When Do American Airlines Miles Expire?

Unlike the other legacy carriers in the US, American Airlines miles expire after inactivity.

If you go 24 months without earning or redeeming miles, your mileage balance will return back to 0.

However, there are exceptions for certain cases and many different ways to keep your miles from expiring, even if you aren’t flying for a while. Let’s review those exceptions and how you can keep your AAdvantage account active.

Exceptions For Expiring Miles

There are two main cases where you’ll get an exception. The first is if the AAdvantage member is under age 21, and the second is if the person is the primary cardholder of an American Airlines co-branded credit card.

AA’s Citi credit cards, as well as the Aviator Red credit card all protect your miles from expiring.

Keep Your AAdvantage Account Active

There are many ways you can keep your account active, even if you aren’t flying for a while.

1. Fly American Or A Partner Airline

For obvious reasons, this is the most straightforward way. You can earn miles by booking a flight through American Airlines. You can also fly a partner airline and give them your AAdvantage account number and earn AA miles through that airline.

2. Buy AAdvantage Miles

This is a quick and easy way to earn. Just buy them! You can buy as little as 2000 miles at a time. The cost often varies based on what kind of sale American is doing. However, most of the time without any discounts, they’re worth about 3 cents per mile.

Note that it usually isn’t worth it to buy up miles to pay for a trip.

3. Spend On An American Airlines Credit Card

Using an American Airlines co-branded credit card is a quick and easy way to earn miles. Aside from miles, you can also receive a number of other benefits such as free checked bags, priority boarding, and many more.

4. Shop Through The AAdvantage Shopping Portal

It may be a good idea to check out their shopping portal and see if they offer any purchases that you regularly make.

5. Hotels And Rental Car Partners

American Airlines has several hotel and rental car partners, such as Hyatt, Marriott, Avis, and Budget. Even if you don’t have a flight coming up, having a stay or renting a car from one of their partners is a way to keep AAdvantage active.

6. Complete Online Surveys

You won’t receive a big number of miles by completing an online survey, but they do keep your account active and give you a fresh 24 months before your miles get set to expire again.

Bottom Line

Hopefully American eventually makes the change so that miles never expire. Until then, it’s important to pay attention to your AAdvantage account’s activity and keep your miles from going away.