Jan 27, 2016, 7:50 am
Last edit by: JDiver
Earning AA Award ("Redeemable") Miles / RDM earning as of 01 Aug 2016
on American Airlines and its partner airlines
on American Airlines and its partner airlines
Note: Earning RDM / Award Miles changed 1 Aug 2016 -
Award Mile changes: American Airlines announced 1 Aug 2016 they have implemented a revenue-based scheme for earning what American is calling Award Miles (previous AA terms have included "Prize-winning miles", also frequently referred to as Redeemable Miles (RDM) in this forum).
This means miles that can be spent on awards are now earned on the basis of price paid (base fare plus carrier-imposed fees such as fuel surcharges, not including government-imposed fees and taxes such as airport passenger service fees, etc.) times a factor determined by one's status. This change applies only to AA-"marketed" flights -- that is, flights booked with an "A" flight number -- with exceptions described under "Special Fares".
Partner-marketed flights (flights with a flight number other than an "AA" one) continue to earn based on miles. See below. This change applies to all flights flown on or after 1 Aug 2016, regardless of when the ticket was purchased.
Elite Qualifying Miles / EQM are merely mile posts to count for status qualification as of 01 January 2016. NOTE: some airline partner EQM changes occur 1 Aug 2016. See here. These are no longer Redeemable.
Bonus Miles: The earning of Bonus Miles (which are always Award or Redeemable Miles, never Elite Qualifying), has changed as a result of the new system. Cabin service / fare class bonus miles may be earned on flights marketed by AA airline partners; see the mileage earning chart for 1 Aug 2016 for each airline partner on aa.com.
See Earning AA Elite Qualifying Miles / EQM on AA, oneworld, partners 2016 for more about earning EQM.
Link to aa.com page "AAdvantage program updates".
Award Miles (also called Redeemable miles)
Earning as of 01 Aug 2016 and beyond
Earn miles
To earn AAdvantage® miles when you fly on American and American Eagle marketed flights (including flights sold as AA codeshare flights operated by other airlines):
Calculating award miles
For travel beginning August 1, 2016, you'll earn miles based on ticket price (base fare plus carrier-imposed fees, not including government-imposed taxes and fees). The more you spend, and the higher your elite status, the more you'll earn.
Or, as mchensel said in another post, to clarify:
AAdvantage® member – 5 miles for every U.S. dollar*
Gold member – 7 miles/U.S. dollar* (5 miles + 2 miles, 40% bonus)
Platinum member – 8 miles/U.S. dollar* (5 miles + 3 miles, 60% bonus)
Platinum Pro member - 9 miles/U.S. dollar* (5 miles + 4 miles, 80% bonus)
Executive Platinum member – 11 miles/U.S. dollar* (5 miles + 6 miles a 120% bonus)
*dollar spent on basic fare and carrier imposed fees only - not government fees or taxes, ancillary fees such as baggage, upgrade, changes, etc.
NOTE: You can earn a maximum of 75,000 award miles per E-Ticket. Note that a single PNR might have more than one E-Ticket, and various kinds of changes may cause an E-Ticket to be re-issued, which we believe resets the maximum mileage counter.
Earning award miles for travel on most flights marketed by partner airlines is based on a percentage of the flight distance and the fare class purchased. Updated tables were posted 15 Jul 2016 and reflect new award earning rates on partner / fare class combinations.
See here.
Elite bonuses on partners: Earning on flights marketed by Alaska and almost all oneworld partners will also use those same elite status bonus ratios (40%/60%/80%?/120%), as announced by AA on 1 Aug 2016. See here.
Special Fares: AA has specified a set of "Special Fares", which includes AA Vacations. NOTE: Award Miles earning varies for "Special Fares" (e.g. AA Vacations), and the chart for those changes on 11 Jan 2017. See here.
Initial reports have revealed interesting cases which apparently fall under that final "fare isn't disclosed" catch-all, and therefore earn according to the Special Fares mileage-based table:
Again, these reports are few and preliminary. Further data points to confirm or refute these, or to add to the list, are welcome.
Elite Bonuses on Special Fares: The Special Fares page also says, "AAdvantage elite member bonuses will be applied in addition to the percentages shown for award miles." These bonuses are the same as for partner flights.
See the "Special Fares" earning chart (and note the chart for those changes on 11 Jan 2017). See here.
BE SURE to read the FAQs here.
