Originally Posted by sam007

50k miles expire for me on May 8. I'm planning to use aadvantage shopping (itunes) but last time I used it, miles took 25 days to post. In 25 days, my points would have expired. Do I have a better choice or will American reinstate the points seeing that I made a transaction before the miles expired?

Thanks

Originally Posted by Canarsie

I purchased something which I needed anyway from Home Depot through the AAdvantage Shopping portal. The purchase price was not more than three dollars or so; but it was something I needed.

I picked up the item at a Home Depot within walking distance of where I am based.

My AAdvantage miles expired. My account was reset to 0.

Once the purchase was cleared approximately one month later, my AAdvantage miles were automatically reinstated in full to my account — plus the few miles added from the purchase — with no communication necessary on my part...

...so while it may be safer to do so, you do not need to purchase something at least a month in advance before the expiration date of your AAdvantage miles, based on my experience. Simply ensure that the date of your purchase is prior to the date of the expiration of your AAdvantage miles.