There has perhaps never been a better time to easily earn American Airlines AAdvantage miles – or, more importantly, to earn a lot of them quickly – than right now.

Even if you never plan to fly with American Airlines, the Dallas-based carrier's AAdvantage mileage program is incredibly valuable. Their amazing array of partner airlines makes AA miles among the best to fuel your future travels, allowing you to book flights with Qatar Airways, Japan Airlines, and many more. That's what makes this opportunity so special … and it won't be around for long.

Here's how you can quickly and easily earn 145,000 American Airlines miles – and why you might want to.

 

How to Earn American Airlines Miles Fast

These days, the easiest way to earn miles isn't by flying. It's through credit cards—especially when credit cards offer big sign-up bonuses.

Most airlines offer these co-branded credit cards through just one bank. Delta has its suite of SkyMiles American Express credit cards, while United Airlines has a handful of Chase credit cards.

But American Airlines is different. They offer co-branded credit cards with two different banks: Citi and Barclays. The Barclays card is a holdover from the merger of American and U.S. Airways way back in 2015, yet both credit card relationships have survived to this day.

Why does that matter? It means you can apply for and open credit cards from both banks – and earn the sign-up bonus on each … at least for now. Last fall, American inked a new deal with Citi that will make it the sole issuer of co-branded AA cards beginning sometime in 2026. When that happens, AAdvantage cards issued by Barclays will no longer be available to new applicants and it will end an easy path to pile up AA miles. 

Let's be clear: Credit cards are serious business. You should never open one credit card, let alone two or more, and spend money you don't have just for the sake of earning miles. If you can't pay off every charge in full, it's not worth it. But if you're financially responsible, this is a great opportunity.

You'll want to make sure you have an American Airlines AAdvantage account. That way, you can use your account number on both card applications.

 

Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®

To start, there's American's relationship with Citi, which means you can also apply for the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®, which is currently offering a big, limited-time bonus of 75, 000 AAdvantage Miles after spending $3,500 within the first four months of card membership. Plus the card's $99 annual fee is waived for the first year of card membership.

Read our full review of the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard!

All information about the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Card has been collected independently by Thrifty Traveler and has not been reviewed by the issuer.

 

citi platinum select american airlines card

 

Learn more about the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® (Full disclosure, this is not an affiliate link).

 

AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard from Barclays

Then there's the AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard from Barclays. Few credit cards offer a better, more lucrative sign-up bonus offer than this one: Just by opening the card, making a purchase, and paying the card's $99 annual fee, you can earn 70,000 American Airlines miles.

While most credit cards require you to spend $3,000 or more in the first few months to unlock a big welcome bonus, that's not the case here. Make one purchase – whether it's a pack of gum, a cup of coffee, a flight, or something else – and you can earn a quick and easy 70,000 miles. These are some of the easiest points and miles you will ever earn.

Read our full review of the AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard!

All information about the AAdvantage Aviator Red Mastercard has been collected independently by Thrifty Traveler and has not been reviewed by the issuer.

 

barclays aa aviator red credit card

 

Learn more and apply for the AAdvantage Aviator Red World Elite Mastercard (full disclosure, this not an affiliate link).

 

Apply for Both

Put these two cards together and spend just $3,500 on the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Card in the first four months and bam: You've got 145,000 American Airlines miles.

That's an easier (and cheaper) path to pile up more than 145,000 miles than you'll find with almost any other airline. Of course, it requires opening two credit cards and responsibly meeting the minimum spending requirement.

If you don't want to keep holding these cards past the first year and keep paying annual fees, you don't have to. You can close – or even downgrade the card to a no-annual-fee version – and you won't lose your AAdvantage miles. Once you earn them, they're yours for good.

Read more: What Happens to Your Points and Miles After You Close a Credit Card?

 

How Far Can 145K American Miles Take You?

“What can I even do with 145,000 AA miles?” you may ask. The answer? A lot.

Whether your goal is to fly in some of the world's best business & first-class seats or simply fly in economy for a very reasonable price, AA miles offer something for most travelers.

 

 

Book Japan Airlines Business or First Class

Looking to fly to Japan … in style? When you’re flying 10-plus hours to Asia, it’s worth some extra miles to fly in comfort. 

Japan Airlines has one of the world’s best business class seats out there, and they're called SkySuites. In the right seat, it’s both spacious and insanely private. Some of the best food you’ll find in the sky doesn’t hurt either. After our sterling review of Japan Airlines Business Class, we’re convinced it’s one of the best ways to use your AA miles – no matter the plane.

