Is it legal to sell American Airlines miles?

Even though selling American Airlines miles seems to be frowned upon, there is no law prohibiting the sale of miles.



Selling American Airlines AAdvantage miles is not "illegal" in the sense of criminal law (you won't go to jail), but it is a major violation of the airline's Terms and Conditions. American Airlines explicitly states that miles do not belong to the member and have no cash value; they are the property of the airline. If the airline's "Revenue Integrity" or fraud department detects that you have sold miles—often by monitoring third-party "mileage broker" websites—they have the right to permanently terminate your account, confiscate all remaining miles, and cancel any outstanding award tickets booked with those miles. In some cases, passengers traveling on tickets purchased from a broker may be stranded at the airport or forced to buy a full-fare ticket on the spot. While there is no federal law in the U.S. prohibiting the sale of loyalty points, the contractual consequences are severe. Instead of selling, American Airlines provides legal ways to share miles through their official "Gift or Transfer" portal, though these options usually involve a fee and are intended for friends and family.

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If you search online, you'll find various airline miles brokers and airline points brokers willing to pay you cash for your travel rewards. That said, I don't recommend selling your miles for a multitude of reasons. Here's what you need to know, including other ways to get value from airline miles you don't want.

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50,000 American miles are worth about $850. How much are 80,000 American miles worth? 80,000 American miles are worth about $1,360.

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Mileage Brokering Is Against Nearly All Loyalty Programs' Rules. I've always cautioned readers to avoid mileage brokers. Buying and selling miles is against the terms of nearly every program in the world. Not illegal in most jurisdictions, but it can get your account closed forefeiting all of your points.

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As an AAdvantage member, you must have some mileage earning or redeeming activity once every 24 months or have an open AAdvantage credit card account to retain your miles. If not, your AAdvantage miles will expire unless you pay a fee to reactivate them.

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0-4,000 miles: No discount (3.76? each) 5,000-54,000 miles: 20% discount (3? each) 55,000-149,000 miles: 25% discount (2.82? each) 150,000 miles: 35% discount (2.45? each)

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Here's how the system works now: Airlines create points out of nothing and sell them for real money to banks with co-branded credit cards. The banks award points to cardholders for spending, and both the banks and credit-card companies make money off the swipe fees from the use of the card.

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