Frequently Asked Questions

For missing miles or other requests, use the contact form on AAdvantage Dining.

After logging in, navigate to Linked Cards. Your payment card network will provide activity to AAdvantage Dining. You will receive a notification e-mail one to two days after dining confirming you’ve earned points. No further action is required.

• If you do not elect to receive email communications from AAdvantage Dining, you will earn 1 Loyalty Point per $1 spent.
• If you do elect to receive email communications from AAdvantage Dining, you will earn 3 Loyalty Points per $1 spent.
• After you complete 11 transactions and elect to receive email communications from AAdvantage Dining, you will earn 5 Loyalty Points per $1 spent.

See more information at AAdvantage Dining.

Coupon or discount codes not found on the AAdvantage eShopping merchant listing will make the transaction ineligible for earnings.

Go to My Account and Recent store visits.

If you have followed all the best practices outlined in What are the best practices for using AAdvantage eShopping, you may be able to escalate your missing miles case for additional review.

This may happen when AAdvantage eShopping responds with:

The merchant has concluded the research on this transaction and has notified us that this order is not eligible for rewards.

Merchants on our site attribute orders to the last touch and pay commissions to AAdvantage eShopping. We then convert that commission into rewards that we post to your account. In your case although you started the purchase while logged in to your eShopping account, the merchant has indicated that the last touch before you completed this transaction was not https://www.aadvantageeshopping.com and therefore the commission for this order did not track back to your eShopping account.

Based off this response, you can reply:

I would like to request an additional review by a supervisor. As evidenced by this recording [link to the screen recording], there is no possible way commissions were paid to any other affiliate.

Points are considered posted when they appear in your AAdvantage account. Unless otherwise noted, the activity date will be the date of the transaction, regardless of when it is posted.

By program:

• Paid Surveys Online: Almost immediately
• Fuel Rewards: 5-7 business days after the sale
• Flights on AA: points post within 24 hours after completing the travel (purchases for flights with an AA co-branded card post after the close of your billing cycle each month). The activity date is the departure date of each segment.
• AAdvantage Hotels: 5-7 business days after the stay for prepaid bookings. In some cases, it can take up to 6 weeks. Allow up to 10 weeks for non-prepaid bookings. The activity date will be the check-in date.
• SimplyMiles (SM): users have reported that it varies significantly. Some earnings are posted the next day, others take a week or two, or longer.
• AAdvantage eShopping
  • It will depend on the terms. Some post in a day, others in a week, or even after a 60-day period. With some merchants, you must wait until the order is picked up or delivered. Regardless, you will have to give at least 15 days. If it doesn’t post within 15 days, you submit a request for credit. Cartera will research the request and it may take 6-8 weeks to resolve (up to 6 months in extreme cases). Merchants typically don’t report earnings back to Cartera until the purchase has shipped, is picked up, or is completed. With some merchants, earnings may be split if items are shipped at different times.
  • Days to Post information is available on each merchant’s page
  • Bonus miles via AAdvantage eShopping: bonus miles from promotions can take up to 10 weeks to post
  • Hotels via AAdvantage eShopping: If you booked a hotel through AAdvantage eShopping, the booking date will be the transaction date.
• AAdvantage Dining: you will receive an e-mail within a day or two
• AA co-branded Cards: points earned through American Airlines co-branded credit cards are posted after the statement closes each month. Purchases that are made on or before February 29 will count for that program year. Ensure that your AAdvantage # is added to your account
• AA Vacations: miles will post within 2 weeks after travel is complete. A mileage credit may appear in your account after travel for 0 miles but this is not the final amount.

Examples:

• If you book a hotel stay through AAH/RM for the future, the activity date will be the check-in date
• If your flight took place on February 28 and it doesn’t post until March 5, it counts towards the previous program year
• If you place a Blue Apron order on January 10 but it isn’t delivered until January 25, it will post with the January 10 date

The AAdvantage status earning program year starts March 1 and ends on the last day of February.

