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
Signed in members with 90 days / 90 posts can edit this Wikipost; wiki contents may be printed by using the (lower right wiki corner)
GUIDE: Earning AA Award / Redeemable Miles / RDM on AA, partners 1 Aug 2016
#751
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SJC
Programs: AA EXP, BA Silver, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 33,535
Unlikely, IMO, that this is getting ironed out any time soon. I expect to be calling regularly throughout the year
Cheers.
#752
Join Date: Sep 2008
Programs: A3 *G, AA exePlat, AS MVP 75k Gold, JL sapphire, UA silver
Posts: 4,035
i was flying the inbound of the mistake fare. tpe sjc. i ticketed it originally as tpe nrt dfw rsw dfw hnl (stop) nrt tpe. i have flown the outbound last june as i reticketed it as tpe nrt lax bze (stop) dfw rsw by paying tax, agent change fee and fare difference ((200 yen?) as i exceeded the mpm.
i have just recently flown and reticketed my inbound as rsw dfw lax (stop) jfk (stop) nrt (stop) itm (stop) , kix tpe. it exceeds mpm again and i paid 70hkd for fard difference. if my memory is right, the base fare is 35usd, and i paid 9 usd for fare difference. since i made some many changes including a few date changes. i thought the fare info is lost as the ticket is issued by JL.
it turns out rsw dfw lax have posted. both segments are posted as fare, each nets 44usd as eqd (35+9) . it obviously is a bug because the distance of rsw dfw and dfw lax are different, so they cant have the identical eqd.
i was hopping to post as missing fare as it is full y fare. i just flew lax jfk but it has not posted. i was debating if i should post it to AS. but my upgrade cleared at gate, and i meed eqm in my aa account more than eqd. and there is 50% bonus for eqm on this, but only 500 aa miles vs over 5000 as miles.
i have just recently flown and reticketed my inbound as rsw dfw lax (stop) jfk (stop) nrt (stop) itm (stop) , kix tpe. it exceeds mpm again and i paid 70hkd for fard difference. if my memory is right, the base fare is 35usd, and i paid 9 usd for fare difference. since i made some many changes including a few date changes. i thought the fare info is lost as the ticket is issued by JL.
it turns out rsw dfw lax have posted. both segments are posted as fare, each nets 44usd as eqd (35+9) . it obviously is a bug because the distance of rsw dfw and dfw lax are different, so they cant have the identical eqd.
i was hopping to post as missing fare as it is full y fare. i just flew lax jfk but it has not posted. i was debating if i should post it to AS. but my upgrade cleared at gate, and i meed eqm in my aa account more than eqd. and there is 50% bonus for eqm on this, but only 500 aa miles vs over 5000 as miles.
#753
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: BA Silver; Hilton Gold; IHG Diamond Ambassador; Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,811
For example, given the wild inequities in fares for TPA-CLT, TPA-MIA, MIA-CLT, it would not surprise me in the least if AA assigned the same fare to both halves of TPA-MIA-CLT.
#754
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: DCA
Programs: MR Plat; AA Gold; UA Silver
Posts: 352
Hello, I searched for this but couldn't find anything. I am thinking of flying to Peru (IAD-LIM/CUZ-LIM-IAD) on Latam airlines. Booking through Latam is $250 cheaper than booking through AA. However, I am trying to figure out how many miles/PQD I would get. On AA's website I don't see Latam anywhere, but I do see LAN and TAM. I think they merged into Latam? My fares are O - under LAN that's only 5% PQD, but under TAM it's 10%. So I'm trying to figure out what I'd get under Latam. Any help?
Depsite being Gold I'm not a a seasoned international traveler so this is very confusing. Thanks.
Depsite being Gold I'm not a a seasoned international traveler so this is very confusing. Thanks.
#755
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,606
Hello, I searched for this but couldn't find anything. I am thinking of flying to Peru (IAD-LIM/CUZ-LIM-IAD) on Latam airlines. Booking through Latam is $250 cheaper than booking through AA. However, I am trying to figure out how many miles/PQD I would get. On AA's website I don't see Latam anywhere, but I do see LAN and TAM. I think they merged into Latam? My fares are O - under LAN that's only 5% PQD, but under TAM it's 10%. So I'm trying to figure out what I'd get under Latam. Any help?
