Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
Despite their name, frequent flyer miles can be earned without having to set foot on a plane. You can simultaneously earn American Airlines miles and AAdvantage Loyalty Point Rewards by using the right airline credit cards in combination with the American Airlines shopping portal and other deals. And by the time you have enough miles to book an award flight, you might have access to elite benefits as well, like free checked bags or complimentary upgrades.
Let's take a look at how the AA shopping portal works and how you can stack deals to collect miles even faster.
Best AAdvantage cards to use when shopping online
One of the best benefits of using the AA shopping portal is that you can earn rewards from your credit card alongside American Airlines miles and Loyalty Points.
If you want to earn the most rewards from American Airlines, then you'll want to use one of its co-branded credit cards, like the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® or the no-annual-fee American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® card. For each dollar you spend on an American Airlines card, you'll receive one Loyalty Point. Just keep in mind that you won't earn Loyalty Points from the miles given via a card's welcome bonus or from the extra miles awarded for spending in a bonus category.
The Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® is worth considering if you fly with American Airlines once or twice a year because you'll get your first checked bag free on domestic American Airlines itineraries.
- First checked bag free on eligible American Airlines flights for the cardholder and up to four travel companions on the same reservation
- No foreign transaction fees
- Preferred boarding
- American Airlines Flight Discount has a high spending requirement
- Has an annual fee
You can also use any other travel card or rewards card with the AAdvantage shopping portal if you want to earn rewards that are useful outside of American Airlines. Purchases with the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, for example, would earn 2X miles that you could transfer to airline and hotel loyalty programs, like Wyndham, Turkish Airlines and Air Canada's Aeroplan.
Or you could use a card with built-in purchase protection*, like the American Express® Gold Card. The Amex Gold Card covers purchases for up to $10,000 per purchase (up to $500 per purchase for natural disasters) and $50,000 per account for 90 days from the date of purchase. Eligibility and benefit level varies by card. Terms, conditions and limitations apply.
The American Express Gold Card is great for earning valuable Membership Rewards® points at restaurants worldwide and U.S. supermarkets.
- You can earn $400+ in dining and rideshare credits every year (Enrollment required for select benefits mentioned)
- Exceptionally rewarding for eligible restaurant and U.S. supermarket purchases
- No foreign transaction fees
- Larger annual fee
- Credits are more complicated, you earn them monthly or semi-annually
Highlights
Highlights shown here are provided by the issuer and have not been reviewed by CNBC Select's editorial staff.
- You may be eligible for as high as 100,000 Membership Rewards® Points after you spend $8,000 in eligible purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months of Card Membership. Welcome offers vary and you may not be eligible for an offer. Apply to know if you're approved and find out your exact welcome offer amount – all with no credit score impact. If you're approved and choose to accept the Card, your score may be impacted.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent on purchases at restaurants worldwide, on up to $50,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- Earn 4X Membership Rewards® points per dollar spent at US supermarkets, on up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year, then 1X points for the rest of the year.
- New! Earn 5X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid hotel stays booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App.
- Earn 3X Membership Rewards® points on flights booked through AmexTravel.com, the Amex Travel App, or purchased directly from airlines.
- Earn 2X Membership Rewards® points on prepaid car rentals booked through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App and cruises booked and paid through AmexTravel.com.
- Earn 1X Membership Rewards® point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases.
- Pay It® lets you tap in the American Express® App to quickly pay for small purchase amounts throughout the month and still earn rewards the way you usually do. Plan It® gives you the option to split up big purchases into equal monthly payments with a fixed fee. You'll know upfront exactly how much you'll pay.
- Updated! $120 Dining Credit: Earn up to a total of $10 in statement credits monthly when you pay with the Gold Card at Grubhub (including Seamless), Buffalo Wild Wings, Five Guys, The Cheesecake Factory, and Wonder. This can be an annual savings of up to $120. Enrollment required.
- $100 Resy Credit: Get up to $100 in statement credits each calendar year at over 10,000 qualifying U.S. Resy restaurants after you pay for eligible purchases with the American Express® Gold Card. That's up to $50 in statement credits semi-annually. Enrollment required.
- $84 Dunkin' Credit: Earn up to $7 in monthly statement credits after you pay with the American Express® Gold Card at U.S. Dunkin' locations. Enrollment required.
- $120 Uber Cash on Gold: Enjoy up to $120 in Uber Cash annually with your Gold Card. Just add your Card to your Uber account and you'll get $10 in Uber Cash each month to use on orders and rides in the U.S. when you select an Amex Card for your transaction.
