Last updated: October 7, 2026
American Airlines is selling AAdvantage miles at up to 40% off through October 31, 2026. The discount is a cut to the price, and it grows with the size of the purchase. The best price, about 2.26¢ per mile, needs a purchase of 151,000 miles or more.
That is the number to hold onto. At most purchase sizes the price is 2.6¢ to 3.4¢ a mile, and miles are worth about 1.45¢ each, The Points Guy’s October 2026 valuation. Buying miles is rarely cheap.
Before you buy points: Run your spending through the credit card rewards calculator. A buy-points sale does not fix a wallet that should be earning a transferable currency. Citi ThankYou points transfer to AAdvantage at 1:1, which is almost always the better route than paying cash.
The tiers
| Miles you buy | Discount | Price per mile |
|---|---|---|
| 3,000 to 9,000 | 10% | About 3.39¢ |
| 10,000 to 29,000 | 15% | About 3.20¢ |
| 30,000 to 89,000 | 20% | About 3.01¢ |
| 90,000 to 150,000 | 30% | About 2.63¢ |
| 151,000 to 300,000 | 40% | About 2.26¢ |
Minimum purchase is 3,000 miles, and the cap in this sale is 300,000 miles. The end date is October 31 on the trackers we checked, though American sales renew often, so the date can move.
When does buying AAdvantage miles make sense?
Almost only when you are short on one specific award and you cannot transfer. Say a business-class award costs 30,000 miles more than you have. At 3.01¢ that is about $903 for the miles, which is only a deal if the cash fare is well above that.
Our verdict
Skip this unless you need a particular award and you cannot move Citi points. The one case where the top tier pencils out is a very large purchase that replaces an expensive cash ticket, and even then the gap against a transfer is large.
Offers can end early or change. Confirm the bonus, the price, the cap and the tax on your own account before you pay. Checked October 7, 2026. The full list of live sales is on the point sales page, and card transfer bonuses are on the transfer bonuses page.
