American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp Overview
The American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® Card offers the ability to earn frequent flyer miles with no annual fee. For infrequent American flyers looking for a starter rewards card, the AAdvantage MileUp card fits the bill. However, with the limited perks and card protection benefits, other options are worth considering. Card rating*: ⭐⭐⭐
*Card review based on the opinions of the TPG editorial board and not influenced by the card issuer.
When it comes to making your choices First travel rewards credit cardyou have a lot of options.
American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp is American’s entry-level AAdvantage card in airline co-branded card line. This means you’ll earn American Airlines AAdvantage miles on the card.
One of the biggest factors in choosing a co-branded airline credit card is how often you fly with the airline. Are you flying enough to take advantage of this airline’s benefits? Or would you be better suited to a card that earns direct cash or another more flexible currency? And is it worth making an annual cash payment?
To qualify for an AAdvantage MileUp card, you need one credit score from 670 or more.
Let’s dive into answering these questions about the MileUp card to see if this no-annual-fee card is right for you.
Information about the AAdvantage MileUp card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Advantages and disadvantages of MileUp
| Advantage | Defect |
|---|---|
|
|
AAdvantage MileUp Sign Up Bonus
New cardholders can earn 15,000 AAdvantage miles after spending $500 on purchases within the first three months of account opening, which is TPG’s June 2024 valuation set at $255.
Daily newsletter
Gift your inbox with the TPG Daily newsletter
Join over 700,000 readers to get breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive offers from TPG experts
With no annual fees and low spending requirements, this is certainly a reasonable offer but far from the norm Most attractive offers on American Airlines cards.
If you already have another AA card, you can also earn bonuses on the MileUp card; you cannot earn a bonus again if you have received a new account bonus for your AA MileUp account in the last 48 months.
It could be a good opportunity to earn extra AA miles without paying an annual fee.
AAdvantage MileUp Benefits
While it doesn’t have any high-value perks, MileUp does have some benefits that US flyers should keep in mind:
- Save 25% on in-flight purchases: You will receive discounts on in-flight food and beverage purchases (but not on third-party managed in-flight Wi-Fi)
- Unlimited kilometers: There is no limit to the number of US miles you earn. Redeem them on flights, upgrades, car rentals, and hotel stays (although flights will be the most valuable redemptions).
Unfortunately, Citi has taken away most of the travel and shopping protection benefits it offers on most of its credit cards.
Additionally, the MileUp card also has a 3% foreign transaction fee, so you won’t want to use it when traveling abroad. Instead, you might want to consider The card has no foreign transaction fees.
The savings from in-flight deals can be a nice little bonus if you really need to buy snacks or meals. For example, if a family of four takes two round-trip flights per year and each person buys a $10 sandwich on the plane in each direction, the family will save $40 per year with MileUp tag. That’s not bad for a card with no annual fee.
Earn miles on AAdvantage MileUp
Here’s how much you can expect to earn on purchases with the MileUp card:
- 2 miles per dollar spent on eligible American Airlines purchases
- 2 miles per dollar at grocery stores (including grocery delivery services)
- 1 mile per dollar on all other purchases
It may make sense to put your daily grocery spending, in addition to your qualifying American Airlines purchases, onto your MileUp card. However, keep in mind that many card options have lucrative earning rates on grocery purchases. Like many issuers, Citi excludes discount stores and warehouse clubs from its grocery store bonus rates.
Related: Best grocery credit cards
Redeem miles on the AAdvantage MileUp card
As a co-branded airline credit card, you can only redeem miles earned for travel with American Airlines and its partners. Your points can also be used on Oneworld and non-alliance partners, such as Etihad, Air Tahiti Mountain And Japanese airlines.
Additionally, you can redeem US miles on:
- Flight upgrade
- Member of the Admirals Club
- Goods
- Rent a car
- At the hotel
- Charity organization
However, non-flight redemptions almost always yield low redemption rates.
Miles earned on the MileUp card have no expiration date as long as you earn or redeem them every 24 months. This is great if you intend to take a big trip in the future. While we don’t recommend hoarding points (they can lose value at any time), you can spend years accumulating AAdvantage miles and redeem them at any time, as long as you occasionally use card.
Related: The best uses of American Airlines AAdvantage miles
What cards compete with the AAdvantage MileUp card?
As mentioned earlier, there are many options for entry-level rewards credit cards. Even within AA’s Citi card line, there are several to choose from (in addition to the co-branded partnership with Barclays).
Related: Best travel rewards credit cards
Information about Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select has been independently collected by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Is AAdvantage MileUp worth it?
AA MileUp probably isn’t the card for you if you want perks like free checked bags or priority boarding. However, if you can forgo the perks and commit to earning AAdvantage miles or live near a US hub, this could be a valuable rewards starter card.
Related: Best starter travel credit card
Bottom line
If you want to earn status and miles with American Airlines faster, the MileUp card can be a great start. The lack of an annual fee makes it perfect for those who don’t travel often enough to justify paying a fee. AAdvantage Mil Up also has a steady rate of return on groceries and goods in the US.
However, if you fly American Airlines more than a few times per year or if you’re looking for a card that offers more lucrative perks or travel rewards, there are better options.
