Keeping my AA Points Alive
Aug. 3rd, 2022 12:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
canyonwalkerA few weeks ago I wrote about the peril of frequent flyer points expiring. Some programs ditched expiration during the pandemic and have made it a permanent change. Others still cancel all your points if you don't touch them for a certain period of time. American Airlines is one of those programs. If your account goes without activity for 24 months, you lose all your points. That would be quite a loss for me as I have nearly 750,000 AA points!
Fortunately it's not hard to generate activity with airline and hotel points programs. Sure, you could fly somewhere or stay somewhere, but even if you're not traveling with a particular program— perhaps you're saving your points for something big in the future— there are generally easy ways to keep your points alive. Remember, you don't have to use the whole balance; you only have to earn a point or spend a point. One point.
I'm preserving my AA points with a form of (3). American Airlines has a program called Aadvantage Dining. You register one or more credit cards with them, then whenever you dine at one of the restaurants in their program you early a small number of points. The participating restaurants aren't exactly plentiful, but in metro areas there are definitely choices. I signed up a few weeks ago and have already earned points 3 times. Even if I'd just earned points once it would've been enough. Remember, you just need to earn one point to renew all of them. Now my 750k AA points will live for another 2 years.
Fortunately it's not hard to generate activity with airline and hotel points programs. Sure, you could fly somewhere or stay somewhere, but even if you're not traveling with a particular program— perhaps you're saving your points for something big in the future— there are generally easy ways to keep your points alive. Remember, you don't have to use the whole balance; you only have to earn a point or spend a point. One point.
🎵 Stayin' alive
Stayin' alive
Ah, ah, ah, ah
Stayin' ali-i-i-ive 🎵
Some of the approaches to keeping a trickle of points coming into your account (or spending from it) are: 1) Owning a credit card affiliated with the program and spending on it occasionally; 2) Finding small redemption opportunities in the program, like a digital song download for 100 points; and 3) using partner affiliations to earn points from other kinds of activity, like shopping.Stayin' alive
Ah, ah, ah, ah
Stayin' ali-i-i-ive 🎵
I'm preserving my AA points with a form of (3). American Airlines has a program called Aadvantage Dining. You register one or more credit cards with them, then whenever you dine at one of the restaurants in their program you early a small number of points. The participating restaurants aren't exactly plentiful, but in metro areas there are definitely choices. I signed up a few weeks ago and have already earned points 3 times. Even if I'd just earned points once it would've been enough. Remember, you just need to earn one point to renew all of them. Now my 750k AA points will live for another 2 years.
