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I recently wrote about how American Airlines has made it possible to earn elite status without flying at all. As part of the wider changes surrounding the introduction of ‘Loyalty Points’ (click here for further details), it has also updated the earning rates for some partner airlines.

In particular, flying with British Airways and Iberia in Business or First Class and then crediting the flights to American AAdvantage appears to be potentially rewarding…

British Airways

The new AA earning chart for flying with British Airways looks like this:

For reference, for flights in 2021 you would have earned:

What Has Changed?

• First Class – instead of earning 150% of miles flown, you will now earn 250-300%
• Business Class – instead of earning 125% of miles flown, you will now earn 150-250%
• Premium Economy – instead of earning 110% of miles flown on expensive W fares, you will now earn 150%
• Economy – instead of earning 50% of miles flown on expensive H fares, you will now earn 100%

Iberia

A very similar situation applies to Iberia:

For reference, for flights in 2021 you would have earned:

What Has Changed?

• First Class – instead of earning 150% of miles flown, you will now earn 250-300%
• Business Class – instead of earning 125% of miles flown, you will now earn 150-250%
• Premium Economy – instead of earning 110% of miles flown on expensive W fares, you will now earn 150%
• Economy – instead of earning 50% of miles flown on expensive H fares, you will now earn 100%

*note that Iberia doesn’t offer a First Class cabin, but does offer First Class fares when codesharing on British Airways and American Airlines flights…

Status Bonuses

Before you get all excited, you won’t be able to supercharge your mileage earning by also having elite status.

On American Airlines flights, your “base miles” are the 5 miles per US dollar spent (pre-tax).

But on British Airways and Iberia flights, your “base miles” will be 100% of miles flown on all fares except the cheapest Economy fares. So having AA status won’t earn you quite as many bonus miles as you might have hoped…

Bottom Line

AAdvantage members – with or without status – will clearly earn more redeemable miles (than in prior years) when flying in a premium fare/cabin on British Airways and Iberia.

However, some further analysis is required to determine whether this change is ultimately positive… due to the substantially higher number of “Loyalty Points” needed to renew elite status, versus the old EQM/EQD system.

Of course… what does this also look like? How Alaska Mileage Plus rewards its members flying on British Airways and Iberia. 😉