Here's Why American Airlines Credit Card Miles Are More Valuable Than You Think

Most major airlines have one or more cobranded credit cards, and American Airlines is certainly no exception. Like most airline credit cards, they all come with airline-specific travel benefits, such as free checked bags on certain cards, credits for in-flight purchases, and more. And they all earn rewards in AAdvantage miles, which can be redeemed for free flights on American and its partners.

However, American Airlines credit cards have a somewhat unique perk in that they can help cardholders earn elite status much faster than with flying alone. To be sure, American's credit cards aren't the only airline credit cards that can earn status, but they have the most generous status-earning structure in the industry.

American Airlines' credit cards have strong rewards and benefits

Several different American Airlines travel credit cards are available. Some are issued by Citi and some are issued by Barclays. There are a variety of annual fees, perks, and rewards programs to choose from. Here's the current list:

• Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® -- annual fee of $99, waived for first 12 months
• CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard® -- $0 intro fee, $99 annual fee after
• Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® -- $595 annual fee
• American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp℠ Card -- No annual fee
• AAdvantage® Aviator® World Elite Business Mastercard® -- $95 annual fee
• AAdvantage® Aviator® Red World Elite Mastercard -- $99 annual fee

All of these travel credit cards earn American Airlines frequent flyer miles, and the cards have perks that are proportional to their respective annual fees, or lack thereof. But generally speaking, these are highly competitive travel credit card products, just based on their rewards and benefits.

For example, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® provides a free checked bag on domestic American Airlines flights for you and as many as four companions traveling on the same reservation. This benefit alone can save a family of four $240 for every round trip. It also comes with preferred boarding and a $125 flight discount after you spend $20,000 or more during a year and renew the card.

Other cards have similarly valuable perks and can justify their annual fees and more for many cardholders. You can read our reviews of each (where available), which are linked in the bulleted list above.

One thing that differentiates American Airlines' credit cards

One of the biggest differences between American Airlines' cobranded credit cards and those issued by its competing airlines is how it helps you earn elite status.

American Airlines uses a system known as Loyalty Points to award elite status in its AAdvantage loyalty program. You can earn these by spending money on flights, but you can also get them for credit card spending. Every base mile you earn from any of the American Airlines credit cards gets you 1 Loyalty Point.

To qualify for elite status, you'll need to reach the following thresholds in an earning year:

• AAdvantage Gold: 40,000 Loyalty Points
• AAdvantage Platinum: 75,000 Loyalty Points
• AAdvantage Platinum Pro: 125,000 Loyalty Points
• AAdvantage Executive Platinum: 200,000 Loyalty Points

This is tremendously valuable and is a far superior status-earning benefit than other airline credit cards. For example, Delta's SkyMiles program uses a system called Medallion Qualification Dollars, or MQDs, which like American's program, are primarily designed to reward spending on Delta flights.

You can earn MQDs with some Delta cards, but there are only two that earn any type of MQDs. The Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card ($350 annual fee, see rates and fees) is the first. And the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card ($650 annual fee, see rates and fees) is the second. The business versions of each of these cards is also included. Lower-cost versions, such as the Delta SkyMiles® Gold American Express Card don't earn any MQDs at all ($0 introductory annual fee for the first year, then $150 See rates and fees, terms apply). And even the Platinum card earns at a significantly lower rate than the high-dollar Reserve card.

This could add thousands of dollars in value

The point is that in addition to the value of the rewards and benefits of each American Airlines credit card, it's important to consider the value of the elite status that it can help you earn.

As an example, let's say you earned 50,000 Loyalty Points from flying last year and spent $30,000 on your credit card, bringing your total to 80,000 Loyalty Points. According to popular travel website Upgraded Points, the AAdvantage Platinum status that this would earn is worth $2,750 per year to a traveler who takes advantage of its perks, compared to about $1,575 for Gold status. So, in a situation like this, the status difference from your credit card earnings can be worth well over $1,000 per year.

Of course, every situation is different, but if an American Airlines credit card helps elevate you to the next level (or beyond) of AAdvantage status, and you take advantage of the perks, it can more than justify the annual fee all by itself, even for the most expensive card.