Find out how to earn tons of American Airways Loyalty Factors by reserving with AAdvantage Lodges

I will be sincere; when American Airways overhauled the American Airways AAdvantage program a couple of years again so that you simply earn elite standing based totally on spending with the airline, its cobranded bank cards and different companions, I figured I would not often make it previous AAdvantage Gold or AAdvantage Platinum standing. And that is largely been true.

I are inclined to fly with a whole lot of totally different airways, and I put spending on quite a lot of rewards bank cards at any given time, relying on what welcome bonuses and different advantages can be found to me.

This 12 months, nevertheless, I used to be inside spitting distance of AAdvantage Platinum Professional standing and its perks by the point October rolled round, so I began enthusiastic about methods to get previous that threshold, and I turned to one in every of my secret weapons for incomes a whole lot of Loyalty Factors shortly throughout a visit to Buenos Aires, Argentina: AAdvantage Lodges bookings.

AAdvantage Lodges: My secret weapon for incomes elite standing

You see, you’ll be able to earn 1000’s of bonus miles and Loyalty Factors on AAdvantage Lodges reservations — even on quick stays.

For instance, reserving a two-night keep on the Dream Downtown in New York Metropolis final 12 months helped me nab a cool 15,000 Loyalty Factors, and that acquired me over the road to AAdvantage Platinum standing after a 12 months of flying and spending on my Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Choose® World Elite Mastercard® (see charges and charges).

The knowledge for the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Choose card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.

Loyalty Factors are what depend towards elite standing, and AAdvantage bonus miles are frequent flyer miles you’ll be able to redeem for award tickets with American Airways and its companions.

You are inclined to earn extra Loyalty Factors and AAdvantage miles on AAdvantage Lodges stays when you have AAdvantage elite standing and likewise maintain an AAdvantage cobranded card. As luck would have it, I’ve each.

In October, I used to be pondering of taking a fast jaunt all the way down to Buenos Aires, so along with searching for first rate award charges at outdated TPG favorites just like the Palacio Duhau — Park Hyatt Buenos Aires, I made a decision to see what AAdvantage Lodges bookings have been accessible.

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Incomes 29,000 Loyalty Factors and 23,000 AAdvantage miles with simply 1 resort keep

That is how I got here throughout a two-night keep on the Park Tower, a Luxurious Assortment Lodge, Buenos Aires for $790, together with taxes and charges, on which I’d earn 15,000 Loyalty Factors as an AAdvantage Platinum member with a number of AAdvantage cobranded playing cards. I paid for my reservation with my Citi® / AAdvantage® Govt World Elite Mastercard® (see charges and charges), which I had not too long ago utilized for and earns 10 AAdvantage miles per greenback spent on AAdvantage Lodges bookings. The keep was refundable up till a couple of days earlier than check-in, making it further versatile.

The factor about airline cobranded playing cards and airline elite standing is that every tends to allow you to compound your earnings in attention-grabbing methods, and my AAdvantage Lodges keep on the Park Tower crystallized that for me.

First, I earned 15,000 bonus American Airways AAdvantage miles for my keep, plus 10 miles per greenback spent with my Citi / AAdvantage Govt World Elite card, which netted me an extra 7,100 miles on prime of the 790 further miles I earned from the $790 cost for the keep. So, I ended up with 22,890 bonus AAdvantage miles for my keep. Because of a few costs on the resort, that rounded as much as 23,000 miles.

I additionally earned 15,000 Loyalty Factors towards elite standing because of the reserving circumstances, plus 790 extra Loyalty Factors for placing the cost for the keep on my AAdvantage card (1 Loyalty Level per greenback that I spent).

Here is the place issues acquired attention-grabbing, although. As a result of I had already earned 60,000 Loyalty Factors, I had unlocked a couple of Loyalty Level Rewards. These included a 20% bonus on qualifying exercise with companions, together with AAdvantage Lodges bookings, inside six months of incomes these 60,000 Loyalty Factors. That meant that as a substitute of incomes 15,000 Loyalty Factors, I earned 18,000 of them throughout this keep.

What’s extra, this resort keep put me over 90,000 Loyalty Factors earned for the 12 months to this point. That triggered an extra 10,000 bonus Loyalty Factors as a good thing about my Citi / AAdvantage Govt World Elite card.

So, when the ultimate numbers have been in, I had earned simply over 29,000 Loyalty Factors (because of some costs on the resort) by the point I checked out.

The downsides to reserving AAdvantage Lodges

I do not usually e-book AAdvantage Lodges all year long for quite a lot of causes.

First, to earn probably the most miles and Loyalty Factors, you are inclined to have to remain at costly resorts with excessive nightly charges — typically nicely over $1,000.

Second, when you e-book a resort inside a series, resembling Hyatt or Hilton, you can not anticipate to earn resort factors or get pleasure from your elite standing advantages. I used to be fortunate that the Park Tower honored a few of my Marriott Bonvoy elite advantages like free breakfast and late checkout, however that tends to be very hit and miss primarily based on TPG staffers’ experiences.

Nonetheless, it may be value forgoing the resort factors and elite perks for giant Loyalty Factors and AAdvantage miles paydays like I loved on this current journey, particularly when you’ll be able to unlock sure advantages just like the Citi / AAdvantage Govt World Elite card’s Loyalty Factors increase and Loyalty Level Rewards to compound your earnings even additional.

Backside line

My keep on the Park Tower in Buenos Aires acquired me even nearer to AAdvantage Platinum Professional standing than I anticipated. Now, I am pondering I’d simply be capable of shoot for AAdvantage Govt Platinum standing with a couple of well-timed AAdvantage Lodges bookings earlier than Feb. 28, 2026, the tip of the elite standing interval.

Since I’ve earned over 100,000 Loyalty Factors, I’ve already unlocked one other Loyalty Level Reward to earn 30% with companions inside the subsequent six months, that means my subsequent AAdvantage Lodges reserving might be much more profitable. I’ve three months to strategize each resort keep till the elite standing 12 months resets with American Airways, however a couple of work and leisure journeys could also be simply the ticket to AAdvantage Govt Platinum standing for me in 2026.