American Airlines Lets Loyalty Program Members Combine Cash and Miles

American Airlines is going to let eligible members of its AAdvantage loyalty program combine cash and miles when booking flights on its website (aa.com) and digital app, the company said in a Friday (Oct. 2) press release.

American Airlines is rolling out this feature over the coming weeks, according to the release.

When the feature is live, AAdvantage members will see during checkout a slider that allows them to choose a combination of cash and miles. The cost summary will then update to reflect that combination, per the release.

“At American, we’re continually evolving the AAdvantage program to deliver more choice and flexibility for our members,” Scott Long, senior vice president of AAdvantage at American Airlines, said in the release. “The introduction of cash and miles is another step in our ongoing effort to provide AAdvantage members with more personalized ways to engage with the program and get more value from their membership.”

CNBC reported Friday that United Airlines and Delta Air Lines allow customers to combine miles and cash. These offerings enable customers to save some cash when buying tickets when they don’t have enough miles to cover the entire cost, according to the report.

On a web page devoted to its cash and miles offering, Money + Miles, United Airlines said: “Select this option when you don’t have enough miles for an award flight or want to redeem miles on multiple trips. Choose the number of miles you want to redeem at checkout and pay for the rest of your ticket with money.”

Delta Air Lines offers Pay with Miles and Miles + Cash programs. Of Pay with Miles, the company says the program “gives you more flexibility to apply miles to the cost of your ticket so you can take off on your trip sooner.”

PYMNTS reported in July that rewards, loyalty programs and credit cards are becoming increasingly intertwined with the decision about where to travel and how to pay for it.

At the time, American Airlines’ AAdvantage enrollment had increased more than 30% year over year.

American Chief Commercial Officer Nat Pieper told analysts during a July earnings call: “Our final strategic pillar is lead in loyalty.”