Quick Points: Earn 75,000-plus American miles and Loyalty Points in a week with Rocketmiles

With the "gamification" of American Airlines Loyalty Points — which lets you earn status without flying — there's been a lot of talk around the online booking platform Rocketmiles.

Rocketmiles works much like any online travel agency (i.e., Expedia or Booking.com). But you can opt to earn your preferred airline currency when booking hotels to earn 500 to 10,000 airline miles per night. And yes, if you elect American AAdvantage, you'll earn Loyalty Points in addition to AAdvantage miles even if you book the stay for a friend.

Here's what you need to know about booking rooms on Rocketmiles.

You can earn a ton of miles and Loyalty Points

First and foremost, since Rocketmiles is considered an online travel agency, don't expect to earn hotel points on your reservation. If you have hotel elite status, this probably isn't the way for you to book stays as it's unlikely your benefits will be honored when booking this way.

But think about hotels that don't participate in major hotel loyalty programs (i.e., boutique or other independent hotels where you aren't trading up hotel points). The beauty of Rocketmiles is that you can earn airline miles on reservations that normally accrue nothing. Also, you can earn credit card points in addition to American miles and Loyalty Points booking through Rocketmiles.

Let's do a side-by-side comparison of weeklong hotel stays.

Stay Hotel Waikiki

A weeklong stay at the Stay Hotel Waikiki earns 62,000 miles on Rocketmiles. That's more than enough to qualify for Gold status and within reach of Platinum status.

When I went to check out for the stay, Rocketmiles offered me an additional 21,000 miles for an extra $455. That's effectively buying American miles at 2.17 cents apiece, which is cheaper than buying miles on American's website.

Additionally, you'll earn 21,000 Loyalty Points by choosing this add-on (as long as the 21,000 miles don't post as a bonus; if they post as a bonus, they won't earn Loyalty Points). On the other hand, buying miles on American's website doesn't earn Loyalty Points, making this $455 add-on at checkout even more of a deal.

So you spend a week at a bare-bones hotel in Honolulu and spend $3,000. The result? By earning 27.6 miles and Loyalty Points per dollar, you've earned 83,000 miles (worth $1,469 at TPG's valuations) and 83,000 Loyalty Points.

That means you've passed the 75,000 Loyalty Point requirement for AAdvantage Platinum with one hotel reservation.

Before racing to the Rocketmiles website to book this stay, though, make sure you compare the price of the stay if you booked another way.

For example, this same reservation with an identical cancellation policy is roughly 50% of the cost on Expedia's website (note, the Rocketmiles rate doesn't include the resort fee).

In this case, you might consider booking outside Rocketmiles, given the price gap between the two booking engines.

Sofitel Washington DC Lafayette Square

Let's look at a case where it could make more sense to book through Rocketmiles.

A week at the Sofitel Washington, D.C., earns 57,000 miles and Loyalty Points. At checkout, the buy-up option is the same as in Honolulu — 21,000 miles and Loyalty Points for $455. That brings in a more modest 22 miles and Loyalty Points per dollar.

The same room and cancellation policy cost $3,287.31 on Expedia.

Since Rocketmiles excludes the resort fee ($241.43) from the total, Expedia is only about $30 cheaper than Rocketmiles. So which one would you book with?

TPG values 57,000 American miles at $1,009, and if you add the extra 21,000 miles to your booking, you will earn a total of 78,000 miles (worth $1,381) and AAdvantage Platinum (worth $1,720).

Related: Using Rocketmiles to earn points, miles or gift cards on hotel stays

Processing time

This is a quick one, but you need to know it since we're coming up on Feb. 28 when your Loyalty Points balance resets.

It takes a week or two from the time you check out for the miles and Loyalty Points to be posted to your account. It's unclear if American posts the miles and Loyalty Points from when you stay or when they're posted to your account.

To be safe, complete all Rocketmiles activities by mid-February to count toward your 2022 status. Anything posted in March will likely count toward your 2023 status.

Bottom line

While the trade-off is that you won't earn hotel points, your hotel elite status benefits won't apply, and rates tend to be a bit higher than other platforms, Rocketmiles should be on your radar.

If you're booking a stay for a friend or family member, you should be able to earn the miles and Loyalty Points for their stay. Just enter your membership number and book the room in their name.

While the earn rate tends to differ for each loyalty program, you can earn points and miles from Rocketmiles stays with all the major airline programs, except Delta SkyMiles.

Occasionally, you'll find the miles you earn on Rocketmiles will be less expensive than buying miles outright. So, if you look at it that way, who doesn't love a free hotel stay?