5 Tips for Flying American Airlines

These days, no matter which airline you fly, traveling around the U.S. can seem remarkably similar — and not all that glamorous. Yet, there are a few key differences among each of the major U.S. airlines, and understanding them can turn a mediocre experience into a positive one. American Airlines — the world’s largest airline by number of seats — operates hubs in Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C. If you’re planning an upcoming trip on American, be sure to check out these five helpful tips before you book.

Understand Your Options (and Beware of Basic Economy)

Like many airlines these days, American offers customers quite a few choices when it comes to the travel experience, and the number of options may overwhelm you. Let’s start with the basics: basic economy. This is American’s lowest-priced option, but it comes with a few important restrictions:

• After a 24-hour grace period, basic economy tickets cannot be changed or refunded. You’ll be able to cancel for a future travel credit if you added your AAdvantage loyalty number to your booking, but it will cost a $99 fee. 
• American allows one free carry-on and personal item on basic economy tickets, but checked bags will be extra. 
• You can choose your seat prior to check-in for a fee; otherwise, one will be assigned to you (and it may be apart from your family or group).

American also offers a standard economy-class option called main cabin. Tickets can be changed without a fee, though you will have to pay any fare difference. Nonpreferred seats can be selected free of charge, but checked bags are extra. As an upgraded experience within the economy cabin, Main Cabin Extra comes with perks like a few extra inches of legroom, early boarding, and complimentary alcoholic beverages.

If you’re looking to upgrade your flight, American has several options:

• When flying domestically, first class is American’s highest cabin offering. It includes a wider seat with more legroom at the front of the cabin with a dedicated flight attendant, hot meals, and perks like priority boarding and free checked baggage.
• On shorter international flights (think Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America), American offers business class. This is the same recliner seat you’ll find in domestic first class on aircraft like the Boeing 737 or Airbus A319.
• On wide-body aircraft like the Boeing 777 and Boeing 787, American offers premium economy. This is a similar seat to domestic first class or short-haul business class, but it comes with elevated amenities and upgraded meals. It’s available flying to long-haul destinations in Asia, Europe, and South America, plus on select domestic flights, including some flights to Hawaii. 
• On those same long-haul flights, American also offers Flagship business class. Seats recline into fully flat beds and have direct access to the aisle, and access to the Flagship lounge is included before you take off. (American also currently offers Flagship first class, but this is being phased out.) 

Pro tip: Keep a lookout on the American app or by managing your itinerary online for any upgrade offers, which can typically be purchased using miles or cash. You may be able to score a better deal by upgrading after the fact, as the airline looks to sell unsold seats closer to departure.

Bring Your Own Devices

If you’re flying on a wide-body aircraft such as the Boeing 777 or Boeing 787 on a longer international flight, you can expect built-in screens in all cabins. 

However, American Airlines is in the process of removing seatback screens from narrow-body aircraft (e.g., Boeing 737s) serving domestic and shorter international flights. On these flights, instead of seatback screens, American offers free entertainment streamed to your personal device, such as a phone, laptop, or tablet. That means you’ll want to come prepared if you’re looking to stay entertained during your flight.

Fortunately, most American planes offer power ports (and the airline is in the process of installing more) so you can keep your devices charged. Currently, Wi-Fi is available for purchase starting at $10 per flight, but American has also announced plans to roll out fleetwide free Wi-Fi, following other airlines such as Delta, United, and JetBlue.

Don’t Try To Cut the Boarding Line

The internet likes to call them “gate lice,” but even if you’re unfamiliar with this term, there’s a good chance you’ve observed them in action before a flight. They’re the people who stand around crowding the gate before their group is called, often hoping to board earlier to stow their carry-on bags as quickly as possible. With busy and often overworked gate agents, gate lice often make it on the plane before their group is called. 

While this is common on many airlines, American has introduced new technology to crack down on the problem. Now, an audible alert lets the gate agent know if a passenger attempts to board before the assigned group on their boarding pass, prompting the agent to send the passenger to the back of the line. So, if you want to avoid potential public shaming, make sure to stay calmly seated until your group is called. 

Of course, many passengers worry about overhead bin space running out before they get a chance to stow their baggage. In that case, you can look to upgrade your boarding priority on American by flying in a premium cabin or by holding elite status or certain American Airlines-branded credit cards. American also offers an a la carte option to purchase early Group 4 boarding on economy-class tickets. 

Rack Up Points (and Other Perks) on Everyday Spending

If you’re flying American, it’s a no-brainer to sign up for AAdvantage, the airline’s free loyalty program, and add your frequent flyer number to your reservation. (Fun fact: AAdvantage was the world’s first frequent flyer program when it launched in 1981.) When you fly American, you’ll earn at least 5 AAdvantage miles per dollar spent on airfare (except basic economy, which earns 2 miles). These miles can be redeemed for free flights, upgrades, and much more.

But flying isn’t the only way to unlock value from AAdvantage: You can also earn points when you shop online or dine out at thousands of stores and restaurants, when you book hotels or car rentals through American, and when you spend on an American Airlines co-branded credit card. You can also earn when you fly on airlines in the Oneworld alliance and other partner airlines.  

Additionally, in 2022, American introduced Loyalty Points. The miles you earn from flying and spending now also count as Loyalty Points, which unlock elite status and other perks. For example, when you hit 15,000 points in the program year, you’ll receive perks such as coupons for preferred seating and priority check-in and security for one trip. At 40,000 points, you’ll reach Gold status, which offers complimentary upgrades, free checked bags, and more points earned per flight. 

Moral of the story: Even if you don’t think you’ll fly enough on American to unlock these perks, keep in mind there are many other ways to earn them, particularly through everyday spending on a credit card or online purchases. 

Unlock Greater Value With Partner Award Tickets

As travel credit cards and loyalty programs have grown in popularity and more travelers are racking up points, some airlines have taken to increasing (often without much notice) the cost required to redeem miles for a free flight. 

So, while you may have been able to redeem, say, 70,000 Delta SkyMiles for a flight from the U.S. to Europe back in 2018, that might cost anywhere from 300,000 to 500,000 miles now. Airlines have also made pricing of award tickets fully dynamic, rather than at fixed prices, so there’s less transparency about the true cost and value of these points.

However, American Airlines has approached this situation a bit differently. At least for now, the airline is alone among major U.S. carriers by still publishing a useful award chart, explaining the starting prices for the amount of miles you’ll need to redeem based on region. Plus, American still offers valuable fixed-price redemptions on many of its international partner airlines. 

According to The Points Guy, this is one of the best ways to redeem AAdvantage miles. For example, as of mid-2025, you can still fly from the U.S. to Europe on an American partner airline such as Iberia or Aer Lingus for the starting price of 57,500 miles in Business Class — far fewer points than are required on other airlines (or even American Airlines’ own flights). The catch is that these awards are classified as “Saver,” and American only releases them in limited quantities, so they might be difficult to find — try to book as early as possible and be flexible with your travel dates and destinations to find the best value.