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[edit] Miles and Points

AAdvantage members receive several different types of miles and points for each qualifying flight on AA and its partner airlines on which your AAdvantage number is recorded in the reservation. Because these distinctions are not explained clearly on AA.com, this is a frequent source of confusion among AA flyers, both new and old.

[edit] General

There are several different types of miles and points that count toward qualifying for Elite Status or are redeemable for various AAwards. AAdvantage members can also accrue Non-Air Mileage that does not count toward annual elite status qualification but can be redeemed for AAwards.

[edit] Types of Miles and Points

Here are the different types of miles and points discussed on this page:

RDM: Redeemable Miles – These miles are redeemable for AAwards and are listed as “Total Available Award Mileage” in your AA.com Account Summary. RDM also increment your “Program to Date Miles” that count toward lifetime elite status.
EQM: Elite Qualifying Miles – These miles count toward annual elite status qualification and are listed as “YTD Elite Qualifying Miles” on AA.com.
EQP: Elite-Qualifying Points – These points count toward an alternative mechanism for annual elite status qualification and are listed as “YTD Elite Qualifying Points” on AA.com
MTEU: Miles Towards Elite Upgrades – These miles count toward 500-mile electronic “sticker” upgrades earned by PLT and GLD elites and are listed as “Miles Towards Elite Upgrades” on AA.com.

[edit] AA Flights

[edit] Earning Rules

EQM and EQP earning rules are listed on the AA.com Elite Qualification Requirements page. RDM earning rules are listed on the AA.com Earning AAdvantage Miles page. These rules are also listed on the Inventory Classes and Mileage Eligibility page.

EQM are awarded for each segment at a rate of 1.0 EQM per mile flown, with elites earning a minimum of 500 EQM. MTEU are earned at the same rate as EQM, but are accrued based on the current membership year (March 1 – February 28/29) rather than the calendar year.

EQP are awarded for each segment based on booking class, ranging from 0.5–1.5 EQP per EQM. This provides a means for premium and full fare flyers to attain status faster, by purchasing fares that earn 1.5 EQP per EQM and qualifying on points rather than miles. Note that upgraded segments are credited based on the originally purchased booking class.

RDM are awarded for each segment based on booking class and elite status, at a rate of 1.0 base RDM per mile flown, with elites earning a minimum of 500 base RDM. Paid segments in First Class (50% bonus) and Business Class (25% bonus) receive additional Class-of-Service Bonus RDM based on actual miles flown (exclusive of the elite minimum); note that upgraded segments are credited based on the originally purchased booking class. GLD (25% bonus), PLT (100% bonus), and EXP (100% bonus) elites also receive Elite Bonus RDM based on base RDM (inclusive of the elite minimum).

Notes:

• Direct Flights: So-called 'direct' flights, involving two or more segments with the same flight number, are treated as a single segment from the origination city to the destination city for the purposes of mileage calculations. As a result, many avoid booking direct flights due to decreased mileage earning and complications with clearing upgrades and seat assignments.

• The One Ineligible Route & Fare: Tickets booked in O class between North America and Latin America (including Central and South America) do NOT earn EQM, EQP, or RDM! Other previously ineligible fares/routes became eligible as of Oct 15, 2008. See Inventory Classes and Mileage Eligibility for additional information.

• Non-elites no longer receive a 500 minimum miles (EQM, RDM) per segment as of Jan 16, 2009. In addition, the 500 EQP minimum guarantee was discontinued for all passengers, with EQP now calculated based on fare class and EQM (inclusive of the elite minimum), rather than fare class and actual miles flown. This results in de facto minimums for elites of 250, 500, or 750 EQP, depending on fare class, and this has been confirmed through FTer experience. These changes were originally scheduled to take place as of Jan 1, 2009.

• Award tickets: Award tickets do not earn RDM, EQM, EQP, or EQS.

[edit] How Miles and Points Post to Your AA.com Account

The most important thing to realize is that the itemized posts in the View My Miles section of your AA.com Account page pertain only to RDM, and not to EQM, EQP, or MTEU. The latter three are tracked only in the Summary section of the Account page and are not itemized. Therefore, if you wish to track these miles and points for each flight, you will have to do so on your own.

The second most important thing to recognize is that incremental 500-mile elite minimum RDM, Class-of-Service Bonus RDM, and Elite Bonus RDM are all lumped together under the Bonus column of the View My Miles table. The Mileage column shows only the actual miles flown. The Total column indicates the total RDM credited to your account.