 

earn American airlines miles

 

And if you're really lucky … you might even get to ride in one of JAL's new business class suites. So far, you'll only find this new seat on the airline's Airbus A350-1000 aircraft flying between New York City (JFK) or Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) and Tokyo-Haneda (HND).

 

japan airlines new business class

 

The best part? This incredible flight – which normally costs $5,000 or more – is just 60,000 AAdvantage miles each way. With 145,000 miles, you've got more than enough for a roundtrip flight.

 

Japan Airlines business class AA miles

 

Want to fly first class to Tokyo? Japan Airlines' First Class can be booked for only 80,000 AAdvantage miles each way. And we think it's worth it. Check out our full review of a flight from Tokyo to Chicago.

Read more: The Best Ways to Use American AAdvantage Miles

 

Get to the Caribbean or Mexico for Less

How does a trip to the beach for 25,000 miles round-trip or less sound?

With AAdvantage miles, it's easy to get to Mexico or an island in the Caribbean for cheap. Thanks to low rates and plenty of flights, there's no better way to book a trip south than with AAdvantage miles.

 

AA Award Booking (MIA-AUA)

 

Book Qatar Airways Qsuites

Qatar Qsuites are the best business class in the world, bar none. With great meals, service, and a ton of space and privacy thanks to a door at your suite, the 15-plus hour flights to Doha (DOH) feel more like just five hours. And you can book it for just 70,000 AAdvantage miles each way. 

It's one of our favorite ways to use AA miles, period. That's why we're always looking for availability to book Qsuites with AA miles, letting our Thrifty Traveler Premium members know with an instant alert. In fact, we've sent more than a dozen alerts to book Qsuites in the last year alone!

 

qsuites aadvantage

 

Unfortunately, actually booking Qsuites with AAdvantage miles has gotten much more challenging recently: The airline has gotten incredibly stingy with releasing the award availability to actually book these suites. In many cases, your best bet is booking 11-plus months in advance using miles from Qatar or British Airways instead.

But when you can make it work with a deal like the one above, we'd argue that American Airlines miles are the single best way to book Qsuites. Here's why:

  • You can fly nonstop from a dozen U.S. cities to Doha for 70,000 miles
  • Or you can start from your hometown airport with AA service and make it to Doha with one stop for the same price
  • But you can also connect onward almost anywhere in the Middle East, India, or even the Maldives for … you guessed it, 70,000 AAdvantage miles

But there's one Qsuites deal that's arguably even better for just a few thousand AA miles more…

You can fly Qsuites from the U.S. to Doha or the Middle East for 70,000 miles … or you can tack on another 10-hour flight to the tip of South Africa for just 5,000 more American miles.

Flying in a Qatar Airways Qsuite for just 75,000 AAdvantage miles all the way from the States to Johannesburg (JNB), Cape Town (CPT), or anywhere in Africa is tough to beat, especially on the long journey to South Africa that clocks in at roughly 24 hours of flight time. It's not just one of the best ways to use American AAdvantage miles – it's one of the best deals in the world of points and miles, period.

 

dfw to cape town booking with aa miles

 

Read our full review of the Qsuites experience from Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) to Doha (DOH)!

 

Domestic Flights from 6K Miles Each Way

Over the last few years, American Airlines has begun selling domestic flights for as low as 6,000 miles each way – down from a previous norm of 7,500 miles or even 12,500 miles.

It can be a bit tricky to find these fares – and will likely require some trial and error – but no matter if you're flying from an AA hub like Phoenix (PHX) or Miami (MIA), or even a small regional airport like Sioux Falls, South Dakota (FSD), these low fares are out there and can save you a boatload of cash or miles.

 

AA 6k award ticket FSD-SAT

 

After years of inching toward it, American finally swapped out its ironclad award chart and embraced dynamic pricing, meaning award rates to book these AA flights with miles are constantly changing. While you could easily view that as a bad thing, there's an upshot: These discounted rates are becoming even more common if you time it right.

 

Bottom Line

There is never a bad time to earn American Airlines miles. Great partner carriers and reasonable award rates make AAdvantage miles incredibly valuable, even if you never plan to fly American. But most importantly, no other airline makes it so easy to pile up 145,000-plus miles so quickly – or cheaply.

Don't sleep on this opportunity as you are thinking about your future travels.