Follow these best practices for delivery based services such as Blue Apron, Daily Harvest, EveryPlate, Facator 75, Firstleaf, Green Chef, HelloFresh, or Naked Wines:

• Follow the best practices for AAdvantage eShopping
• Users may or may not see a banner at the end of the transaction
• Most users report receiving an e-mail confirmation within 24 hours that the order was tracked
• Points will not post until after the first delivery of the order, regardless of the displayed posting times
• Points can take up to 6-8 weeks to post after first delivery, however most users will submit a missing miles request through AAdvantage eShopping after first delivery
• After the first delivery, users skip other deliveries through the Delivery Service website
• Once points post, users will cancel the subscription through the Delivery Service website

Churning

AAdvantage eShopping terms for these delivery services generally state one order per loyalty account, however, users have reported being able to churn these delivery based services. First, by ensuring that the previous account is completely closed or canceled to prevent address verification. Second, by using a new account with a different e-mail address.

Users have reported successful tracking and posting of Loyalty Points when using the AAdvantage eShopping extension in Chrome on a laptop/desktop.

🎥 For larger point purchases, screen recording your checkout process is recommended in case Cartera says the purchase was not eligible:

🍎 Take screen recordings on Mac
🖥️ How to Screen Record in Windows 10 or Windows 11
📱 Record the screen on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch
📱 Record and capture your Galaxy phone or tablet’s screen

Then, carefully follow these steps:

• Disable ad-blockers and shopping browser extensions (e.g. Rakuten, Honey, CapitalOne Shopping, etc.)
• Log in to AAdvantage eShopping
• Open the merchant through AAdvantage eShopping
• Click through the offer on AAdvantage eShopping for the merchant
• Add all items to the cart/nearly complete the purchase process
• If applicable, log in to your account at the merchant
• Click through again on AAdvantage eShopping for the merchant
• Complete the checkout/purchase process
• Take a screenshot of the entire page that shows the final banner
  

It may take up to 24 hours for the transaction to appear in your Recent Visits on AAdvantage eShopping activity. Use My Earnings to track your purchases.

Be sure to check your Recent Visits on AAdvantage eShopping activity after the initial visit to confirm functionality.

Read also: How long does it take and when do American Airlines [loyalty] points post?

Read also: How do I escalate my case for missing miles with AAdvantage eShopping (Cartera)

American Airlines posts points to accounts based off the transaction date, so any points which post after the end of February will still count to that program year (e.g. a hotel stay with a check-in of February 20, 2024 will count towards the 2023-2024 program year).

How long does it take and when do points post?

If you had missing miles from AAdvantage eShopping that posted late and you were refused status or a reward, send an e-mail to [email protected] with the subject “Dispute with American Airlines & Cartera (AAdvantage eShopping).” You can use the template below.

To whom it may concern,

As you may already know, Cartera takes significant time to investigate missing miles requests for transactions through AAdvantage eShopping. Along with each investigation, Cartera states via e-mail:

“We understand that there might be a concern that the reward for this order will post after your AA deadline to achieve or maintain Status on your American Airlines account. Please note that American Airlines posts rewards to member accounts using the transaction date, so any rewards posting after the deadline with a transaction date on or before the deadline will still be counted towards your Status.”

This wording leads me and many others to believe that even though the AAdvantage program year ends on the last day of February each year, Loyalty Points posted after this date will still count for receiving status and rewards. However, American Airlines Customer Service will not give out exceptions for transactions posted after May 31.

If American Airlines is contracting with Cartera to provide an avenue of earning Loyalty Points but does not honor transactions that post late, then (1) language/terms need to be updated and (2) prevent Cartera from accepting transactions after December 31 to allow adequate time to investigate missing miles requests.

I would appreciate a response on how this will be mediated.

Thank you,
[YOUR NAME]
AAdvantage # [YOUR AADVANTAGE NUMBER]

When booking through AAdvantage Hotels (or other 3rd party such as Expedia), you will generally not receive points or nights from your hotel program. You should assume that you will not be earning elite points or nights.

You can try to add your hotel program to your reservation at check-in or by calling the property before arrival. Some users have reported earning points for incidentals, receiving basic welcome benefits, or earning nights (World of Hyatt members will receive benefits and earn points, for example).

It is ultimately the hotel property that will decide if you can use any part of your status benefits with a 3rd party booking.

This does not apply to bookings made through AAdvantage eShopping.

Users have reported that you do not have to stay or check in at a hotel property booked through AAH to receive points.

With the exception of promo/boost miles, all miles count as Loyalty Points. For example:

The base miles earn miles & loyalty points while bonus miles earn miles only.

