4 steps to opening an American Airlines loyalty account (2024)

January 18, 2020 By Joseph Hostetler

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EVERYONE needs an American Airlines loyalty account. American Airlines is the largest airline in the world, and an exceptionally useful tool for reaching Europe, the Caribbean, South America, and lots of other fun areas.

To make things even sweeter, American Airlines miles are pretty easy to collect. American Airlines credit cards are some of the best airline credit cardsout there, and come with large sign-up bonuses to help you stockpile quickly for an upcoming vacation. For example you can earn AA milesby opening:

CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® – 65,000 miles after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first four months of account opening
American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp℠ Card–10,000 American Airlines milesand receive a $50 statement creditafter making $500 in purchases within the first three months of account opening
Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® –50,000 American Airlines milesafter spending $5,000 in purchases within the first three months of account opening

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

American Airlines miles valuecan be very high (read our post on the best uses of AA miles), so they’re worth collecting. Here’s a quick four-step guide to opening an American Airlines account.

How to set up a American Airlines account

Opening a loyalty account isn’t like opening a credit card. They’re completely free, and there is no application. Anyone can have a loyalty account!

Step 1. Click “Join AAdvantage” on the American Airlines website

Head to the American Airlines website. Within the “Log in” area of the page, you’ll see a link that says “Join AAdvantage” (AAdvantage is the name of the American Airlines loyalty program). Click that.

Step 2. Enter your personal information

You’ll see a form with very basic questions about you. Enter your name, birth date, and gender.

Farther down the page you’ll need to give your address, email, and phone number.

You’ve also got the option to tell American Airlines your travel preferences, like home airport and whether you’re a window or aisle kind of person. You can even give them details to help them with flight alerts for you.

Step 3. Enter security details

You’ll need to create an account username, a password, and 3 security questions in case you forget your login credentials. And if you have TSA PreCheck or Global Entry (both save you an INSANE amount of time at the airport), you can enter your membership number under “Secure Traveler” at the bottom.

Step 4. Start earning and redeeming points

That’s it. Just attach your AAdvantage member number to your American Airlines flights and you’ll earn valuable miles for your travel. And if you book directly through American Airlines, you won’t have to enter your loyalty number every time. The website will fill it in for you.

When you open an American Airlines credit card, it will ask for your loyalty number. Enter the number that appears on your account dashboard, like the example below.

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