Sample calculation
AAdvantage member flying round-trip on an American marketed flight from Dallas (DFW) to London-Heathrow (LHR) (NOTE: All $ figures are USD / U.S. Dollars)
In the example below, in Costa Rican Colones so used only for illustrative purposes, the airport and countered fees and taxes would be excluded from RDM calculations:
Bonus miles
Bonus (award) Miles are no longer earned as before - see earnings for EQM, A/RDM (and for 2017 EQD) here and from other partner activities such as hotel stays, auto rentals, purchases from AA shopping portal vendors and partners, credit cards, etc.
(NOTE: Bonus miles are Award / Redeemable, not Elite Qualifying, miles)
Earning as of 01 Aug 2016 and beyond
Earn miles
To earn AAdvantage® miles when you fly on American and American Eagle marketed flights (including flights sold as AA codeshare flights operated by other airlines):
- Buy an eligible published fare ticket in an eligible booking code
- Fly an eligible route
- Specific flights, routes or cities that are excluded from earning miles or award travel are listed as exceptions if applicable.
Calculating award miles
For travel beginning August 1, 2016, you'll earn miles based on ticket price (base fare plus carrier-imposed fees, not including government-imposed taxes and fees). The more you spend, and the higher your elite status, the more you'll earn.
- AAdvantage® member – 5 miles for every U.S. dollar
- Gold member – 7 miles/U.S. dollar (40% bonus)
- Platinum member – 8 miles/U.S. dollar (60% bonus)
- Platinum Pro member (New in 2017) - 9 miles/U.S. dollar (80%bonus)
- Executive Platinum member – 11 miles/U.S. dollar (120% bonus)
Or, as mchensel said in another post, to clarify:
AAdvantage® member – 5 miles for every U.S. dollar*
Gold member – 7 miles/U.S. dollar* (5 miles + 2 miles, 40% bonus)
Platinum member – 8 miles/U.S. dollar* (5 miles + 3 miles, 60% bonus)
Platinum Pro member - 9 miles/U.S. dollar* (5 miles + 4 miles, 80% bonus)
Executive Platinum member – 11 miles/U.S. dollar* (5 miles + 6 miles a 120% bonus)
*dollar spent on basic fare and carrier imposed fees only - not government fees or taxes, ancillary fees such as baggage, upgrade, changes, etc.
NOTE: You can earn a maximum of 75,000 award miles per E-Ticket. Note that a single PNR might have more than one E-Ticket, and various kinds of changes may cause an E-Ticket to be re-issued, which we believe resets the maximum mileage counter.
Earning award miles for travel on most flights marketed by partner airlines is based on a percentage of the flight distance and the fare class purchased. Updated tables were posted 15 Jul 2016 and reflect new award earning rates on partner / fare class combinations.
See here.
Elite bonuses on partners: Earning on flights marketed by Alaska and almost all oneworld partners will also use those same elite status bonus ratios (40%/60%/80%?/120%), as announced by AA on 1 Aug 2016. See here.
Special Fares: AA has specified a set of "Special Fares", which includes AA Vacations. NOTE: Award Miles earning varies for "Special Fares" (e.g. AA Vacations), and the chart for those changes on 11 Jan 2017. See here.
Some fares (such as bulk or consolidator fares) earn award miles and Elite Qualifying Dollars (EQDs) at a modified rate based on a percentage of the distance flown as determined by the booking code.
Special fares are often purchased through a specialized agent, third party or as part of a package including air transportation and lodging.
Examples:
Special fares are often purchased through a specialized agent, third party or as part of a package including air transportation and lodging.
Examples:
- Bulk fares
- Cruise fares
- Consolidator fares
- Discounted or inclusive tour packages
- Vacation packages, including American Airlines Vacations® (AAV) packages
- Other tickets where the fare isn't disclosed, excluding bookings made through priceline.com or hotwire.com where the carrier isn't disclosed before buying
- At least some purchases made with Citi TYPs and the like
- At least some reissues, whether changed beforehand or due to IROPS
Elite Bonuses on Special Fares: The Special Fares page also says, "AAdvantage elite member bonuses will be applied in addition to the percentages shown for award miles." These bonuses are the same as for partner flights.
See the "Special Fares" earning chart (and note the chart for those changes on 11 Jan 2017). See here.
BE SURE to read the FAQs here.
Sample calculation
AAdvantage member flying round-trip on an American marketed flight from Dallas (DFW) to London-Heathrow (LHR) (NOTE: All $ figures are USD / U.S. Dollars)
Code:
Elite status Base fare Carrier imposed fees Miles/USD Award miles earned AAdvantage member $1,436 $458 5 9,470 Gold $1,436 $458 7 13,258 Platinum $1,436 $458 8 15,152 Executive Platinum $1,436 $458 11 20,834
Bonus miles
Bonus (award) Miles are no longer earned as before - see earnings for EQM, A/RDM (and for 2017 EQD) here and from other partner activities such as hotel stays, auto rentals, purchases from AA shopping portal vendors and partners, credit cards, etc.