Via e-mail
support(at)mail.aadvantagehotels.com

Via phone
773-270-2992
844-801-6778

Take the total number of earned AAdvantage Miles (base miles only) and divide by total cost for all nights (e.g. 10,000/$350 = 28.5x).

Average = 30x
Good = 40x
Great = 50x

The charge will appear on your statement as RTI*AADVANTAGEHOTELS*HotelName.

Points are considered posted when they appear in your AAdvantage account. Unless otherwise noted, the activity date will be the date of the transaction, regardless of when it is posted.

By program:

• Paid Surveys Online: Almost immediately
• Fuel Rewards: 5-7 business days after the sale
• Flights on AA: points post within 24 hours after completing the travel (purchases for flights with an AA co-branded card post after the close of your billing cycle each month). The activity date is the departure date of each segment.
• AAdvantage Hotels: 5-7 business days after the stay for prepaid bookings. In some cases, it can take up to 6 weeks. Allow up to 10 weeks for non-prepaid bookings. The activity date will be the check-in date.
• SimplyMiles (SM): users have reported that it varies significantly. Some earnings are posted the next day, others take a week or two, or longer.
• AAdvantage eShopping
  • It will depend on the terms. Some post in a day, others in a week, or even after a 60-day period. With some merchants, you must wait until the order is picked up or delivered. Regardless, you will have to give at least 15 days. If it doesn’t post within 15 days, you submit a request for credit. Cartera will research the request and it may take 6-8 weeks to resolve (up to 6 months in extreme cases). Merchants typically don’t report earnings back to Cartera until the purchase has shipped, is picked up, or is completed. With some merchants, earnings may be split if items are shipped at different times.
  • Days to Post information is available on each merchant’s page
  • Bonus miles via AAdvantage eShopping: bonus miles from promotions can take up to 10 weeks to post
  • Hotels via AAdvantage eShopping: If you booked a hotel through AAdvantage eShopping, the booking date will be the transaction date.
• AAdvantage Dining: you will receive an e-mail within a day or two
• AA co-branded Cards: points earned through American Airlines co-branded credit cards are posted after the statement closes each month. Purchases that are made on or before February 29 will count for that program year. Ensure that your AAdvantage # is added to your account
• AA Vacations: miles will post within 2 weeks after travel is complete. A mileage credit may appear in your account after travel for 0 miles but this is not the final amount.

Examples:

• If you book a hotel stay through AAH/RM for the future, the activity date will be the check-in date
• If your flight took place on February 28 and it doesn’t post until March 5, it counts towards the previous program year
• If you place a Blue Apron order on January 10 but it isn’t delivered until January 25, it will post with the January 10 date

The AAdvantage status earning program year starts March 1 and ends on the last day of February.

If you booked on AAH with a property that has a resort fee at check-in, you don’t get charged if you don’t check-in. These fees aren’t charged if your reservation is canceled. Some users have reported using virtual cards to prevent unwanted card charges.

AAdvantage Hotels offers three ways to earn more miles and Loyalty Points:

• 5x more base miles on hotels for being an AAdvantage member
• 5x more base miles on hotels for being an AAdvantage credit cardmember
• 10x more base miles on hotels for being an AAdvantage credit cardmember with status

As of July 2023, BookAAHotels.com (BAAH) has been replaced with AdvantageHotels.com (AAH)

There are many posts with folios in the Facebook Group.

When you book through AAH or RM, reservation information is sent to the hotel property with virtual card information. This is different from your card information. Sometimes the property doesn’t know how to properly process 3rd party reservations and may ask for payment. You can call AAH or RM to have them provide payment information to the hotel.

AAdvantage Hotels
844-801-6778
773-270-2992

Rocketmiles
855-355-7625
773-257-7680

At the 175,000 reward and above, most individuals choose the Systemwide Upgrade, followed by the bonus miles.

You should set a calendar reminder for the day before your reward expires. It’s best to wait until you need the reward to redeem it as rewards such Systemwide Upgrades expire one year from selection.

After achieving the next reward level, it takes up to 48 hours for the choice reward selection to appear in the AAdvantage account.

If the choice reward selection doesn’t appear after 48 hours, contact AAdvantage Customer Service.