[edit] Step-by-Step Procedure for Calculating Miles and Points

Look up your original (prior to any upgrades) reservation on AA.com and determine the booking class for each segment.
Calculate the number of EQM you will earn for each qualifying segment at 1.0 EQM per mile flown, subject to the 500-mile minimum for elites only. Elites will also earn the same number of MTEU.
Calculate the number of EQP you will earn for each qualifying segment based on EQM and booking class.
Calculate the number of RDM you will earn for each qualifying segment based on miles flown, booking class, and elite status. First calculate your base RDM at 1.0 RDM per mile flown, subject to the 500-mile minimum for elites only. Second, calculate any Class-of-Service Bonus RDM based on miles flown. Third, calculate any Elite Bonus RDM based on base RDM. Add the three figures to arrive at your Total RDM.

[edit] Examples

For a systematic treatment of these calculations with additional examples, see the Bonus Miles Calculation page. Note, however, that those calculations were based on the old pre-2009 earning rules.

[edit] LGA-ORD / N / no status

Deep Discount Economy fare (N)
733 miles flown
733 EQM: 733 mi flown = 733 EQM
367 EQP: N fare = 0.5 EQP/EQM x 733 EQM = 367 EQP (no longer subject to 500 minimum EQP guarantee)
733 RDM: 733 mi flown = 733 base RDM
View My Miles: Mileage = 733; Bonus = 0; Total = 733

[edit] LGA-ORD / N / GLD

Deep Discount Economy fare (N)
733 miles flown
733 EQM: 733 mi flown = 733 EQM
367 EQP: N fare = 0.5 EQP/EQM x 733 EQM = 367 EQP (no longer subject to 500 minimum EQP guarantee)
916 RDM: 733 mi flown = 733 base RDM; 733 mi flown x 25% GLD bonus = 183 Elite Bonus RDM; 733 + 183 = 916 RDM
View My Miles: Mileage = 733; Bonus = 183; Total = 916

[edit] LGA-ORD / F / GLD

First Class fare (F)
733 miles flown
733 EQM: 733 mi flown = 733 EQM
1100 EQP: F fare = 1.5 EQP/EQM x 733 EQM = 1100 EQP
1283 RDM: 733 mi flown = 733 base RDM; 733 mi flown x 50% F bonus = 367 Class-of-Service Bonus RDM; 733 mi flown x 25% GLD bonus = 183 Elite Bonus RDM; 733 + 367 + 183 = 1283 RDM
View My Miles: Mileage = 733; Bonus = 550; Total = 1283

[edit] LAX-SFO / L / no status

Discount Economy fare (L)
337 miles flown
337 EQM: 337 mi flown = 337 EQM (no 500-mile minimum for non-elites)
337 EQP: L fare = 1.0 EQP/EQM x 337 EQM = 337 EQP (no longer subject to 500 minimum EQP guarantee)
337 RDM: 337 mi flown = 337 base RDM (no 500-mile minimum for non-elites)
View My Miles: Mileage = 337; Bonus = 0; Total = 337

[edit] LAX-SFO / L / PLT

Discount Economy fare (L)
337 miles flown
500 EQM: 337 mi flown subject to 500 minimum EQM guarantee for elites only = 500 EQM
500 EQP: L fare = 1.0 EQP/EQM x 500 EQM = 500 EQP
1000 RDM: 337 mi flown subject to 500 minimum RDM guarantee for elites only = 500 base RDM; 500 base RDM x 100% PLT bonus = 500 Elite Bonus RDM; 500 + 500 = 1000 RDM
View My Miles: Mileage = 337; Bonus = 663; Total = 1000

[edit] LAX-SFO / F / PLT

First Class fare (F)
337 miles flown
500 EQM: 337 mi flown subject to 500 minimum EQM guarantee for elites only = 500 EQM
750 EQP: F fare = 1.5 EQP/EQM x 500 EQM = 750 EQP (now based on EQM instead of actual miles flown)
1169 RDM: 337 mi flown subject to 500 min RDM guarantee for elites only = 500 base RDM; 337 mi flown x 50% F bonus = 169 Class-of-Service Bonus RDM; 500 base RDM x 100% PLT bonus = 500 Elite Bonus RDM; 500 + 169 + 500 = 1169 RDM
View My Miles: Mileage = 337; Bonus = 832; Total = 1169

[edit] Partner Flights

[edit] Earning Rules

Rules for mileage and point earning on partner flights are listed on the AA.com partner pages. There are several differences to keep in mind:

