Here's How to Enter to Win 500,000 American Airlines Miles — Without Buying a Cruise

We've seen some solid promotions recently from American Airlines Vacations — including the ongoing opportunity to score 20,000 bonus American Airlines miles for booking a package to Asia, Australia or New Zealand. TPG contributor Katie Genter just returned from one of those promo bookings, scoring almost 36,000 total AA miles from a $581 mileage run from San Francisco (SFO) to Beijing (PEK) through Los Angeles (LAX):

And it looks like American Airlines Cruises also wants to drum up interest. Through Nov. 18, you'll earn 2 American Airlines miles per $1 spent — up to a maximum of 20,000 bonus miles — for booking a cruise through AA Cruises. That's in addition to the miles/points you'll earn through your credit card. Check out this guide of the best credit cards for booking cruises.

But, there's also a way to win up to 500,000 AA miles without even booking a cruise. AA Cruises is currently running a Million Miles Sweepstakes:

• One (1) grand prize winner will receive: 500,000 AAdvantage miles and One (1) cruise for two valued at $3,000
• Five (5) first prize winners will receive 100,000 AAdvantage miles

While American Airlines Cruises would love it if you booked a cruise, all sweepstakes must have a "no purchase necessary" way to enter the contest. And this sweepstakes is no exception. In order to get a free entry, all you need to do is sign up for the AA Cruises weekly newsletter through this form through Jan. 31, 2019:

Note that AA Cruises values AA miles at 1.99 cents per mile for the Approximate Retail Value (ARV) for each prize. That means that the Grand Prize is worth $12,950 and each First Prize is worth $1,990. Winners will have to pay taxes on this amount of winnings. If you win, note that you can challenge the valuation of these miles — although 1.99 cents per mile isn't as atrocious as the valuation of miles in other contests.