In general, sign up bonuses (credit card or through various programs) do not earn Loyalty Points. They earn miles which can be redeemed for flights & hotels.

• Loyalty Choice Reward – the 25,000 mile loyalty choice reward does not earn loyalty points
• AAdvantage eShopping – all purchases earn miles and loyalty points (promotional bonuses do not earn loyalty points)
• Simply Miles – all activity earns miles and loyalty points
• AAdvantage Dining – sign-up bonuses earns miles only (all other activity earns miles and loyalty points)
• AA Vacations – all activity earns miles and loyalty points
• Miles for Opinions – all activity earns miles and loyalty points
• Fuel Rewards (Shell) – sign-up bonuses earns miles only (all other activity earns miles and loyalty points)
• AAdvantage Hotels (AAH) – promo/boost miles earn miles only (base miles earn loyalty points)
• AAdvantage Events – all activity earns miles and loyalty points

AAdvantage credit cards also earn loyalty points (we do not promote any specific credit cards) but sign-up bonuses do not.

If you just made a purchase and the earnings rate went up, you can generally cancel and place a new order. Orders must be clicked/tracked through the earnings program (e.g. AAdvantage eShopping). It is not possible to link historic purchases.

Be sure to carefully read the terms of the deal.

Some users prefer to use a private or masked e-mail address when signing up for merchants to avoid spam e-mails.

There are various services that offer a solution:

• • Gmail: use variations of your email address
  • iCloud: create unique, random email addresses
  • Buy a domain: Buy a domain name and add forwarding to your primary e-mail address. After you’ve purchased a domain name you like, you can set up e-mail forwarding.

Read the full getting started guide here.

Some users prefer to use a virtual phone number when signing up for merchants to avoid spam calls.

There are various services that offer a solution:

• Hushed
• Burner
• Phoner

Some users prefer to use virtual cards when signing up for merchants to prevent surprise card charges or to prevent fraud. Virtual cards create a virtual number for safe online shopping and can lock the card after a certain date.

There are various services that offer a solution:

• CapitalOne: shop with virtual card numbers
• Citi: select Citi cards offer virtual account numbers
• Privacy.com: automatically generated virtual cards

Points are considered posted when they appear in your AAdvantage account. Unless otherwise noted, the activity date will be the date of the transaction, regardless of when it is posted.

By program:

• Paid Surveys Online: Almost immediately
• Fuel Rewards: 5-7 business days after the sale
• Flights on AA: points post within 24 hours after completing the travel (purchases for flights with an AA co-branded card post after the close of your billing cycle each month). The activity date is the departure date of each segment.
• AAdvantage Hotels: 5-7 business days after the stay for prepaid bookings. In some cases, it can take up to 6 weeks. Allow up to 10 weeks for non-prepaid bookings. The activity date will be the check-in date.
• SimplyMiles (SM): users have reported that it varies significantly. Some earnings are posted the next day, others take a week or two, or longer.
• AAdvantage eShopping
  • It will depend on the terms. Some post in a day, others in a week, or even after a 60-day period. With some merchants, you must wait until the order is picked up or delivered. Regardless, you will have to give at least 15 days. If it doesn’t post within 15 days, you submit a request for credit. Cartera will research the request and it may take 6-8 weeks to resolve (up to 6 months in extreme cases). Merchants typically don’t report earnings back to Cartera until the purchase has shipped, is picked up, or is completed. With some merchants, earnings may be split if items are shipped at different times.
  • Days to Post information is available on each merchant’s page
  • Bonus miles via AAdvantage eShopping: bonus miles from promotions can take up to 10 weeks to post
  • Hotels via AAdvantage eShopping: If you booked a hotel through AAdvantage eShopping, the booking date will be the transaction date.
• AAdvantage Dining: you will receive an e-mail within a day or two
• AA co-branded Cards: points earned through American Airlines co-branded credit cards are posted after the statement closes each month. Purchases that are made on or before February 29 will count for that program year. Ensure that your AAdvantage # is added to your account
• AA Vacations: miles will post within 2 weeks after travel is complete. A mileage credit may appear in your account after travel for 0 miles but this is not the final amount.

Examples:

• If you book a hotel stay through AAH/RM for the future, the activity date will be the check-in date
• If your flight took place on February 28 and it doesn’t post until March 5, it counts towards the previous program year
• If you place a Blue Apron order on January 10 but it isn’t delivered until January 25, it will post with the January 10 date

The AAdvantage status earning program year starts March 1 and ends on the last day of February.

