Points Panda has partnered with a variety of financial companies including CreditCards.com for our coverage of credit card products. Points Panda and CreditCards.com may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of the offers mentioned may have expired. For more information please read our full Advertiser Disclosure.
Apart from flying, frequent flyers can earn more AAdvantage miles through the American Airlines shopping portal. What’s great about it is includes various types of merchant partners such as supermarkets, clothing brands, drugstores, and gadget shops, giving you purchasing flexibility as you earn those miles.
But that’s not the best part because you can even double-dip on earning rewards if you execute the right strategy using your credit cards. Not to mention, American will count all the base miles you earn through the portal as Loyalty Points, which can fast-track your journey to having elite status.
Don’t worry, we’ll dive deeper into these concepts in the article below. Let’s get right into it!
Read More: American Airlines Business Class Seats Get A New Look!
The American Airlines Shopping Portal In A Nutshell
AA shopping is just like any other online shopping portal but the main difference is that members earn miles whenever they buy a product or service from partner merchants.
As of this writing, AA has more than 1,200 partners which include famous big brands like Adidas, Sephora, Nike, Walgreens, Lowe’s, and many more. If you’re already buying from these brands, then it’s best if you shop through the portal to earn bonus miles for every transaction you make.
How To Purchase From The AA Shopping Portal
To start purchasing from the AA shopping portal, you need to have an AAdvantage shopping account first. Here’s what you need to do:
Sign Up For An Account
Just go to aadvantageshopping.com and then click “Sign Up” on the top-right corner of the page. Once done, fill out the form with your details and just click sign up.
Remember, you need to provide your AAdvantage number so you’d have to sign up for an AAdvantage membership first if you don’t have one.
Once you’ve signed up, you’ll be able to log in to the American Airlines AAdvantage eShopping portal with your AAdvantage account number and the password you created.
Log In To Your Account & Start Purchasing
You’ll be taken to the AAdvantage Shopping portal homepage once you’re logged in and you can explore the things that you want to purchase by using the search bar on top. You can either search by store, category, promotions, or by product name.
If you’re not sure what to buy, just go click the “View All Stores” button once you hover over the search bar. You’ll then see all the participating brands and filter them alphabetically or by earning rates.
Installing The AAdvantage Browser Extension
Alternatively, members can also purchase using the AAdvantage eShopping button. It’s a browser extension for Chrome and Microsoft Edge that lets members buy directly from a partner merchant’s website.
Whenever you visit a partner merchant’s website, a pop-up will appear that shows the number of miles you can earn. Click the button shown on the pop-up to activate the offer so you can earn miles when you proceed with your purchase.
Read More: Does American Airlines Have Wifi?
How Many Miles Can You Earn From Purchasing?
Each partner merchant offers different miles earning rates. Some stores let you earn miles for every dollar you spend while some lets you earn a fixed price for a specific purchase.
The rates also change from time to time when there are special offers. Black Friday deals are one of the most awaited promotions because it offers big bonuses. For example, Adidas used to have a 1 mile/dollar rate but now it has a 10 miles/dollar rate for Black Friday.
Not to mention, American also offers site-wide bonuses that apply to any partner merchant. Just recently, it offered a 4,000-mile bonus for members who can spend $1,200 on AA shopping. Make sure that you keep an eye out for these deals.
You can check the total number of miles you’ve earned in your “My Account” section and your miles typically reflect somewhere between 3-5 days.
Using American Airlines Co-branded Credit Cards To Earn Extra Miles
You can double-dip on earning miles if you have an American Airlines co-branded credit card. For example, the American Airlines AAdvantage® MileUp® Mastercard® lets you earn 2 miles per dollar at grocery stores, 2 miles per dollar for American Airlines purchases, and 1 mile per dollar on all purchases.
Basically, when you use your credit card to purchase from AA shopping, you’ll earn miles from your credit card and also from the partner merchants. Here are other cards that American Airlines currently offer:
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive Mastercard®
- CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®
If you don’t have an AA credit card or don’t want to get one, you can still double dip using any credit card that has a bonus category that includes your chosen merchant.
Earning Miles Through Transfer Partners
The Marriott Bonvoy Program is a transfer partner of the AAdvantage program. For every 3 Marriott points you transfer, you’ll get a 1 AAdvantage mile. Here are some cards that Marriott offers:
- Marriott Bonvoy Bold® Credit Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Bevy™ American Express® Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card
Unfortunately, Chase and American Express do not transfer directly to American Airlines but there’s a workaround for it. The key is to transfer your points to a partner airline like British Airways.
Both Chase and Amex are transfer partners with British Airways so if you have a Chase Sapphire Reserve Card or an American Express Platinum Card, you can transfer your points to BA at a 1:1 ratio.
Read: Your Guide To American Airlines Premium Economy
AA Shopping FAQS
What Is The American Airline Shopping Portal?
The American Airlines shopping portal is just like any online shopping site. It has partner merchants that include big brands like Adidas, Under Armour, Macy’s, Walgreens, and many more.
However, for every purchase you make from these retailers, you earn bonus AAdvantage miles. Other airlines also have shopping portals. Delta has SkyMiles shopping and United has MileagePlus shopping.
What Happens To Your AAdvantage Miles If You Return An Item From A Partner Merchant?
Returning a purchase will affect the miles that you’ve earned. Some stores reduced the number of miles while some totally remove all your miles from your account.
Can I Use Other Promo Codes?
No. Only use promo codes that the portal provides. Your purchase may not earn miles if you use other codes.
Do Miles Earned From AA Shopping Count As Loyalty Points?
Yes. Every mile that you earn from AA shopping will count as 1 Loyalty Point.
Can I Shop From The American Airlines Shopping Portal Using Incognito Mode?
You can but you will not earn miles. You need to allow cookies on your browser so AA can track your purchase. Using incognito mode doesn’t allow cookies so just use the regular browser.
Read More: American Airlines Airpass Explained: Is It Worth It?
Bottomline: Is It Worth It?
Most of us are already buying things online so why not earn miles from purchases that you normally would buy? If you look for the right deals and use the right credit card, the number of bonus miles you’ll earn can stack up.
Not to mention, each mile you earn from AA shopping counts as Loyalty Points too so that helps you get elite status faster!
Advertiser Disclosure
PointsPanda Deal of the Week!
Looking for the best flight deals? Each week we'll send you updates with the best deals on flights and hotels both using points and cash.
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.