Get up to 200,000 AAdvantage bonus miles with this limited-time cruise offer

American Airlines fans, take note: You can get some serious bonus miles in the coming weeks by booking a cruise.

On Friday, American Airlines Cruises unveiled a new limited-time offer for customers that will offer up to 100,000 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles when booking a cruise with one of four luxury lines: Seabourn, Silversea Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Explora Journeys.

As part of the same promotion, cruisers can get even more AAdvantage miles — up to 200,000 — when booking a cruise with expedition cruise specialist Hurtigruten. Additionally, cruisers can get up to 100,000 AAdvantage bonus miles when booking a voyage with upscale lines Oceania Cruises and Virgin Voyages.

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Four other cruise lines that are included in the promotion at lower bonus mileage earning rates are Paul Gauguin Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise Line. As part of the offer, cruisers can get up to 50,000 bonus miles when booking a trip with Paul Gauguin, up to 25,000 bonus miles when booking a trip with Norwegian or Royal Caribbean and up to 10,000 bonus miles when booking a trip with Carnival.

The promotion is one of the most notable ever from American Airlines Cruises. Never before has the booking site included so many cruise lines in an “up to 100,000 bonus miles” offer at the same time.

Bonus miles by line and itinerary

The specific number of bonus miles you can earn as part of the promotion will depend on the brand that you book and other factors. In some cases, the highest bonus mile offers are only available for cruises to specific destinations or cruises of a specific length. In some cases, bonus mile earning is contingent on booking a cruise for a specific year or even a particular season.

Below is a line-by-line breakdown of the bonus miles available.

Hurtigruten

Customers will get 200,000 bonus miles when booking suites only on Antarctica voyages of 21 nights or longer. For all other expedition sailings of seven nights or longer, the offer is 25,000 bonus miles for those booking a balcony cabin or suite.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises

The offer brings 100,000 bonus miles to those booking Regent sailings of 65 nights or more. Other bonus mileage levels include:

25,000 miles for 2023 Europe and Mediterranean cruises
50,000 miles for select 2023 and 2024 departures

Seabourn

The offer brings 100,000 bonus miles to those booking a world cruise with Seabourn. Other bonus mileage levels include:

25,000 miles for all 2023 to 2025 departures, excluding expedition cruises
25,000 miles for 2023 and 2024 cruises on the expedition ship Seabourn Venture

Silversea Cruises

The offer brings 100,000 bonus miles to those booking a winter sailing of 20 nights or more with Silversea. Other bonus mileage levels include:

25,000 miles for winter sailings of six to seven nights
50,000 miles for winter sailings of eight to 19 nights

The bonus miles offer is applicable to sailings during the 2023-24 winter season and the following winter of 2024-25.

Explora Journeys

Booking an Explora Journeys sailing of 13 nights or longer will snag you 100,000 bonus miles. Other earning levels include:

25,000 miles for all sailings of six to 12 nights

Oceania Cruises

Earn 100,000 miles when you book a suite on an Oceania sailing of 40 nights or longer. Other earning levels and booking requirements include:

50,000 miles for a balcony cabin on a sailing of 40 nights or longer
30,000 miles for a suite on a sailing of 20 to 39 nights
20,000 miles for a balcony cabin on a sailing of 20 to 39 nights
25,000 miles for a suite on a sailing of up to 19 nights in length
15,000 miles for a balcony cabin on a sailing of up to 19 nights in length

Virgin Voyages

Get 100,000 miles when you book a suite on a Virgin sailing of 11 nights or longer. Other earning levels include:

20,000 miles for booking a balcony on a sailing of 11 nights or longer
50,000 miles for booking a suite on an Australia sailing of 10 or fewer nights
15,000 miles for booking a balcony on an Australia sailing of 10 or fewer nights
50,000 miles for booking a suite on a Mediterranean sailing of seven or more nights (for 2024 sailings only)
15,000 miles for booking a balcony cabin on a Mediterranean sailing of seven or more nights (for 2024 sailings only)
20,000 miles for booking a suite on a Caribbean cruise of eight or fewer nights (for 2024 and 2025 sailings)
10,000 miles for booking a balcony cabin on a Caribbean cruise of eight or fewer nights (for 2024 and 2025 sailings)

Paul Gauguin Cruises

The offer brings 50,000 miles for booking a balcony or suite on a 2023 or 2024 sailing of seven nights or longer.

Norwegian Cruise Line

The offer brings 25,000 miles for booking a suite on a 2024 sailing that departs in April, May or June and lasts five nights or longer. Other earning levels include:

10,000 miles for booking a balcony cabin on a 2024 sailing that departs in April, May or June and lasts five nights or longer

Royal Caribbean

The offer brings 25,000 miles for booking a suite on a 2023 sailing of seven nights or longer. Other earning levels include:

15,000 miles for booking a balcony cabin on a 2023 sailing of seven nights or longer
10,000 miles for booking a balcony cabin or suite on a 2023 sailing of six or fewer nights

Carnival Cruise Line

The offer brings 10,000 miles for booking a suite on a 2023 or 2024 sailing of seven nights or longer. Additionally, customers will get 5,000 miles for booking a balcony cabin on a 2023 or 2024 sailing of seven nights or longer.

An opportunity to double dip

The bonus miles available as part of the promotion are in addition to the normal mileage earnings available from booking at American Airlines Cruises. The booking site offers a baseline mileage earnings level of 1 mile for every dollar spent on a cruise (not including dollars allocated to port charges, port expenses, taxes and the cost of travel insurance).

Additionally, American Airlines Cruises offers 1 additional mile for every dollar spent on a cruise (not including dollars allocated to port charges, port expenses, taxes and the cost of travel insurance) when you pay with an American Airlines AAdvantage credit card.

The amount of bonus miles available with the promotion is significant. TPG currently values American Airlines AAdvantage miles at 1.77 cents each, which means that by our calculations, 100,000 miles are worth $1,770. Even someone only qualifying for a 25,000 miles bonus would be receiving $442.50 in value, according to TPG’s mileage valuations.

Note that you must act fast to get the bonus miles. The accelerated mileage offer is only available through Sept. 31.

The fine print

Among the caveats to the offer: Bonus miles are earned per cabin and are awarded to only one passenger per cruise booking. In addition:

The offer is only available for new bookings
Customers must book through the American Airlines Cruises portal
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 has been completed
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

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). 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 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.

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