Status rules change every year, and several programs rewrite them for 2027, so check your program's terms before you count on credit.
No, not in the usual sense. When you pay for a flight with your airline miles, you earn no new redeemable miles on it at United, American, Delta, Southwest, Atmos (Alaska) or JetBlue. A few programs do hand out elite-status credit on awards: United, Delta and Atmos. And a flight you book with bank points through Chase Travel, Amex Travel or Capital One Travel is a paid ticket to the airline, so it usually earns miles like any cash fare.
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Quick answer
- Redeemable miles on awards: none, at every major US airline.
- Status credit on awards: United gives 1 PQP per 100 miles; Delta gives 1 MQD per 100 miles; Atmos gives status points. American and Southwest give nothing.
- Bank travel portal tickets: earn miles and status like a paid fare, if the fare class earns.
- Cash + Points: the cash part earns at Southwest and JetBlue; the points part doesn't.
- The hidden cost: an award gives up the miles a paid ticket would have earned. Count them when you compare.
Free tool: see what your Chase, Amex, Capital One, Citi or Bilt points become at every airline and hotel, with live transfer bonuses at kritdeals.com/transfer-calculator, or in the free KritDeals app for iPhone and Android.
Program by program
| Program | Redeemable miles on an award? | Status credit on an award? |
|---|---|---|
 United MileagePlus |
No | Yes: 1 PQP per 100 miles redeemed, United-operated flights only |
 American AAdvantage |
No | No Loyalty Points (rare targeted promos aside) |
 Delta SkyMiles |
No | Yes: 1 MQD per 100 miles, Delta-issued awards, Main Cabin or higher |
 Southwest Rapid Rewards |
No | No; reward flights don't count toward A-List or flight counts |
 Atmos Rewards (Alaska & Hawaiian) |
No | Yes: status points, based on the earning option you choose |
 JetBlue TrueBlue |
No | No tiles on the points portion |
| Flying Blue, British Airways | No | No |
United
United awards earn 1 Premier qualifying point for every 100 miles redeemed on United and United Express flights. A 60,000-mile award to Europe earns 600 PQP. Partner-operated segments earn nothing. The credit goes to the person flying, not the account that paid, so a parent who books for an adult child gives the child the PQP. Award flights earn no redeemable miles. See the United MileagePlus guide.
American
American award tickets earn no AAdvantage miles and no Loyalty Points. American has run small targeted offers that gave Loyalty Points on awards, but that's not the rule. Status earners are better served by paid flights or a Citi AAdvantage card; see our Citi AAdvantage guide. Note that Basic Economy tickets bought on or after December 17, 2025 earn nothing either, even when paid.
Delta
Delta gives 1 Medallion Qualifying Dollar per 100 SkyMiles on award tickets issued by Delta, in Main Cabin or above, booked through Delta directly, including Delta-issued awards on partners. Your SkyMiles number must be on the booking, and taxes don't count. Basic Economy awards earn no MQDs. No redeemable miles post. More in our Delta Amex cards guide.
Southwest
Rapid Rewards reward flights earn no points and don't count toward A-List qualification. Companion Pass travel earns nothing either. If you book Cash + Points, the cash portion earns points and tier credit. Southwest's 2027 overhaul replaces A-List with Silver and Gold and adds Platinum, but reward flights still don't count as qualifying flights. See the Southwest cards guide.
Atmos Rewards (Alaska and Hawaiian)
Atmos is the most generous here. Through 2026, award flights earn status points based on distance flown, including on partners. From 2027 members choose how they earn: by distance (1 status point per mile on awards), by spend (1 status point per 20 points redeemed) or by segments. No redeemable points post on awards. One more change: Saver fares booked from June 11, 2026 and flown from August 1, 2026 earn no points or status even when paid. See the Alaska Visa Signature guide.
JetBlue
The points part of a JetBlue award earns no TrueBlue points or Mosaic tiles. Cash + Points bookings earn on the cash part. The JetBlue Plus card gives back 10% of the points on JetBlue-operated award flights you redeem and fly, which works out to a partial rebate rather than earning. Details in the JetBlue Plus guide.
Bank travel portals earn like paid tickets
When you use Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards or Capital One miles in the bank's own travel portal, the bank buys a regular ticket from the airline. The airline sees a paid fare, so you add your frequent-flyer number and normally earn miles and status credit. That's different from transferring points to an airline and booking an award, which earns nothing.
Two caveats. The fare must be one that earns, so Basic Economy on American and Saver on Atmos won't. And portal pricing is usually around 1¢ a point (more on select Chase Points Boost fares), well under our 2.0¢ value for Chase and Amex points. The miles you earn rarely close that gap on their own.
The math: paid ticket vs award
Say a $300 fare would earn you 1,500 miles worth 1.35¢ each on our valuations. That's about $20 of miles you give up by booking an award. If the award costs 15,000 miles plus $5.60, your real value is ($300 − $5.60 − $20) ÷ 15,000 × 100 = 1.83¢ a mile, not the 1.96¢ you'd get ignoring the lost miles. On cheap fares the gap is small. On expensive paid business fares it can be large, because those earn big.
FAQ
Do award tickets count toward elite status? At United, Delta and Atmos, partly. At American and Southwest, no.
If I book with Chase points through Chase Travel, do I earn airline miles? Usually yes. It's booked as a paid ticket, so add your frequent-flyer number. Fares that don't earn when paid in cash won't earn here either.
Do I earn miles if someone else books an award for me? No redeemable miles, but at United and Delta the status credit goes to you as the traveler.
Do upgrades with miles earn anything? United's MileagePlus Upgrade Awards earn 1 PQP per 100 miles. On the paid fare underneath, you earn as normal.
Related guides
- Points and miles explained
- Airline and hotel elite status
- United MileagePlus guide
- Southwest cards and the Companion Pass
- Delta SkyMiles Amex cards
- How much are your points worth?
Earning rules depend on your fare, your program and the year; check your program's terms before booking for status.
