If you are working toward American AAdvantage elite status this qualification year, you may be looking for more ways to earn Loyalty Points to secure your desired status. Here's what you need to know about AAdvantage elite status requirements and five ways to close your Loyalty Point gap before the end of February.
American AAdvantage elite status key details
The status qualification year for American AAdvantage elite status runs from March 1 to the end of February. You need the following number of Loyalty Points to qualify for each status tier:
- Gold: 40,000 Loyalty Points
- Platinum: 75,000 Loyalty Points
- Platinum Pro: 125,000 Loyalty Points
- Executive Platinum: 200,000 Loyalty Points
Your Loyalty Points reset to zero each year on March 1. However, once you earn AAdvantage elite status, you'll keep it through March 31 of the year following the end of your qualification year.
Related: American AAdvantage miles vs. Loyalty Points: What's the difference?
Reminder of how to earn Loyalty Points
Loyalty Points are the sole metric for AAdvantage elite status. As a reminder, you generally earn 1 Loyalty Point for every eligible AAdvantage mile you earn, including miles earned through flights, credit card spending and select partners.
However, some AAdvantage miles — including those earned through credit card welcome offers and certain promotional bonuses — don't earn Loyalty Points.
Related: The best American Airlines Loyalty Point Rewards at every milestone
5 tips for earning Loyalty Points
Here are five straightforward ways to earn more Loyalty Points before the current elite qualification year ends on Feb. 28.
Fly with American and its partners
You can earn Loyalty Points on eligible flights with American Airlines and its partners. Flights marketed by American and select partners, including British Airways and Iberia, earn 5 Loyalty Points per dollar spent on eligible fares, plus elite status bonuses. Other partners, including Alaska Airlines, Finnair and Japan Airlines, award Loyalty Points based on fare class and distance flown.
Basic economy tickets usually don't earn Loyalty Points.
If you have the Citi® / AAdvantage® Globe™ Mastercard® (see rates and fees), you can also earn 5,000 bonus Loyalty Points after every four qualifying American Airlines flight segments, up to three times per qualification year.
Related: How to earn American Airlines AAdvantage miles
Earn on shopping
You can earn Loyalty Points by shopping through the AAdvantage eShopping portal or using eligible SimplyMiles offers with an enrolled Mastercard. However, Loyalty Points generally won't post until the qualifying transaction is completed and processed, which may be long after you purchase back-ordered items and hotel stays.
Related: Earn points, miles or cash back: How to maximize online shopping portals for your purchases
Book hotels through AAdvantage Hotels
When you book your stay through AAdvantage Hotels, you can earn up to 15,000 Loyalty Points per reservation once you complete your stay. However, keep in mind that you usually won't get hotel elite status earning or benefits when you book through AAdvantage Hotels.
Related: How I earned 29,000 Loyalty Points and 23,000 AAdvantage miles on a single $800 hotel stay
Dine at restaurants that participate in AAdvantage Dining
You can earn Loyalty Points at participating AAdvantage Dining restaurants. Just be sure to register your favorite dining rewards cards in the AAdvantage Dining program — which will unregister them from most other dining rewards programs — and then use an enrolled card to pay at participating restaurants.
Related: How to double-, triple- or even quadruple-dip on dining rewards
Spend on your AAdvantage credit card
You can also earn Loyalty Points when you use AAdvantage credit cards for purchases. Specifically, you'll generally earn 1 Loyalty Point per dollar spent on eligible purchases with an AAdvantage credit card, regardless of whether the card earns bonus miles in certain spending categories. Purchases made through Feb. 28, 2027, will earn Loyalty Points that count toward the status qualification year ending on Feb. 28, 2027, even if your statement closes in March.
The Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Legend Mastercard® (see rates and fees) also awards 10,000 bonus Loyalty Points at each of four thresholds — 50,000, 90,000, 165,000 and 240,000 Loyalty Points — for up to 40,000 additional Loyalty Points per qualification year. These thresholds include Loyalty Points earned through all eligible methods, not just card spending.
Related: Which AAdvantage card is right for you? Here are 3 options you should consider
Looking ahead
American AAdvantage has yet to announce whether it will change its elite status tiers or qualification requirements for the next qualification year, which will run from March 1, 2027, to Feb. 29, 2028.
Bottom line
If you're short on Loyalty Points for your desired AAdvantage elite status, you still have time to close the gap before Feb. 28, 2027. Whether you fly, shop, dine, book hotels or spend on an AAdvantage credit card, be sure to understand when your activity will count toward status qualification.
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
