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The AAdvantage dining program lets you earn AAdvantage miles at partner restaurants on up to 5 miles/dollar. Gone are the days where AAdvantage members could only earn miles through flying or credit card spending.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the details on what this program is about and how you can benefit from it.
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What Is The AAdvantage Dining Program?
While the traditional AAdvantage program lets you earn miles on flights, the dining program lets you earn miles on dining. Just link your credit card to AA dining and start spending on eligible partner restaurants.
The perks of having an AA dining account is it allows you to “double-dip” on dining expenses that you would have paid for regardless if you had an AA dining account or not. It’s basically free miles.
Not to mention, American Airlines has adopted a much simpler AAdvantage elite status qualification system and has replaced EQSs, EQMs, and EQDs with one qualification metric – the Loyalty Point.
This means that earning an elite status won’t be limited to your flight activities alone. Every mile you earn from AA dining, AA shopping, and credit card spending will be equivalent to one Loyalty Point.
How To Sign Up For AA Dining
You need to have an AAdvantage membership first before you can sign up for membership. Once done, just go to the AA Dining website and click the “Sign In/Join Now” button.
You will be redirected to this initial login page, where you will be required to type in your AAdvantage number/username and password. Just fill it out, and you will be taken to the AA dining registration page.
AA dining runs a few introductory offers for new members. As of this writing, there’s a bonus of 1000 AAdvantage miles for new members who are able to spend $25 within 30 days of signing up.
On the registration page, just fill out the necessary information to complete your registration. If you were opt-in to the AA dining newsletter (the check box under our email address), your account will be upgraded from a Basic membership to a Select membership (we will explain more of this below).
Once you’re done signing up, log in to your AA Dining account and go to Account center > Linked cards > Linked more cards. Type in the details of your card and click “Link card” so you can start earning miles from partner restaurants.
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AAdvantage Dining Membership Tiers
There are three tiers in the AA dining program, and each tier earns solid bonuses on your dining spending. Plus, the requirements to move up from one tier to another are very simple.
- Basic members: Earn 1 mile per $1 spent if you do not opt-in to the AA dining email newsletter during registration.
- Select members: Earn 3 miles per $1 spent if you opt-in to the AA dining email newsletter during registration.
- VIP members: Earn 5 miles per $1 spent if you opt-in to the AA dining newsletter during registration and after you have completed 11 qualified transactions in a calendar year.
When you dine at an eligible restaurant partner, you will earn miles based on the entire cost of your bill, including taxes and tips. As soon as the merchant has processed your transaction, the miles will reflect on your AA dining account within 5 days and also on your main AAdvantage account within 8 weeks.
Which Restaurants Joined The AAdvantage Dining Program?
The AA dining program has more than a thousand restaurants in its network, and you can easily view them by location here. You can even filter them out by cuisine so if you’re up for some Japanese food, just type your location and “Japanese” on the search bar.
What’s great about the program is you don’t have to “activate” anything to earn miles. As long as you use your linked credit card at a partner restaurant (even if you didn’t know it was a partner restaurant), your miles will automatically reflect in your account within a few days.
However, each AA dining restaurant does have specific policies, so it’s still best to check your options first before dining. Just click the “Learn More” button on the selection screen. For example, some restaurants only award miles on specific days of the week, while some have a spending limit in connection to the number of miles you earn.
Plus, ordering food through food delivery services is not eligible for miles earning. You should directly purchase from the restaurant itself.
Which Credit Cards Can I Link To AA Dining?
Any credit card will work, but if you want to maximize or double-dip on your miles earnings, it’s best if you link cards that include dining categories. Here are some cards that offer high earning rates at U.S. restaurants.
- American Express® Gold Card: Earn 4x Membership Rewards points at restaurants and U.S. supermarkets (up to $25,000 in purchases per calendar year; then 1x). Terms Apply.
- Chase Sapphire Preferred: Earn 3X Ultimate Rewards points on dining (including eligible delivery services), groceries, and streaming services.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve: Earn 3x Ultimate Rewards points on dining and travel.
- Hilton Honors Aspire Credit Card: Earn 7x points at U.S. restaurants, including takeout and delivery.
There’s no limit to the number of cards you can link to your AA dining account. However, you can’t use the same card that you used on other airline dining programs. For example, if you already linked your Capital One Venture X Card to the Delta Dining program, then you won’t be able to link it to the AA dining program.
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AA Dining FAQS
How do I sign up for an AA dining account?
You need to have a main AAdvantage account first before you can sign up for an AAdvantage dining account. Once you have one, just go to the AA dining website and click the “Sign in/Join now” button.
How many tiers does the AA dining program have?
There are three tiers in the AA dining program: Basic, Select, and VIP. Each tier lets you earn a different number of miles. Upon registration, you’re automatically awarded Basic status if you don’t opt-in to emails and Select status if you opt-in to emails.
To move up to VIP status, you would have to opt-in to emails and complete 11 transactions in one year.
How many miles can I earn in the AA dining program?
The miles you earn will depend on your AA dining status. Basic status lets you earn 1 mile/dollar, Select status lets you earn 3 miles/dollar, and VIP status lets you earn 5 miles/dollar. There’s no limit to the number of miles you earn.
Do miles earned through AA Dining count toward status?
Yes. Since American Airlines is now using the Loyalty Points system, any mile you earn will be equivalent to one Loyalty Point and will count towards elite status.
Do I need to activate something when I dine at a participating restaurant?
No. Your miles will automatically reflect on your AAdvantage account.
When will I receive my miles after a dine at a participating restaurant?
Miles typically reflect on your AA dining account within 5 days after you complete your transaction. Meanwhile, these miles will reflect on your main AAdvantage mileage account within 6 to 8 weeks and you can then redeem them for First, Business, Premium Economy, or Economy AA flights.
What credit cards can I link to my AA dining account?
You can use any card and there’s no limit on how many cards you want to link. However, you cannot use cards that you’ve already used on other airline dining programs. For example, you won’t be able to link your American Express Platinum Card to AA Dining if you’ve already linked it to Delta Dining.
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Bottomline: Is American AAdvantage Dining Worth It?
Flying on an American Airlines premium flight is still the most cost-efficient way to stack up on miles; however, having an alternative to earn miles through dining isn’t such a bad idea.
You might be surprised that your favorite restaurants are included in the list, so why not earn miles since you would have eaten there in the first place, regardless if you’re an AA dining member or not?
Not to mention, the miles you earn from dining will now count towards earning an AAdvantage elite status. So is it worth signing up for the American Airlines dining program? Definitely yes.
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