Flights on oneworld airlines and Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air earn EQM, EQP, MTEU, and RDM, according to the rules posted for each airline. See the AA.com Elite Qualification Requirements page for a list of airlines on which you can earn EQM, EQP, and MTEU. In contrast, flights on partners other than oneworld airlines and Alaska Airlines/Horizon Air earn only RDM, with no elite qualifying miles or points.
Some fare classes on partner airlines are subject to fractional mileage accrual, which is applied to the miles flown figure before calculating EQM, EQP, and base RDM. This is listed in the Mileage Accrual Percentage column of the fare table on each partner page. In contrast, any accrual percentages over 100% are not applied to miles flown, only bonus RDM calculations.
Some fare classes and routes on partner airlines do not earn any miles or points at all. British Airways transatlantic flights between the U.S. and U.K. are a notable example of such flights.
Elite bonuses do not apply on some partner airlines. For a list, see the AA.com Elite Status Bonus page.
Elite minimum mileage guarantees may be reduced below 500 EQM & RDM on partner airlines, generally by the same amount as the fractional mileage accrual for a given fare class. For example, discount economy fares on BA earn 25% RDM/mile flown and, for elites only, a minimum of 125 EQM & RDM. (There was a previous, undocumented benefit on BA and IB flights that passengers would still earn 500 minimum EQM, EQP, and MTEU for discount economy fares, however, this has been eliminated under the new 2009 earning rules.) zman has posted the following information from AAdvantage Customer Service on oneworld partner minimum mileage guarantees:

Airline	Non-elites	Elites
AY	none	500
BA	none	500; 125 Discount Economy
CX	none	500
IB	none	300; 125 Discount Economy
JL	none	none
LA	none	500; 169 UIO-GYE on XL
MA	none	500
MX	none	500
QF	none	500
RJ	none	500

EQP and bonus RDM calculations are based on EQM (subject to elite minimum miles guarantees first). (Under the new 2009 earning rules, this is now also the case for AA flights, on which EQP calculations used to be based on actual miles flown.)

[edit] Codeshare Flights

Codeshare flights operated by partner airlines but ticketed with an AA flight number are subject to AA earning rules rather than partner earning rules.
Codeshare flights operated by AA but ticketed with a partner airline flight number are subject to partner earning rules.
Codeshare flights operated by non-partner airlines but ticketed with a partner airline flight number generally do not qualify for AA mileage or point earning.

[edit] Examples

The following examples highlight some of the differences in calculating miles and points for partner flights compared to AA flights. Notably, the Mileage column in the View My Miles table indicates “miles flown x mileage accrual percentage” rather than miles flown.

[edit] BA LHR-MAN / S / PLT

Deep Discount Economy fare (S)
151 actual miles flown
38 calc miles flown: S fare = 25% mileage accrual x 151 actual mi flown = 38 calc mi flown
125 EQM: qualifying fare/route = 1.0 EQM/mi x 38 calc mi flown = 38 EQM; subject to 125 min EQM guarantee for elites only (no longer 500 min EQM)
63 EQP: S fare = 0.5 EQP/EQM x 125 EQM = 63 EQP (no longer subject to 500 min EQP guarantee)
125 RDM: S fare = 38 calc mi flown subject to 125 min = 125 base RDM; no PLT bonus
View My Miles: Mileage = 38; Bonus = 87; Total = 125

[edit] BA LHR-MAN / N / PLT

Discount Economy fare (N)
151 actual miles flown
38 calc miles flown: N fare = 25% mileage accrual x 151 actual mi flown = 38 calc mi flown
125 EQM: qualifying fare/route = 1.0 EQM/mi x 38 calc mi flown = 38 EQM; subject to 125 min EQM guarantee for elites only (no longer 500 min EQM)
125 EQP: N fare = 1.0 EQP/EQM x 125 EQM = 125 EQP (no longer subject to 500 min EQP guarantee)
125 RDM: N fare = 38 calc mi flown subject to 125 min = 125 base RDM; no PLT bonus
View My Miles: Mileage = 38; Bonus = 87; Total = 125

[edit] BA LHR-MAN / H / PLT

Economy fare (H)
151 actual miles flown
151 calc miles flown: H fare = 100% mileage accrual x 151 actual mi flown = 151 calc mi flown
500 EQM: qualifying fare/route = 1.0 EQM/mi x 151 calc mi flown = 151 EQM; subject to 500 min EQM guarantee for elites only
500 EQP: H fare = 1.0 EQP/EQM x 500 EQM = 500 EQP
500 RDM: H fare = 151 calc mi flown subject to 500 min = 500 base RDM; no PLT bonus
View My Miles: Mileage = 151; Bonus = 349; Total = 500

[edit] BA LHR-MAN / J / PLT

Business Class fare (J)
151 miles flown
151 calc miles flown: J fare = 100% mileage accrual x 151 actual mi flown = 151 calc mi flown
500 EQM: qualifying fare/route = 1.0 EQM/mi x 151 calc mi flown = 151 EQM; subject to 500 min EQM guarantee for elites only
750 EQP: J fare = 1.5 EQP/EQM x 500 EQM = 750 EQP
625 RDM: J fare = 151 calc mi flown subject to 500 min = 500 base RDM; 500 base RDM x 25% J bonus = 125 bonus RDM; no PLT bonus; 500 + 125 + 0 = 625 RDM
View My Miles: Mileage = 500; Bonus = 125; Total = 625 (This Mileage column amount is inconsistent with the above examples but is based on a real-world account posting prior to the 2009 rule changes.)