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I booked a cruise with American Airlines Cruises

Ebook a cruise via an airline? Sounds bananas, proper? No less than, it did to me — till I did it.

For a current crusing, I booked a cabin via American Airways Cruises, a reserving channel that earned me AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Factors for my cruise.

For those who’re an American Airways loyalist, here is how you should utilize your cruise buy to earn factors and miles towards free journey and elite standing.

Why I booked via American Airways Cruises

ROCKAA/GETTY IMAGES

I stay within the Charlotte space, an American Airways hub, which suggests most of my flights are via American. As such, I focus my factors and miles technique on what I can earn as a member of American Airlines’ AAdvantage loyalty program.

I am additionally an AAdvantage Aviator Mastercard holder. I exploit it to pay for many of my American Airways flights, offering me with extra methods to realize standing with American Airways. It was my first journey bank card, and it has been in my pockets for over 25 years.

(Nonetheless, starting in 2026, Citi will grow to be the unique issuer of American Airways’ AAdvantage cobranded bank card portfolio. You will not have the option to enroll in the Aviator Mastercard anymore, however you possibly can choose the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (see rates and fees) or the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®.)

The data for the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Choose World Elite Mastercard 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.

With my AAdvantage Aviator card, I get pleasure from advantages like a free checked bag for me and as much as 4 folks touring on my reservation, most well-liked boarding on American-operated flights and a yearly $25 credit score for inflight Wi-Fi purchases. I am additionally a fan of the modest $99 annual payment.

I often e book my cruises straight via the cruise line’s web site, however I puzzled if I had a greater choice for incomes factors and miles on my cruise buy. That is once I found American Airways Cruises, the airline’s branded cruise reserving portal.

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It options cruise presents from 30-plus cruise traces, together with Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, Viking and Oceania Cruises, amongst others. Anybody can enroll and e book via the platform, incomes each AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Factors on their cruise reserving.

Once I booked my cruise, American Airways Cruises was providing a particular promotion for AAdvantage bank card holders (extra particulars beneath). This was the final push I wanted to e book my cruise via American Airways’ cruise reserving platform.

earn miles via American Airways Cruises

American Airways Cruises web site. KRISTY TOLLEY/ THE POINT GUY

I used to be already an AAdvantage member, so I did not want to enroll in the loyalty program. (For those who’re in the beginning of the mileage-accrual journey, it is simple to enroll via American’s website.)

AAdvantage members will earn 1 mile per greenback spent on cruises booked via American Airways Cruises, plus 1 Loyalty Level towards standing for each greenback spent. (What is the distinction? You employ AAdvantage miles to pay for award flights, however you want Loyalty Factors to realize elite standing within the American Airways AAdvantage loyalty program.)

AAdvantage Aviator Mastercard holders will earn an extra 1 mile per greenback spent on cruises, plus 1 Loyalty Level towards standing for each greenback spent (from Mastercard, not AA Cruises). Observe that these with the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Choose card of their pockets may even earn 1 mile per greenback spent and 1 Loyalty Level towards standing for each greenback spent.

American Airways was operating a promotion for AAdvantage bank card holders once I booked my cruise, incomes me 2 miles per greenback spent on the acquisition of my cruise. It was a “limited-time provide” once I booked my cruise in January. Nonetheless, on the time of writing, the provide was nonetheless exhibiting on a banner on the prime of the American Airways Cruises homepage. (Simply click on on the promotional banner to get began.)

Your award miles will publish to your AAdvantage account six to eight weeks after your cruise concludes.

AAdvantage members can solely earn miles from their American Airways Cruises bookings; they cannot use award miles to buy a cruise.

Associated: How to book a cruise using points and miles

e book a cruise via American Airways Cruises

A cruise itinerary on the American Airways Cruises web site. KRISTY TOLLEY/THE POINTS GUY

As soon as you’ve got created an American Airways account and logged in on American’s web site, click on the “Plan journey” tab, which can drop down a listing of journey choices, together with “Cruises.” It will open a brand new window for American’s cruise reserving web site. Alternatively, you possibly can go on to the AA Cruises website.

When you’re on the primary web page of the AA Cruises web site, use the “Cruise Search” field to filter outcomes on your desired journey (vacation spot, cruise size, departure date, cruise line, ship and departure port). Moreover, a scrolling carousel by the Cruise Search field highlights cruise line-specific gross sales and promotions.

When your search outcomes seem, you possibly can click on on the photograph to take a look at the ship, the itinerary, cabins, deck plans, critiques and onboard experiences. As soon as you’ve got chosen your cruise, click on “Choose” to start out the reserving course of.

