The latest program to announce a complete revamp is American Airlines’ AAdvantage program. We were expecting a devaluation, because when an airline announces “enhancements” they usually aren’t in our favor, but this time AA is only changing elite qualification requirements and a new way to earn elite status through credit card spending. 

There Are No Award Chart Changes at This Time

Since we’ve all been expecting it, let’s get this out of the way. At this time American is not introducing any award chart changes.

It’s no lie that there’s some great ways to redeem American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

There are two credit cards with large sign-up bonuses that are set to expire this week.

The CitiBusiness/AAdvantage Platinum Select World MasterCard: 70,000 bonus American Airlines miles for spending $4,000 on the new card within three months of account opening. You must apply by today (October 9, 2018) to qualify for this bonus offer. 
The Citi ThankYou Premier: 60,000 bonus ThankYou Points for spending $4,000 on the new card within three months of account opening.

I tweeted this deal first from @MileValueAlerts. Follow @MileValueAlerts on Twitter and follow these directions to get a text message every time I tweet from that account. I tweet from @MileValueAlerts only a few times a month because it is designed to be used only for the best and most limited-time deals–like mistake fares–so that you aren’t bombarded by text messages.

American Airlines and United are in a fare ware right now, both offering cheap roundtrip economy fares to Hawaii.

For a limited time, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select World Elite™ MasterCard® is offering 60,000 bonus American Airlines miles after spending $3,000 in the first three months. While we don't know when exactly, according to the Points Guy, this 60k bonus is disappearing soon.

Credit card links have been removed from posts and added to the menu bar at the top of every page of MileValue under the heading Top Travel Credit Cards.

American Airlines miles are currently one of the most valuable airline miles for economy awards because of off peak awards. During some months of the year, your favorite destination can cost up to a 1/4 fewer miles to travel to.

United, American, and Southwest are all offering bonuses for shopping through their portals. The bonuses are in addition to what you’d already be earning by shopping through the portal. Shopping portals allow you to earn miles by making your normal online purchases through your favorite online stores. Just by starting at the loyalty program’s portal and using its link to your favorite online retailer, you can get extra miles for your purchases.

With each holiday shopping promotion, the more you spend, the higher your return is.

Update: The 75,000 mile offer for the Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite MasterCard ends tomorrow (Thursday), so if you want the elevated bonus, apply by then! 

For a limited time, the Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite MasterCard is now offering a whopping 75,000 bonus American Airlines miles but for a higher minimum spending requirement of $7,500 within three months of opening the card

This is a large jump from the previous offer of 50,000 miles after spending $5,000.

The Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite MasterCard is a great card for many people

I tweeted this deal first from @MileValueAlerts. Follow @MileValueAlerts on Twitter and follow these directions to get a text message every time I tweet from that account. I tweet from @MileValueAlerts only a few times a month because it is designed to be used only for the best and most limited-time deals–like mistake fares–so that you aren’t bombarded by text messages.

American Airlines is offering roundtrip economy flights starting at $400 from numerous cities in the United States to Amsterdam. Available travel dates span from the mid November of this year through April 2018.

I am updating this post in light of the fact that American Airlines has added a new award rule: International awards are now limited to four segments per one-way and domestic to three per one-way. While it's never a great thing when further restrictions are put in place, this one probably won't affect tons of you--but those that redeem AAdvantage miles often should be aware. 

Let's talk about constructing American Airlines awards.