In honor of the 35th anniversary of American AAdvantage, American Airlines just announced its Miles for Milestones promotion. The airline will pick 35 winners to get 350,000 miles each, but you can get up to 700 miles just for entering and completing a few short tasks!
Miles for Milestones
The theme of the promotion is “milestones” and is all about the memories that travelers have created from trips where they used miles to fly, whether it’s a simple vacation, anniversary or other event (such as my use of miles for the trip when I proposed to my wife; man, I’m glad she said yes, since I burned almost a quarter of a million miles). Hey, whatever works for them. As far as I’m concerned, the theme for me is “They’re giving me free miles.”
The Free Miles
It’s easy. Visit the contest page and fill out your name, email address, AA# and what you’re saving for. They’ll give you 350 miles just for showing up. 350 miles won’t get you very far, but it costs you nothing and, if nothing else, will extend the expiration period on your miles. Feel like getting more sophisticated? They’ll give you another 350 miles just for using social media to promote the contest. You will be given an option to add a social media post after you enter.
Bonus miles will show up approximately eight weeks after the promotion period ends on June 1.
Win 350,000 Miles
After you submit the forms, you will be entered into the drawing for one of (35) 350,000 AA miles prizes. That’s more than enough miles to take your family on an international trip in business class (The number of members of your family, of course, will determine whether MileSAAver awards need to be available. If they aren’t, take your spouse and decide which kid you like better.). And since American is a member of the oneworld alliance, you’ll have a number of partners to choose from.
The Fine Print
The contest has the standard fine print (which can be found on the contest page): all entries become their property, sweepstakes good in the 50 United States and DC, etc. One bit stands out, however: American is valuing the prize at $6,965, or just under two cents per mile. I don’t know how they came to that figure, but they will be reporting it on Form 1099. If you have any questions regarding the value of the miles, contact a tax advisor. If you win the sweepstakes, AA says that your reported value will not be reduced if you decide not to utilize the prize.
The Bottom Line
It costs you nothing except about two minutes of your time to enter, so fill out the form and, in a few months, report back if you won!
