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 2, 2016, 6:59 pm
#121
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,620
My question is: how is the value of that segment determined? I can maybe sort of see how they might determine miles if an entire one-way of a round-trip is not flown, but I am wondering how they would credit miles if a one-way consists of multiple segments and only some of the segments are flown. For example, JFK-LAX-SJC at a certain fare code is often cheaper than JFK-LAX at the same fare code...I guess they could figure out a way to proportion the one-way fare among the various segments based on miles, etc. (maybe similar to what they would do on a mixed AA-marketed/non-AA-marketed ticket).
Aug 3, 2016, 7:31 am
#122
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Andover, MA, 01810
Posts: 1,972
AA will not tell me how many miles I will earn
I have a roundtrip ticket on AA MAN-ZQN, which is all on AA except for 2 flights AKL-ZQN. Some of the flights will be later this month, others in February, and the rest in April. I bought the ticket before they announced the Aug 1 date, so at the time I thought I knew how many miles I would earn. Now I want to know how many miles I will earn for each segment under the new scheme, before I fly, so that I can decide where to credit each segment. I thought no problem, I'll just ask AA. I spoke with AAdvantage and Reservations, and they all tell me "we have no idea, you have to wait until you fly and then you will know when it posts." This does not seem reasonable at all. They do not distribute the total dollar amount is an obvious reasonable way, especially when there is another airline as part of the fare. I really have no way to make an accurate guess on my own. Is it even legal for AA to not tell me what I will earn before I actually fly? Any suggestions for getting the info?
Aug 3, 2016, 7:44 am
#123
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Trenton, NJ (PHL, EWR)
Programs: A3 Gold, BA Bronze
Posts: 1,633
For clarification, I assume you mean "how many RDM (redeemable) miles" you will earn?
As far as what that actual number is, I do agree it's a bit absurd that the airline itself can't tell you what you will earn. If you could perhaps share the fare breakdown we can all put our heads together and see what our best estimations would be to see if some consensus emerges.
As far as what that actual number is, I do agree it's a bit absurd that the airline itself can't tell you what you will earn. If you could perhaps share the fare breakdown we can all put our heads together and see what our best estimations would be to see if some consensus emerges.
Aug 3, 2016, 7:55 am
#124
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: BA Silver; Hilton Gold; IHG Diamond Ambassador; Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,811
The base miles will be the price multiplied by 5 and the bonus is 120% of that amount
$140 * 5 = 700 base
120% of 700 = 840
If this was just your outbound journey, then you have been credited based on a spend of $241.60
if the total eligibale spend was $471, then would expect credit for $229.40 on the return
$140 * 5 = 700 base
120% of 700 = 840
If this was just your outbound journey, then you have been credited based on a spend of $241.60
if the total eligibale spend was $471, then would expect credit for $229.40 on the return
Aug 3, 2016, 8:03 am
#125
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Andover, MA, 01810
Posts: 1,972
Good question. The AA receipt doesn't even tell me that. They have one column where they list the fare and another column where they combine carrier imposed fees with other taxes. But let's just say for simplicity that the grand total roundtrip fare is $1000 (which is approximately what it is). The routing is MAN-PHL-BOS-LAX-AKL-ZQN in each direction. All but AKL-ZQN is AA metal. If I want to know what I will earn for MAN-PHL and PHL-BOS, there's no way to know unless they tell me.
Aug 3, 2016, 8:08 am
#126
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Trenton, NJ (PHL, EWR)
Programs: A3 Gold, BA Bronze
Posts: 1,633
I see what you're saying, that segment by segment you can't be sure at all, so if you want to credit the outbound to one program and the inbound to another, what exactly will you get?
Anyone know how DL/UA handle this?
Anyone know how DL/UA handle this?
