to Spend 100,000 Miles on American (and/or its Partners): Free Mileage Awards
Using American Miles: Award Availability
See our newsroom alerts from March 31 and April 1 (and stay tuned for more) for recent examples of award availability, and check where we highlight three AA routes with good award space. Also, keep an eye out for AA partner availability. See the March 21 alert for Newark-Hong Kong on Cathay and the March 17 alert for JFK-London on BA. When using American miles, the availability on its partners is often similar to what American members have access to. In other words, when Cathay Pacific has great availability, American miles might have access to the seats, too.
[aside headline="Using American Miles: Award Availability" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]See our newsroom alerts from March 31 and April 1 (and stay tuned for more) for recent examples of award availability, and check out the last page of each issue in which we highlight three AA routes with good award space. Also keep an eye out for AA partner availability. See the March 21 alert for Newark-Hong Kong on Cathay and the March 17 alert for JFK-London on BA. When using American miles, the availability on its partners is often similar to what American members have access to. In other words, when Cathay Pacific has great availability, American miles might have access to the seats, too.[/aside]
How to Get Additional American Miles
Sign-Up Spouse Separately: Nets an extra 100,000 miles. (Never put your spouse as a second card holder when going after mileage bonuses; get a second card and get double the miles.)
Transfer from Starwood: Need another 25,000 miles after the sign-up bonus to fly First Class to wherever? You can also purchase points via Starwood, at 3.5¢ each, which when transferred in 20,000 point denominations cost just 2.8¢.
Purchase Miles Directly: Go here and with three clicks and two fields to fill out, the miles are yours—up to 80,000 at 3¢ each. Wait for a sale and get them at 25% to 40% less.
So, a grand total of 100,000 AA miles can be purchased quickly if you need more.
Bonus Fine Print
- You must spend $10,000 in three months to get 100,000 miles (see page 11 for ideas on how to do this).
- Purchases excluded from earning miles include returned goods and services, cash advances, convenience checks, transferred balances, credits, fees, and interest charges.
- Miles appear 8 to 10 weeks after meeting purchase requirement. Only the primary cardmember is eligible to earn miles
American Partner Airlines
Oneworld: AirBerlin, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, LAN, Malaysia, Qantas, Qatar, Royal Jordanian, S7 Airlines, and US Airways.
Others: Air Tahiti Nui, Alaska, EL AL, Etihad Airways, Fiji Airways, Gulf Air, Hawaiian, Jet Airways, TAM, and WestJet.
Four Other American Airlines CitiBank Card BenefitsBusiness Class check-in, priority screening and boarding.
- American Admirals Club free admission at 50 locations plus 18 US Airways Clubs for cardholder and up to two guests. Normal cost: $500 single, $825 for holder and one guest.
- 10,000 Elite Qualifying Miles after spending $40,000 in one calendar year.
- Free first checked bag.
Ways to Meet the Minimum Spend Requirement
Electronic Payment Services: Often no charge, but some with monthly limit of $1,000 sent and received per account.
Gift Cards: They are everywhere. At Barneys, Macy’s, and Nordstrom. Note: Some credit card companies will charge gift card purchases as cash advances. You should always do a test order before getting carried away.
Mortgage, Rent and Car Payments: Through programs like Charge Smart or WilliamPaid, although there’s a 3% fee.
Utilities: More and more let customers use credit cards; cable and phone companies almost always do.
Taxes: For property and state taxes, you can use Official Payments as a third party service, while for federal taxes, check the IRS list of tax payment service providers, many of whom accept payment by credit card (but may charge a fee).