Originally Posted by
swag
With useaamiles, the rates can drop
significantly if you have elite status.
For OP's rental, I still see 57,900, about what you saw. But when I then log in as an AA Gold, the price drops to 21,100 miles. And I'm only Gold, a Platinum or Exec Plat might save even more. At those levels, you're getting better than a penny per mile, which is not unreasonable if you have a large stash of miles, especially given how sparse AA saver award seats are these days.
Yes, the price doesn't include the taxes & fees. Those aren't shown, but should be the same as for a paid rental.
The main thing to be aware of are the T&Cs. In particular, changes cost $30 and cancellations cost $150, and it's non-cancellable within 4 days of pickup. Given that cash car rentals are usually penalty-free, that's significant.
https://www.useaamiles.com/carhotel/termsCondition.asp
Edit - I was looking economy, but full size car cost and savings are similar.
Assuming you're looking at the very first line, I (an EXP) also see 21,100 miles for Budget. So it seems like being a higher tier elite does not yield more favorable pricing than being a Gold.
However, their sorting seems screwed up, because a few rows further down, I see Hertz vehicles in the 18k range.