Recently, we heard from an American AAdvantage member whose miles had expired who related his call to the airline when he asked whether he could get the miles reinstated. While members can pay to have their miles reinstated through the reactiveAAmiles program ($50 for every 5,000 miles), AAdvantage responded by offering him a “challenge” and allowed him to earn back up to 50,000 miles by earning 750 base miles with a Citi AAdvantage card, earning 5,000 miles with three different partners or flying one roundtrip on American Airlines and earning at least 750 base miles each way. Completing two of the three activities will result in the reinstatement of 200,000 miles and three activities will reinstate more than 200,000 miles. Plus, the member was required to sign up and remain subscribed to the program’s e-communications.

Bottom line: It’s possible that this offer is only offered to select members, but if you ever find yourself with expired miles (and we hope that you don’t) be sure to call the airline and ask them for all of the options that are available to you for getting them back.