How can you earn American Airlines miles from UK credit cards?

American Airlines no longer has its own UK credit card.

It used to have a Visa card, issued by MBNA, which was known for its generous sign-up bonuses – once as high as 35,000 miles. The card was withdrawn in early 2018 as it was no longer seen as economic when the Government capped the charges that Visa and Mastercard could levy on shops.

There is, however, still a way to earn American Airlines miles from a UK credit card. 

The route is via Marriott Bonvoy.

Marriott Bonvoy hotel loyalty points convert to American Airlines miles at the rate of 3:1. You receive an additional 5,000 miles bonus if you convert 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points at once, which would give you 25,000 American Airlines miles.

The most efficient way to earn Marriott Bonvoy points in the UK is via the official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card. It comes with 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for signing up and 2 points for every £1 you spend.

At 2 Bonvoy points per £1, you are earning (at 3:1) 0.66 American Airlines miles per £1 spent on the card. This will increase to 0.83 AA miles per £1 if you convert Bonvoy points in chunks of 60,000 points.

You can apply here.

We wrote a full review of the Marriott Bonvoy American Express credit card here.

American Express Membership Rewards cards are another option

For completeness, I should also mention that American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points can also be used to indirectly earn American Airlines miles.

It’s complicated though:

• you need to send your American Express points to Marriott Bonvoy at the rate of 2:3, and

• send your Marriott Bonvoy points to American Airlines at the rate of 3:1

….. with the usual bonus of 5,000 American Airlines miles if you transfer 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points at once.

The earning rate per £1 spent is poorer on these cards.

£1 spent gets you 1 Membership Rewards point. This gets you 1.5 Marriott Bonvoy points, which in turn gets you 0.5 American Airlines miles. You can add an extra 25% to this if you convert your Marriott Bonvoy points in chunks of 60,000.

However, you will see that the Membership Rewards cards we list below do have generous sign-up bonuses. If you qualify, you could get a card from this list purely to trigger the sign-up bonus.

Click through for more details:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

American Express Rewards

The only ‘free for life’ Amex card which earns Membership Rewards Read our full review

If you have a small business, you should also consider:

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

(Want to earn more miles and points from credit cards?  Click here to visit our dedicated airline and hotel travel credit cards page or use the ‘Credit Card Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

Disclaimer: Head for Points is a journalistic website. Nothing here should be construed as financial advice, and it is your own responsibility to ensure that any product is right for your circumstances. Recommendations are based primarily on the ability to earn miles and points and do not consider interest rates, service levels or any impact on your credit history.  By recommending credit cards on this site, I am – technically – acting as a credit broker.  Robert Burgess, trading as Head for Points, is regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a credit broker.