Last edit by: Prospero
Preventing AAdvantage Miles and Accounts from Expiring:
What can I do? Alternatives for miles use and discussion.
To check your miles expiration date: Look for the Wallet link on the website or in the app.
AAdvantage members who are under 21 are not subject to mileage expiration if their birthday is associated with their account.
But note:
ANY account activity, earning or using miles, will extend the expiration date of all AA miles by an additional 18 months.
When days count, be aware: it's the transaction date, not the posting date, that counts to extend miles' validity. It can take some time for miles activity to fully post, including the new expiration date. But, read on. Be aware of some vendors’ delayed posting, however.
For other relevant threads and resources see:
aa.com and Others:
Using or getting rid of miles
FlyerTalk:
Here are some suggestions from members on how to prevent miles from expiring easily and/or automatically. Please post your suggestions here.
For previous posts on this topic, please see ARCHIVE: Prevent AA miles / account from expiring / alternate use of miles
Nov 12, 2020 - Formatting % font size
What can I do? Alternatives for miles use and discussion.
To check your miles expiration date: Look for the Wallet link on the website or in the app.
From AAdvantage Terms and Conditions: "AAdvantage members must have mileage earning or redeeming activity once every 18 months in order to retain their miles. If your account has no qualifying activity in any 18-month period, all miles in the account will expire. Qualifying activity extends the expiration date of all unexpired mileage credit in your account for 18 months from the date of the qualifying activity. Qualifying activity is defined as redeeming any AAdvantage award or accruing mileage credit on any eligible American, American Eagle® or AAdvantage airline participant as well as accruing mileage credit with participating hotels, car rental companies, credit cards, telecommunication providers and other service providers offering AAdvantage mileage credit." Gufting or donating miles, doing anything that will cause an increase or decrease in the number of award miles in an AAdvantage account resets the expiration clock by 18 months.
But note:
Pausing AAdvantage® mile expiration through June 2021
You’ve worked hard to earn your AAdvantage® miles, and we recognize you may need more time than usual to keep them active. We’ve paused the expiration of miles through June 30, 2021. If your miles are scheduled to expire on or before June 30, 2021, they will now expire in July 2021, if there’s no additional activity in your account before then. You can find the expiration date of your miles in the Wallet section of your AAdvantage® account.
You’ve worked hard to earn your AAdvantage® miles, and we recognize you may need more time than usual to keep them active. We’ve paused the expiration of miles through June 30, 2021. If your miles are scheduled to expire on or before June 30, 2021, they will now expire in July 2021, if there’s no additional activity in your account before then. You can find the expiration date of your miles in the Wallet section of your AAdvantage® account.
When days count, be aware: it's the transaction date, not the posting date, that counts to extend miles' validity. It can take some time for miles activity to fully post, including the new expiration date. But, read on. Be aware of some vendors’ delayed posting, however.
"Activity date" is how the airline sees it, but beware that the date as reported by the shopping portal vendor can be a "gotcha." From my own experiences of various online vendors, the "activity date" reported can be the date you placed the order, OR the date your order was "received", OR the date your order was "processed", OR the date a transaction "hold" was placed on your credit card, OR the date your credit card company actually approved the transaction, OR the date your order was shipped, OR the date it was picked up (if in-store, for example), OR...etc., etc. And, don't forget time zone differences, too, if your cutoff date is very close (is it the time zone/date of where you ordered, or the vendor's website server, or the vendor's physical store, or...?) In other words, each online vendor may define and report the activity date to the airline in ways you didn't expect. I have seen an instance, for example, where the reported activity date was almost 2 weeks past the actual date I placed the order, simply because a part was on back-order, thus the full order was not "completed" and therefore the credit card not billed until later. Another example is flower delivery, especially if the flowers aren't scheduled for delivery until much later. Buyer beware -- the airline will refer you to the vendor for clarification.
aa.com and Others:
- Link to AA restricts expired miles reactivation within 18 months of expiration (2019) thread
- Link to How to Reactivate / Restore Expired Miles – Reengagement Challenge thread
- Link to Miles for Opinions surveys - not many miles, but it resets the clock.
- Link to Car Rental partners
- Link- Business and Financial: Earn AAdvantage miles when you buy, sell, or move your home with American HomeMiles by SIRVA, BankDirect, Fidelity, Lifelock, Network Solutions, PreFlight parking, Regus, etc.
- Link Buying, Gifting, Sharing AA Miles (Points.com)
- Link- Charities: Contributing Money (Earning Miles): Susan G. Komen, National Cancer Research Foundation, USO
- Link- Financial and Business: Earn AAdvantage miles when you buy, sell, or move your home with American HomeMiles by SIRVA, BankDirect, Fidelity, Lifelock, Network Solutions, PreFlight parking, Regus, etc.
