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How to get your instant free American Airlines gift (miles, seat upgrades and more)

  • Joseph Hostetler

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    American Airlines has published a promotion that 100% guarantees some kind of AA perk. Examples of American Airlines gifts are 500-mile upgrade certificates, a few hundred bonus miles, Preferred seat upgrades and even rental car upgrades.

    Your gift is easy to get, and it’s totally free. If you’ve got 30 seconds to spare, I’ll show you how to claim your prize — and generate a second, potentially more lucrative, prize.

    What’s your unique American Airlines gift? (Photo by GagliardiPhotography/Shutterstock)

    Claim your free American Airlines gift

    Through Dec. 16, 2020, all American Airlines members receive a free gift. The generosity of each gift increases depending on the elite status each member has. An Executive Platinum member will get a better gift than someone without American Airlines status.

    To find yours, go to the American Airlines website and sign into your account. Under your award miles figure, click on “Your account.”

    Click the promotions tab, revealing your opportunity to unwrap a gift from American Airlines. Once you click it, you’ll see your unique offer. Mine was only 100 bonus miles (which, from scanning other data points, is the absolute worst gift you can receive).

    After you hit “Register,” you’ll get your miles within 24 hours. True, 100 miles is meager. However, it’s a good way to reset the expiration on your miles. American Airlines miles expire after 18 months of inactivity. So earning 100 miles with this promotion means your rewards shouldn’t expire until at least July 2022.

    Or, if you’re lucky, you’ll get something a little more meaningful, like seat upgrades or rental car upgrades.

    Second “gift” — potentially more lucrative

    After you register, you’ll unlock a second promotion, which also varies by account. You can view it at the bottom of the promotions page (it was also outlined in the initial popup above). I got a double miles promo for paid flights between Jan. 1 and Feb. 28, 2021. I’ve actually got a couple of bookings during that time, so this deal is worth exponentially more than 100 free bonus miles to me.

    Note: If you’re trying to earn American Airlines miles quickly, consider earning the intro bonuses on cards like the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®, American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp℠ Card, and the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®. You’ll have enough miles for a round-trip to just about anywhere.

    The information for the Citi AAdvantage Platinum has been collected independently by Million Mile Secrets. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

    Bottom line

    I’ll take free miles as often as they’re given me. Every mile counts, after all!

    Let us know what your unique AA gift is in the comments. And subscribe to our newsletter for more quick and easy deals like this delivered to your inbox. Small wins like this add up over a short period of time.

    Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)