Depsite being Gold I'm not a a seasoned international traveler so this is very confusing. Thanks.
Depsite being Gold I'm not a a seasoned international traveler so this is very confusing. Thanks.
#756
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: DCA
Programs: MR Plat; AA Gold; UA Silver
Posts: 352
Great to know! It's LA. Thank you for the quick reply! Just have to decide if the extra $250 is worth the extra miles/PDQ. God I hate this PQD requirement.
#757
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,606
#759
Join Date: Sep 2008
Programs: A3 *G, AA exePlat, AS MVP 75k Gold, JL sapphire, UA silver
Posts: 4,035
Why not? The EQD is based on whatever AA assigns as the fare (etc) for that segment, and we all know how badly that correlates with distance.
For example, given the wild inequities in fares for TPA-CLT, TPA-MIA, MIA-CLT, it would not surprise me in the least if AA assigned the same fare to both halves of TPA-MIA-CLT.
For example, given the wild inequities in fares for TPA-CLT, TPA-MIA, MIA-CLT, it would not surprise me in the least if AA assigned the same fare to both halves of TPA-MIA-CLT.
rsw dfw lax jfk nrt OSK tpe.
i have received 44 + 44 + 48 for the first 3 segment.s
#760
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
Hello, I searched for this but couldn't find anything. I am thinking of flying to Peru (IAD-LIM/CUZ-LIM-IAD) on Latam airlines. Booking through Latam is $250 cheaper than booking through AA. However, I am trying to figure out how many miles/PQD I would get. On AA's website I don't see Latam anywhere, but I do see LAN and TAM. I think they merged into Latam? My fares are O - under LAN that's only 5% PQD, but under TAM it's 10%. So I'm trying to figure out what I'd get under Latam. Any help?
Depsite being Gold I'm not a a seasoned international traveler so this is very confusing. Thanks.
Depsite being Gold I'm not a a seasoned international traveler so this is very confusing. Thanks.
#761
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,606
#763
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: BA Silver; Hilton Gold; IHG Diamond Ambassador; Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,811
Yes, those earnings do certainly seems to be an error -- in your favor.
#764
Join Date: Sep 2008
Programs: A3 *G, AA exePlat, AS MVP 75k Gold, JL sapphire, UA silver
Posts: 4,035
(Fare Gone) AA/JAL: TPE - SJC/SAC (~1.25 cpm) ??
i believe the base fare is 35.
i paid 9 USD for 25% over MPM when i was reticketing.
next segment is JFK - NRT in Y fare on JAL. should be able to pick up almost 1800 USD on EQD. (20% of almost 7000 miles).
i am just wondering how AA gets 44 44 and 48.
i believe the base fare is 35.
i paid 9 USD for 25% over MPM when i was reticketing.
next segment is JFK - NRT in Y fare on JAL. should be able to pick up almost 1800 USD on EQD. (20% of almost 7000 miles).
i am just wondering how AA gets 44 44 and 48.
#765
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: BA Silver; Hilton Gold; IHG Diamond Ambassador; Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,811
(Fare Gone) AA/JAL: TPE - SJC/SAC (~1.25 cpm) ??
i believe the base fare is 35.
i paid 9 USD for 25% over MPM when i was reticketing.
next segment is JFK - NRT in Y fare on JAL. should be able to pick up almost 1800 USD on EQD. (20% of almost 7000 miles).
i am just wondering how AA gets 44 44 and 48.
i believe the base fare is 35.
i paid 9 USD for 25% over MPM when i was reticketing.
next segment is JFK - NRT in Y fare on JAL. should be able to pick up almost 1800 USD on EQD. (20% of almost 7000 miles).
i am just wondering how AA gets 44 44 and 48.
I can only assume that the fare was so absurd that the system couldn't cope with trying to split it across multiple segments.