Act fast: American AAdvantage offer brings big bonus miles when booking cruises

Big news, American Airlines fans: You can get some serious bonus miles this month by booking a cruise.

American Airlines Cruises on Monday launched a new promotion offering customers 2 American Airlines AAdvantage miles for every dollar spent on a cruise fare (the base rate before taxes and fees). That’s twice the normal offer of 1 mile for every dollar spent.

For more cruise news, guides and tips, sign up for TPG’s cruise newsletter.

For example, if you spend $8,000 on a cruise fare during the promotion, you can earn up to 16,000 AAdvantage miles.

That’s a solid number of AAdvantage miles. TPG currently values AAdvantage miles at 1.7 cents each, meaning that 16,000 miles would be worth $272 at our valuation.

In other words, that 16,000 miles could get you two free flights in the contiguous U.S. and Canada when booking a miles ticket at the AAdvantage program’s lowest award rate of 7,500 miles per ticket.

An opportunity to double-dip

The double miles offer is part of a bigger promotion this month at American Airlines Cruises called America’s Largest Cruise Sale that brings additional savings and perks in some cases, depending on the cruise you book (on top of any savings the cruise lines are offering).

The additional savings and perks by line are:

Royal Caribbean: Up to $100 in onboard credit plus a specialty dining credit
Norwegian Cruise Line: Prepaid gratuities for two passengers
Carnival Cruise Line: Prepaid gratuities for all guests
Celebrity Cruises: Up to $200 in onboard credit on select sailings plus exclusive rates
Cunard: Up to $300 in onboard credit
Holland America: Gratuities included for two passengers and exclusive rates
Princess Cruises: Up to $100 in onboard credit and exclusive rates
Princess Cruises (for bookings made June 23-30): Onboard savings booklets that brings up to $1,800 in savings.
Oceania Cruises: Up to $150 in onboard credit and exclusive rates
Regent Seven Seas Cruises: Up to $2,000 in savings
Silversea Cruises: $500 in savings
AmaWaterways: Prepaid gratuities for all guests on select 2024 sailings
Azamara Cruises: Up to $500 in onboard credit and exclusive rates
Seabourn: $300 in onboard credit and exclusive rates (only available for bookings made June 24-30)
Viking: Up to a $200 onboard credit

Additionally, you can get even more miles if you book the cruise using an American Airlines AAdvantage credit card. As is always the case when booking through American Airlines Cruises, you can get 1 additional AAdvantage mile for every dollar spent on a cruise using an American Airlines AAdvantage card.

That means that you can score up to 3 miles for every dollar spent on a cruise fare with this new promotion. That’d be 24,000 AAdvantage miles for an $8,000 cruise.

Note that you have to act fast to get the bonus miles. The accelerated mileage offer is only available through June 28. It applies to new bookings for cruises scheduled to take place between Tuesday, June 11, 2024, and Dec. 31, 2025.

Details of the bonus mile offer

Unlike some airline frequent flyer program offers for cruises, this new bonus mile offer is available to customers who book any category of cabin or suite — not just higher-category cabins.

Among the caveats: Bonus miles are earned per cabin and are awarded to only one passenger per cruise booking. To qualify, customers must book through the American Airlines Cruises portal.

Also, the number of miles customers earn from the promotion is based on the total cruise purchase price, excluding port charges, port expenses, taxes and insurance.

Other fine print:

There is no limit to how many miles you can earn.
Your American Airlines AAdvantage number must be provided prior to embarkation.
Miles are posted to the member’s account six to eight weeks after the cruise ends.
Cruises must be paid in U.S. currency.
AAdvantage members will earn Loyalty Points for base miles earned when booking at American Airlines Cruises but not for bonus miles earned during the promotion.

Which credit card should I use to book?

You can maximize your purchase by using an American Airlines AAdvantage credit card, such as the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (see rates and fees). As noted above, it’ll earn you additional bonus miles when booking a cruise through American Airlines Cruises. This card is currently offering 100,000 bonus miles after you spend $10,000 on purchases in the first three months your account is open.

If you don’t have an American Airlines card, it’s best to use a card that earns bonus points on cruises. A good option is the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, which earns 2 points per dollar spent on travel, including cruises. Right now, you can earn 75,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.

Planning a cruise? Start with these stories: