This program was reviewed and rated by our editors in December 2009. Changes in the program past this date are possible, especially program partner information. We recommend you subscribe to the #1 source of frequent flyer information, Inside Flyer Magazine, to get the most current information possible.

Oldie but goodie
Launched May 1, 1981, American's AAdvantage program is the oldest mileage-based loyalty program. While Delta SkyMiles now lays claim to the title of the largest frequent flyer program, American AAdvantage remains at the top in size and popularity.

American, American Eagle and the AmericanConnection carriers serve 250 cities in 40 countries. Add in the destinations served by oneworld member airlines and other participating airlines and American AAdvantage members can redeem miles to over 700 destinations in nearly 135 countries. The size and reach of American Airlines, combined with the innumerable ways of earning miles (particularly with the Citi / AAdvantage card), make the AAdvantage program a logical choice for flyers in almost any location.

AAdvantage members earn actual miles flown and for short hop flights, elite members earn a 500-mile minimum when flying on American Airlines, American Eagle and AmericanConnection flights. Business-class fares earn an additional 25 percent and first class an extra 50 percent.

At any given time, AAdvantage members can earn bonus miles on select routes. While bonuses are normally used to promote a new route or airline partner, there are occasionally network bonuses, such as double EQMs on all American Airlines, American Eagle and AmericanConnection flights that won the program a Freddie Award for Best Bonus last year. As usual, most bonuses require registration so spending a couple of minutes checking out the current offers online before making reservations is highly recommended.

American's AAdvantage program has many earning opportunities. Members can earn miles for hotel stays, car rentals, dining, retail purchases and using financial services, among other activities.

American Airlines essentially breaks its travel awards into two types: restricted, capacity-controlled MileSAAver awards and unrestricted AAnytime awards. AAdvantage adds a little more flexibility though, because it offers the MileSAAver awards in both peak and off-peak versions to some destinations. As a general rule, the off-peak awards offer a great value and cost less than most other major programs' awards. The flip side is that in some cases, peak awards cost more than the norm for the industry.

In line with the rest of the industry, American Airlines requires 25,000 miles for a roundtrip MileSAAver award in coach for flights within the Continental U.S. and Canada. The same award in first class is 50,000 miles on two cabin flights and 65,000 miles in first class on three cabin flights. AAnytime awards are 50,000 miles in coach, 100,000 miles in first class on two cabin aircraft and 130,000 miles on three cabin planes. If you're heading to Hawaii, the AAdvantage program will get you there for 35,000 miles (off-peak) or 45,000 miles (peak) in coach. On the competition, you can fly to Hawaii for 40,000 miles even during peak times (assuming you can find a seat at the saver rate).

An off-peak MileSAAver coach award to Europe runs just 40,000 miles--15,000 miles less than Continental and United and 20,000 miles less than Delta. If you're flying during peak season, however, be prepared to shell out 60,000 miles, which is 5,000 more miles than United and Continental. But 60,000 miles is the lowest price on Delta and US Airways, not including US Airways' off-peak travel award to Europe at 35,000 miles.

At 50,000 miles, American's off-peak coach award to Japan is the cheapest around. American's peak award to Japan at 65,000 miles is the same as Continental and United but Delta is a bit less at 60,000 miles.

American introduced one-way awards in 2009 that are half the miles required for roundtrip travel. Members can combine one-way awards to mix and match booking classes and create multi-city itineraries--making getting an award ticket more flexible. When the program introduced one-way awards, they eliminated most stopovers. Members who want to spend a few days exploring a city before continuing on to their final destination will need to spend more miles and book a multi-city itinerary. The new policy on stopover states: "Awards between North America and Europe, India, Asia, and Central/South America allow a stopover at the North American gateway. However, other one-way awards do not allow stopovers."

The AAdvantage program also offers oneworld awards that vary based on the distance flown and travel class. These awards are useful if you are planning around-the-world travel or a trip that includes multiple destinations. Qualifying oneworld award itineraries must include travel on at least two oneworld carriers and cannot exceed 16 segments. These awards start at 30,000 miles in coach, 60,000 miles in business and 80,000 miles in first for an itinerary up to 1,500 miles in distance.