If you are some amount of points away from the next status level, you should:

1. Read part 2 of the Getting Started Guide to learn about the available programs to earn Loyalty Points
2. Read part 3 of the Getting Started Guide to see how you can earn 40,000 LP for $500
3. With a free account, browse earnings to view the top fixed-rate merchants
4. Watch for posts in the Facebook group with the title “Deal Alerts”

Read through these FAQs to understand what miles count as Loyalty Points and when they post:

• How long does it take and when do points post?
• Which program year will earnings be posted to?
• Do all bonus miles count as Loyalty Points?

American Airlines posts points to accounts based off the transaction date, so any points which post after the end of February will still count to that program year (e.g. a hotel stay with a check-in of February 20, 2024 will count towards the 2023-2024 program year).

How long does it take and when do points post?

Use the Loyalty Point Calculator to calculate how many miles and loyalty points you’ll earn by flying.

Points are considered posted when they appear in your AAdvantage account. Unless otherwise noted, the activity date will be the date of the transaction, regardless of when it is posted.

By program:

• Paid Surveys Online: Almost immediately
• Fuel Rewards: 5-7 business days after the sale
• Flights on AA: points post within 24 hours after completing the travel (purchases for flights with an AA co-branded card post after the close of your billing cycle each month). The activity date is the departure date of each segment.
• AAdvantage Hotels: 5-7 business days after the stay for prepaid bookings. In some cases, it can take up to 6 weeks. Allow up to 10 weeks for non-prepaid bookings. The activity date will be the check-in date.
• SimplyMiles (SM): users have reported that it varies significantly. Some earnings are posted the next day, others take a week or two, or longer.
• AAdvantage eShopping
  • It will depend on the terms. Some post in a day, others in a week, or even after a 60-day period. With some merchants, you must wait until the order is picked up or delivered. Regardless, you will have to give at least 15 days. If it doesn’t post within 15 days, you submit a request for credit. Cartera will research the request and it may take 6-8 weeks to resolve (up to 6 months in extreme cases). Merchants typically don’t report earnings back to Cartera until the purchase has shipped, is picked up, or is completed. With some merchants, earnings may be split if items are shipped at different times.
  • Days to Post information is available on each merchant’s page
  • Bonus miles via AAdvantage eShopping: bonus miles from promotions can take up to 10 weeks to post
  • Hotels via AAdvantage eShopping: If you booked a hotel through AAdvantage eShopping, the booking date will be the transaction date.
• AAdvantage Dining: you will receive an e-mail within a day or two
• AA co-branded Cards: points earned through American Airlines co-branded credit cards are posted after the statement closes each month. Purchases that are made on or before February 29 will count for that program year. Ensure that your AAdvantage # is added to your account
• AA Vacations: miles will post within 2 weeks after travel is complete. A mileage credit may appear in your account after travel for 0 miles but this is not the final amount.

Examples:

• If you book a hotel stay through AAH/RM for the future, the activity date will be the check-in date
• If your flight took place on February 28 and it doesn’t post until March 5, it counts towards the previous program year
• If you place a Blue Apron order on January 10 but it isn’t delivered until January 25, it will post with the January 10 date

The AAdvantage status earning program year starts March 1 and ends on the last day of February.

To distribute award miles from the business account to a personal account, points must be distributed by the authorized travel manager. There is no cost to distribute the miles.

As the authorized travel manager, log in to aadvantagebusiness.aa.com. Then transfer to the desired employee through the blue “Transfer Miles” button. Allow up to 6 hours for miles to appear.

For questions with the CitiBusiness Card, contact customer service at (800) 285-1709.

If you are some amount of points away from the next status level, you should:

1. Read part 2 of the Getting Started Guide to learn about the available programs to earn Loyalty Points
2. Read part 3 of the Getting Started Guide to see how you can earn 40,000 LP for $500
3. With a free account, browse earnings to view the top fixed-rate merchants
4. Watch for posts in the Facebook group with the title “Deal Alerts”

Read through these FAQs to understand what miles count as Loyalty Points and when they post:

• How long does it take and when do points post?
• Which program year will earnings be posted to?
• Do all bonus miles count as Loyalty Points?

