As of Oct 12, 2026, American AAdvantage and United MileagePlus are two separate award programs. On the AAdvantage FAQ, status is reached by earning Loyalty Points, and for every eligible AAdvantage mile earned the member also earns 1 Loyalty Point.
On the United Premier qualification page, Premier status is earned with Premier Qualifying Flights (PQF) and Premier Qualifying Points (PQP), or a higher PQP-only path. On the United air-awards page, all MileagePlus flight award prices are for one-way tickets, pricing is determined by the city pair, and each city pair is part of an award region.
At a Glance
- AAdvantage structure: Suits a flyer who earns status from Loyalty Points that post alongside eligible AAdvantage miles, and who uses miles on American Airlines and the airline partners American lists, including the oneworld group on American's partner page.
- MileagePlus structure: Suits a flyer who qualifies for Premier status with PQF and PQP on a calendar-year clock, and who books one-way awards priced by city pair and award region.
- Units stay separate: Loyalty Points and PQP are different units, so their thresholds don't line up one to one.
AAdvantage and MileagePlus rules, dates, fees, and thresholds can change; this post shows them only as the official American Airlines and United pages word them as of Oct 12, 2026, so re-check those pages before you act.
Real-World Examples
- A flyer checking award pricing is looking at an AAdvantage starting line of 7,500 miles each way that can rise with availability, including the last seat, and at MileagePlus one-way city-pair pricing with both a last-seat paragraph and a capacity-controls bullet.
- A flyer checking change rules is looking at AAdvantage's before-ticketing no charge and after-ticketing miles or fees, versus United's $125 no-show redeposit fee.
- A flyer looking at elite names only is looking at AAdvantage Gold, Platinum, Platinum Pro, and Executive Platinum, with the FAQ's 40,000 Loyalty Point Gold example, versus Premier Silver, Gold, Platinum, and 1K, with published PQF and PQP combinations, each in its own units.
How Each Earns, as Officially Published
As of Oct 12, 2026, the AAdvantage FAQ says you earn 1 Loyalty Point for every eligible AAdvantage mile earned. The status qualification year begins March 1 and runs through the last day of February; the page's example restarts the Loyalty Point tracker at zero on March 1, 2026 and runs it through February 28, 2027.
- Eligible flight activity on American, oneworld and eligible partner airlines earns AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points. Basic Economy fare tickets bought on or after 12:00 a.m. on December 17, 2025 are excluded.
- Travelers earn based on ticket cost, excluding government-imposed taxes and fees, for flights marketed by American and select partners, or based on the distance of the flight.
- Bonus miles, and miles from Buy, Gift or Transfer transactions, do not earn Loyalty Points.
- Status, once reached, runs from the qualification date or April 1, whichever comes first, until March 31 of the following year; the FAQ calls that the status membership year.
As of Oct 12, 2026, the United earn-miles page says you earn miles only on the pre-tax flight fare and any carrier-imposed surcharges, and that government-imposed taxes and fees do not earn miles. The earn rate depends on MileagePlus status on the date of travel, Cardmember status, ticket type, the ticketing airline and the operating airline. Tickets bought directly from United earn miles based on the fare price, MileagePlus status and Cardmember status, while tickets issued by Star Alliance partner airlines earn miles based on flight distance and fare class.
| Status | Miles per dollar |
|---|---|
| General member | 3 |
| Premier Silver | 5 |
| Premier Gold | 6 |
| Premier Platinum | 7 |
| Premier 1K | 9 |
Primary United Chase cardmembers earn more: 6, 8, 9, 10 and 12 miles per dollar by the same status order. General members without a United card earn no miles on Basic Economy tickets issued on or after April 2, 2026.
Award Pricing Model, as Officially Published
As of Oct 12, 2026, the American Airlines use-miles page says flight awards can be chosen for any seat on an American Airlines flight for as low as 7,500 miles each way, plus applicable taxes and carrier-imposed fees. Miles shown are estimated starting values for one-way trips originating in North America, for informational purposes only, and mileage levels vary by date and flight, with the applicable award level displayed during booking based on availability. Each award is subject to taxes and carrier-imposed fees starting from $5.60 per person, per award.
- The AAdvantage terms, effective March 1, 2026, say flight awards on American Airlines and American Eagle flights may be used for any available seat, including the last seat, and that the number of miles required may be higher depending on the availability.
As of Oct 12, 2026, the United air-awards page says all MileagePlus flight award prices are for one-way tickets, that pricing is determined by the city pair, and that each city pair is part of an award region on a one-way basis.
- Under a last-seat heading it says MileagePlus members have unrestricted access to seats on United and United Express flights, and that if there is an open seat it can be booked with miles, even the last seat on the plane.
- A separate bullet on the same page says awards have limited availability and are subject to capacity controls.
For a separate look at United miles value on this site, see our United MileagePlus Miles Value Per Mile 2026 After the Cardholder Award Discount.
Partner Awards and Alliances, High Level
As of Oct 12, 2026, the American Airlines partner-airlines page says members can earn and use AAdvantage miles with participating airlines.
- It groups these names under oneworld partners: American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Fiji Airways, Finnair, Hawaiian Airlines, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Oman Air, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian Airlines and SriLankan Airlines.
- It groups these names under other airline partners: Aer Lingus, Air Tahiti Nui, China Southern Airlines, Etihad Airways, GOL Airlines, IndiGo, JetSMART, LEVEL and Porter Airlines.
- The AAdvantage terms say flight awards on airline partners may be subject to special limitations on seating availability, and that the miles required may vary with the partner's availability.
