Guide a cruise by an airline? Sounds bananas, proper? At the least, it did to me — till I did it.
For a current crusing, I booked a cabin by American Airways Cruises, a reserving channel that earned me AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Factors for my cruise.
In the event you’re an American Airways loyalist, this is how you need to use your cruise buy to earn factors and miles towards free journey and elite standing.
Why I booked by American Airways Cruises
I stay within the Charlotte space, an American Airways hub, which suggests most of my flights are by American. As such, I focus my factors and miles technique on what I can earn as a member of American Airways’ AAdvantage loyalty program.
I am additionally an AAdvantage Aviator Mastercard holder. I exploit it to pay for many of my American Airways flights, offering me with extra methods to realize standing with American Airways. It was my first journey bank card, and it has been in my pockets for over 25 years.
(Nevertheless, starting in 2026, Citi will change into the unique issuer of American Airways’ AAdvantage cobranded bank card portfolio. You will not give you the chance to join the Aviator Mastercard anymore, however you possibly can choose the Citi® / AAdvantage® Government World Elite Mastercard® (see charges and costs) or the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Choose® World Elite Mastercard®.)
The knowledge for the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Choose World Elite Mastercard 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.
With my AAdvantage Aviator card, I get pleasure from advantages like a free checked bag for me and as much as 4 individuals touring on my reservation, most well-liked boarding on American-operated flights and a yearly $25 credit score for inflight Wi-Fi purchases. I am additionally a fan of the modest $99 annual payment.
I often guide my cruises instantly by the cruise line’s web site, however I questioned if I had a greater choice for incomes factors and miles on my cruise buy. That is after I found American Airways Cruises, the airline’s branded cruise reserving portal.
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It options cruise presents from 30-plus cruise traces, together with Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, Celeb Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, Viking and Oceania Cruises, amongst others. Anybody can enroll and guide by the platform, incomes each AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Factors on their cruise reserving.
Once I booked my cruise, American Airways Cruises was providing a particular promotion for AAdvantage bank card holders (extra particulars beneath). This was the final push I wanted to guide my cruise by American Airways’ cruise reserving platform.
Find out how to earn miles by American Airways Cruises
I used to be already an AAdvantage member, so I did not want to join the loyalty program. (In the event you’re initially of the mileage-accrual journey, it is easy to enroll by American’s web site.)
AAdvantage members will earn 1 mile per greenback spent on cruises booked by American Airways Cruises, plus 1 Loyalty Level towards standing for each greenback spent. (What is the distinction? You employ AAdvantage miles to pay for award flights, however you want Loyalty Factors to realize elite standing within the American Airways AAdvantage loyalty program.)
AAdvantage Aviator Mastercard holders will earn an extra 1 mile per greenback spent on cruises, plus 1 Loyalty Level towards standing for each greenback spent (from Mastercard, not AA Cruises). Word that these with the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Choose card of their pockets may even earn 1 mile per greenback spent and 1 Loyalty Level towards standing for each greenback spent.
American Airways was operating a promotion for AAdvantage bank card holders after I booked my cruise, incomes me 2 miles per greenback spent on the acquisition of my cruise. It was a “limited-time provide” after I booked my cruise in January. Nevertheless, on the time of writing, the provide was nonetheless displaying on a banner on the high of the American Airways Cruises homepage. (Simply click on on the promotional banner to get began.)
Your award miles will publish to your AAdvantage account six to eight weeks after your cruise concludes.
AAdvantage members can solely earn miles from their American Airways Cruises bookings; they can not use award miles to buy a cruise.
Associated: Find out how to guide a cruise utilizing factors and miles
Find out how to guide a cruise by American Airways Cruises
As soon as you have created an American Airways account and logged in on American’s web site, click on the “Plan journey” tab, which can drop down an inventory of journey choices, together with “Cruises.” This can open a brand new window for American’s cruise reserving web site. Alternatively, you possibly can go on to the AA Cruises web site.
When you’re on the primary web page of the AA Cruises web site, use the “Cruise Search” field to filter outcomes to your desired journey (vacation spot, cruise size, departure date, cruise line, ship and departure port). Moreover, a scrolling carousel by the Cruise Search field highlights cruise line-specific gross sales and promotions.
When your search outcomes seem, you possibly can click on on the picture to have a look at the ship, the itinerary, cabins, deck plans, critiques and onboard experiences. As soon as you have chosen your cruise, click on “Choose” to begin the reserving course of.
