{"id":159,"date":"2015-12-06T18:36:05","date_gmt":"2015-12-06T18:36:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thetravelingmillennial.com\/?page_id=159"},"modified":"2016-02-04T02:28:43","modified_gmt":"2016-02-04T02:28:43","slug":"american","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/american\/","title":{"rendered":"American"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I can&#8217;t start any discussion about American Airlines without first mentioning that\u00a0I prefer the American\u00a0frequent flier program over any of the other major airlines. \u00a0Its elite flier program provides complimentary cabin upgrades (space permitting) and its redeemable miles award redemption chart is relatively generous. \u00a0In addition, there are a number of ways to earn redeemable miles.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Elite Status<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Costs<\/strong>: you can reach the first tier of elite status, Gold, by flying 25,000 miles in a calendar year. \u00a0If you strategically buy cheap plane tickets, you can achieve this with 2.5 round-trip flights to Rio de Janiero ($1,350) or 5 round-trip cross-country flights (JFK-LAX) ($1,250).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aa.com\/i18n\/AAdvantage\/eliteStatus\/main.jsp\"><img data-attachment-id=\"73\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/aa-elite\/\" data-orig-file=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/76\/\/sites\/76\/2015\/12\/AA-elite.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"950,758\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"AA elite\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/76\/\/sites\/76\/2015\/12\/AA-elite-300x239.jpg\" data-large-file=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/76\/\/sites\/76\/2015\/12\/AA-elite.jpg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-73 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/76\/2015\/12\/AA-elite.jpg\" alt=\"AA elite\" width=\"950\" height=\"758\" srcset=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/76\/\/sites\/76\/2015\/12\/AA-elite.jpg 950w, http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/76\/\/sites\/76\/2015\/12\/AA-elite-300x239.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 950px) 100vw, 950px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Benefits<\/strong>: Gold status\u00a0comes with pretty cool benefits including complementary upgrades (space permitting) on flights of 500 miles or less ($300+ per flight), 500 mile upgrades that are used to upgrade flights over 500 miles (cost $40 per 500 mile upgrade), one free checked bag, complimentary preferred seating ($10-50 per flight), and a discount on main cabin extra seating.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aa.com\/i18n\/AAdvantage\/eliteStatus\/main.jsp\"><img data-attachment-id=\"74\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/aa-elite-benefits\/\" data-orig-file=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/76\/\/sites\/76\/2015\/12\/AA-elite-benefits.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"919,321\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"AA elite benefits\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/76\/\/sites\/76\/2015\/12\/AA-elite-benefits-300x105.jpg\" data-large-file=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/76\/\/sites\/76\/2015\/12\/AA-elite-benefits.jpg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-74 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/76\/2015\/12\/AA-elite-benefits.jpg\" alt=\"AA elite benefits\" width=\"919\" height=\"321\" srcset=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/76\/\/sites\/76\/2015\/12\/AA-elite-benefits.jpg 919w, http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/76\/\/sites\/76\/2015\/12\/AA-elite-benefits-300x105.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 919px) 100vw, 919px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Earning Redeemable Miles<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fly American Airlines or credit flights flown on One World members to American. \u00a0Until the second half of 2016, you&#8217;ll still receive one redeemable mile per mile flown. \u00a0Starting the second half of 2016, you&#8217;ll receive miles per dollar spent. \u00a0This change will likely benefit folks who buy expensive tickets but hurt those who buy cheap tickets.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thetravelingmillennial.com\/credit-cards\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Credit card sign up bonuses<\/span><\/a>. \u00a0You can receive anywhere between 35,000 and 75,000 miles depending on the current sign up promotion. \u00a0I earned 35,000 miles after meeting the minimum spend requirement for my first travel credit card which was enough miles for an off-season round-trip ticket to Hawaii. \u00a0The credit card itself gave me 2 miles per dollar spent on American Airlines and 1 mile per dollar spent on all other purchases.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aadvantageeshopping.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">American online shopping portal<\/a>. \u00a0The shopping portal allows you to earn additional miles when you shop online. \u00a0Simply log into the shopping portal and select the store that you want to shop. \u00a0The shopping portal will then take you to that store and will credit your miles a few weeks after the purchase is made. \u00a0In addition, the shopping portal will offer bonus mile promotions for Back to School, pre-Black Friday, and other seasonal shopping.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/aa.rewardsnetwork.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">American dining program<\/a>. \u00a0After linking your credit card to your dining profile, you&#8217;ll receive an additional 3 to 5 miles per dollar spent at a participating restaurant. \u00a0Restaurant participation is hit or miss, so definitely check out the list of participating restaurants. \u00a0I&#8217;ve had good luck in DC since\u00a0one of my favorite\u00a0coffee shops participates.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aa.com\/i18n\/AAdvantage\/earnMiles\/main.jsp\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">Other promotions<\/span><\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Redeeming miles for award flights:<\/strong> American is increasing the amount of miles required for most reward flights on March 22, 2016, so I&#8217;ll discuss the new award chart. \u00a0Despite this increase, there are still a few good deals. \u00a0You can redeem 45,000 miles for an off-peak round-trip ticket to Europe and 60,000 miles for a round-trip business class ticket to Machu Picchu (and the rest of northern South America). \u00a0It&#8217;s also worth noting that miles can be redeemed on One World partners (Cathay Pacific, Qatar, etc.) and other affiliated airlines (Emirates, Fiji, etc.) that may have nicer planes\/ service\/food than American.