(NOTE: Bonus miles are Award / Redeemable, not Elite Qualifying, miles)
Certain airline ticket types aren't eligible for mileage accrual regardless of the booking code. These include, without limitation:
- All tickets issued as AAdvantage® awards
- Charter flight tickets
- Companion tickets
- Infant tickets
- Items occupying a purchased seat
- Other free ticket promotions including free or reduced rate tickets
- Tickets purchased through a travel agency where the airline is not disclosed prior to purchase, such as Priceline or Hotwire
- Tickets issued subject to special provisions
- Travel agency/industry reduced rate tickets"
Updated 07 Jan 2017 - JDiver with thanks to spammersarescum
Historical information moved to ARCHIVE thread, link to same renewed. JDiver
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GUIDE: Earning AA Award / Redeemable Miles / RDM on AA, partners 1 Aug 2016
Aug 3, 2016, 2:07 pm
#136
Join Date: May 2006
Location: SAN
Programs: Lots of faux metal
Posts: 6,425
I fly back and forth between DFW-LAX usually in premium tickets. Last week on my flights i got:
AMERICAN AIRLINES 2473 F LAX DFW ...2812 7/28/16 2,470 / 1 1,235 1,853 3,088
AADV BONUS MILES PROMO - FIRST & BUSINESS ...2812 7/28/16 -- / -- 0 1,000 1,000
All of which equals 4088 miles one way...this week:
transaction Posted
Method: Fare ...8716 8/2/16 2,470 / 1 1,425 1,710 3,135
3135 miles one way....so even with 11 times the fare I am getting 24% fewer miles.
OH well, thier airline...thier rules!
Go Stars!!!
AMERICAN AIRLINES 2473 F LAX DFW ...2812 7/28/16 2,470 / 1 1,235 1,853 3,088
AADV BONUS MILES PROMO - FIRST & BUSINESS ...2812 7/28/16 -- / -- 0 1,000 1,000
All of which equals 4088 miles one way...this week:
transaction Posted
Method: Fare ...8716 8/2/16 2,470 / 1 1,425 1,710 3,135
3135 miles one way....so even with 11 times the fare I am getting 24% fewer miles.
OH well, thier airline...thier rules!
Go Stars!!!
Aug 3, 2016, 2:28 pm
#137
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: ROC/NYC/MSP/LAX/HKG/SIN
Posts: 3,214
Also, in the master consolidated thread, people mention IT has not implemented the correct calculation yet, so it is possible that the back-end is still not done yet.
Last edited by PaulInTheSky; Aug 3, 2016 at 2:34 pm
Aug 3, 2016, 2:34 pm
#138
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: BA Silver; Hilton Gold; IHG Diamond Ambassador; Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,811
I think he was flying business/first, for which $300 seems not unusual.
Aug 3, 2016, 3:07 pm
#139
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: MSP
Programs: Marriott LT Titanium, UA Silver (via Marriott)
Posts: 642
It is absolutely fair to include the bonus in the pre-change calculations, as the multiplier now replaces/"incorporates" that bonus. They will not be getting 11xfare plus a multiplier, so in totality they will be receiving about 1,000 fewer RDMs overall for the same flight.
Aug 3, 2016, 4:06 pm
#140
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: BA Silver; Hilton Gold; IHG Diamond Ambassador; Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,811
It is absolutely fair to include the bonus in the pre-change calculations, as the multiplier now replaces/"incorporates" that bonus. They will not be getting 11xfare plus a multiplier, so in totality they will be receiving about 1,000 fewer RDMs overall for the same flight.
Aug 3, 2016, 6:44 pm
#141
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Manhattan Beach, California
Programs: BMI Diamond Club Gold forever
Posts: 6,367
There are "bonuses" and then there are "bonuses". It's fair to include any status or class of service bonuses, but it's not fair to include promo bonuses -- such as this one -- which come and go at AA's whim and may actually come again under the new scheme for all we know.
Aug 4, 2016, 2:47 am
#142
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SCQ
Programs: tk gold, lh ftl, ab gold
Posts: 352
I'm trying to get a grasp on the new mileage earnings on partners...
Hope this is the correct thread
My flight MAD-VGO in J on IB (IB marketed and operated) in July earned me 1000 award miles (290 + 710 Platinum bonus). This was always the case in Iberia, it looked like 1000 was the minimum mileage, regardless of the route and whether it was in lowest economy or in biz.
Now, VGO-MAD in J on August 1st earned me 290 + 247 bonus = 537. "Method: distance" is the note in my account.
