United Airlines will raise the thresholds for earning status next year and many Delta Medallions are still smarting from the painful changes that took effect in 2024. But for loyal American Airlines flyers, no news is good news.
For a second consecutive year, American confirmed it will leave the requirements to earn AAdvantage status untouched in a Thursday news release. Better yet, the airline has separately indicated that there will be no substantial changes for redeeming AAdvantage miles … including its dedicated award chart for Oneworld partner airlines. That means great deals like flying Japan Airlines business class to Tokyo for 60,000 AAdvantage miles or Qatar Qsuites all the way to South Africa for just 75,000 miles are still on the table, among a bevy of other sweet spots.
Change is rarely a good thing when it comes to airlines and loyalty programs, so the status quo is win here. All the while, the airline is rolling out a handful of genuine positive changes for the next year of travel – especially for its most frequent flyers.
Here's what's changing (and what's not) for American and its flyers in the months ahead.
No Changes for Earning AAdvantage Status, Redeeming Miles
American had all the cover it needed to raise status requirements for the first time in years. The dust has settled from Delta's unpopular overhaul of its Medallion status program while United is raising its own requirements for earning status next year by as much as 20%.
But yet again, American is standing pat, keeping the current requirements to earn AAdvantage in place.
Earning AA status is all about earning Loyalty Points. Here's a look at what it takes:
- AAdvantage Gold: 40,000 Loyalty Points
- AAdvantage Platinum: 75,000 Loyalty Points
- AAdvantage Platinum Pro: 125,000 Loyalty Points
- AAdvantage Executive Platinum: 200,000 Loyalty Points
Earning status with American resets in March each year. Unlock AA status in 2025? You'll have those benefits all the way through March of 2027.
Plus, American arguably makes it easier to rack up points toward status than any other carrier.
On top of booking and flying with American or its partner airlines, you can earn Loyalty Points by shopping through American's portal, using the airline's dining program, and even earn 1 point for every buck you spend on select credit cards like the AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard from Barclays or the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®.
That's amazing news for the ultra-loyal American customers who rack up status. But even points and miles aficionados who rarely (or never) fly American are scoring a huge win: AAdvantage miles are being spared for yet another year.
In an interview with View from the Wing, the head of the AAdvantage program confirmed that there are no changes in the works for the airline's incredibly lucrative partner award chart – at least not next year.
Sure, the airline has already fully embraced dynamic award pricing, so redemptions will continue to go up and down with cash prices when you're booking an American Airlines flight with miles. With those redemptions, changing rates is a constant.
But it's also got a dedicated award chart – a cheat sheet that lays out how many miles you need – for booking Oneworld partner airlines like Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, Qantas, and others using AAdvantage miles. In fact, it's the last of the major U.S. carriers that still publishes an award chart at all.
And that's where the real value is. While other airlines have repeatedly raised partner award rates or nuked any value booking partner airlines altogether, American hasn't changed those award rates for close to a decade. With this news, it seems that will remain in place for at least another year.
This award chart alone is the reason why American miles can be so valuable – even if you never fly American itself. It contains gems like 22,500-mile redemptions to fly to Europe each way in economy; the best way to book Qatar Qsuites whether you fly to the Middle East, Maldives, or South Africa; flying Japan Airlines First Class to Tokyo for 80,000 miles; and plenty of other sweet spots all around the globe.
We've been dreading the day American does away with these amazing partner award redemptions. Really, it's only a matter of time – compared to the competition, these deals are simply too good to last. Personally, I've got 2026 circled on my calendar as the year it finally happens.
The airline's new, exclusive relationship with Citi to market and sell its co-branded credit cards could open the door to American finally becoming a Citi transfer partner – potentially opening the floodgates with a brand-new way to easily earn American miles. That's a recipe for American to finally rework the rest of its award charts.
But it's not happening yet. Whew.
Other Positive Changes
While the biggest news here is the lack of big news, there are some other, smaller changes in the works for American flyers. And nearly all of them are positive … or at least neutral.
Let's go over them quickly, shall we?
- According to The Points Guy, the airline will introduce AAdvantage mileage redemptions on more airline partners including Aer Lingus, Oman Air, and South American carrier JetSmart.
- Hungry on the plane? American will allow travelers to redeem miles on food and beverage purchases inflight
- American offers what it calls “Loyalty Point Rewards” as travelers climb their way up the ranks – including before making it to Gold status. Next year, the airline will introduce several more rewards, including:
- Travelers can choose a personalized luggage tag upon hitting 15,000 Loyalty Points, among other options
- With the airline's close partnership with the hotel chain Hyatt, several new World of Hyatt-related Loyalty Rewards will come online next year – including automatic status and free night awards
- Rather than selecting a carbon offset at 175,000 Loyalty Points, American is replacing it with an option to “support the use of Sustainable Aviation Fuel in the airline’s operation”
- The airline's powerful Systemwide Upgrades get a longer shelf life: Rather than expiring within a year of being selected as a Loyalty Reward, they'll now expire at the end of the status year
- American is introducing two higher tiers of “Million Miler” lifetime status:
- Flyers who rack up 4 million miles will get lifetime Platinum Pro status
- And at 5 million miles, you lock up Executive Platinum status for life
Bottom Line
Change is rarely a good thing in the airline world. But we love a pleasant surprise from American Airlines.
American Airlines delivered frequent flyers some good news largely because of what they aren't doing: The requirements to earn status will remain unchanged, as will an incredibly lucrative partner award chart. There are a few negative changes here and there, but otherwise, it's largely good news.
How long will it last? American hinted that it “will continue to enhance the program” throughout 2024 and into 2025, so more changes could be on the way. But for now, this is a big and rare win.