How to earn tons of American Airlines Loyalty Poin...

I will be sincere; when American Airways overhauled the American Airlines AAdvantage program a couple of years again so that you simply earn elite standing based on spending with the airline, its cobranded credit cards and different companions, I figured I would not often make it previous AAdvantage Gold or AAdvantage Platinum standing. And that is largely been true.

I are likely to fly with quite a lot of totally different airways, and I put spending on quite a lot of rewards bank cards at any given time, relying on what welcome bonuses and other benefits can be found to me.

This 12 months, nevertheless, I used to be inside spitting distance of AAdvantage Platinum Pro status and its perks by the point October rolled round, so I began fascinated by methods to get previous that threshold, and I turned to one in every of my secret weapons for incomes quite a lot of Loyalty Factors rapidly throughout a visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina: AAdvantage Resorts bookings.

AAdvantage Resorts: My secret weapon for incomes elite standing

You see, you possibly can earn 1000’s of bonus miles and Loyalty Factors on AAdvantage Resorts reservations — even on brief stays.

For instance, reserving a two-night keep on the Dream Downtown in New York Metropolis final 12 months helped me nab a cool 15,000 Loyalty Factors, and that obtained me over the road to AAdvantage Platinum standing after a 12 months of flying and spending on my Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® (see rates and fees).

The knowledge for the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Choose card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or supplied by the cardboard issuer.

Loyalty Points are what rely towards elite standing, and AAdvantage bonus miles are frequent flyer miles you possibly can redeem for award tickets with American Airways and its companions.

You are likely to earn extra Loyalty Factors and AAdvantage miles on AAdvantage Resorts stays when you’ve got AAdvantage elite standing and likewise maintain an AAdvantage cobranded card. As luck would have it, I’ve each.

In October, I used to be pondering of taking a fast jaunt right down to Buenos Aires, so along with on the lookout for first rate award charges at previous TPG favorites just like the Palacio Duhau — Park Hyatt Buenos Aires, I made a decision to see what AAdvantage Resorts bookings have been out there.

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Incomes 29,000 Loyalty Factors and 23,000 AAdvantage miles with simply 1 resort keep

That is how I got here throughout a two-night keep on the Park Tower, a Luxurious Assortment Lodge, Buenos Aires for $790, together with taxes and charges, on which I’d earn 15,000 Loyalty Factors as an AAdvantage Platinum member with a number of AAdvantage cobranded playing cards. I paid for my reservation with my Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (see rates and fees), which I had just lately utilized for and earns 10 AAdvantage miles per greenback spent on AAdvantage Resorts bookings. The keep was refundable up till a couple of days earlier than check-in, making it additional versatile.

The factor about airline cobranded playing cards and airline elite standing is that every tends to allow you to compound your earnings in fascinating methods, and my AAdvantage Resorts keep on the Park Tower crystallized that for me.

First, I earned 15,000 bonus American Airways AAdvantage miles for my keep, plus 10 miles per greenback spent with my Citi / AAdvantage Government World Elite card, which netted me an extra 7,100 miles on prime of the 790 additional miles I earned from the $790 cost for the keep. So, I ended up with 22,890 bonus AAdvantage miles for my keep. Due to a few costs on the resort, that rounded as much as 23,000 miles.

I additionally earned 15,000 Loyalty Factors towards elite standing due to the reserving situations, plus 790 extra Loyalty Factors for placing the cost for the keep on my AAdvantage card (1 Loyalty Level per greenback that I spent).

Here is the place issues obtained fascinating, although. As a result of I had already earned 60,000 Loyalty Factors, I had unlocked a couple of Loyalty Level Rewards. These included a 20% bonus on qualifying exercise with companions, together with AAdvantage Resorts bookings, inside six months of incomes these 60,000 Loyalty Factors. That meant that as a substitute of incomes 15,000 Loyalty Factors, I earned 18,000 of them throughout this keep.

What’s extra, this resort keep put me over 90,000 Loyalty Factors earned for the 12 months up to now. That triggered an extra 10,000 bonus Loyalty Factors as a good thing about my Citi / AAdvantage Government World Elite card.

So, when the ultimate numbers have been in, I had earned simply over 29,000 Loyalty Factors (due to some costs on the resort) by the point I checked out.

The downsides to reserving AAdvantage Resorts

I do not typically ebook AAdvantage Resorts all year long for quite a lot of causes.

First, to earn essentially the most miles and Loyalty Factors, you are likely to have to remain at costly accommodations with excessive nightly charges — typically nicely over $1,000.

Second, for those who ebook a resort inside a sequence, reminiscent of Hyatt or Hilton, you can not anticipate to earn resort factors or get pleasure from your elite standing advantages. I used to be fortunate that the Park Tower honored a few of my Marriott Bonvoy elite advantages like free breakfast and late checkout, however that tends to be very hit and miss based mostly on TPG staffers’ experiences.

Nonetheless, it may be price forgoing the resort factors and elite perks for giant Loyalty Factors and AAdvantage miles paydays like I loved on this current journey, particularly when you possibly can unlock sure advantages just like the Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite card’s Loyalty Factors enhance and Loyalty Level Rewards to compound your earnings even additional.

Backside line

My keep on the Park Tower in Buenos Aires obtained me even nearer to AAdvantage Platinum Professional standing than I anticipated. Now, I am pondering I’d simply be capable of shoot for AAdvantage Government Platinum standing with a couple of well-timed AAdvantage Resorts bookings earlier than Feb. 28, 2026, the top of the elite standing interval.

Since I’ve earned over 100,000 Loyalty Factors, I’ve already unlocked one other Loyalty Level Reward to earn 30% with companions throughout the subsequent six months, that means my subsequent AAdvantage Resorts reserving might be much more profitable. I’ve three months to strategize each resort keep till the elite standing 12 months resets with American Airways, however a couple of work and leisure journeys could also be simply the ticket to AAdvantage Government Platinum standing for me in 2026.