- New! As an American Express® Gold Card Member, you can enjoy complimentary Hertz Five Star® Status. Enjoy benefits like skipping the counter at select locations, adding an additional driver at no additional cost*, and vehicle upgrades**. Benefit enrollment and Hertz Gold+ registration are required. *Additional drivers must meet standard rental qualifications and must be a spouse or domestic partner to qualify as complimentary. Other additional drivers subject to fees. **Benefits are subject to availability and vary by location. Additional Hertz program Terms and Conditions including age restrictions apply.
- Take advantage of a $100 credit towards eligible charges* at over 1,300 upscale hotels worldwide when you book The Hotel Collection through AmexTravel.com or the Amex Travel App **. *Eligible charges vary by property. **The Hotel Collection requires a two-night minimum stay.
- Book your travel through the Amex Travel App with added peace of mind – backed by American Express® service and support. Only for American Express® Card Members.
- Whenever you need us, we're here. Our Member Services team will ensure you are taken care of. From lost Card replacement to statement questions, we are available to help 24/7.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- Annual Fee is $325.
- Terms Apply.
- See Rates & Fees
Foreign transaction fee
None
How to use the American Airlines shopping portal to earn miles and elite status
The American Airlines AAdvantage eshopping portal works similarly to other online shopping portals such as Rakuten. But instead of earning cash back or points, you earn AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points. You can use the American Airlines shopping portal through its website or you can download the browser extension, which will then notify you whenever you're shopping on a website where you can earn rewards.
You can redeem AAdvantage miles for award flights, upgrades, lounge passes and other experiences. The Loyalty Points you earn don't have redemption value, but instead move you up the elite status track. When you earn a mile, you'll typically also earn one Loyalty Point. Right now, you need to accumulate 40,000 Loyalty Points before reaching AAdvantage Gold®, the lowest tier of elite status.
After you set up an account, you can browse the shopping portal for deals at 1,200+ stores. When you find a deal you like, a click on the offer will redirect you to the merchant's site to complete your transaction. You typically either receive bonus miles per dollar or a big chunk of miles for making a purchase that meets specific requirements. For example, right now you can earn 2X miles per dollar spent at Kohl's, and new Blue Apron customers can earn 2,000 bonus miles with an eligible subscription.
Before purchasing anything through the American Airlines shopping portal, be sure to enable cookies in your browser. If you don't do this, American Airlines won't be able to track the purchase and you'll miss out on the bonus miles. You'll also have to avoid using any promo codes not found on the AAdvantage eshopping site when you check out. Using an ineligible discount code could prevent you from collecting your bonus miles and Loyalty Points.
How to stack deals to maximize your earnings
Although you can't use outside promo codes when you're making purchases through the American Airlines shopping portal, you can take advantage of card-linked offers.
Most of the major card issuers have deals you can add to your card to earn bonus rewards or to receive cash back. Since the card issuer applies these offers after you make an eligible purchase, they won't invalidate any bonus you earn through a shopping portal. This means one purchase can earn you rewards from three different sources: your card, the shopping portal, and a card-linked offer.
And if you have a Mastercard, you may be able to stack an additional earning opportunity on top of those three. The AAdvantage SimplyMiles site allows you to add card-linked offers to any Mastercard you add to your SimplyMiles profile.
Here's a real-world example available at the time of this writing. Let's say you want to get a pair of Allbirds shoes for $135. You can make the purchase through the AAdvantage shopping portal (3X miles) with a Citi American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® Mastercard (1X miles), add an offer through SimplyMiles for an additional 3X miles and add a Citi offer for $10 off a $75+ purchase. As long as you add the card-linked Citi and SimplyMiles offers first, here's what you would earn:
- 405 miles from the American Airlines shopping portal
- 135 miles from your AAdvantage MileUp card
- 405 miles from the SimplyMiles offer
- $10 back from the Citi offer
In this scenario, you earn 7X miles (and Loyalty Points) on the purchase and get $10 back.
Bottom line
By stacking deals you can supercharge your path to elite status with American Airlines and earn miles for award flights at the same time.
With every American Airlines mile you earn (outside of credit card welcome bonuses and bonus spending categories), you'll also earn a Loyalty Point that counts toward earning elite status. This includes one Loyalty Point per dollar for purchases you make with a co-branded American Airlines credit card and the bonus miles you receive from the AAdvantage eshopping portal or card-linked offers.
Read more
For rates and fees of the American Express® Gold Card, click here.
*Terms, Conditions and Limitations Apply. Please visit americanexpress.com/benefitsguide for more details. Underwritten by AMEX Assurance Company.
Information about the American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® has been collected independently by Select and has not been reviewed or provided by the issuer of the card prior to publication.
