A few years ago, American Airlines completely changed how its members gained elite status. Loyalty points are now an indicator of your ability to earn American Airlines elite status, not the mileage and dollar for elite qualifications.
Interestingly, you can get elite status as the US AADVANTAGH program without any flights. Perhaps more interesting is that you can only get all the loyalty points you need for any published elite status tier (including top executive platinum status) through your AADVantage credit card spend.
But in reality, most Aadvantage Elite members (myself included) combine spending on Aadvantage cards with other ways of granting loyalty points. So in this article, I will discuss the acquisition of American Airlines Elite Status through credit card spending only, before explaining how my Aadvantage credit card can step in my larger Elite Status strategy.
How to earn loyalty points with a US airline credit card
You can earn loyalty when you issue Citi/Aadvantage and Aadvantage Pilot Credit Cards in the U.S. (and other Aadvantage credit cards issued outside the U.S.). Citi will be the issuer of the exclusive American airline issuer in 2026, but I also discuss the Barclays Pilot Cards in this post as they are currently available to win American Airlines’ elite status.
You can earn loyalty only when you earn base mileage, and most Aadvantage cards spend 1 mile per dollar on purchases. Here is one of how you earn loyalty on a US Airlines credit card issued within the U.S.:
| card | Loyalty Point Revenue Purchase Rate | Other ways to earn loyalty points with this card | Annual fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citi® / Aadvantage® performs the world’s elite Mastercard® (see Price and Fees) | 1 loyalty point per dollar | After reaching 50,000 loyalty points in the identity eligibility year, you can earn 10,000 reward loyalty points.
Additionally, after reaching 90,000 loyalty points in the same identity qualification year, you can earn another 10,000 reward loyalty points. |
$595 |
| Citi® / Aadvantage® PlatinumSelect® World Elite Mastercard® (see rates and fees) | 1 loyalty point per dollar | Nothing | $99, initial 12 months exemption |
| Citi® /aadvantagnation®Golden World Elite Mastercard® (not open to new applicants) | 1 loyalty point per dollar | Nothing | $50 |
| American Airlines Aadvantage®Mileup® Card | 1 loyalty point per dollar | Nothing | $ 0 |
| Citi® / aadvantage Business™World EliteMastercard® (see Price and Fees) | Loyalty point per dollar, although only the main card member loyalty point purchased on the main card machine’s card (purchased on the authorized user card to earn loyalty for authorized users) | Nothing | $99, initial 12 months exemption |
| Aadvantagnation®VAVIATOR®Red World Elite Mastercard® | 1 loyalty point per dollar | Nothing | $99 |
| Aadvantage®Aviator®SilverWorld EliteMastercard® (not open to new applicants, but you may be able to upgrade from Pilot Red) | 1 loyalty point per dollar | Spend $20,000 during the status eligibility period to get an additional 5,000 loyalty after net purchases.
During the same status eligibility period, you can get an additional 5,000 loyalty after spending $40,000 on your card. Plus, during the same status eligibility period, you can get an additional 5,000 loyalty after spending a net purchase of $50,000 on the card. |
$199 |
| Aadvantage®Vantage®Blue World Elite Mastercard® (not open to new applicants) | 1 loyalty point per dollar | Nothing | $49 |
| Aadvantage®Vantage®WorldEliteMastercard® (not open to new applicants) | Loyalty point 1 per $2 | Nothing | $ 0 |
| Aadvantage®Vantage®World Elite Business MasterCard® (not open to new applicants) | 1 loyalty point per dollar | Nothing | $95 |
Information on Citi/Aadvantage Gold Mastercard, Aadvantage Mileup Card, Aadvantage Aviator Red MasterCard, Aadvantage Pilot Silver Mastercard, AADVantage Aviator Blue MasterCard, AADVantage Pilot MasterCard and Aadvantage Aviator Business MasterCard has been independently collected by Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
As you can see, most Aadvantage credit cards allow you to spend $1 per dollar on your purchase. However, two cards (Citi/Aadvantage Execution Mastercard and Aadvantage Aviator Silver MasterCard) also allow you to earn reward loyalty points on specific thresholds.