As for EQM, it remained unchanged, 750 EQMs.
So, the question is: where does this reduced bonus come from, according to new rules? Thanks a lot!
Hope this is the correct thread
My flight MAD-VGO in J on IB (IB marketed and operated) in July earned me 1000 award miles (290 + 710 Platinum bonus). This was always the case in Iberia, it looked like 1000 was the minimum mileage, regardless of the route and whether it was in lowest economy or in biz.
Now, VGO-MAD in J on August 1st earned me 290 + 247 bonus = 537. "Method: distance" is the note in my account.
As for EQM, it remained unchanged, 750 EQMs.
So, the question is: where does this reduced bonus come from, according to new rules? Thanks a lot!
Aug 4, 2016, 3:19 am
#143
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,620
MAD-VGO is 290 miles
J class gives 25% bonus = 73 miles
Platinum status gives 60% bonus = 174
73+174 = 247
This matches to 290 + 247 for a total of 537
There is still a minimum EQM earning of 500 so the minimum was applied rather than based on 290 actual. This is multiplied by 1.5 giving 750 EQMs
Back in July, there was a 500 minimum mileage guarantee and the 100% platinum status was applied on top of that
290 base plus 25% class of service was 363
Minimum mileage was applied bringing it to 500
Platinum bonus of 100% was then applied on the 500 giving 500 bonus
total earning was 1000
J class gives 25% bonus = 73 miles
Platinum status gives 60% bonus = 174
73+174 = 247
This matches to 290 + 247 for a total of 537
There is still a minimum EQM earning of 500 so the minimum was applied rather than based on 290 actual. This is multiplied by 1.5 giving 750 EQMs
Back in July, there was a 500 minimum mileage guarantee and the 100% platinum status was applied on top of that
290 base plus 25% class of service was 363
Minimum mileage was applied bringing it to 500
Platinum bonus of 100% was then applied on the 500 giving 500 bonus
total earning was 1000
Aug 4, 2016, 3:32 am
#144
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SCQ
Programs: tk gold, lh ftl, ab gold
Posts: 352
Thanks much Dave for the thorough reply.
Somehow i totally missed that the Platinum bonus is 60% now instead of 100%. That sucks...
((
So is it correct that before the minimum mileage guarantee applied both for award miles and for EQM, while as of August only for EQM?
Somehow i totally missed that the Platinum bonus is 60% now instead of 100%. That sucks...
((So is it correct that before the minimum mileage guarantee applied both for award miles and for EQM, while as of August only for EQM?
Aug 4, 2016, 6:10 am
#146
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: DEN
Programs: UA Lifetime Plat, AA EXP, SPG platinum, Hyatt Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum, Hilton Gold
Posts: 145
FYI...here is an example of the redeemable mile credited by AA for a trip I took with the same flight segments prior to 8/1 and afterwards. The flights priced out to be a fairly common $215 o/w, with $99 in taxes and fees (the UK and Canadian flights seem to be government fee-happy), so the qualifying RDM spend was $117. I'm an EXP. The EQMs remained the same before and after 8/1:
7/21:
DEN-DFW: 643+643 = 1286
DFW-LGA: 1389+1389 = 2778
LGA-YUL: 324+676 = 1000 (minimum mileage applied)
Total RDM: 5064
8/1:
YUL-LGA: 85+102=187 ($17)
LGA-DFW: 345+414=759 ($69)
DFW-DEN: 155+186=341 ($31)
Total RDM: 1287, or a quarter of pre-8/1 redeemable miles credited
7/21:
DEN-DFW: 643+643 = 1286
DFW-LGA: 1389+1389 = 2778
LGA-YUL: 324+676 = 1000 (minimum mileage applied)
Total RDM: 5064
8/1:
YUL-LGA: 85+102=187 ($17)
LGA-DFW: 345+414=759 ($69)
DFW-DEN: 155+186=341 ($31)
Total RDM: 1287, or a quarter of pre-8/1 redeemable miles credited
Aug 4, 2016, 9:46 am
#147
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: BA Silver; Hilton Gold; IHG Diamond Ambassador; Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,811
bye bye miles
Aug 4, 2016, 11:29 am
#150
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
The new scheme favors those with high status who pay for higher classes of service and last minute walk up fares, and disfavors those who seek the lowest fares and have lower or no status, as it is intended. Losers and winners, but capped at 75k per ticket (so separate tickets / PNRs will become more popular, but more inconvenient if one uses other oneworld partners - most of which will not honor interlining baggage nor IROPS protection among one world carriers any longer*).
*AA and MH, to their credit, still do so.
*AA and MH, to their credit, still do so.