Select the variety of friends

The cruise line loyalty program web page for American Airways Cruises. KRISTY TOLLEY/THE POINTS GUY

At this stage, in case you are a member of the loyalty program with the cruise line you’ve got chosen, you may even have the choice to plug in your member quantity. This may unlock extra reductions, so it is a good suggestion to hitch the cruise line loyalty program when you aren’t already a member.

You may additionally affirm the variety of folks in your reserving. If anybody in your group qualifies for a senior citizen or navy low cost, you possibly can point out that right here.

Decide the cabin sort

After you enter the variety of friends, you may select the kind of cabin you’d choose (inside, ocean-view, balcony or suite). The web page may even present the bottom worth for the least costly cabin in every class.

You may subsequent see pricing for the totally different cabin sorts inside that umbrella class. For those who e book a cruise for 2 passengers, a guarantee cabin will seem as an choice. Once you select a assure cabin, you let the cruise line choose its location and, in return, pay a lower cost. So, when you do wish to choose your cabin location, you may possible need to pay greater than the bottom fare listed for that common cabin class.

After you select the particular promotion/cruise fare pricing you like, you may transfer to the “choose room” stage of the method. (You’ll not be given this feature when you select a assure cabin.) Right here, you possibly can peruse the deck plans of the ship to determine the place you desire to your room to be positioned.

Associated: The ultimate guide to choosing a cruise ship cabin

Present visitor data

After you’ve got chosen the variety of friends and cabin sort, enter every cruise passenger’s particulars, comparable to title, date of start and nation of residence. You may even be given the choice to decide on your most well-liked eating time (early, late or versatile, relying on the cruise line).

Full your reserving

The final step supplies a abstract of the cruise you’re reserving and your remaining worth, which incorporates the cruise fare and port costs, plus taxes and charges damaged down individually. (I used to be not given the choice to prepay gratuities.)

As with many on-line reserving websites, you may even be given the choice to buy journey safety on your cruise. I all the time advocate buying a third-party travel insurance plan.

Was reserving via American Airways Cruises price it?

KRISTY TOLLEY/ THE POINTS GUY

The American Airways Cruises platform was straightforward to navigate, however was it the best choice for getting a very good worth and incomes factors and miles for my trip reserving? In the end, sure.

I’d have paid the identical cruise fare if I had booked straight on Royal Caribbean’s web site, as American Airways Cruises presents the identical promotions because the cruise traces. Moreover, a fast name to my native travel agent confirmed that reserving via him would yield the identical outcomes from a price perspective (although journey brokers do present private help you won’t obtain from customer support with a web based reserving platform).

Nonetheless, reserving via American Airways Cruises actually paid off, because it earned me factors and miles towards standing with American’s AAdvantage loyalty program.

I earned 1,237 miles and 1,237 Loyalty Factors on my American Airways Cruises reserving. In the meantime, I used my AAdvantage Aviator bank card, which, due to a promotion on the time of reserving, earned me 2 miles per greenback spent on my cruise buy. This netted me an extra 2,474 miles and 1,237 Loyalty Factors. All informed, I snagged 3,711 miles and a couple of,474 Loyalty Factors via my cruise buy.

Moreover, I booked my flights via American Airways utilizing my AAdvantage Aviator bank card, which earned me 474 miles and 190 Loyalty Factors (for the flights), plus 1,136 miles and 284 Loyalty Factors (for utilizing my American Airways cobranded bank card).

For the flights and the cruise, I earned a complete of 5,321 AAdvantage miles and a couple of,948 Loyalty Factors. Had I booked straight via Royal Caribbean’s web site (and paid with my AAdvantage Aviator bank card), I’d have missed out on an additional 1,237 miles and 1,237 Loyalty Factors.

Backside line

General, I used to be happy with the end result of reserving via American Airways Cruises, and I positively plan so as to add airline cruise reserving platforms to my useful resource listing when researching future cruises.

Reserving my cruise via American Airways Cruises was a simple solution to earn factors and miles on a cruise I’d have booked anyway. Additionally, buying my cruise and flights with my AAdvantage Aviator Mastercard and incomes extra factors and miles provided much more worth.

The following time you are planning a cruise, do not rely out your most well-liked airline. If it presents a cruise or trip reserving platform — you may discover related ones for Delta Air Traces, United Airlines and Southwest Airways, amongst different carriers — you may be capable to rack up a couple of further factors and miles towards standing.

Planning a cruise? Begin with these tales:

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