American Airlines AAdvantage members have until the end of February each year to earn enough loyalty points to earn their desired American Airlines elite status. So if you want to earn more loyalty points during your current qualification period to secure a specific AAdvantage elite status level, you still have some time. That being said, now is a good time to take action.
If you have not done so already, log into your AAdvantage account and check how many loyalty points you have versus the number of loyalty points required for your desired elite level. Then, assuming you haven’t reached your goal yet, read on for how to earn enough loyalty points before the end of February.
AAdvantage Elite Status Overview
In 2022, American Airlines begins using loyalty points as a metric for earning elite status. When you earn American Airlines base miles, you earn loyalty points. Bonus miles, on the other hand, don’t earn you loyalty points. So consider whether you earn base or bonus miles from flights, credit card purchases and other partner activity.
To qualify for AAdvantage elite status, you need to earn the following number of loyalty points within a 12-month period from the beginning of March to the end of February:
- AAdvantage Gold Level: 40,000 loyalty points
- AAdvantage Platinum Card:75,000 loyalty points
- AAdvantage Platinum Pro: 125,000 loyalty points
- AAdvantage Executive Platinum Card: 200,000 loyalty points
If you earn enough loyalty points during this 12-month period to achieve your desired elite status, your status will remain until the end of March of the following year. Therefore, if you obtain the required status before the end of February 2026, your status will be retained until March 31, 2027.
You will also be rewarded with loyalty points when you reach certain loyalty point thresholds. So even if you’ve earned enough loyalty points to reach your desired status, it’s worth checking what loyalty points reward threshold you might hit if you earn more before the end of February.
RELATED: How to get last-minute airline elite status — and whether it’s worth it
Strategies for Earning Loyalty Points
You must earn loyalty points for your current qualification period by the end of February, as in most cases loyalty points will be credited to your account based on the event date.
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This means that even if you don’t have enough loyalty points showing in your account at the end of February 28, your balance may still increase because activity that occurred before the end of February will be credited to your account through the backdated activity date. After all, some campaigns can take up to 10 weeks from event date to launch.
With that in mind, here are a few ways to earn loyalty points.
Flying with American Airlines or its partners
The most reliable way to earn loyalty points is by flying with American Airlines or its partners. If you plan ahead, you can hopefully earn loyalty points on the flights you want or need without having to run miles.
If time permits and you can find a compelling fare, cheap long-haul premium cabin travel on American airline partners (excluding Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, JetSmart, Fiji Airways, Level and Oman Air (points are calculated based on fare)) may give you more loyalty points for the price you pay. In particular, you may find AAdvantage’s earnings charts for partners Finnair, Cathay Pacific and Qantas attractive, as most Premium Economy fare classes earn at least base miles for 100% of the distance flown.
Whatever you book, make sure you can make your trip before the end of February 28th.
Spend with AAdvantage credit card
Another reliable way to earn loyalty points is by spending with your American Airlines credit card. However, with most cards, you can only earn 1 loyalty point per $1 spent, regardless of rewards category. Credit card welcome offers and spending bonuses earn bonus miles that are not eligible for loyalty points.
As we noted, purchases made through the AAdvantage Credit Card before February 28, 2026 will earn loyalty points towards the current qualification year, while purchases made in March will earn loyalty points towards the next qualification year. Loyalty points may take up to 10 weeks to post to your AAdvantage account from the date of your March credit card statement.
Related: American AAdvantage Miles vs. Loyalty Points: What’s the Difference?
Three AAdvantage credit cards offer the option to earn additional loyalty points when you reach certain thresholds.
this Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (See Rates and Fees) Two levels of loyalty point rewards are available. If you reach 50,000 loyalty points (earned in any way) during the qualification year, you will automatically receive an additional 10,000 loyalty points. If you reach 90,000 loyalty points, you will receive an additional 10,000 loyalty points.
at the same time, Citi® / AAdvantage® Globe™ Mastercard® (See Rates and Fees) allows you to earn additional loyalty points with Flight Rewards rewards. After every four qualifying American Airlines flights, you’ll earn a flight streak bonus of 5,000 additional loyalty points, up to three times per status qualification cycle. Qualifying flights are those marketed or operated by American Airlines or American Eagle that earn you AAdvantage miles during the qualifying year.
