If you’re struggling to earn enough Loyalty Points for your desired American Airlines elite status tier, a new MaximizeMiles promotion from American Airlines Vacations may be appealing.

Normally, American AAdvantage members without status earn 1 mile and Loyalty Point per dollar spent and AAdvantage status members earn 5 miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent on vacation packages. But, with the MaximizeMiles promotions, you can earn as follows when you book on the American Airlines Vacations website between July 1 and Sept. 30, 2026, and travel between July 3, 2026, and July 31, 2027:

• Member: 5 miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent
• Gold: 7 miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent
• Platinum: 8 miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent
• Platinum Pro: 9 miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent
• Executive Platinum: 11 miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent

Related: American AAdvantage miles vs. Loyalty Points: What’s the difference?

This means you’ll earn the same number of miles and Loyalty Points on your flights as you usually would, since these elevated rates match the standard earnings at these status levels for American Airlines flights. However, when booking a package, you’ll also earn at this elevated rate on the hotel, rental car or both that you book as part of the package.

The miles and Loyalty Points you earn are based on the AAdvantage member with the highest status on your package booking. American Airlines Vacations multiplies the multiplier for the highest status on your booking by the total package value excluding taxes, fees and mileage redemption and then divides the miles and Loyalty Points by the number of passengers on your package booking.

So, if a booking for two travelers — one of whom has Platinum Pro status — costs $2,000 excluding taxes, fees and mileage redemption, the package would earn 18,000 miles and Loyalty Points and each traveler on the package would earn 9,000 miles and Loyalty Points as long as their AAdvantage number is on the booking (if it’s not, the miles and Loyalty Points for that person are forfeited; they aren’t split among the other travelers).

However, keep in mind that you usually won’t get hotel points, elite-night credit and elite benefits when you book a hotel through American Airlines Vacations. This may be a good trade-off to earn more miles and Loyalty Points, and is a non-issue if you end up booking a property that doesn’t participate in a major hotel loyalty program.

Related: 16 best all-inclusive resorts in the US

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Maximizing this American Airlines Vacation promotion

Starting Aug. 23, Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (see rates and fees) cardholders can earn up to $250 in statement credits from January through June and another up to $250 from July through December when booking eligible American Airlines Vacations packages or experiences with their card. So, you may want to wait until Aug. 23 to book an American Airlines Vacation package if you’re an AAdvantage Executive cardholder.

It’s also worth remembering that AAdvantage elite members who have reached the 60,000 Loyalty Points threshold in a membership year enjoy a 25% Loyalty Point bonus on spending with select partners (including American Airlines Vacations) within six months of qualifying for this threshold. So, if you recently reached 60,000 Loyalty Points, registered for the 25% Loyalty Point bonus and are still within your six-month earning window, you could stack that bonus with this promotion.

Related: Be careful: 9 times you won’t earn American Airlines Loyalty Points, even if you earn miles

If you have the AAdvantage Executive Card, it’s worth booking a package between Aug. 23 and Sept. 30 to utilize your up to $250 statement credit for the second half of 2026 and earn at the elevated rates. Likewise, if you currently have the 25% Loyalty Point bonus on select partner spending through the Loyalty Point Rewards program, this MaximizeMiles promotion may also be worthwhile. Finally, it’s worth checking the Deals tab on the American Airlines Vacations website before booking to see if you want to take advantage of any discounts or bonus miles.

Additionally, if you have a lower status tier, it may be worth traveling with a higher status tier member to unlock their higher earning rate during this promotion. For example, a Gold member would normally earn 5 miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent, but could earn 7 miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent during this promotion. However, if they travel on the same package booking as an Executive Platinum member (you can book multiple rooms on one booking), they’d earn 11 miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent with this promotion.

For example, consider a three-night long weekend trip from Atlanta to Orlando this November. A solo traveler could pay $545.35 to stay at the Delta Hotels Orlando Celebration and fly on one-stop flights. If this traveler had Gold status, they’d earn 3,205 miles and Loyalty Points on the $457.80 of the package that doesn’t include taxes and fees.

However, if they traveled with an Executive Platinum member in separate rooms on the same trip, they’d earn 5,036 miles and Loyalty Points on their half of the package (assuming the cost of two rooms is double the cost of one, which it was in this case).

Of course, it’s always worth comparing what your flight and hotel could earn you if booked separately — especially since you can sometimes earn a large amount of Loyalty Points when booking through AAdvantage Hotels.

Related: Loyalty Points addict: Why it was worth spending nearly $400 at a not-so-great hotel

Bottom line

The American Airlines Vacations MaximizeMiles promotion may be a compelling way to boost your Loyalty Point balance, especially if you’re working toward securing a specific AAdvantage status tier. The opportunity becomes even more attractive if you can stack the elevated earnings with the 25% Loyalty Point bonus from Loyalty Point Rewards or, starting Aug. 23, the Citi / AAdvantage Executive card’s American Airlines Vacations statement credit.

Still, don’t book a package solely for the extra miles and Loyalty Points. Compare the package price with booking each component separately, and consider any hotel points, elite-night credits or elite benefits you might give up by booking through American Airlines Vacations. If the pricing makes sense, though, this promotion could be a good way to earn Loyalty Points on a trip you were already planning.