Q – We had a long weekend, so my wife and I planned out a cruise we will be booking on Celebrity Cruises to Europe next summer, which we will follow with a Backroads Walking Tour of Spain. We spoke to our travel agent who knows that we always fly American out of Charlotte. I do love collecting those Advantage Miles and have saved enough in the past for some nice weekend getaways. But my agent told me she does not think I will get mileage credit from the cruise line or the hiking company if I purchase the air through them. Does this sound like it could be true? How can I be sure to fly American while still earning my full mileage credits? PS – we always fly Business Class.
A – Your travel agent is absolutely correct. This is all a bit technical but let us simplify it a bit. American became the first major airline to say that if you book your air through a third party vendor, like a cruise line or a tour operator, you will no longer be able to earn miles on those flights. This policy went into effect on May 1st, 2024.
Of course, the math is fairly simple. American has to give out contracted rates and pay commission when a third party sells their tickets. They have made a business decision to, essentially, only grant miles when the customer books direfctly with American either online on the American App. or using the American reservation system.
Many travel advisors are waiting to see if the other shoe drops and other airlines match this policy.
Your alternative is easy – book the air with American yourself directly. And be prepared to relinquish the airport to hotel and hotel to ship transfers that your cruise line would have included in the air package.
This is just one more example of why so many millions of folks are wearing those red baseball caps that read “Make American Airlines Great Again”. They even hold their own anti-American Airline rallies.