- Link - Home and Health: DIRECTV, Energy Plus, Everything Energy, because Energy, Reliant, Spafinder Wellness 365
- Link to ALL Hotel partners
- Links to Hotel Bookings via pointshound.com, rocketmiles.com and Kaligo.com
- Link - Retail And Dining: AAdvantage eShopping Mall, AAdvantage Dining Program, FTD, Teleflora, 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Vinesse Wine
- Linkaa.com - Reactivating expired miles (for fee)
Using or getting rid of miles
- Redeem Miles:- Link
Includes Hotel rooms and auto rentals, Newspapers, Gift Cards, Lifelock.
Includes link to Link to Use AA Miles: (redeem for car rentals and lodging) - Link - Charities: Donating Miles Miles for All Who Serve, Miles for Kids in Need, Miles of Hope.
Here are some suggestions from members on how to prevent miles from expiring easily and/or automatically. Please post your suggestions here.
- Sign up and register a credit card with AAdvantage Dining, go dine at an enrolled restaurant. (Sign up with your email address for notifications for 3 miles per dollar spent instead of one mile; dine 11 times in one year and earn 5 miles per dollar.)
- Make any purchase through https://www.aadvantageeshopping.comthat earns AA miles.
- Another easy/cheap route is ordering photos from Walgreens.com. It specifically says in the terms "photo orders picked up in-store are eligible." Prints are as cheap as US$0.29, but I'd purchase at least $1 worth to make sure you get your miles (2miles/$1).
For previous posts on this topic, please see ARCHIVE: Prevent AA miles / account from expiring / alternate use of miles
Nov 12, 2020 - Formatting % font size
Prevent AA miles / account from expiring / expiration & spend for other than flying
#436
Join Date: May 2003
Programs: OW Emerald
Posts: 1,452
So how long until these points then expire?
I mean i can't do anything with the 1300 miles right since you can't book any flight with that little miles?
What could i do with these miles?
But is my 1300 points completely useless?
well i can't use these 1300 points right?
There may be more ways to ask the question, too.
#437
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Not here; there!
Programs: AA Lifetime Gold
Posts: 29,606
AA miles expire after 18 months of no activity.
AA miles expire after 18 months of no activity.
You can't book a flight with that number of miles, but you can continue to accumulate them or purchase magazines, for example.
You can't book a flight with that number of miles, but you can continue to accumulate them or purchase magazines, for example.
You can't book a flight with that number of miles, but you can continue to accumulate them or purchase magazines, for example.
You can't book a flight with that number of miles, but you can continue to accumulate them or purchase magazines, for example.
There may be more ways to ask the question, too.
AA miles expire after 18 months of no activity.
You can't book a flight with that number of miles, but you can continue to accumulate them or purchase magazines, for example.
You can't book a flight with that number of miles, but you can continue to accumulate them or purchase magazines, for example.
You can't book a flight with that number of miles, but you can continue to accumulate them or purchase magazines, for example.
You can't book a flight with that number of miles, but you can continue to accumulate them or purchase magazines, for example.
There may be more ways to ask the question, too.
If the OP does not want to take some action to extend the validity of his miles (crediting certain hotel stays or car rentals to his AAdvantage account; making a purchase through the AAdvantage shopping portal; signing up for AAdvantage Dining), the OP can opt to donate his miles to charity:
https://www.aa.com/i18n/customer-ser...ght/donate.jsp
#438
Join Date: Sep 2019
Posts: 352
Okay. So anytime i flew with American Airlines, my flight was pretty cheap... say $225 and under one way. I didn't fly with them that many times, it was a few only. So based on that, you recommend might as well not do anything right? The points expire pretty soon but i am planning to book a flight soon but deciding if doing American Airlines or delta or jetblue. I know with delta and jetblue, points don't expire.
#439
Join Date: May 2008
Location: PHL (kinda, no airport is really close)
Programs: AA Exp, but not sure for how long. Enterprise Platinum woo-hoo!
Posts: 4,551
Honestly, 1300 miles are worth almost nothing. You can't legally sell them, but if you look at sites that estimate the value of miles, AA miles are maybe 1.5 cents, so the 1300 are "worth" about $20. But you can't do anything meaningful with that small an amount.
There are sometimes "web special" award tickets for as little as 5K miles. But don't necessarily count on it being to go where you want when you want.
Everyone has different standards and priorities. If I had 1300 loyalty points on a vendor I rarely patronize - which could easily happen to me with a hotel program - I wouldn't think about it. But maybe you want to use one of the various ways to keep them active. I once kept points active by buying a $3 box of cookies at Walmart.com - and I didn't even pick up the cookies (it wasn't intentional); I got the $3 back but kept the 3 points that kept my other 300,000 points alive.