Upgrades run 5,000 miles domestically from full-fare coach, and 15,000 plus a $75 co-pay from discount coach fares and 15,000 miles (plus a $175 co-pay from discount business fares) from business-class fares. To Europe, the ante goes up to 15,000 miles from full-fare coach, 25,000 miles from business class (plus a $550 co-pay from discount business fares) and 25,000 miles plus a $350 co-pay from discount coach.

Members can also redeem miles for vacation packages, as few as 500 miles plus a credit card co-payment. Admirals Club memberships start at 50,000 miles for an annual membership for an AAdvantage Executive Platinum member; 80,000 miles for a non-elite member. Magazine and newspaper subscriptions are also available for miles starting at as little as 350 miles.

Through the redeemAAmiles program, members can redeem for car rentals (starting at 7,000 miles) and hotel stays (starting at 12,500 miles). Members can convert 5,000 miles into 4,000 Priority Club Rewards points, up to 150,000 miles in a year. Mileage conversions into Diners Club points can be made in 10,000-mile increments at a 2:1 ratio, up to 50,000 miles per year. Conversions into Hilton HHonors points can be made in 5,000-mile increments at a 1:2 ratio, up to 150,000 miles per year. Non-elite members must have 25,000 miles in their account before being able to use the redeemAAmiles options and a $25 or $30 fee is charged for each transaction.

American is a founding member of the oneworld alliance and its airline partners include British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, JAL, LAN, Malev Hungarian, Mexicana, Royal Jordanian and Qantas. Other non-oneworld air partners include Air Pacific, Air Tahiti Nui, Alaska Airlines, Brussels Airlines, El Al, GOL, Gulf Air, Hawaiian Airlines and Jet Airways.

All of the Citibank / AAdvantage cards offer one mile for every dollar spent on the card and cardholders gain access to discounted award flights that change every quarter. Annual fees for the cards are $85 ($75 for the business card). The AAdvantage program also offers a Basic Citibank / AAdvantage debit card that earns one mile for every two dollars spent for a $25 annual fee or a Premium Citibank / AAdvantage debit card for $65 per year that offers one mile per dollar spent. The cards have mileage caps of 100,000 miles but elite-level members get the added bonus of having the earning cap waived. Depending on where they live, international members in more than 40 countries have the option of signing up for locally issued co-branded cards.

Hotel partners include, but are not limited to, Best Western, Choice Hotels, Fairmont Hotels, Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental Hotels Group, Le Meridien, Marriott, Omni Hotels, Radisson, Renaissance, Sandals, Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Swissotel and Wyndham. Members earn the standard 250 to 500 miles per stay or one to two miles per dollar spent.

Telecommunications partners include BlackBerry, Network Solutions, and T-Mobile HotSpot.

The AAdvantage program also offers a number of opportunities to earn miles from financial partners, including American Beacon Funds, American HomeMiles by SIRVA, BankDirect, Fidelity Investments, Lending Tree, Liberty Mutual, Miles From Home by Cartus Real Estate, TD Ameritrade and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage.

Car rental partners include Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Europcar, Hertz, National and Thrifty and members earn 50 miles per day or one mile per dollar spent.

Retail partners are too numerous to list, but include a variety of partners, from Teleflora, Office Depot and Neiman Marcus to USA Today. Members can also earn miles by shopping with more than 300 retailers at the AAdvantage eShopping mall (www.aa.com/eshopping). Prices are the same as those offered through each merchant's Web site and you'll earn AAdvantage miles with each qualifying purchase--in some cases, up to 10 miles per dollar spent.

Members with miles to spare can donate miles to the Miles For Kids In Need program and Operation Hero Miles. Make a cash contribution to charity partners Susan G. Komen for the Cure; United Service Organizations, Inc. or the U.S. Fund For UNICEF and you can earn miles for your donation. The minimum to donate is 1,000 miles.

Like most North American programs, the AAdvantage program's elite-level program is three-tiered. AAdvantage Gold membership requires 25,000 elite qualifying miles, 25,000 qualifying points or 30 qualifying segments during a calendar year. AAdvantage Platinum membership requires 50,000 miles or points or 60 segments and AAdvantage Executive Platinum membership, 100,000 miles or points or 100 segments. Qualifying miles include miles earned on all American, American Eagle, AmericanConnection, Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air and all oneworld member airlines.

