In a special issue commemorating its 10th anniversary, business periodical Latin Trade named the American AAdvantage program the “Best of Latin America,” based on a survey of 70,000 executives.

AAdvantage claimed top honors for frequent flyer programs largely based on the extensive American network throughout Latin America. As Latin Trade put it: “AAdvantage, with the most members of any frequent flier program in the world, requires more miles than some competitors when it comes to redeeming tickets, but that seemed to be no problem for Latin Trade readers. They chose it far ahead of its competitors. (The exception was Portuguese-speaking voters, who gave Varig’s Smiles program the biggest vote of confidence).”