Best Airline Programs for North America

Earning rules

AAdvantage uses ticket price on eligible purchased tickets, with a distance-based alternative for some partner-marketed flights and fare types. [1] SkyMiles uses ticket price on Delta-marketed or certain Delta-ticketed flights and distance on partner-marketed flights outside Delta ticket stock. [2] Rapid Rewards uses the final base-fare amount, the fare product and the member's tier after the whole ticket is completed. [3]

American's Base Miles are standard miles that also earn Loyalty Points; Bonus Miles do not. [1] On eligible purchased tickets, Base Miles are normally based on base fare plus mandatory carrier-imposed fees, excluding government taxes and fees and optional airline fees. [1] Some AAdvantage Partner flights may earn Bonus Miles instead, and American says certain fares are ineligible. [1]

Delta publishes three ticket-price rates for Delta-marketed or certain Delta-ticketed flights: 5 miles per U.S. dollar on qualifying Classic or Refundable experiences, 7 on Extra and 2 on Basic, before government taxes and fees. [2] Delta Main Basic (Basic Economy) tickets earn neither SkyMiles nor MQDs. [2] Partner-marketed flights outside Delta ticket stock earn from a percentage of distance flown, set by fare class in Delta's partner charts at the time of travel. [2]

Southwest calculates points after the whole ticket is completed from the final base-fare amount, the fare product bought and the member's tier status; the terms checked do not publish a single points-per-dollar rate. [3] Qualifying Flights must be operated by Southwest and paid entirely with dollars, Southwest LUV Vouchers, gift cards, vacation travel credits or flight credits, or with Cash + Points, in which case only the dollar-paid base-fare portion earns. [3] Reward flights, charter flights, nonrevenue travel, Companion Pass travel and certain online-agency bookings do not earn. [3]

Redemption rules

AAdvantage flight awards are one-way unless noted, with at most three segments within the United States or Canada and four elsewhere. [1] American and American Eagle awards may use any available seat, including the last, though the miles required can rise with availability; partner awards can have separate seat limits and variable pricing. [1] A ticketed award must be completed within one year of ticketing. [1] Changes or cancellations are free before ticketing unless stated, while changes after ticketing may require more miles or fees. [1]

Delta caps award travel at two connections domestic and three international. [2] For awards originating in the United States or Canada, Delta permits changes to origin, destination, routing, date and time, or cancellation without a redeposit or change fee, except Delta Basic experience fares; awards originating elsewhere may be noncancelable or changeable for a fee. [2] Delta issues award tickets only on Delta ticket stock, and some airline partners add a surcharge. [2] Delta also offers Miles + Cash on select round-trip flights and Pay with Miles to eligible Delta SkyMiles American Express cardholders. [2]

Southwest allows points to be redeemed for any available seat on any flight booked through Southwest, with the points price varying by destination, time, day, demand, fare class and redemption rate and disclosed on its website. [3] Reward travel carries taxes and fees from $5.60 per one-way trip. [3] Southwest also offers Cash + Points, with the points and cash amounts disclosed on its website. [3]

Status and qualification

AAdvantage tier status uses Loyalty Points earned in the 12-month period beginning March 1 each year, and status lasts, unless American determines otherwise, from the time it is reached through March 31 of the following full year. [1] Eligible flying can earn Base Miles and therefore Loyalty Points, while miles from offers, Buy/Gift/Transfer transactions and conversions from another program currency are Bonus Miles and do not. [1]

Delta qualifies Medallion Status with MQDs, credited to the member who flies regardless of who paid. [2] MQDs are awarded in U.S. dollars, with other currencies converted at the IATA five-day rate when the ticket is issued. [2] They accrue on Delta-marketed base fares and carrier-imposed surcharges, excluding government taxes and fees, but not on Main Basic tickets. [2] Award tickets operated by Delta and Delta Global Airline Partners in Delta Main Classic or above, or in Delta Comfort Basic, booked through a direct Delta channel, also earn MQDs at miles redeemed divided by 100. [2]

Southwest publishes A-List at 20 qualifying one-way segments or 35,000 tier qualifying points in a calendar year, and A-List Preferred at 40 segments or 70,000 points. [3] Status lasts for the remainder of the calendar year in which it is earned and the entire next calendar year, and must be requalified each year. [3] Tier qualifying points come from Qualifying Flights or eligible Southwest Rapid Rewards credit cards from Chase, subject to exclusions such as reward flights, Companion Pass travel, bonus points unless specifically designated and stops at intermediate cities. [3] Southwest also publishes Companion Pass at 135,000 Companion Pass qualifying points or 100 qualifying one-way segments per calendar year. [3]

Partner coverage

American's terms say members may receive benefits through the oneworld Alliance and describe other airline and non-airline AAdvantage Partners. [1] American states that oneworld and other partner services and benefits can change with or without notice, and that partner-route mileage eligibility can also change. [1]

Delta's rules direct members to its Airline Partners page for the current list of partner airlines and SkyTeam Global Alliance airlines, and say alliance partner benefits are subject to each partner's terms. [2] Delta partner award rules, prices and benefits can vary, and some partners impose award surcharges. [2]

Southwest's terms describe Rapid Rewards partners and interline transportation but do not set out a global airline alliance or partner elite-status benefits. [3] They state that points can be earned from qualifying purchases with Rapid Rewards partners, while partner rules may impose their own conditions and adjustments for returns or cancellations. [3]

Exceptions and limits

• Each program reserves broad change rights: American may change the program and rules at any time, Delta says its rules and partner benefits are subject to change, and Southwest may amend, suspend or change its rules at any time without notice. [1] [2] [3]
• Regional flying can narrow the comparison: American Eagle flights are covered by American's any-seat award rule, Delta says award seats may be limited or unavailable on Delta Connection and partner-operated flights, and Southwest requires Qualifying Flights to be operated by Southwest. [1] [2] [3]
• Co-brand terms sit alongside the core rules: American's terms include an AAdvantage co-brand credit card section, Delta's Pay with Miles is limited to eligible Delta SkyMiles American Express cards, and Southwest tier qualifying points can come from eligible Chase cards. [1] [2] [3]
• The cited pages do not provide a common award chart or a cash value for a mile or point, so this page compares rules rather than ranking the programs. [1] [2] [3]

Related pages

Start with how airline miles work. Program pages: AAdvantage, Delta SkyMiles, Southwest Rapid Rewards. Concepts: elite status and status thresholds in major programs. Browse all glossary terms.

Sources

Sources accessed on 18 October 2026. It covers only American Airlines AAdvantage, Delta SkyMiles and Southwest Rapid Rewards; Air Canada Aeroplan and United MileagePlus are not covered.

1. AAdvantage terms and conditions, checked 18 October 2026
2. Delta SkyMiles program rules, checked 18 October 2026
3. Southwest Rapid Rewards terms and conditions, checked 18 October 2026