You can buy AAdvantage Miles with a 60% Bonus through April 30, 2015. As always, this is a tiered bonus, so you'll need to purchase the maximum amount of 100,000 AAdvantage miles to earn the 60,000 miles bonus. Here are the tiers:
- Buy 6000-9000 AAdvantage miles: 1500 bonus miles
- Buy 10,000-19,000 AAdvantage miles: 3500 bonus miles
- Buy 20,000-29,000 AAdvantage miles: 7500 bonus miles
- Buy 30,000-39,000 AAdvantage miles: 15,000 bonus miles
- Buy 40,000-54,000 AAdvantage miles: 22,500 bonus miles
- Buy 55,000-69,000 AAdvantage miles: 30,000 bonus miles
- Buy 70,000-84,000 AAdvantage miles: 40,000 bonus miles
- Buy 85,000-99,000 AAdvantage miles: 50,000 bonus miles
- Buy 100,000 AAdvantage miles: 60,000 bonus miles
Since there is a $30 fixed price processing fee plus 7.5% in excise taxes, you're looking at $3201 for 160,000 AAdvantage miles, a cost of 2 cents per mile.
Is Buying AAdvantage Miles with a 60% Bonus a Good Deal?
Is it a good deal? It is compared to prior AAdvantage buy miles deals. The best recent deal for AAdvantage miles, run in February – March 3, 2015, was a 10% discount on purchased miles, with an up to 30,000 miles bonus, which made it possible to buy AAdvantage or Dividend Miles at 2.07 cents per mile if you bought 75,000 miles with the 30,000 miles bonus.
Of course, it used to be possible to buy US Airways Dividend Miles, at a cost of 1.1 cents per mile, but those days are long gone. At this point, the cheapest way of generating AAdvantage miles, unless you have time to do much manufactured spend, is via credit card bonuses, for example the Citi AAdvantage cards mentioned on the Best Travel Credit Cards page, or the 50K US Airways MasterCard, where you're generating 50K miles for less than 0.2 cents per mile taking into account the $89 fee, if you're approved for the card.
But let's say you've applied for all the cards you're able or willing to get approved for at the moment; other factors to consider when deciding if this is a good deal for you include:
- How much do you value AAdvantage miles, based on what you plan to redeem them for?
- How soon do you need AAdvantage miles / do you have a specific redemption option in min?
- How many AAdvantage miles do you already have?
- What are your alternatives for earning AAdvantage miles and at what cost per mile?
For example, if you highly value AAdvantage miles for first class award travel, have a specific AAdvantage first class award you want to redeem for soon, don't have many AAdvantage miles at the moment, and don't have readily available cheaper alternatives for earning AA miles, buying AA miles with the 60% bonus could make a lot of sense.
On the other hand, if you have a ton of AAdvantage miles saved up, I would be focused right now on redeeming them for awards, in anticipation of an AAdvantage award chart devaluation later this year.
Top 5 AAdvantage Awards for 100K-160K Miles
1. Etihad First Apartment Award Between NYC and Abu Dhabi for 90K AA Miles Each Way
If you're a couple looking to get to Australia in first class, it's nearly impossible to get a nonstop Qantas First Class award from the U.S. to Australia using AAdvantage miles. As an alternative, especially if you're on the East Coast, consider getting yourself to London and flying in an Etihad First Apartment from London to Sydney via Abu Dhabi, for 80K AA miles each way.
Since it can be difficult to find award space for two in an Etihad First Apartment, an easier award to find is Qantas First Class from London to Australia, via Dubai. I loved my Qantas First Class flight from London to Dubai, and will be trying the Dubai to Sydney flight in the future.
Cathay Pacific First Class awards have become harder to book in advance for two people, but if you do manage to find space, it's a great way to fly: just 6 First Class, extra wide seats help ensure a more private feel to the cabin, and Cathay service is usually very good, although not quite in the same league as Singapore Suites.
5. JAL First Class to Tokyo / Asia 1 for 62,500 AA Miles Each Way
I'll be flying JAL First Class soon, and can't wait, having really enjoyed the hard product in JAL Business Class. For anyone who is also focused on sleep quality, JAL is one of just a few carriers offering a thicker, memory foam-like “airweave” mattress, and the JAL First Class version offers both a hard side and a softer side, depending on your mattress preference.
FAQ
I Already Bought AAdvantage Miles Earlier This Year; Is There a Limit to How Many I Can Buy?
Yes, you're limited to buying 100,000 AAdvantage miles per calendar year. So if you previously bought 75,000 AAdvantage miles, you'd be limited to 25,000 AAdvantage miles, and since that would only get you a 30% bonus, I wouldn't recommend buying AAdvantage miles with this offer.
Is the 100,000 Buy Miles Limit Including the Bonus?
No, the maximum of 100,000 AAdvantage miles that you can buy doesn't include any bonus miles. So if you haven't bought AAdvantage miles yet this year, you could buy 100,000 miles, earning the 60,000 bonus miles, for a total of 160,000 AAdvantage miles.
Can I Buy Miles on Behalf of My Child Who Has an AAdvantage Account?
Yes, as long as your child already has an existing AAdvantage account. Note that in order to buy miles, the AAdvantage account has to be at least 30 days old.
When Will the Bonus Miles Post?
Miles post to the AAdvantage account immediately. Plus, you can put AAdvantage awards on hold for 5 days, so you can ensure the award you want is available, put it on hold, buy the miles then ticket the award.
Which Credit Card Should I Use to Buy AAdvantage Miles?
The nice thing about buying AAdvantage miles, compared to most other buy miles offers, is that AAdvantage buy miles transactions are processed by American Airlines itself, not points.com. That means that you DO earn bonus miles with credit cards that offer category bonuses for American Airlines, airlines and travel purchases. My top picks would be:
- AMEX Premier Rewards Gold Card: 3X for airfare
- AMEX Business Gold Rewards Card if you chose airfare as your 3X category
- Barclays Aviator Card: Current promotion offers 3X on AA purchases
- Citi ThankYou Premier: 3X for travel starts April 19, 2015
- Chase Sapphire Preferred: 2X for travel
If you plan to buy AAdvantage miles with this 60% bonus offer, which award(s) do you plan to redeem for?
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