• AA American Airlines
• AAH AAdvantage Hotels
• ACS AAdvantage Customer Service
• Co-terminal Clusters of airports in a geographic region that can be interchanged (LGA, JFK, EWR) (FLL, MIA) (SFO, SJC) (LAX, ONT, BUR, SNA) (HOU, IAH)
• CK Concierge Key is the highest elite level primarily by invite-only and generally determined by annual spend on AA metal
• EF ExpertFlyer is a paid travel information service for frequent flyers and business travelers. It provides access to in-depth flight/travel research. It allows you to set alerts for award space, upgrades, or specific seats.
• EP Executive Platinum is the top-earned status on American Airlines
• F / J / P / Y are fare classes that represent cabins: First / Business / Premium Economy / Economy respectively
• LP Loyalty Points are how status progress is measured on American Airlines
• MCE Main Cabin Extra
• MCT Minimum Connection Time
• MPG Miles & Copay Upgrade
• ORC Original Routing Credit
• PP Platinum Pro is the second highest earned status level on American Airlines
• RM Rocketmiles
• SM SimplyMiles
• SWU System Wide Upgrades are a loyalty choice award beginning at 175,000 loyalty points

After logging in to your AAdvantage account on AA.com or in your app, you will find information about your American Airlines status.

In section A, you will find your current status level and the date your current status ends.

In section B, you will see how many miles you’ve earned which can be redeemed. Miles may not have an expiry date if you are a co-branded card holder or are a minor.

In section C, you will see how many Loyalty Points you have earned during the current program year for next year’s status. The program begins March 1 of each year and ends on the last day of February the following year.

Loyalty Points reset each program year and do not roll over.

Begin by completing the Contact form on simplymiles.com.

Alternatively, try sending an e-mail to customerservicesupport.simplymiles.com.

Points are considered posted when they appear in your AAdvantage account. Unless otherwise noted, the activity date will be the date of the transaction, regardless of when it is posted.

By program:

• Paid Surveys Online: Almost immediately
• Fuel Rewards: 5-7 business days after the sale
• Flights on AA: points post within 24 hours after completing the travel (purchases for flights with an AA co-branded card post after the close of your billing cycle each month). The activity date is the departure date of each segment.
• AAdvantage Hotels: 5-7 business days after the stay for prepaid bookings. In some cases, it can take up to 6 weeks. Allow up to 10 weeks for non-prepaid bookings. The activity date will be the check-in date.
• SimplyMiles (SM): users have reported that it varies significantly. Some earnings are posted the next day, others take a week or two, or longer.
• AAdvantage eShopping
  • It will depend on the terms. Some post in a day, others in a week, or even after a 60-day period. With some merchants, you must wait until the order is picked up or delivered. Regardless, you will have to give at least 15 days. If it doesn’t post within 15 days, you submit a request for credit. Cartera will research the request and it may take 6-8 weeks to resolve (up to 6 months in extreme cases). Merchants typically don’t report earnings back to Cartera until the purchase has shipped, is picked up, or is completed. With some merchants, earnings may be split if items are shipped at different times.
  • Days to Post information is available on each merchant’s page
  • Bonus miles via AAdvantage eShopping: bonus miles from promotions can take up to 10 weeks to post
  • Hotels via AAdvantage eShopping: If you booked a hotel through AAdvantage eShopping, the booking date will be the transaction date.
• AAdvantage Dining: you will receive an e-mail within a day or two
• AA co-branded Cards: points earned through American Airlines co-branded credit cards are posted after the statement closes each month. Purchases that are made on or before February 29 will count for that program year. Ensure that your AAdvantage # is added to your account
• AA Vacations: miles will post within 2 weeks after travel is complete. A mileage credit may appear in your account after travel for 0 miles but this is not the final amount.

Examples:

• If you book a hotel stay through AAH/RM for the future, the activity date will be the check-in date
• If your flight took place on February 28 and it doesn’t post until March 5, it counts towards the previous program year
• If you place a Blue Apron order on January 10 but it isn’t delivered until January 25, it will post with the January 10 date

The AAdvantage status earning program year starts March 1 and ends on the last day of February.

Offers are loaded once a week into an account. The more cards that are added to the account, the more likely offers are to appear.