Before you even get to the fun part of redeeming points and miles, there’s the other half of the equation: earning them.
You can’t apply for a new credit card every day. And while the cards you already have might offer some pretty rewarding earning rates, everyday spending doesn’t always build your balance quickly enough to book the trip you have in mind.
That’s why it’s worth keeping a few other ways to earn miles in your back pocket.
My go-to, when I’m not flying, using a shopping portal, or working on a credit card welcome bonus, is AAdvantage Hotels.
AAdvantage Hotels (or AA Hotels, for short) is American Airlines’ hotel booking platform. It’s a third-party online travel agency (OTA) powered by Rocket Travel that lets AAdvantage members book hotel stays and earn redeemable miles and status-qualifying Loyalty Points.
Here’s how it works, plus a few tips for getting more out of the stays you book through AA Hotels.
How AAdvantage Hotels Works
When you book a stay through AAdvantage Hotels, you’ll earn American Airlines miles and Loyalty Points instead of the rewards you’d typically earn by booking directly with a hotel.
Each eligible hotel listing displays how many AAdvantage miles you can earn on the stay. Those miles count toward your Loyalty Points balance, too, so hotel bookings can help you qualify for AAdvantage elite status.
The number of miles and Loyalty Points you earn varies by property, dates, your AAdvantage status, and whether you have an eligible cobranded credit card.
According to American, the earning opportunities break dow like this:
- AAdvantage status members: Earn up to 5 times more miles and Loyalty Points on hotels.
- AAdvantage credit cardmembers: Earn up to 5 times more miles and Loyalty Points on hotels.
- AAdvantage credit cardmembers with status: Earn up to 10 times more miles and Loyalty Points on hotels.
After completing your stay, rewards generally post within a few days, although it can take several weeks.
The tradeoff of booking through AA Hotels
The elephant in the room is the tradeoff. Since AAdvantage Hotels is a third-party booking platform, stays won’t qualify for hotel loyalty points, elite-night credits, or elite benefits through the hotel’s own rewards program. Depending on the rate, you might also have less flexibility, which means stricter change and cancellation policies.
But depending on your goals, that tradeoff might be worth it.
You also don’t necessarily need to be chasing elite status to find value here. Even if you’re primarily interested in redeemable miles, AA Hotels can be a useful way to build your balance through stays you were already planning to book.
Tips to Get More Out of Your AAdvantage Hotels Stays
There are a few ways to get more out of your AAdvantage Hotels bookings. Some involve which credit card you use, while others come down to how you structure your reservations and where you are on the AAdvantage elite status hamster wheel.
Pay with an eligible AAdvantage credit card
If you’re looking to earn the most redeemable miles on AAdvantage Hotels stays, paying with a cobranded American Airlines credit card is worth considering.
Several Citi / AAdvantage cards offer bonus miles on eligible bookings:
| Credit Card | Miles Earned on Eligible AAdvantage Hotels Purchases |
|---|---|
| Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Legend Mastercard | 12X miles |
| Citi / AAdvantage Globe Mastercard | 6X miles |
| Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard | 3X miles starting Jan. 24, 2027 |
| CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard | 3X miles starting Jan. 24, 2027 |
These are credit card earning rates, so they’re separate from the miles and Loyalty Points offered by the hotel booking itself.
You’ll also generally earn one Loyalty Point per dollar spent on eligible purchases with these cards.
One important caveat: Hotels booked through American Airlines Vacations or using the “Reserve Now, Pay Later” option aren’t eligible for the additional credit card bonus miles.
The Globe card is particularly interesting because it offers an annual Splurge Credit of up to $100. AAdvantage Hotels is one of the eligible brands you can select for this benefit, meaning you could potentially save $100 on a hotel booking each year.
That’s a useful perk if you’re already planning to book through the platform.
Be aware of the earning cap
A detail worth knowing is that AAdvantage Hotels has an earning cap.
Eligible reservations earn a minimum of 100 base AAdvantage miles per night, but there’s also a maximum of 15,000 base miles per reservation.
