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GUIDE: Earning AA Award / Redeemable Miles / RDM on AA, partners 1 Aug 2016

Old Jan 27, 2016, 7:50 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: JDiver
Earning AA Award ("Redeemable") Miles / RDM earning as of 01 Aug 2016
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):
  • 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:
  • 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
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:
  • At least some purchases made with Citi TYPs and the like

  • At least some reissues, whether changed beforehand or due to IROPS
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)

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
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)
"Exceptions
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"
Older speculative and obsolete posts in this thread have been moved to the Archive, ARCHIVE: Earning AA Award / Redeemable Miles / RDM on AA, partners (obsolete posts).

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

Old Aug 16, 2016, 11:11 am
  #256  
 
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: SFO
Programs: AA Plat, IHG Plat, HH Diamond, Hyatt Plat, Hertz Gold
Posts: 1,933
Originally Posted by akcae
Another fun fact: this trip was booked using a transportation voucher I got for a VDB. When I put the itin on hold, it was $447. I mailed in a $500 voucher, the trip was ticketed, and I received back a voucher for $93. As any 3rd-grader can tell you, 500-447 does not equal 93.

I really, truly don't get any of the math around this.
This part is easy to explain. DV vouchers (those given for VDBs) are tax exempt if they cover the base fare. So the extra amount you received back on your residual voucher is due to taxes being removed from the total fare.
Antipode is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2016, 11:37 am
  #257  
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Columbia, SC
Programs: AA Plat, SPG/Marriot Gold, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Expl
Posts: 2,363
Originally Posted by Antipode
This part is easy to explain. DV vouchers (those given for VDBs) are tax exempt if they cover the base fare. So the extra amount you received back on your residual voucher is due to taxes being removed from the total fare.
So, I didn't have to pay taxes on my fare because I used a VDB voucher?
akcae is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2016, 11:45 am
  #258  
 
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: JFK > LGA >> EWR
Programs: AA EXP 1.2mm, Kimpton IC, Starwood Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,180
Originally Posted by AAExecPlatFlier
Why would they? U were correctly awarded based on distance and a % since u had a non-AA marketed flight. Suggest that you spend some time learning the program and when distance/% or $ will be used. It is pretty simple and not up the whim of AA.
Um, I said that I had an AA-marketed flight, so it should have been credited based on fare, not distance.

Also, the tone in your message seems less than constructive.
SJC AA is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2016, 1:44 pm
  #259  
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: US
Programs: AAdvantage
Posts: 1,753
Originally Posted by akcae
So, I didn't have to pay taxes on my fare because I used a VDB voucher?
Correct. Vouchers are not considered revenue. If the value of the voucher exceeds the value of the ticket, then the entire ticket is exempt from the 7.5% US transportation tax, the segment fee (ZP), and the security fee (AY).

If the value of the voucher is less than the value of the ticket, then the remaining difference is taxed at 7.5% and the ZP and AY do apply.
ThreeJulietTango is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2016, 2:40 pm
  #260  
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,549
Originally Posted by SJC AA
Um, I said that I had an AA-marketed flight, so it should have been credited based on fare, not distance.
It has reported earlier in the thread of such 'Thank you point' bookings being treated by AA as bookings where the price is unavailable and credited using the mileage rules for such fares

It seems that it wasn't a one off and looks like it may be normal
Dave Noble is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2016, 2:46 pm
  #261  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: BA Silver; Hilton Gold; IHG Diamond Ambassador; Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,811
Originally Posted by Dave Noble
It has also been reported earlier in the thread of such bookings being treated by AA as bookings where the price is unavailable and credited using the mileage rules for such fares
Yes, but why would the fare be "unavailable" in this case? He purchased an AA-marketed flight on AA.com. Are we to conclude that the fare was "unavailable" just because the flight is AS-operated? Seems weird, but that may be where Occam's Razor points...
SpammersAreScum is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2016, 2:54 pm
  #262  
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: LATAM Black; AA EXP
Posts: 262
AA unable to tell me how many Award miles I will earn

Hi, hope someone can help me. Trying to hold my new AA EXP and Lan Emerald category. Months before the new accrual rules were published I purchased an AMS-LHR-JFK-SCL-GRU-MIA-LHR-MAD ticket on I class with all flights marketed by AA except for the AMS-LHR and LHR-MAD. Due to schedule changes my ticket was reissued and now it shows a total cost of approximately 20.000 USD (which is of course way higher than what I actually paid). I want to decide wether it's better for me to accrue the miles on AA or LAN but their social media team redirected me to the EXP desk and the EXP desk to Customer Service just to be told that at this point they are unable to tell how many miles I'll earn on a reissued ticket (we still don't have the tool to calculate this). I think this is unacceptable and a complete lack of transparency from their side. So the questions are:

1. Anybody has first hand experience with this?

2. Will the Redeemable miles be accrued according to the original fare paid or the 20.000 USD fare that shows on the receipt on the web?

