How to claim missing American Airlines AAdvantage miles
Have you taken a flight recently but noticed that no miles posted to your account? Maybe you forgot to include your frequent flyer number in your reservation.
Fortunately, most airlines allow you to retroactively credit flights to your mileage account up to 12 months after you’ve flown them. So if you've taken any flights in the past year, now is a great time to go back through your tickets and confirm that everything has been properly credited.
For folks just starting in the points and miles game, the good news is that many airlines let you retroactively credit flights you took before signing up for their frequent flyer program. The bad news is you have much less time to credit flights if you haven’t previously enrolled in the program, so it’s important to get on top of it.
Today we’ll take a look at the rules for retroactively crediting American Airlines flights, both in the primary AAdvantage and the Business Extra program.
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How far back can you claim AA miles?
American allows you to request credit for missing flights up to 12 months after flying. The carrier requests that you wait at least three days after flying before requesting missing miles. However, if for any reason you forgot to include your frequent flyer number on your ticket, you can go ahead and submit a claim right away.
Now, if you’re not already a member of the AAdvantage program, you’ve got a much shorter window. You only have six months to sign up and request the miles for an American Airlines flight or 30 days for a partner flight.
Related: Your ultimate guide to American Airlines AAdvantage
How to request missing AA miles online
Requesting missing miles online is very straightforward. All you'll need is your AAdvantage account number, ticket number and flight information.
To request AAdvantage miles for flights you’ve already flown, submit your ticket information using the “Request flight miles” form on American's website. You can usually find your ticket number on either your receipt or boarding pass.
You can use this form for missing miles for American Airlines and most partner airline flights. If you’re missing miles from a partner flight, be sure to review the individual carrier’s page as some, such as Iberia Express and Royal Jordanian, can’t be requested online.
American says that missing miles requests are resolved within 10 days for travel on American Airlines and 30 days for travel on partner airlines.
Related: How to earn miles in the American Airlines AAdvantage program
How to request missing miles from partners
As mentioned above, missing miles for partner airline flights can be requested using the same form as American Airlines flights. However, requesting missing miles for car rental, hotel or other non-airline partners is a bit more complicated.
For non-airline partners, including the AAdvantage dining program, you must contact the partner directly to request your miles. American offers this list of all its partners' contact information so you can get in touch directly and request your miles.
How to request missing Business Extra points
Separate from the main AAdvantage program, American also administers a loyalty program for business customers called Business Extra.
While you might think this program doesn’t apply to you, keep in mind you can be a sole proprietor with just one additional traveling employee to be eligible. Plus, there’s no annual revenue requirement for businesses based in the United States. On top of that, flights credited to AAdvantage can also be credited for Business Extra points, so this is a terrific opportunity to double-dip.
Related: How to use American Airlines Business Extra Points for free flights
Just like with the AAdvantage program, you can retroactively credit flights to your Business Extra account up to 12 months after the flight date. Unlike the main program, flights flown before joining Business Extra are not eligible for retroactive credit. So, if you’re planning on crediting future flights, make sure to enroll soon, so you don’t miss out on any future points.
To submit your request, sign in to your Business Extra account and use the “Flight Credit Request” page to enter the ticket number and passenger details for each flight. Business Extra makes crediting multiple flights even easier than AAdvantage since you can submit up to 15 flights at once online or even more via email. Business Extra only allows credit for flights flown on American, British Airways, Iberia, Finnair, Japan Airlines, or Qantas Airways, so other Oneworld partner flights aren’t eligible.
Related: Here’s how to get your points and miles back after they expire
Boosting your AA balance
Were your missing miles not enough to push you over the edge for an award redemption? You can quickly boost your American Airlines AAdvantage balance by adding one of these cards to your wallet:
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®: Earn 50,000 miles after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.
- CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®: Earn 65,000 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first four months of account opening.
- American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp®: Earn 10,000 miles and a $50 statement credit after you spend $500 on purchases in the first three months of account opening — with no annual fee
The information for the CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum 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.
Related: Choosing the best credit card for American Airlines flyers
Bottom line
There's no need to worry if you forgot to include your AAdvantage number in your booking. Claiming missing miles retroactively is easy and can be done online with just a few clicks. Although existing AAdvantage members have some lenience when requesting retroactive flight credit, if you're new to the loyalty program and only joined after your flight, you'll want to request your miles as soon as possible.
Julian Kheel contributed to this story.
Screenshots courtesy of American Airlines.
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| 3X | Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels. |
| 2X | Earn 2X Miles at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery in the U.S. and at U.S. supermarkets. |
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Why We Chose It
Build your loyalty to Delta by applying for the carrier's mid-tier card option, the Delta SkyMiles Platinum card. The annual fee is quickly recouped by the card's travel perks, such as an application credit to Global Entry or TSA Precheck, annual companion certificate and so much more. Plus you can fast-track to elite status simply through card spend.Pros
- Earn bonus Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) and an Medallion Qualifying Dollar (MQD) waiver when you hit specific spending thresholds with your card within a calendar year
- Receive a Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate each year
- Statement credit for TSA PreCheck/Global Entry fee (up to $100)
- First checked bag free
Cons
- Doesn't make sense if you don't fly Delta
- SkyMiles aren't the most valuable airline currency
- Earn 90,000 bonus miles after you spend $4,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months.
- Receive a Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate each year upon renewal of your Card. Payment of the government imposed taxes and fees of no more than $80 for roundtrip domestic flights (for itineraries with up to four flight segments) is required. Baggage charges and other restrictions apply. See terms and conditions for details.
- Enjoy your first checked bag free on Delta flights. Plus enjoy Main Cabin 1 Priority Boarding and settle into your seat sooner.
- New: Card Members get 15% off when using miles to book Award Travel on Delta flights through delta.com and the Fly Delta app. Discount not applicable to partner-operated flights or to taxes and fees.
- Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels.
- Earn 2X Miles at restaurants worldwide including takeout and delivery in the U.S., and at U.S. supermarkets.
- Earn 1X Mile on all other eligible purchases.
- Enjoy a per-visit rate of $50 per person for Card Members and up to two guests to enter the Delta Sky Club when traveling on a Delta flight.
- Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® after you apply through any Authorized Enrollment Provider. If approved for Global Entry, at no additional charge, you will receive access to TSA PreCheck.
- Earn up to 20,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) with Status Boost® per year. After you spend $25,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year, you can earn 10,000 MQMs up to two times per year, getting you closer to Medallion® Status. MQMs are used to determine Medallion® Status and are different than miles you earn toward flights.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- $250 Annual Fee.
- Terms Apply.
- See Rates & Fees