Earn up to 50,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles for Travel to Australia and New Zealand

Oct. 21, 2016

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3 min read

Earn up to 50,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles for Travel to Australia and New Zealand

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Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.

American Airlines periodically offers mileage bonuses to select destinations. For example, you can earn up to 30,000 bonus miles for flights to Europe this fall. Today, AA has launched a new promotion that caught our eye.

Planning to head "down under" next year? If so, American Airlines wants to give you an extra incentive to fly AA or Qantas metal. You can earn up to 50,000 bonus miles for flights down to Australia or New Zealand.

Earn up to 50,000 bonus AA miles through this new promotion.

Here's how it works: Now through December 31, register for the promotion and book travel from the US to Australia or New Zealand. Flights must be booked through American Airlines for flights on American Airlines or Qantas planes. Travel must be between February 1, 2017 and May 31, 2017 to qualify for the promotion.

You'll earn an increasing number of miles for each trip you make. For the first round-trip, you'll get between 1,500 (economy) and 10,000 (first class) miles. Then, you'll earn even more for each of the next two round-trips.

Here's how many miles you'll earn for each flight you take.

The chart notes that only "select economy" fares are valid for this offer. So, we prepared ourselves for the worst and checked the terms and conditions:

Includes First Class fares booked in F, P, or A; Business Class fares booked in, J, R, D or I; Economy Class fares booked in Y, H, K, M, L, W, V, G, Q, N, O or S on American Airlines marketed flights.

Whew. The only two mileage-accruing economy fares not listed are "B" and "W". These fare classes are fairly rare for most travelers, meaning the vast majority of economy tickets will qualify for this promotion. But, make sure to double-check your fare class before booking.

For an economy fare, the 1,500 bonus miles for one round-trip represents just ~$23 in value, based on the latest TPG valuations. The 10,000 bonus for first class travel is just $150 in value, which will pale in comparison to how much you're likely to spend on the flights. Still, if you're planning to fly anyway, you might as well earn the bonus.

Considering the typical cost of flights to Australia and New Zealand, you're probably going to earn more miles from your credit card — especially if you use the right one: The Platinum Card from American Express (5x on flights booked directly with airlines or American Express Travel), Chase Sapphire Reserve, Premier Rewards Gold Card from American Express or Citi Prestige (3x on airfare) or the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on all travel purchases).

Bottom Line

Bonus miles are always nice to get, but this promotion probably isn’t worth planning vacations around. That said, if you'll be traveling to Australia or New Zealand anyway, it only takes a few seconds to register for the promo.

Are you planning to head to Australia or New Zealand next spring?

Featured image by Getty Images/iStockphoto

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.