American Airlines makes passengers a major loyalty program offer

Most loyalty programs require members to earn their rewards.

A few years ago, I remember having to book a Southwest flight essentially to nowhere in order to hit the 25 one-way flights per year I needed to maintain my Rapid Rewards A-List status.

Having flown over 25 flights annually for five years in the late 2010s, I’ve seen firsthand how early boarding and standby privileges save time and reduce stress, benefits that drive passenger loyalty.

In addition, A-List status allowed me to fly standby on earlier flights without paying a penalty. That was incredibly useful during the years when I essentially commuted once a month from Hartford, Connecticut, to Alexandria, Virginia.

If my meetings finished early or the ride to the airport went quickly, my status meant I could usually jump on an earlier flight.

Not every airline program forces passengers to earn their status. I have Frontier Airlines Gold Status because I bought it through a third-party service. Not everyone qualified, but essentially, if you had a top-tier status with an airline, hotel, or cruise line, you were able to pay $200 for a year of Gold Status, which saves you $50-$60 per flight because it comes with a free checked bag.

Now, a much more mainstream airline has decided to sell access to its top-tier loyalty status.

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American Airlines offers loyalty short cut

"American Airlines has introduced AAdvantage Pass, providing instant loyalty status and other perks. The cost of the pass is $5,000. AAdvantage Pass purchasers will be awarded AAdvantage Gold status, which is the program's entry status level. They also receive 100,000 AAdvantage miles and 15,000 AAdvantage loyalty points," Travel Weekly reported.

Typically, AAdvantage Gold status is earned by a passenger accruing 40,000 loyalty points. Those points can be earned via buying flights or making purchases on the airline's branded credit card.

What American Airlines Gold members get

• Complimentary (auto‑requested) upgrades on eligible flights: Applicable on American‑operated flights within North America (and certain short‑haul international routes) starting ~24 hours before departure.
• 40% mileage bonus: You earn 7 miles per dollar spent vs 5 for base members), helping you accrue miles, and status, faster.
• Free first checked bag on trips: Saves the standard baggage fee on many flights (domestic or otherwise).
• Preferred seat selection and Main Cabin Extra seat access: You get complimentary access to preferred seats when booking at check-in (or about 24 hours before flight). You may get Main Cabin Extra seats (more legroom, better location) for you (and often companion[s]).
• Airport‑side priority check‑in, security, and boarding: Priority check‑in/security lines (when available), and boarding in Group 4 (ahead of general economy), which can make airport time smoother.
• “Oneworld” alliance Ruby status: As a Gold member on American, you also get the roughly equivalent of Ruby status in the Oneworld airline alliance, meaning some priority perks carry over when flying partner airlines.
  Source: American Airlines

American Airlines Advantage miles are valued at $.0155, giving the 100,000 points that come with the AAdvantage Pass a value of $1,550, according to The Points Guy.

Which airlines have the best loyalty programs?

Gold is not American Airlines' highest loyalty program status level. The airline also has Platinum and Executive Platinum members who get more perks, including access to the airline's lounges.

"WalletHub compared the 10 largest domestic airlines’ loyalty rewards programs across 21 key metrics, ranging from the value of a reward point or mile to blackout-date policies. You can find the highest-scoring frequent flyer programs below," the website shared.

Best frequent flyer programs of 2025

1. Alaska Airlines: Mileage Plan
2. United Airlines: MileagePlus
3. Delta Air Lines: SkyMiles
4. Hawaiian Airlines: HawaiianMiles
5. American Airlines: AAdvantage
   Source: WalletHub

"The rankings for the best airline rewards programs are based on a trio of annual airfare budgets: Light ($459), Average ($3,393) and Frequent ($6,326). As a result, the best overall frequent flyer programs are well-rounded and positioned to satisfy the needs of loyal airline customers of all types," according to the website.

Many airlines sell miles and other loyalty shortcuts

"Airlines don’t just give away miles; they sell them at a premium. This is a massive profit center. Consider Delta’s SkyMiles program: in 2019 alone, it raked in nearly $3 billion from selling miles to partners like American Express. This demonstrates the immense financial power of these seemingly simple rewards programs," InYourTravel.com shared.

Some airlines are also selling a different kind of loyalty access.

"Recently, the subscription model, where passengers pay a monthly or annual fee to receive consistent travel-related benefits such as free checked bags, priority boarding, flight discounts, or bonus points without having to earn elite status, has been gaining popularity amongst low-cost as well as legacy carriers," MBA Aviation shared in its report: The Value Add of Airline Loyalty Programs.

Loyalty programs, the report shared, are now revenue centers for airlines.

"Loyalty program revenues come primarily from air billings, sales of miles to credit card partners and other banking, retail and service partners, and breakage. The sale of miles to banks and other partners represents a significant time value of money benefit to airlines, as they receive payment for seats up front, long in advance of actually having to deliver a
product to a flying passenger," the research showed.

These programs are profit centers for the airlines.

“The airlines’ frequent flyer programs are their lifeblood; they’re the reason the airlines are in business,” Zach Griff, senior aviation reporter for The Points Guy, told KTVZ 21.

These programs are very important to the airlines, Bank of America Airline Analyst Andrew Didora told the same news channel.

“It’s very difficult to separate out the value of the programs and the value of the rest of the airline,” he said. “They can’t exist without each other. They go hand in hand.”

Related: American Airlines joins the Spirit Airlines bankruptcy case