Aug 3, 2016, 8:32 am
#128
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Andover, MA, 01810
Posts: 1,972
Aug 3, 2016, 11:04 am
#129
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: ROC/NYC/MSP/LAX/HKG/SIN
Posts: 3,214
I have a roundtrip ticket on AA MAN-ZQN, which is all on AA except for 2 flights AKL-ZQN. Some of the flights will be later this month, others in February, and the rest in April. I bought the ticket before they announced the Aug 1 date, so at the time I thought I knew how many miles I would earn. Now I want to know how many miles I will earn for each segment under the new scheme, before I fly, so that I can decide where to credit each segment. I thought no problem, I'll just ask AA. I spoke with AAdvantage and Reservations, and they all tell me "we have no idea, you have to wait until you fly and then you will know when it posts." This does not seem reasonable at all. They do not distribute the total dollar amount is an obvious reasonable way, especially when there is another airline as part of the fare. I really have no way to make an accurate guess on my own. Is it even legal for AA to not tell me what I will earn before I actually fly? Any suggestions for getting the info?
Good question. The AA receipt doesn't even tell me that. They have one column where they list the fare and another column where they combine carrier imposed fees with other taxes. But let's just say for simplicity that the grand total roundtrip fare is $1000 (which is approximately what it is). The routing is MAN-PHL-BOS-LAX-AKL-ZQN in each direction. All but AKL-ZQN is AA metal. If I want to know what I will earn for MAN-PHL and PHL-BOS, there's no way to know unless they tell me.
I assume AKL-ZQN is in JetStar or ANZ. That should not cost 10% of the total fare. Let's say you pay $1000USD for the ticket. Assuming 90% of the ticket was in AA metal, then you would earn the multiplier of RDMs depending on your status, Roughly 900x5/7/9/11. However, there could be huge amount of Europe international taxes and fuel surcharges in TATL. If your ticket is very cheap, you could end up having to pay $300USD of the fuel surcharges. With the premium cabin surcharge in case you are trying to upgrade the TATL leg, bear in mind that it could cost more. But it looks like fees would calculate towards the RDM calcuation.
This new AA's response essentially tells us that:
We don't care how many RDMs you would get. As long as it helps us to limit the liability off the books, we are good.
Aug 3, 2016, 12:02 pm
#130
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,620
Can you explain how you came up with that $ split between outbound and return. I would have assumed (700+535)/5 = $247 for outbound and the remaining $224 for the return. Granted, it could be slightly different due to rounding, but we'd have no way of knowing, would we?
.... I used 508 rather than 535 when working out the cost of the other leg
Aug 3, 2016, 1:16 pm
#132
Join Date: May 2003
Programs: OW Emerald
Posts: 1,452
Good question. The AA receipt doesn't even tell me that. They have one column where they list the fare and another column where they combine carrier imposed fees with other taxes. But let's just say for simplicity that the grand total roundtrip fare is $1000 (which is approximately what it is). The routing is MAN-PHL-BOS-LAX-AKL-ZQN in each direction. All but AKL-ZQN is AA metal. If I want to know what I will earn for MAN-PHL and PHL-BOS, there's no way to know unless they tell me.
The MAN-ZQN fare info will have something like this:
Code:
** ADDONS FOR INFORMATION ONLY **
FARE--RT
PUBLISHED AMOUNT CONVERTED AMOUNT
ADDON CITIES F/B CUR VIA NUC
PUBLISHED MAN-AKL OLE3QC1 GBP 280.00 GBP 280.00
ADDON DST AKL-ZQN D***** NZD 0.00 GBP 0.00
ATP ZONE 150 ADD-ON TARIFF PARBSAP/968
1 NUC - 1.4252 NZD ROUNDED UP TO NEXT 1 NZD
GBP CONVERTED TO USD USING BSR 1 GBP - 1.32164 USD
Aug 3, 2016, 1:26 pm
#133
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: BA Silver; Hilton Gold; IHG Diamond Ambassador; Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,811
Not that that helps with knowing the per-segment breakdown, which I fear will always remain a black box.
Aug 3, 2016, 1:40 pm
#134
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Dallas
Programs: AA explat 5.6 MM, Hilton Diamond for life
Posts: 39
first time seeing how the new calculations work
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, 1:41 pm
#135
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Andover, MA, 01810
Posts: 1,972
I only looked at the receipt emailed to me in May. I wasn't extremely concerned with it because even though the fare calculation wasn't on it, I'm sure you can get that easily. If not over the phone, you can always ask for a duplicate passenger receipt at the ticket counter, and it will be there. But as you say, it won't answer what I want to know.