Select the variety of friends
At this stage, if you’re a member of the loyalty program with the cruise line you have chosen, you will even have the choice to plug in your member quantity. This would possibly unlock further reductions, so it is a good suggestion to hitch the cruise line loyalty program if you happen to aren’t already a member.
You may additionally verify the variety of individuals in your reserving. If anybody in your group qualifies for a senior citizen or navy low cost, you possibly can point out that right here.
Decide the cabin kind
After you enter the variety of friends, you will select the kind of cabin you’d favor (inside, ocean-view, balcony or suite). The web page may even present the bottom worth for the least costly cabin in every class.
You may subsequent see pricing for the totally different cabin sorts inside that umbrella class. In the event you guide a cruise for 2 passengers, a assure cabin will seem as an choice. Once you select a assure cabin, you let the cruise line choose its location and, in return, pay a cheaper price. So, if you happen to do wish to choose your cabin location, you will seemingly need to pay greater than the bottom fare listed for that normal cabin class.
After you select the particular promotion/cruise fare pricing you like, you will transfer to the “choose room” stage of the method. (You’ll not be given this selection if you happen to select a assure cabin.) Right here, you possibly can peruse the deck plans of the ship to determine the place you want to your room to be positioned.
Associated: The final word information to picking a cruise ship cabin
Present visitor info
After you have chosen the variety of friends and cabin kind, enter every cruise passenger’s particulars, reminiscent of identify, date of start and nation of residence. You may even be given the choice to decide on your most well-liked eating time (early, late or versatile, relying on the cruise line).
Full your reserving
The final step offers a abstract of the cruise you’re reserving and your ultimate worth, which incorporates the cruise fare and port expenses, plus taxes and costs damaged down individually. (I used to be not given the choice to prepay gratuities.)
As with many on-line reserving websites, you will even be given the choice to buy journey safety to your cruise. I all the time suggest buying a third-party journey insurance coverage plan.
Was reserving by American Airways Cruises value it?
The American Airways Cruises platform was simple to navigate, however was it the best choice for getting worth and incomes factors and miles for my trip reserving? Finally, sure.
I might have paid the identical cruise fare if I had booked instantly on Royal Caribbean’s web site, as American Airways Cruises presents the identical promotions because the cruise traces. Moreover, a fast name to my native journey agent confirmed that reserving by him would yield the identical outcomes from a value perspective (although journey brokers do present private help you won’t obtain from customer support with a web based reserving platform).
Nevertheless, reserving by American Airways Cruises actually paid off, because it earned me factors and miles towards standing with American’s AAdvantage loyalty program.
I earned 1,237 miles and 1,237 Loyalty Factors on my American Airways Cruises reserving. In the meantime, I used my AAdvantage Aviator bank card, which, because of a promotion on the time of reserving, earned me 2 miles per greenback spent on my cruise buy. This netted me an extra 2,474 miles and 1,237 Loyalty Factors. All instructed, I snagged 3,711 miles and a couple of,474 Loyalty Factors by my cruise buy.
Moreover, I booked my flights by American Airways utilizing my AAdvantage Aviator bank card, which earned me 474 miles and 190 Loyalty Factors (for the flights), plus 1,136 miles and 284 Loyalty Factors (for utilizing my American Airways cobranded bank card).
For the flights and the cruise, I earned a complete of 5,321 AAdvantage miles and a couple of,948 Loyalty Factors. Had I booked instantly by Royal Caribbean’s web site (and paid with my AAdvantage Aviator bank card), I might have missed out on an additional 1,237 miles and 1,237 Loyalty Factors.
Backside line
Total, I used to be happy with the end result of reserving by American Airways Cruises, and I positively plan so as to add airline cruise reserving platforms to my useful resource checklist when researching future cruises.
Reserving my cruise by American Airways Cruises was a straightforward strategy to earn factors and miles on a cruise I might have booked anyway. Additionally, buying my cruise and flights with my AAdvantage Aviator Mastercard and incomes further factors and miles provided much more worth.
The following time you are planning a cruise, do not rely out your most well-liked airline. If it presents a cruise or trip reserving platform — you will discover related ones for Delta Air Strains, United Airways and Southwest Airways, amongst different carriers — you would possibly be capable of rack up just a few further factors and miles towards standing.
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