Through its unique qualifying point system, American rewards travelers who fly on more expensive fares and provides them with a means to achieve elite faster. Those traveling in first class, business class and full-fare coach receive 1.5 qualifying points for every mile flown and discount coach travelers receive 1 qualifying point per mile flown. Deeply discounted fares earn just .5 point, but keep in mind that even the cheapest seats earn full miles.

AAdvantage Gold and AAdvantage Platinum members get four upgrades for every 10,000 qualifying base miles earned. One upgrade is required for every 500 miles and are valid from coach class within and between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, the Bahamas and Bermuda and between the U.S. and Central America. Gold members receive complimentary upgrades for the member and a companion when both are traveling on a full-fare, coach ticket. Members also receive the ability to upgrade 24 hours prior to departure, a 25 percent mileage bonus, dedicated phone line for reservations and preferred seating. Gold members have access to business class check-in, security and boarding, two free checked bags, discounted Admirals Club membership and oneworld Ruby status.

Platinum members receive all of the above plus a 100 percent mileage bonus, first class check-in, oneworld Sapphire status (that comes with partner lounge access) and the ability to upgrade 72 hours prior to departure.

Executive Platinum members can upgrade 100 hours prior to departure and receive complimentary upgrades on all fares when traveling within and between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, the Bahamas and Bermuda and between the U.S. and Central America. They also receive eight systemwide upgrades, waived award fees when booking within 21 days of departure (saving up to $100 per ticket), guaranteed coach availability when making reservations at least 24 hours in advance and expanded MileSAAver award availability for the Executive Platinum member and one companion.

The American AAdvantage program offers an undocumented lifetime status program to members who cross the million-mile mark. Unlike other programs, American counts all earned miles, including those earned from partners and credit card spending, in calculating lifetime miles. Members who accrue one million miles receive lifetime AAdvantage Gold status. Those who earn two million miles and higher receive lifetime AAdvantage Platinum status.

Your miles will expire within 18 months in the absence of qualifying account activity, which includes earning or burning miles. A donation of miles will effectively extend the life of your miles.

Award tickets are transferable to anyone but miles are not transferable and may not be combined among members, except when offered through the shareAAmiles program. Members can transfer up to 60,000 miles and receive up to 15,000 miles per year for $50 for each 1,000 to 5,000 miles transferred, plus a $30 transaction fee. Miles can be purchased in 1,000-mile increments for $27.50 per 1,000 miles plus a $30 processing fee. Members can purchase up to 40,000 miles per year.

Missing mileage requests can be made within 12 months of the transaction.

For an airline and FFP as large as American's, service is relatively good. We do hear from the occasional reader who has a bad experience, but with the sheer volume of flights and phone calls every day, the number of complaints are impressively low.

The AAdvantage program's Web site is well-designed and American was one of the first airlines to add an award calendar that displays at-a-glance all available award seats (on American Airlines flights) over a four-week period. Members can enroll, manage their accounts, register for promotions, request missing mileage, contact AAdvantage customer service, redeem for awards and buy miles online. The only glaring omission is the ability to book partner awards online. If you want to book an award on any airline besides American, American Eagle and AmericanConnection carrier, you will need to call the customer service center and pay a $20 fee.

American AAdvantage has a great reputation when it comes to being able to redeem miles for flight awards and the airline's new one-way awards make award booking even more flexible. In 2008, 9.7 percent of passengers were flying on award tickets according to the airline's 10-K report. In addition, there's simply nowhere you can't go. American's own route system is gargantuan, and with the huge number of airline partners, every corner in the world is available. The off-peak awards are also a plus if you can be flexible with your travel plans.

If you can't be flexible with your travel plans, be prepared to redeem a few more miles than the industry average for peak awards on some routes. And while we applaud the number of functions available to members online, the Web site can be slow at times and is missing partner award inventory, something that other airlines are beginning to add.

AAdvantage Customer Service/Account Inquiries (800) 421-0600
Award Reservations/General Travel Information (800) 882-8880
American Airlines AAdvantage Department
P.O. Box 619688
DFW Airport, TX 75261-9688
Fax 1-817-963-7882
http://www.aa.com