Status: checked against official sources; automated independent review
Part of American Airlines AAdvantage hub
GUIDE
How to buy AAdvantage miles from American Airlines
Buying AAdvantage miles means completing a Buy Miles transaction with American Airlines, which credits Bonus Miles to your AAdvantage account; those miles are spent like any other AAdvantage mile but never earn Loyalty Points toward elite status. [6]
Facts checked: 18 October 2026
Key takeaways
- Miles bought through the AAdvantage Buy Miles transaction arrive as Bonus Miles, and American Airlines treats Base Miles and Bonus Miles the same when you redeem them. [6]
- Bought miles earn no Loyalty Points, so the purchase cannot move you toward AAdvantage tier status. [6]
- Completing a Buy Miles transaction is Qualifying Activity, which pushes the expiry date of every unexpired mile in the account out by 24 months. [6]
- American Airlines can change programme rules, awards and special offers at any time, with or without notice, so the price and any bonus attached to a purchase follow the offer in force when you buy. [6]
What do you get when you buy AAdvantage miles?
American Airlines groups buying, gifting and transferring miles with the rest of its AAdvantage tools on aa.com. [1] Buy Miles is one of three related transactions — Buy Miles, Gift Miles and Transfer Miles — covered by a single set of terms and conditions that the main AAdvantage terms build into the programme. [6] The miles you receive are defined as Bonus Miles rather than Base Miles. [6]
American Airlines describes Base Miles as standard AAdvantage miles that also earn Loyalty Points, and Bonus Miles as miles that do not. [6] The split affects status earning only: any Base Miles or Bonus Miles accrued are treated the same for redemption purposes. [6] A bought mile therefore buys the same award seat as a flown mile, and the difference shows up in your status progress rather than in the award chart. [6] How this compares with buying miles in other programmes is set out in airline miles purchase programmes compared.
Do bought miles count toward elite status?
No. AAdvantage tier status is decided by the Loyalty Points a member earns during the 12-month period that starts on 1 March each year. [6] The terms state that miles from Buy Miles, Gift Miles and Transfer Miles transactions only earn Bonus Miles and are not eligible to earn Loyalty Points. [6] Miles converted from another programme's currency, and miles earned through promotional offers, are treated the same way. [6]
Two further points matter for anyone buying with status in mind. American Airlines may reclassify a mile as Base Miles or Bonus Miles at its discretion at any time, with or without notice. [6] And if the programme decides that rewards were given improperly, including through its own error or a partner's error and even where the member was not at fault, it reserves the right to revoke miles after they have posted. [6] Those bonus miles are treated in the same way as promotional miles more generally.
How much do AAdvantage miles cost, and how do bonus offers work?
The price you pay is not fixed by the programme's standing rules. American Airlines reserves the right to change the AAdvantage programme, including its rules, regulations, awards and special offers, at any time with or without notice, even where a change affects the value of rewards a member has already accumulated. [6] Any extra miles on top of the standard amount come from a promotion, and the terms say a promotion can be changed, stopped or ended in part or in full at any time, with or without notice. [6]
Taking part in an offer also binds you to that offer's own conditions, and miles earned through an offer are Bonus Miles. [6] One offer cannot be combined with another, and no substitutions or rain checks are permitted. [6] The practical result is that the amount you pay per mile and the size of any bonus are tied to the offer running at the moment you buy, and that offer's terms are what govern the purchase. [6] If you are buying toward a particular award, buying miles for a specific trip explains how to work backwards from the seat you want.
Does buying miles keep an AAdvantage account active?
Yes. Completing a Buy Miles, Gift Miles or Transfer Miles transaction counts as Qualifying Activity. [6] Qualifying Activity also includes redeeming an AAdvantage award, accumulating miles through a qualifying purchase, and earning through the programme's hotel, car rental, credit card and other partners. [6] Each qualifying activity extends the expiry date of all unexpired miles in the account by 24 months from the date of the activity. [6]
Separately, American Airlines may terminate an account it considers inactive where there has been no mileage earning or redeeming activity for at least 36 consecutive months, the balance stands at zero, no AAdvantage co-branded credit card is open and in good standing, and the member holds no lifetime benefits or active status. [6] For accounts created within the previous 24 months, the inactivity period American Airlines applies is 12 months. [6]
Exceptions and limits
- Miles are not property. Accrued AAdvantage rewards are not the member's property, carry no residual property rights and are not transferable, and they may not be sold, advertised for sale, bartered or used by anyone else except as American Airlines permits. [6] Breaking that rule can cost you the miles and the account. [6]
- Transfers need a permitted route. Miles can move between AAdvantage accounts only through a Transfer Miles transaction or as the AAdvantage Business programme allows. [6]
- Buying is not the same as an AAdvantage Pass package. Those packages are sold separately and contain AAdvantage miles, Loyalty Points and status. [6] A plain Buy Miles purchase adds miles only, with no Loyalty Points. [6]
- If the miles expire unused, reactivation is a separate paid transaction with its own rules, summarised below. [4] [5]
| Rule | What applies |
|---|---|
| Fee | US$60 to US$2,000, charged on the total number of miles reactivated from one account at one time and subject to change [4] [5] |
| Deadline | Within 24 months of expiry; miles not reactivated in that window are forfeited [4] |
| Maximum | 500,000 miles [4] |
| Processing | Allow up to 24 hours [4] |
| Refunds | Transactions are non-refundable and non-reversible [4] |
| Status effect | Credited as a mileage bonus; no AAdvantage status qualification or Million Miler status [4] |
Frequently asked questions
Do purchased AAdvantage miles count toward AAdvantage status?
They do not. Miles from Buy Miles, Gift Miles and Transfer Miles transactions are Bonus Miles and earn no Loyalty Points, which is the measure American Airlines uses for tier qualification. [6]
Will buying miles stop my existing AAdvantage miles from expiring?
Yes. A completed Buy Miles transaction is Qualifying Activity, and each qualifying activity extends the expiry date of all unexpired miles by 24 months from that date. [6]
Can I buy miles and gift them to someone else?
Gift Miles is a separate transaction from Buy Miles, and both sit under the same set of terms and conditions. [6] Miles cannot be sold or bartered outside the permitted routes. [6]
What happens if bought miles expire before I use them?
American Airlines allows reactivation within 24 months of expiry for a fee of US$60 to US$2,000, capped at 500,000 miles, and reactivated miles do not count toward status. [4] [5]
Sources
Sources checked on 18 October 2026. It covers direct purchases from the American Airlines AAdvantage programme only; miles earned by flying, through co-brand credit cards or through hotel, car rental and other partners are not purchases and are not covered here, and neither are the buy-mile schemes of other airlines — see the cross-programme comparison.
- American Airlines: buy, gift or transfer AAdvantage miles, checked 18 October 2026
- American Airlines: using miles for travel, including reactivating miles, checked 18 October 2026
- AAdvantage terms and conditions, Chinese-language edition, effective 1 March 2026, checked 18 October 2026
- AAdvantage terms and conditions, effective 1 March 2026, checked 18 October 2026