How to earn 100,000 American Airlines miles in just 2 clicks

UPDATE: sadly, this deal is dead.  

If flying to your destination is part of your travel plan, then this post might make your day.

The sign up bonus offer for both the American Airlines Personal AAdvantage AMEX and Visa cards is 50,000 miles per card or 100,000 miles for both.  Since you can get a roundtrip economy ticket within the US for 25,000 miles, this is an amazing deal!

The details:

• If you don’t already have an American AAdvantage account, sign up for one here before you apply for the cards.
• With each card, you will earn 50,000 AAdvantage miles and 2 Admiral’s Club passes when you spend $2,500 within 4 months on each card (see this post on tips to meet minimum spend requirements).
• If you use the 2-browser trick (see below), you can get both of these cards at the same time for a total of 100,000 AAdvantage miles!
• As an added bonus, the $85 fee for each of these cards is waived for the first year…so these miles are free!

This offer is for “first-time applicants” only, so if you have received one of these cards before, you may not be eligible for the bonus.  There is anecdotal evidence on Flyertalk that suggests that many people are able to get the bonus if they have not applied for the cards within the last 18 months.  As always, YMMV…your mileage may vary.

Important Note!  If you apply for one of these cards today and the other next week, you will not be eligible for the bonus on the second card, because you will no longer be a first-time cardholder.  So if you are considering both cards, it is best to use the 2-browser trick and apply for both at once.

Another Important Note!  These are unofficial offers, which means that the terms are not spelled out on the application pages.  My disclaimer is that YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary).  To read more about how to successfully apply for and receive these unofficial offers, read this post.

If you want to play it safe, you can apply for the official MasterCard or AmEx offers, which both provide 40,000 AA miles after a $1000 spend within four months.

The 2 Browser Trick:

In order to get both bonuses (50,000 miles each for a total of 100,000 miles), you have to submit both applications at the same time.  This is so that you will not be considered an “existing cardholder” for either application.

Here are the steps to follow:

1. Before you begin, make sure that you have 2 different browsers (Safari, Firefox, Google Chrome…).  If you don’t have 2 different browsers, download another.
2. Clear all the cookies from each browser.
3. In one browser, fill out the application for the Visa card.  Do not click “submit.”
4. In another browser, fill out the application for the Amex card.  Don’t click “submit” yet!
5. Center yourself and get ready for action.  Is your heart pounding?  Mine sure was when I did this 🙂
6. Now click submit on the first application, then switch to the other application and click submit.
7. Breathe deeply.

If you are not approved immediately, you may want to call the application status line (1-866-606-2961) to check in.  Don’t tell them that you applied for 2 cards, simply call to confirm the terms of the offer.  Make 2 separate calls – one for the Visa card and one for the AmEx.

The 2 browser trick has worked for years and for thousands of people, but of course I cannot offer a guarantee of success 🙂

After you receive your cards in the mail, call to confirm that you will receive 50,000 miles when you complete the minimum spend on each.  You can also confirm that you will receive 2 Admiral’s club passes.

Hopefully this is just the ticket for you and your family to fly for free!