This new cruise offer could get you thousands of American AAdvantage miles

Looking to book a cruise in the next few weeks? If you act fast, you can get thousands of extra American Airlines AAdvantage miles.

On Tuesday, American Airlines Cruises kicked off a promotion offering customers 2 AAdvantage miles for every dollar spent on a cruise fare (the base amount excluding taxes and fees). That’s twice the normal offer of 1 mile for every dollar spent.

For example, if you spend $10,000 on a cruise fare during the promotion, you can earn 20,000 AAdvantage miles.

That’s a solid number of AAdvantage miles. As of TPG’s September 2024 valuations, AAdvantage miles are worth 1.6 cents each, meaning 20,000 miles would get you $320 in value.

To look at it another way, that 20,000 miles could get you two free flights in the contiguous U.S. and Canada when booking an award ticket at the AAdvantage program’s lowest award rate of 7,500 miles per ticket — with lots of miles left over.

An opportunity for even more miles

The new double miles offer, notably, can be combined with a longstanding American Airlines Cruises promotion that brings additional miles for customers who book with an American Airlines AAdvantage credit card.

As has long been 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.

Combine the two promotions, and you can score 3 miles for every dollar spent on a cruise fare. That would be 30,000 AAdvantage miles for a $10,000 cruise.

Note that you must book soon to get the bonus miles. The double mileage offer is only available through Oct. 22, 2024. It applies to new bookings for cruises scheduled to take place between now and Dec. 31, 2025.

Details of the bonus miles offer

Among the caveats to the new double miles offer: 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.

The fine print also states that:

There is no limit to how many miles you can earn.
You must provide your American Airlines AAdvantage number 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 70,000 bonus miles after you spend $7,000 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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