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Rocketmiles is running a promotion for first time users that lasts through August 15, 2016. You can earn a 3,000 or 4,000 American Airlines miles bonus for booking your hotel through the site, depending on whether you are just an AAdvantage member (3k bonus) or if you charge the stay on a Citi AAdvantage card (4k bonus).

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This bonus is on top of the miles you normally earn (at least 1,000 miles per night, maximum 10,000 depending on the price of the hotel nights).

You can also earn a 1,000 mile bonus after your first stay by registering through this referral link at any time.

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How to Get An Easy 5k American Airlines Miles

If you’ve never used Rocketmiles before…

  • Sign up through this referral link and get 1,000 miles after completing your first stay
  • Book a hotel through Rocketmiles and earn 1,000 to 10,000 miles per night based on the price of the hotel nights. If you book by August 15, 2016:
    • Earn a 3,000 mile bonus for simply being an AAdvantage member
    • Earn a 4,000 mile bonus for charging the hotel on your Citi AAdvantage card

That’s an easy extra 5,000 American Airlines for just booking your hotel you were already planning on booking through the Rocketmiles platform. I value American Airlines miles at 1.5 cents, so that’s a few minutes of effort for $75.

What’s Rocketmiles?

For those who don’t know, Rocketmiles is a hotel booking site. Hotel booking sites have huge margins, but they can’t usually undersell the price on the hotel’s site, so most simply offer the same price without differentiation. Rocketmiles is totally different. It takes those huge margins and rebates as much as it can to its customers in the form of frequent flyer miles in any of nine programs. Each night booked at a hotel earns 1,000 or more miles to be accredited to the loyalty program of you’re choosing. Affiliated loyalty programs are at the bottom of the homepage, and include:

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If I were booking a lot of reimbursed hotel stays for business travel, I would always book through Rocketmiles to earn thousands of airline miles from the bookings.

Since I don’t travel much for business, I don’t pay much attention to it except when it has a big promotion like this one.

Another important aspect to note about Rocketmiles is that you earn airline miles in place of hotel points. So if you’re trying to build a stash of hotel points, Rocketmiles isn’t for you. Whether or not booking hotels through Rocketmiles counts towards earning elite status depends on the hotel.

Read their FAQ to learn more.

Examples of Earnings with Current American Airlines Promotion

This hotel in the Atlanta area that costs $89 a night normally earns 1,000 American Airlines miles for each night. If you purchased this one night reservation as a first time user by August 15, 2016 on a Citi AAdvantage card, you would earn a 4,000 mile bonus. If you signed up via my referral link, you’d get another 1,000 mile bonus after completing the stay. That’s a total of 6,000 American Airlines miles.

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This slightly more expensive hotel, also in Atlanta, earns a base rate of 2,000 miles per night. If you purchased a one night reservation on a Citi AAdvantage card, you would earn a 4,000 mile bonus. If you signed up via my referral link, you’d get another 1,000 mile bonus after completing the stay. That’s a total of 7,000 American Airlines miles.

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Don’t Forget to Double Check Against Kayak

When I’ve investigated Rocketmiles‘ prices in the past, I’ve found that most match the best online rate, but some do not. Always double check the price on Rocketmiles against Kayak to make sure you are paying the market rate, so the miles are a pure rebate.

Bottom Line

Rocketmiles is an easy way to earn airline miles on paid hotel stays. If you are first-time user and book a hotel through Rocketmiles by August 15, 2016, you can earn a bonus 3k American Airlines miles just for being an AAdvantage member or a 4k bonus for charging the hotel on a Citi AAdvantage card. Sign-up for Rocketmiles through this referral link and you’ll earn an extra 1k bonus just because. These bonuses are on top of the miles you normally earn through booking (1k to 10k depending on the price of the hotel nights).

Hat tip One Mile at a Time

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.

With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!


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