That means it’s worth paying attention to how you structure longer stays.
Say you’re booking a six-night hotel stay, and AAdvantage Hotels shows that you’ll earn 15,000 miles for the reservation. Before booking, try searching the same dates as two separate three-night stays.
Depending on the property and available rates, splitting the reservation could allow you to earn more miles and Loyalty Points than booking all six nights together.
Of course, you’ll want to compare the total price, cancellation terms, and any other costs before doing so. Splitting a reservation isn’t automatically the better deal.
And if you’re finding hotels that offer relatively few miles for the price, consider checking other properties or booking directly instead.
Sometimes the juice just isn’t worth the squeeze.
Compare the different room rates
Another tip is to expand the available room rates before booking. The cheapest option isn’t necessarily the worst for earning miles, and the rate offering the most miles isn’t always the best value.
For example, I found several rates for the same three-night stay in Peru, with some pretty significant differences:
| Total Price | Redeemable Miles | Loyalty Points* | Rate Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| $569 | 3,100 | 3,100 | Free cancellation, pay at hotel |
| $569 | 14,600 | 14,600 | Nonrefundable |
| $653 | 17,600 | 14,600 | Nonrefundable, 3,000 bonus miles |
| $674 | 15,000 | 15,000 | Free cancellation, breakfast included |
Loyalty Points exclude any additional Loyalty Point Rewards bonuses or eligible credit card spending.
There’s a lot to unpack here, but two things stand out.
First, for the same $569, you could earn either 3,100 or 14,600 miles and Loyalty Points. The catch is that the higher-earning rate is nonrefundable, so you’d be giving up some flexibility.
Second, look at the two nonrefundable rates. For $84 more, you could earn an additional 3,000 redeemable miles, but no additional Loyalty Points.
That’s because AAdvantage Hotels sometimes offers rates labeled “Bonus miles applied.” These bonus miles are redeemable, but they don’t count toward elite status.
All to say, don’t just look at the mileage total. Compare the price, cancellation policy, included benefits, and how many of those miles actually count as Loyalty Points.
Take advantage of Loyalty Point Rewards
Your AAdvantage status can already influence how many miles and Loyalty Points you’re eligible to earn through AAdvantage Hotels.
But there’s another benefit worth knowing about, and it comes through American’s Loyalty Point Rewards program.
Once you earn 60,000 Loyalty Points in a qualification year, you’ll unlock a 25% Loyalty Point bonus on eligible spending with select partners, including AAdvantage Hotels.
The benefit lasts for six months after you unlock and activate it, so timing matters.
Here’s an example of how that works.
Say you have the 25% bonus active and book an AAdvantage Hotels stay offering 10,000 redeemable miles and Loyalty Points.
Once the stay posts to your account, you’d earn:
- 10,000 redeemable AAdvantage miles
- 12,500 Loyalty Points, including the 25% bonus
That’s an additional 2,500 Loyalty Points toward your next AAdvantage status threshold or Loyalty Point Reward, without needing to spend more on the hotel itself.
The important distinction is that the bonus applies to Loyalty Points, not redeemable miles. Your redeemable mileage earnings stay the same.
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Is Booking Through AAdvantage Hotels Worth It?
It depends on what you’re trying to accomplish.
If you’re working toward AAdvantage elite status or trying to build up your mileage balance for an upcoming redemption, AA Hotels can be an excellent way to earn a substantial number of miles and Loyalty Points without getting on a plane.
But I wouldn’t automatically book every hotel stay through the platform.
If you have elite status with a hotel chain, booking directly might offer more value through points, elite-night credits, upgrades, and other benefits. And even if you don’t have hotel status, it’s worth comparing prices and cancellation policies before committing.
The way I look at it, AAdvantage Hotels is another tool in the toolbox. It won’t make sense for every stay, but when the price is competitive and the mileage earnings are generous, it can be one of the more useful ways to work toward your next award flight or AAdvantage status goal.
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