- The partner use-miles page says to use an award chart for a one-way flight award with oneworld or partner airlines, that miles shown are estimated starting values, and that two flight awards are needed if a one-way trip includes two long-haul international flights.
As of Oct 12, 2026, the MileagePlus hub says international airline partners also accept MileagePlus miles as a form of payment.
Change and Cancel, as Officially Published
As of Oct 12, 2026, the AAdvantage terms say that before ticketing you may change or cancel an AAdvantage flight award reservation with no charge incurred, unless otherwise stated by American Airlines. After the original ticketing, additional miles or fees may apply for each ticket and are due when the ticket is reissued. Once ticketed, you have one year from the date of ticketing to complete all flight award travel unless otherwise noted.
- Mileage will be reinstated for wholly unused awards if the reservation is canceled before departure and the ticket has not expired; expired tickets and partially used awards will not be reinstated.
- The AAdvantage FAQ says you can cancel an award ticket anytime on the American Airlines website, that miles are reinstated up to 1 year after the ticket issue date if you cancel before the first flight departs, and that reinstatement is automatic in many cases when the cancel is done on that website.
- You need to contact Reservations for a trip that has already started, involves partner airlines, or has been changed since the ticket was issued.
As of Oct 12, 2026, the United air-awards page says flight changes, including standby, may be made on the day of departure under the same-day change policy. All other itinerary changes may be subject to applicable change fees and additional miles.
- Wholly unused or canceled awards may be redeposited to the account the miles came from, subject to applicable fees on the award fee chart.
- There is a $125 redeposit fee for members who do not show up for their flight and request a redeposit, and that fee applies to all members.
- A name change requires redepositing the award for a service fee, payable by credit card only, and requesting a new award.
- Award tickets are valid one year from the original date of issue, and all travel must begin within one year from that date.
Elite Status, High Level Only
As of Oct 12, 2026, the AAdvantage Loyalty Points page names AAdvantage Member, AAdvantage Gold, AAdvantage Platinum, AAdvantage Platinum Pro and AAdvantage Executive Platinum, and says Loyalty Points are earned toward status as eligible miles are earned. The AAdvantage FAQ gives this example: if you earn 40,000 Loyalty Points and reach AAdvantage Gold status on October 15, 2025, you keep that status through March 31, 2027. The FAQ says you enjoy status from the date you qualify or April 1, whichever comes first, until March 31 of the following year.
As of Oct 12, 2026, the United Premier qualification page names Premier Silver, Premier Gold, Premier Platinum and Premier 1K. You have January 1 through December 31 to earn them, and you must take at least 4 United or United Express flights. Status is valid from the day you qualify to the end of the next program year, and Premier reached in 2026 does not expire until January 31, 2028.
| Premier tier | PQF + PQP | PQP-only |
|---|---|---|
| Silver | 15 + 5,000 | 6,000 |
| Gold | 30 + 10,000 | 12,000 |
| Platinum | 45 + 15,000 | 18,000 |
| 1K | 60 + 22,000 | 28,000 |
Who Should Pick Which, Structural Fit Only
- As of Oct 12, 2026, a flyer whose status path is built from Loyalty Points earned with eligible AAdvantage miles, and whose partner flying sits on the American Airlines partner list, is the structural fit for AAdvantage.
- A flyer whose status path is built from PQF and PQP in a January-through-December qualification year, and whose awards are one-way city-pair prices, is the structural fit for MileagePlus.
- That is the same structural difference named at a glance, not a ranking.
TL;DR – Verdict
As of Oct 12, 2026, American AAdvantage and United MileagePlus remain two separate award programs. AAdvantage earning on the FAQ is 1 Loyalty Point per eligible mile on a March-through-February qualification year. MileagePlus earning on the earn-miles page is miles on the pre-tax flight fare and carrier-imposed surcharges, with the MileagePlus column listing 3, 5, 6, 7 and 9 miles per dollar by status.
- Award pricing stays in each page's own words: an American starting line of 7,500 miles each way that can rise with availability, and United one-way city-pair prices beside both a last-seat sentence and a capacity-control sentence.
- The fit rule is structural only.
FAQ
How do American AAdvantage and United MileagePlus compare on earning?
As of Oct 12, 2026, the AAdvantage FAQ says 1 Loyalty Point per eligible AAdvantage mile on a March-through-February qualification year. The United earn-miles page lists 3, 5, 6, 7 and 9 miles per dollar by MileagePlus status on pre-tax fare and carrier-imposed surcharges.
How does each program price awards?
The American Airlines use-miles page says as low as 7,500 miles each way plus taxes and fees starting from $5.60, and the terms say miles may be higher depending on availability, including the last seat. The United air-awards page prices one-way awards by city pair and award region and prints both a last-seat sentence and a capacity-control sentence.
Which alliances and partners does each page describe?
The American Airlines partner-airlines page groups a oneworld list and an other-airline-partners list.
What change and cancel rules do the pages state?
AAdvantage terms say no charge before ticketing unless otherwise stated, and additional miles or fees may apply after ticketing. The United air-awards page prints a $125 no-show redeposit fee for all members.
How does elite status work on each side?
AAdvantage names Member, Gold, Platinum, Platinum Pro and Executive Platinum, and the FAQ uses a 40,000 Loyalty Point Gold example only. MileagePlus names Premier Silver, Premier Gold, Premier Platinum and Premier 1K, with the printed PQF and PQP combinations kept in their own units.
Who does each structure suit?
AAdvantage suits a Loyalty Points path with partners on American's list. MileagePlus suits a PQF and PQP path with one-way city-pair awards.