Finally, the AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Silver Mastercard® (no longer accepting applications) allows you to earn up to 15,000 additional loyalty points on card purchases per qualification period. You’ll earn an additional 5,000 loyalty points when you make $20,000 in net purchases during the qualification period, an additional 5,000 points when you make $40,000 in net purchases, and an additional 5,000 points when your net purchases total $50,000 or more during the qualification period.
AAdvantage Aviator Silver Mastercard information is collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Related: Which credit card should you use when flying with American Airlines?
Click AAdvantage Shopping Portal
Using the AAdvantage shopping portal is one of the easiest ways to earn loyalty points. Whether you’re hundreds or thousands of points away from your desired AAdvantage elite status, making one or more purchases after clicking through this online shopping portal can help you earn the points you need.
Loyalty points earned through the AAdvantage eShopping portal in late February count toward the status qualification year ending February 28. However, please note that many types of transactions tracked by the AAdvantage eShopping portal, including hotel reservations, base the activity date on the fulfillment date. Therefore, please consider carefully whether your purchase after clicking on the AAdvantage eShopping portal is dated February 28th or earlier.
Use SimplyMiles
If you have a Mastercard, another easy way to earn loyalty points is to take advantage of SimplyMiles offers. These offers allow Mastercard-enrolled shoppers to earn U.S. miles and loyalty points when they shop at select merchants where they’ve signed up for the offer.
First, sign up for SimplyMiles, link your Mastercard card to your account, and then sign up for SimplyMiles offers you think you might use. You’ll then earn loyalty points when you use your registered card to make qualifying purchases at participating merchants.
The active date for a SimplyMiles offer is usually the date of purchase or the date of shipment. However, AAdvantage typically takes 10-15 business days to post the miles and loyalty points earned through SimplyMiles offers to your account. As with the AAdvantage e-shopping portal, before relying on SimplyMiles to get the remaining points you need, consider whether your event date is February 28 or earlier.
Earn loyalty points when you stay at a hotel
You can also earn some extra loyalty points on your hotel stays. There are many ways to earn loyalty points for hotel stays, including:
- A Advantage Hotel: Earn loyalty points for stays booked through this platform (up to 15,000 base miles per booking).
- Credit Hyatt Continue with AAdvantage: Earn 500 loyalty points per stay.
- Count Marriott or IHG stay points toward AAdvantage: Earn up to 2 loyalty points per $1 spent on eligible expenses.
While you may earn Elite Stay points and benefits when booking through the last three methods, you’re less likely to earn them when booking through AAdvantage Hotels.
However, you will need to check out on or before February 28th to ensure it counts toward your current eligibility period. While activity dates should be backdated to no later than your check-out date (AAdvantage hotel check-ins are backdated to your check-in date), these stays often take several weeks to post to your AAdvantage account.
Rent a car with AAdvantage Cars
Especially if you don’t get much value from a car rental loyalty program, you may want to earn loyalty points when you rent a car.
You can book an Avis or Budget rental car through AAdvantage Cars and earn 2 to 5 base miles and loyalty points for every $1 spent. Your earn rate will vary based on your American Airlines elite status level.
Returning the vehicle on or before February 28th will count toward the current eligibility period. Even so, it can take up to eight weeks for miles and loyalty points to be posted to your AAdvantage account.
Dining at AAdvantage Dining
You can also earn loyalty points through the American Airlines AAdvantage dining program. To do this, sign up for AAdvantage Dining Rewards, add your favorite rewards card to your AAdvantage Dining Plan account, then use your registered card to pay at participating restaurants, bars and clubs.
Depending on your AAdvantage Dining Plan status (different from AAdvantage status), you can earn 1 to 5 loyalty points per $1 spent. The restaurant should register your transaction within five days of your purchase; you should see miles and loyalty points in your AAdvantage account one to two weeks later.
bottom line
It’s best not to wait until the last few days of the qualification period to earn the required loyalty points. After all, your campaign might not launch as you expected – so now is a good time to figure out how to earn the final loyalty points you need before this qualification period ends.
The offer to buy the US identity you want is also worth paying attention to. However, these offers are often quite expensive, so it’s best to find a way to earn the loyalty points you need.
