I booked a sailing through American Airlines Cruises — was it worth it?

Book a cruise through an airline? Sounds bananas, right? At least, it did to me — until I did it. For a recent sailing, I booked a cabin through American Airlines Cruises, a booking channel that earned me AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points for my cruise. If you’re an American Airlines loyalist, here’s how you …

Apr 4, 2025 - 16:54

I booked a sailing through American Airlines Cruises — was it worth it?

Book a cruise through an airline? Sounds bananas, right? At least, it did to me — until I did it.

For a recent sailing, I booked a cabin through American Airlines Cruises, a booking channel that earned me AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points for my cruise.

If you’re an American Airlines loyalist, here’s how you can use your cruise purchase to earn points and miles toward free travel and elite status.

Why I booked through American Airlines Cruises

A woman sitting on the floor with her laptop open and looking at a credit card. — ROCKAA/GETTY IMAGES

I live in the Charlotte area, an American Airlines hub, which means most of my flights are through American. As such, I focus my points and miles strategy on what I can earn as a member of American Airlines’ AAdvantage loyalty program.

I’m also an AAdvantage Aviator Mastercard holder. I use it to pay for most of my American Airlines flights, providing me with more ways to achieve status with American Airlines. It was my first travel credit card, and it’s been in my wallet for over 25 years.

(However, beginning in 2026, Citi will become the exclusive issuer of American Airlines’ AAdvantage cobranded credit card portfolio. You won’t be able to sign up for the Aviator Mastercard anymore, but you can select the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (see rates and fees) or the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®.)

The information for the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

With my AAdvantage Aviator card, I enjoy benefits like a free checked bag for me and up to four people traveling on my reservation, preferred boarding on American-operated flights and a yearly $25 credit for inflight Wi-Fi purchases. I’m also a fan of the modest $99 annual fee.

I usually book my cruises directly through the cruise line’s website, but I wondered if I had a better option for earning points and miles on my cruise purchase. That’s when I discovered American Airlines Cruises, the airline’s branded cruise booking portal.

It features cruise offers from 30-plus cruise lines, including Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, Viking and Oceania Cruises, among others. Anyone can sign up and book through the platform, earning both AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points on their cruise booking.

When I booked my cruise, American Airlines Cruises was offering a special promotion for AAdvantage credit card holders (more details below). This was the last push I needed to book my cruise through American Airlines’ cruise booking platform.

How to earn miles through American Airlines Cruises

cruise booking website — American Airlines Cruises website. KRISTY TOLLEY/ THE POINT GUY

I was already an AAdvantage member, so I didn’t need to sign up for the loyalty program. (If you’re at the beginning of the mileage-accrual journey, it’s easy to enroll through American’s website.)

AAdvantage members will earn 1 mile per dollar spent on cruises booked through American Airlines Cruises, plus 1 Loyalty Point toward status for every dollar spent. (What’s the difference? You use AAdvantage miles to pay for award flights, but you need Loyalty Points to achieve elite status in the American Airlines AAdvantage loyalty program.)

AAdvantage Aviator Mastercard holders will earn an additional 1 mile per dollar spent on cruises, plus 1 Loyalty Point toward status for every dollar spent (from Mastercard, not AA Cruises). Note that those with the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select card in their wallet will also earn 1 mile per dollar spent and 1 Loyalty Point toward status for every dollar spent.

American Airlines was running a promotion for AAdvantage credit card holders when I booked my cruise, earning me 2 miles per dollar spent on the purchase of my cruise. It was a “limited-time offer” when I booked my cruise in January. However, at the time of writing, the offer was still showing on a banner at the top of the American Airlines Cruises homepage. (Just click on the promotional banner to get started.)

Your award miles will post to your AAdvantage account six to eight weeks after your cruise concludes.

AAdvantage members can only earn miles from their American Airlines Cruises bookings; they can’t use award miles to purchase a cruise.

How to book a cruise through American Airlines Cruises

Cruise itinerary online booking site — A cruise itinerary on the American Airlines Cruises website. KRISTY TOLLEY/THE POINTS GUY

Once you’ve created an American Airlines account and logged in on American’s website, click the “Plan travel” tab, which will drop down a list of travel options, including “Cruises.” This will open a new window for American’s cruise booking site. Alternatively, you can go directly to the AA Cruises website.

