How much are American AAdvantage miles worth?
About 1.45¢ each — so a balance of 10,000 is worth roughly $145 when it is spent well.
That figure is the median of 5 published valuations, published 2026-09. It ranks number 9 of 16 currencies in the catalogue — all of them, side by side.
The short version
- Worth: 1.45¢ a mile, spent the way the valuation assumes.
- Floor: no cash redemption worth naming, so the value depends on booking travel with it.
- Kind: Airline — miles in one airline's program.
Why this number and not another
A mile has no fixed price. What it is worth depends on what it is spent on, and a valuation is an outlet's estimate of what a typical member gets when they redeem sensibly — not the best redemption anybody ever found, and not the worst. Outlets disagree, so Cardful takes the middle of their figures for every currency, so that a points card and a cash-back card can be ranked in the same unit; why the figures differ so much from one program to the next is its own page.
Each outlet's own figure, read 2026-09:
| Outlet | Per mile |
|---|---|
| The Points Guy | 1.45¢ |
| Upgraded Points | 1.40¢ |
| NerdWallet | 1.70¢ |
| Frequent Miler | 1.40¢ |
| AwardWallet | 2.56¢ |
If you redeem differently — only for cash, say — your own figure is the one that matters, and the extension lets you set it. Every ranking it shows you is then priced on yours.
Cards that earn American AAdvantage miles
| Card | Annual fee | Top rateThe best rate this card pays in this currency, on the category in the next column. | On |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citi AAdvantage MileUp | none | 2x | Flights |
| Citi AAdvantage Business World Elite Mastercard | $99 | 2x | Flights |
| Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select | $99 | 2x | Flights |
| Citi AAdvantage Executive | $695 | 4x | Flights |
The best card for earning them, by kind of spending
- groceries: AAdvantage MileUp — $2.90 per $100
- dining out: AAdvantage Platinum Select — $2.90 per $100
- gas: AAdvantage Business World Elite Mastercard — $2.90 per $100
- food delivery: AAdvantage Platinum Select — $2.90 per $100
- grocery delivery: AAdvantage MileUp — $2.90 per $100
- car rentals: AAdvantage Business World Elite Mastercard — $2.90 per $100
- phone and internet bills: AAdvantage Business World Elite Mastercard — $2.90 per $100
We track The Points Guy, Upgraded Points, NerdWallet, Frequent Miler and AwardWallet when refreshing these figures. How every number on this site is worked out.