3. Any idea who could give me a written confirmation of how many miles i'll get in order to "protect" myself?

4. Should I escalate this issue? if so, where?

Thanks for your help
FN
SCLflyer is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2016, 2:59 pm
  #263  
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Columbia, SC
Programs: AA Plat, SPG/Marriot Gold, HHonors Diamond, Hyatt Expl
Posts: 2,363
Originally Posted by ThreeJulietTango
Correct. Vouchers are not considered revenue. If the value of the voucher exceeds the value of the ticket, then the entire ticket is exempt from the 7.5% US transportation tax, the segment fee (ZP), and the security fee (AY).

If the value of the voucher is less than the value of the ticket, then the remaining difference is taxed at 7.5% and the ZP and AY do apply.
Interesting, I was not aware of that. Thanks for the explanation, and that explains why my net cost was $30-ish less than the originally quoted fare.
akcae is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2016, 3:47 pm
  #264  
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,549
Originally Posted by SpammersAreScum
Yes, but why would the fare be "unavailable" in this case? He purchased an AA-marketed flight on AA.com. Are we to conclude that the fare was "unavailable" just because the flight is AS-operated? Seems weird, but that may be where Occam's Razor points...
I think it points to the use of Citi points making the actual fare unavailable as earlier spotted and reported in post 176
Dave Noble is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2016, 4:05 pm
  #265  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: BA Silver; Hilton Gold; IHG Diamond Ambassador; Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,811
Originally Posted by Dave Noble
I think it points to the use of Citi points making the actual fare unavailable as earlier spotted and reported in post 176
Tiny problem: OP said nothing about using points of any kind to pay for this. Obviously I wouldn't be scratching my head if he/she had!
SpammersAreScum is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2016, 4:35 pm
  #266  
 
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: BA Silver; Hilton Gold; IHG Diamond Ambassador; Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,811
Originally Posted by SCLflyer
Hi, hope someone can help me. Trying to hold my new AA EXP and Lan Emerald category. Months before the new accrual rules were published I purchased an AMS-LHR-JFK-SCL-GRU-MIA-LHR-MAD ticket on I class with all flights marketed by AA except for the AMS-LHR and LHR-MAD. Due to schedule changes my ticket was reissued and now it shows a total cost of approximately 20.000 USD (which is of course way higher than what I actually paid). I want to decide wether it's better for me to accrue the miles on AA or LAN but their social media team redirected me to the EXP desk and the EXP desk to Customer Service just to be told that at this point they are unable to tell how many miles I'll earn on a reissued ticket (we still don't have the tool to calculate this). I think this is unacceptable and a complete lack of transparency from their side. So the questions are:

1. Anybody has first hand experience with this?

2. Will the Redeemable miles be accrued according to the original fare paid or the 20.000 USD fare that shows on the receipt on the web?

3. Any idea who could give me a written confirmation of how many miles i'll get in order to "protect" myself?

4. Should I escalate this issue? if so, where?

Thanks for your help
FN
No-one here can tell you what RDM you'll earn on a mixed-marketed itinerary, because it requires knowing what portion of the eligible costs AA assigns to the AA-marketed segments. And of course the re-issue just adds another unknown. We can tell you what the partner-marketed segments will earn, if you tell us the fare class and marketing airline for each segment.

Unless, of course, the re-issue causes the whole thing to be computed based on miles. That we can compute if you tell us ditto.
SpammersAreScum is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2016, 4:36 pm
  #267  
 
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: JFK > LGA >> EWR
Programs: AA EXP 1.2mm, Kimpton IC, Starwood Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,180
Originally Posted by Dave Noble
I think it points to the use of Citi points making the actual fare unavailable as earlier spotted and reported in post 176
I did not use points to pay for this reservation. I booked it on AA.com and paid with a credit card.
SJC AA is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2016, 5:05 pm
  #268  
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,549
Originally Posted by SJC AA
I did not use points to pay for this reservation. I booked it on AA.com and paid with a credit card.
Sorry - my reading skills this morning must have been failing me .... I think that more than 1 occurrence is needed to infer that AS marketed as AA will always credit on distance

Was the whole one way journey on AS ?
Dave Noble is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2016, 5:18 pm
  #269  
 
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 3,021
Ok, my first partner trip under the new program.

First of all kudos to AB for quick posting. Miles posted within 2 hours of my SFO-DUS leg. WOW!

And this is what I got as a Plat

Date EQMs / EQSs Base miles Bonus miles Total award miles
8/15/16 8,373 / 1 5,582 1,396 6,978

Method: Distance
AIR BERLIN 7393 C SFO DUS

I thought it should have been 1.5 for the segment but other than that.......
sdix is offline  
Old Aug 16, 2016, 6:40 pm
  #270  
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,549
You did earn 1.5 EQMs

The flight distance is 5,582 mi ; with a 50% bonus, that will give 8,373 EQMs as posted

Redeemable miles for C is 25% bonus for COS which gives bonus of 1396 for a total of 6,978
Dave Noble is offline  

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