Travel credit
Understanding travel credit options
We offer different types of travel credit: Trip Credit, Flight Credit and Travel Vouchers. Each type of travel credit has its own terms and conditions, so be sure to read them carefully before redeeming your credit. Keep in mind, travel credits can only be used to book flights and pay for bags online. They can’t be used to pay for extras like seats.
Types of travel credit
| Description | Trip Credit | Flight Credit | Travel Voucher |
|---|---|---|---|
| Issued for | Canceled tickets, significant delays, compensation, refunds and remaining value when exchanging tickets, eligible online bag and paid upgrade charges. | Unused tickets | Paper voucher |
| Valid for | Non-award trips starting in the U.S. and select countries and eligible online bag payments* | Non-award trips* | Flights only* |
| Maximum per reservation | 8 for up to 9 passengers booked on aa.com; contact Reservations for more than 9 passengers** | 1 booked on aa.com; contact Reservations to book with more than 1 Flight Credit | Up to 8 |
| Who can use it | Trip Credit holder to book travel or eligible online bag payments for anyone | Same passenger named on the Flight Credit | Travel Voucher holder to book travel for anyone |
| Expiration | Valid until 11:59 p.m. (CT) on the date listed on the Trip Credit***,^ | Travel must begin 1 year from the original ticket date^ | 1 year from date issued^ |
| How to redeem | Book your trip or pay for bags on aa.com | Find your trip on aa.com to book^^ | Contact Reservations for information on ticketing options in your country |
*Can’t be used for extras like seats. AAdvantage Business℠ Trip Credits are only available in U.S. and Canada.
**AAdvantage Business℠ trips can only be booked for 1 passenger at a time.
***For Trip Credit issued on or after April 2, 2024, AAdvantage® members have 12 months to use their Trip Credit when canceling their trip on aa.com or the American app and their AAdvantage® number is included in their reservation. Non-AAdvantage® members have 6 months.
^5 years from the date of the qualifying delay or cancellation applies for eligible flights per the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) requirements.
^^When booked on aa.com, Flight Credit can only be applied to flights within the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. (U.S. currency only)
Ready to book a trip?
How to find and redeem your travel credit
If you received a travel credit, you can use it to book your next trip.
AAdvantage® members can view and redeem available travel credits in your AAdvantage® account.
Find your travel credit in your account
- Go to aa.com and log in to your account
- Choose ‘Travel credit’
- View your available Trip Credit and Flight Credit details
Book and add your travel credit
- Go to aa.com and book your new flight
- On the ‘Review and pay’ page, select ‘Apply available credits’
- Follow the prompts to apply your available credits
- Pay any remaining balance
Book a trip with your travel credit
If you're not an AAdvantage® member or your travel credit is not in your account, follow these steps to find and redeem your Trip Credit and Flight Credit.
Trip Credit
AAdvantage® members who were issued Trip Credit on or after April 2, 2024, have 12 months to use their Trip Credit when canceling their trip on aa.com or the American app provided their AAdvantage® number is included in their reservation. Non-AAdvantage® members have 6 months.
AAdvantage BusinessSM Travel Manager can view their available Trip Credit through their company’s travel management portal.
Step 1: Find your Trip Credit email
- Look for an email from American Airlines with the subject line ‘Your Trip Credit.’
- Your Trip Credit number is a 13-digit number that begins with ‘001.’
Keep in mind there are separate ticket numbers for add-ons like seats, upgrades and bags.
Step 2: Book and add your Trip Credit
- Go to aa.com and book your new flight
- On the ‘Review and pay’ page, select ‘Add travel credit’
- Follow the prompts to apply your Trip Credit
- Pay any remaining balance
Pay for bags with Trip Credit
- Manage your trip or check in on aa.com or American app
- On the ‘Review and pay’ page, select ‘Add travel credit’
- Follow the prompts to apply your Trip Credit
- Pay any remaining balance
General rules
- Trip Credit is non-refundable, non-transferable, non-returnable, may not be redeemed for cash, check or credit (except where required by law) and has no implied warranties, including warranties of merchantability or fitness.
- Trip Credit is void if bought, sold or bartered, advertised for sale or used for commercial or promotional purposes.
- We won’t replace Trip Credit if lost or stolen. This may include inadvertent deletion, forwarding or access of the email containing your Trip Credit number. Please guard the Trip Credit number as you would cash.
- Except where prohibited by law, we reserve the right to refuse, void, cancel, reject or hold for review any Trip Credit mistakenly issued in an incorrect denomination or issued or obtained, directly or indirectly, in connection with fraudulent actions, fraudulent claims, compensation abuse or in connection with any violation of these terms and conditions.
Expiration and validity
- Valid until 11:59 p.m. (CT) on the date listed on the Trip Credit, and we won't reissue it past the expiration date.
- We won't accept invalid or expired Trip Credit.
- We won’t accept Trip Credit with an invalid number or if we are unable to locate it within the American Airlines systems.
- To receive Trip Credit, your original ticket must be canceled before the departure of the first flight (or the ticket loses any remaining value and cannot be used for future travel).
Redemption and usage
- You may redeem Trip Credit on aa.com or by contacting Reservations. Trip Credit is not redeemable through any other channels, including airport ticket counters or travel agencies.