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aa.com\/i18n\/AAdvantage\/redeemMiles\/all-partner-chart2016.jsp\"><img data-attachment-id=\"179\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/aa-award-chart-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/76\/\/sites\/76\/2015\/12\/AA-award-chart1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"936,747\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"AA award chart\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/76\/\/sites\/76\/2015\/12\/AA-award-chart1-300x239.jpg\" data-large-file=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/76\/\/sites\/76\/2015\/12\/AA-award-chart1.jpg\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-179 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/thetravelingmillennial.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/AA-award-chart1.jpg\" alt=\"AA award chart\" width=\"936\" height=\"747\" srcset=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/76\/\/sites\/76\/2015\/12\/AA-award-chart1.jpg 936w, http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/76\/\/sites\/76\/2015\/12\/AA-award-chart1-300x239.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 936px) 100vw, 936px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I can&#8217;t start any discussion about American Airlines without first mentioning that\u00a0I prefer the American\u00a0frequent flier program over any of the other major airlines. \u00a0Its elite flier program provides complimentary cabin upgrades (space permitting) and its redeemable miles award redemption chart is relatively generous. \u00a0In addition, there are a number of ways to earn redeemable miles. Elite Status Costs: you can reach the first tier of elite status, Gold, by flying 25,000 miles in a calendar year. \u00a0If you strategically buy cheap plane tickets, you can achieve this with 2.5 round-trip flights to Rio de Janiero ($1,350) or 5 round-trip&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":96,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.13 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>American &ndash; The Traveling Millennial<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/american\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"American &ndash; The Traveling Millennial\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I can&#8217;t start any discussion about American Airlines without first mentioning that\u00a0I prefer the American\u00a0frequent flier program over any of the other major airlines. \u00a0Its elite flier program provides complimentary cabin upgrades (space permitting) and its redeemable miles award redemption chart is relatively generous. \u00a0In addition, there are a number of ways to earn redeemable miles. Elite Status Costs: you can reach the first tier of elite status, Gold, by flying 25,000 miles in a calendar year. \u00a0If you strategically buy cheap plane tickets, you can achieve this with 2.5 round-trip flights to Rio de Janiero ($1,350) or 5 round-trip...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/american\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Traveling Millennial\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/travelingmillennial\/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-02-04T02:28:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/76\/2015\/12\/AA-elite.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@thetravelingmi1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/american\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/american\/\",\"name\":\"American &ndash; The Traveling Millennial\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-12-06T18:36:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-04T02:28:43+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/american\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/american\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/american\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"American\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/\",\"name\":\"The Traveling Millennial\",\"description\":\"Travel News, Advice, and Reviews\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"American &ndash; The Traveling Millennial","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/american\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"American &ndash; The Traveling Millennial","og_description":"I can&#8217;t start any discussion about American Airlines without first mentioning that\u00a0I prefer the American\u00a0frequent flier program over any of the other major airlines. \u00a0Its elite flier program provides complimentary cabin upgrades (space permitting) and its redeemable miles award redemption chart is relatively generous. \u00a0In addition, there are a number of ways to earn redeemable miles. Elite Status Costs: you can reach the first tier of elite status, Gold, by flying 25,000 miles in a calendar year. \u00a0If you strategically buy cheap plane tickets, you can achieve this with 2.5 round-trip flights to Rio de Janiero ($1,350) or 5 round-trip...","og_url":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/american\/","og_site_name":"The Traveling Millennial","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/travelingmillennial\/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel","article_modified_time":"2016-02-04T02:28:43+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/76\/2015\/12\/AA-elite.jpg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@thetravelingmi1","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/american\/","url":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/american\/","name":"American &ndash; The Traveling Millennial","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-12-06T18:36:05+00:00","dateModified":"2016-02-04T02:28:43+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/american\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/american\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/american\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"American"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/#website","url":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/","name":"The Traveling Millennial","description":"Travel News, Advice, and Reviews","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P7buBC-2z","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/159"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/96"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=159"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":655,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/159\/revisions\/655"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/thetravelingmillennial\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}