Related: American Aadvantage Miles and Loyalty Points: What’s the Difference?
Aadvantage Elite Status Requirements
Here are the observations from the American Airlines Elite Status Layer and the amount of loyalty you must get for each qualification year (March 1 to February 28 or 29 years) of each tier:
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- Gold: 40,000 loyalty points
- platinum: 75,000 loyalty points
- Platinum professionals: 125,000 loyalty points
- Executive Platinum: 200,000 loyalty points
Once you have obtained Aadvantage Elite status, you will retain the status of the year of eligibility and the year of eligibility for 13 months. In addition to elite identities, you can also get other privileges when you get loyalty points through the loyalty point reward program.
Related: Beware: 9 times, you won’t earn American Airlines loyalty even if you earn mileage
Get Aadvantage Elite status only through credit card spending
Any published American Airlines Elite Status tier can be earned through spending on one or more Aadvantage credit cards. Here is the level of spending you need to earn every American Airlines Elite Status Tier using just one or more Aadvantage credit cards.
| Card) | Aadvantage Gold (40,000 Loyalties) | Aadvantage Platinum (75,000 Loyalty) | Aadvantage Platinum Pro (125,000 loyalty points) | Aadvantage executes platinum (200,000 loyalty points) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citi/Aadvantage executes world elite Mastercard | $40,000 | $65,000 | $105,000 | $180,000 |
| Aadvantage Pilot Silver World Elite Mastercard | $35,000 | $60,000 | $110,000 | $185,000 |
| Citi/Aadvantage Executes World Elite MasterCard and Aadvantage Aviator Silver World MasterCard | $35,000, at least $20,000 on Pilot Silver | Pilot Silver $50,000 | $90,000, at least $50,000 for pilot silver | $165,000, at least $50,000 in pilot silver |
| Aadvantage Pilot World Elite Mastercard | $80,000 | $150,000 | $250,000 | $400,000 |
| Other AADVANTAGH cards issued in the United States | $40,000 | $75,000 | $125,000 | $200,000 |
As you can see, owning Citi/Aadvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard and Aadvantage Pilot Silver World MasterCard (at least on Pilot Silver), which reduces the amount you spend on apart from the lowest American Airlines Elite situation. After all, these cards offer reward loyalty when you encounter a specific threshold.
So you can get executive executive platinum status on your Aadvantage credit card for each qualification year, which costs $165,000 per year and $794 per year. However, as I will discuss in the next section, if you also get loyalty points through other methods, the amount you need to spend on the card will be reduced.
Related: 8 ways to obtain US Aadvantage to execute platinum in 2025 and strategies for 2026
How my Aadvantage credit card plays my elite status strategy
Platinum Pro is my best place in the Aadvantage program because it gives me the identity of Oneworld Emerald. So, I strive to earn at least 125,000 loyalty points per eligibility year to earn Platinum Pro status.
Earning 125,000 loyalty points per eligibility year involves some programs. First, I used the pilot silver as my general spending card for each eligibility period until I spent $50,000. By doing this, I know I will get 65,000 points of the 125,000 loyalty points for the Platinum position, paid from my pilot silver.
Then I worked hard to book some cheap long-distance economic or business-grade flights on Aadvantage partners that still make money based on the fare level and flight distance for each qualification year.
I also earned some loyalty points through flights with Aadvantage Hotels, Aadvantage Eshopping’s portal, SimplyMiles and American Airlines. However, these revenue methods are relatively small compared to spending on Aadvantage cards and flights on Aadvantage Partners. After all, I redeem mileage on most flights, so I rarely make money unless I book a cheap long-distance partner flight to earn a lot of mileage and loyalty points.
Related: Why (and how) I’ll win Aadvantage Platinum Pro Elite status instead of Aadvantage Executive Platinum
Bottom line
Aadvantage credit card is a compelling way to earn loyalty points. As I show in this post, getting top executive Platinum Elite status, the credit card spending is only $165,000.
However, most travelers will earn loyalty points through several methods, including flights, card spending, and the Aadvantage Eshopping portal. So before trying to earn status through spending on your Aadvantage credit card, consider other ways to earn loyalty.