- When contacting Reservations, tell the agent you have Trip Credit and you want to use it to book your travel.
- Trip Credit is redeemable toward air travel on flights operated by American, American Eagle® or flights marketed by American (designated with an AA*). You can’t use Trip Credit for payment of air travel on any other airline on aa.com.
- Contact Reservations to use Trip Credit for qualifying oneworld® or other airline partner itineraries.
- Trip Credit is redeemable toward the base air fare and directly associated taxes, fees and charges collected as part of the fare calculation.
- Trip Credit is redeemable toward online bag payments.
- Trip Credit currency must match point-of-sale currency when redeemed toward online payments.
- Trip Credit is not redeemable toward eligible online bag payments or air travel when paid from Australia, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Japan, Korea, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Peru, Poland and Singapore.
- You may not use Trip Credit for products and / or services sold separate from the fare price or for taxes, fees or charges in connection with AAdvantage® award travel, American Airlines Vacations℠ or any other non-flight products and / or services sold by American.
- You may only use non-taxable Trip Credit for single passenger reservations on aa.com.
- Contact Reservations to use Trip Credit for more than 9 passengers. Trips booked with an AAdvantage Business℠ account can only be booked for 1 passenger at a time.
- The recipient of Trip Credit can use it to pay for travel for themselves or others.
- You may redeem up to 8 Trip Credits in a single transaction on aa.com or through Reservations.
- If the ticket price is greater than the value of the Trip Credit, you may pay the difference only with a credit card accepted by American.
- If the ticket price is less than the value of the Trip Credit, we’ll issue a new Trip Credit for the difference. For personal trips, the Trip Credit will be emailed to the customer who is ticketed on the Trip Credit redemption. For AAdvantage Business℠ travel, remaining Trip Credit is issued back to the company account.
- If changing a business trip with Reservations and the new ticket price is lower than the original trip, any difference in trip value will be issued as Trip Credit to the traveler.
- You may not combine Trip Credit with the value of an existing ticket to pay for a new ticket.
- Child and infant fares on international flights cannot be booked with Trip Credit.
Flight Credit
Step 1: Find your canceled trip or confirmation email
- You'll need your 6-character confirmation code or 13-digit ticket number.
- American tickets have a 13-digit number that begins with '001'.
Keep in mind there are separate ticket numbers for add-ons like seats, upgrades and bags.
Step 2: View your canceled trip
- Go to aa.com and choose ‘Manage trips / Check-in’
- Choose ‘View travel credits’ and enter your confirmation code or 13-digit ticket number
- Access your Flight Credit details on the ‘Your trip’ page
- Copy your Flight Credit number to use on the payment page
Find your trip to use your Flight Credit
Step 3: Rebook and add Flight Credit
- Go to aa.com and book your new flight
- On the ‘Review and pay’ page, select ‘Add travel credit’
- Follow the prompts to apply your Flight Credit
- Pay any remaining balance
General rules
- Flight Credit is non-refundable, non-transferable, non-returnable, may not be redeemed for cash, check or credit (except where required by law) and has no implied warranties, including warranties of merchantability or fitness.
- Flight Credit is void if bought, sold or bartered, advertised for sale or used for commercial or promotional purposes.
- We won’t replace Flight Credit if lost or stolen. This may include inadvertent deletion, forwarding or access of the email containing your Flight Credit number. Please guard the Flight Credit number as you would cash.
- Except where prohibited by law, we reserve the right to refuse, void, cancel, reject or hold for review any Flight Credit mistakenly issued in an incorrect denomination or issued or obtained, directly or indirectly, in connection with fraudulent actions, fraudulent claims, compensation abuse or in connection with any violation of these terms and conditions.
Expiration and validity
- Flight Credit is valid for 1 year from the date the ticket was issued, or 5 years from the date of the qualifying delay or cancellation for eligible flights per the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) requirements. We will not extend or reissue once it expires.
- If you don't show for your flight, your ticket will no longer be valid or eligible for any credit.
- We won't accept invalid or expired Flight Credit.
Redemption and usage
- You may redeem Flight Credit on aa.com, in person at the airport or by contacting Reservations.
- When contacting Reservations, tell the agent you have Flight Credit and you want to use it to book your travel.
- The recipient of Flight Credit can use it to pay for travel for themselves only.
- Flight Credit is redeemable toward air travel on flights marketed and operated by American, by American Eagle® carriers or on flights marketed and sold by American but operated by one of American’s codeshare or oneworld® partners (i.e. flights designated with an AA*).
- Flight Credit is redeemable toward initial booking, the base air fare and directly associated taxes, fees and charges collected as part of the fare calculation.
- You may only redeem 1 Flight Credit for single-passenger trips on aa.com or through Reservations. In order to redeem up to 2 Flight Credits in a single transaction, you must contact Reservations.
- If the ticket price is greater than the value of the Flight Credit, you may pay the difference only with a credit card accepted by American.
- If the ticket price is less than the value of the Flight Credit, you can only use the value of Flight Credit needed for the current booking while remaining value will be issued as travel credit for future reservations.
- You may not use Flight Credit for products and / or services sold separately from the fare price or for taxes, fees or charges in connection with AAdvantage® award travel, American Airlines Vacations℠ products or services or any other non-flight products and / or services sold by American.