There are sometimes "web special" award tickets for as little as 5K miles. But don't necessarily count on it being to go where you want when you want.
Everyone has different standards and priorities. If I had 1300 loyalty points on a vendor I rarely patronize - which could easily happen to me with a hotel program - I wouldn't think about it. But maybe you want to use one of the various ways to keep them active. I once kept points active by buying a $3 box of cookies at Walmart.com - and I didn't even pick up the cookies (it wasn't intentional); I got the $3 back but kept the 3 points that kept my other 300,000 points alive.
#440
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2004
Location: DFW/DAL
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, AS MVPG, HH Diamond, NCL Platinum Plus, MSC Diamond
Posts: 21,422
Honestly, 1300 miles are worth almost nothing. You can't legally sell them, but if you look at sites that estimate the value of miles, AA miles are maybe 1.5 cents, so the 1300 are "worth" about $20. But you can't do anything meaningful with that small an amount.
There are sometimes "web special" award tickets for as little as 5K miles. But don't necessarily count on it being to go where you want when you want.
Everyone has different standards and priorities. If I had 1300 loyalty points on a vendor I rarely patronize - which could easily happen to me with a hotel program - I wouldn't think about it. But maybe you want to use one of the various ways to keep them active. I once kept points active by buying a $3 box of cookies at Walmart.com - and I didn't even pick up the cookies (it wasn't intentional); I got the $3 back but kept the 3 points that kept my other 300,000 points alive.
There are sometimes "web special" award tickets for as little as 5K miles. But don't necessarily count on it being to go where you want when you want.
Everyone has different standards and priorities. If I had 1300 loyalty points on a vendor I rarely patronize - which could easily happen to me with a hotel program - I wouldn't think about it. But maybe you want to use one of the various ways to keep them active. I once kept points active by buying a $3 box of cookies at Walmart.com - and I didn't even pick up the cookies (it wasn't intentional); I got the $3 back but kept the 3 points that kept my other 300,000 points alive.
#441
It could also be a result of credit card spend, pudding labels or a one of any number of non-flying related activities.
#442
Join Date: Jun 2019
Location: CLT
Programs: AA, Amex
Posts: 421
To put in perspective, if I wanted to book an award ticket on a random flight from here in Charlotte to Madison, WI this coming week, it would cost me 38,000 points. So I wouldn't sweat 1,300.
#443
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: California
Programs: AA EXP; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite
Posts: 1,970
Here’s EZ mode:
register your credit cards here: https://www.aadvantagedining.com/
Then if you eat at a restaurant with that credit card within 18 months, you will get a few miles and your expiration will be pushed out another 18 months.
register your credit cards here: https://www.aadvantagedining.com/
Then if you eat at a restaurant with that credit card within 18 months, you will get a few miles and your expiration will be pushed out another 18 months.
#445
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
#447
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: South Park, Metropolis
Programs: AA LT PLT 3MM, Hilton/Marriott/SPG/Club Carlson GLD, IHG PLT
Posts: 4,608
While 1300 miles in AA is not much for buying a ticket, you can redeem them for a magazine subscription, or, as mentioned above, just participate in the dining program, and little by little, you will see how your 1300 miles will increase to a point where it might become valuable for a ticket price. Occasionally AA tickets that go as low as 5k miles one way.
Most infrequent travelers let their miles expire, thus never really gaining anything in return, however, it is not that difficult to keep them "active". Dining program, or crediting a car rental or hotel stay to AA also works as well. Good luck.
Most infrequent travelers let their miles expire, thus never really gaining anything in return, however, it is not that difficult to keep them "active". Dining program, or crediting a car rental or hotel stay to AA also works as well. Good luck.
#448
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: UA 1K 1MM, AA, DL
Posts: 7,419
AA advantage shopping also is a way to extend the miles. There are something like 900 stores - probably at least one of which you buy from online anyway. register, click through the AA shopping link, and then your purchase will accrue miles. It can take awhile for the miles to clear, so not a good last minute option.
Much more in this thread:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...an-flying.html
Much more in this thread:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...an-flying.html
#449
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 146
I purchased a certificate at restaurant.com. Nowadays seems to be the cheapest option to avoid miles expiration. I created the account and logged in through the Aadvantadge eshopping portal. However I don't see any link between the account at restaurant.com and my Aadvantadge number. Are they linked automatically as long as you login from the portal? The certificate doesn't mention Aadvantadge at all either
Thanks
Thanks
#450
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2004
Location: DFW/DAL
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, AS MVPG, HH Diamond, NCL Platinum Plus, MSC Diamond
Posts: 21,422