Once you’re on the main page of the AA Cruises website, use the “Cruise Search” box to filter results for your desired trip (destination, cruise length, departure date, cruise line, ship and departure port). Additionally, a scrolling carousel by the Cruise Search box highlights cruise line-specific sales and promotions.

When your search results appear, you can click on the photo to look at the ship, the itinerary, cabins, deck plans, reviews and onboard experiences. Once you’ve chosen your cruise, click “Select” to start the booking process.

Choose the number of guests

At this stage, if you are a member of the loyalty program with the cruise line you’ve chosen, you’ll also have the option to plug in your member number. This might unlock additional discounts, so it’s a good idea to join the cruise line loyalty program if you aren’t already a member.

You’ll also confirm the number of people on your booking. If anyone in your group qualifies for a senior citizen or military discount, you can indicate that here.

Pick the cabin type

After you enter the number of guests, you’ll choose the type of cabin you’d prefer (inside, ocean-view, balcony or suite). The page will also show the base price for the least expensive cabin in each category.

You’ll next see pricing for the different cabin types within that umbrella category. If you book a cruise for two passengers, a guarantee cabin will appear as an option. When you choose a guarantee cabin, you let the cruise line pick its location and, in return, pay a lower price. So, if you do want to pick your cabin location, you’ll likely have to pay more than the lowest fare listed for that general cabin category.

After you choose the specific promotion/cruise fare pricing you prefer, you’ll move to the “select room” stage of the process. (You will not be given this option if you choose a guarantee cabin.) Here, you can peruse the deck plans of the ship to decide where you would like your room to be located.

Provide guest information

After you’ve chosen the number of guests and cabin type, enter each cruise passenger’s details, such as name, date of birth and country of residence. You’ll also be given the option to choose your preferred dining time (early, late or flexible, depending on the cruise line).

Complete your booking

The last step provides a summary of the cruise you are booking and your final price, which includes the cruise fare and port charges, plus taxes and fees broken down separately. (I was not given the option to prepay gratuities.)

As with many online booking sites, you’ll also be given the option to purchase travel protection for your cruise. I always recommend purchasing a third-party travel insurance plan.

Was booking through American Airlines Cruises worth it?

A Breakdown of miles earned for cruise booking — KRISTY TOLLEY/ THE POINTS GUY

The American Airlines Cruises platform was easy to navigate, but was it the best option for getting a good price and earning points and miles for my vacation booking? Ultimately, yes.

I would have paid the same cruise fare if I had booked directly on Royal Caribbean’s website, as American Airlines Cruises offers the same promotions as the cruise lines. Additionally, a quick call to my local travel agent confirmed that booking through him would yield the same results from a cost perspective (though travel agents do provide personal support you might not receive from customer service with an online booking platform).

However, booking through American Airlines Cruises really paid off, as it earned me points and miles toward status with American’s AAdvantage loyalty program.

I earned 1,237 miles and 1,237 Loyalty Points on my American Airlines Cruises booking. Meanwhile, I used my AAdvantage Aviator credit card, which, thanks to a promotion at the time of booking, earned me 2 miles per dollar spent on my cruise purchase. This netted me an additional 2,474 miles and 1,237 Loyalty Points. All told, I snagged 3,711 miles and 2,474 Loyalty Points through my cruise purchase.

Additionally, I booked my flights through American Airlines using my AAdvantage Aviator credit card, which earned me 474 miles and 190 Loyalty Points (for the flights), plus 1,136 miles and 284 Loyalty Points (for using my American Airlines cobranded credit card).

For the flights and the cruise, I earned a total of 5,321 AAdvantage miles and 2,948 Loyalty Points. Had I booked directly through Royal Caribbean’s website (and paid with my AAdvantage Aviator credit card), I would have missed out on an extra 1,237 miles and 1,237 Loyalty Points.

Bottom line

Overall, I was pleased with the outcome of booking through American Airlines Cruises, and I definitely plan to add airline cruise booking platforms to my resource list when researching future cruises.

Booking my cruise through American Airlines Cruises was an easy way to earn points and miles on a cruise I would have booked anyway. Also, purchasing my cruise and flights with my AAdvantage Aviator Mastercard and earning additional points and miles offered even more value.

The next time you’re planning a cruise, don’t count out your preferred airline. If it offers a cruise or vacation booking platform — you’ll find similar ones for Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines, among other carriers — you might be able to rack up a few extra points and miles toward status.

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