Charlie says: There is a way to do it for free – I have had my friends do this a couple of times. If you do not have a AA Citi card, call and ask if you apply for one, will they reactivate the miles. The other one is to call and ask what type of credit card challenge they can offer. Two times, friends had to simply spend a certain amount on their Citi AA cards in 3 months to get the miles back for free. Paying for them should be a last resort.

Buying Expired American Airlines Miles for .43 Cents Per Mile (CPM)

Would you buy American Airlines miles for .43 cents per mile?  I’m sure almost everyone would.  But how is that possible?  You just have to buy back your expired American Airlines miles!

Technically, it is called “Reactivate Expired AAdvantage Miles” and the price you may depends on how many miles you have that expired.  Before I had a blog or any idea what my American Airlines account number was, my parents had created an American Airlines frequent flyer account for me.  But unfortunately (like many people), the miles expired before they were redeemed for trips.  I had no idea how many miles I had that expired, so I called the AAdvantage Customer Service department at 1-800-882-8880 to find out.  You can view the entire page and read the full terms here.

To simply your life, I have done all the calculations for you.  The price is constant at $215, $430, or $645, depending on how many miles you want to reactivate.

Miles	Price	CPM
5,000	$215	4.30
10,000	$215	2.15
15,000	$215	1.43
20,000	$215	1.08
25,000	$215	0.86
30,000	$215	0.72
35,000	$215	0.61
40,000	$215	0.54
45,000	$215	0.48
50,000	$215	0.43
55,000	$430	0.78
60,000	$430	0.72
65,000	$430	0.66
70,000	$430	0.61
75,000	$430	0.57
80,000	$645	0.81
85,000	$645	0.76
90,000	$645	0.72
95,000	$645	0.68
100,000	$645	0.65
105,000	$645	0.61
110,000	$645	0.59
115,000	$645	0.56
120,000	$645	0.54
125,000	$645	0.52
130,000	$645	0.50
135,000	$645	0.48
140,000	$645	0.46

It turned out that I had 17,249 miles that had expired.  I determined that it was worth it to buy them back for $215, which comes to 1.25 CPM for each American Airlines mile.

My brother also had 13,375 expired miles, so I bought back his miles as well.  His miles cost 1.61 CPM for each American Airlines mile.

I used my Citi American Airlines Credit Card to see if I would earn bonus points, and it looks like I did.  The numbers looks a bit off because I was targetted for a spending bonus.

But this makes it more clear.  I spend $215 x 2 = $430 at “American Airlines” and earned 430 bonus American Airlines miles.

So what does it all mean?  If you think, even for a second, that you have some American Airlines miles that expired, it is worth calling and having them check your account.  I do not believe there is a way to see how many miles you had that expired, so calling is the only way.  After they tell you how many miles you have expired, check to see what the cost per mile is.  If it is below what you would pay for miles, then you should buy them (preferably with a Citi American Airlines Credit Card).  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.