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When American Airlines launched its new frequent flyer program in 1981, it set off something that would end up having a profound impact on the industry.

While airlines would previously offer limited gifts to high-spending customers, what would grow into AAdvantage was innovative in that it began tracking the exact distance traveled to offer rising tiers of perks.

Over the ensuing decades, this evolved into an extensive system of attractive advantages such as priority boarding, lounge access and free same-day flight changes that every major airline gives out to lure over the most high-spending travelers. Elite status on a mainstream airline typically requires one to spend over $10,000 on travel in a year or make $200,000 in purchases on a signature credit card.

American Airlines now lets travelers redeem their miles for gift cards

For those who do not spend enough to earn the top tiers of status, miles earned with the airline are still used to pay for fore more travel, in-flight purchases and other travel through partnerships with hotels, cruise lines and car rental companies.

As part of its latest update to its AAdvantage program, American Airlines is now adding gift cards from a number of major restaurant and retail chains to the list of things on which one can spend one’s miles.

It joins competitors Delta and United Airlines in adding gift cards to its loyalty program; this can be done by connecting to the new aadvantagegiftcards.com portal through one’s online AAdvantage profile and choosing a gift card from retailers like Sephora, Target and Nordstrom as well as fast-food chains like Chipotle, Starbucks and Panda Express among others.

Airplane miles are best saved for deals on plane tickets.

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Should you use your airline miles to buy gift cards?

“By expanding our portfolio of member offerings and adding new ways to use miles, such as gift cards, we’re making it easier for customers to engage with the program and experience the full value of AAdvantage,” Scott Long, the senior vice president of AAdvantage for American, said in a statement on the changes.

The dollar amounts one can redeem range from $10 to $50 and amount to a value of approximately 0.7 cents for every mile earned with the airline. American Airlines travelers without status that accelerates points-earning by a percentage that rises with each tier earn one mile for every $5 spent with the airline.

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While the addition of gift cards to the loyalty program allows those who do not travel frequently to still redeem small perks, this is not the most cost-effective way to spend one’s hard-earned miles given that airlines will frequently hold various sales and promotions for those who use them on plane tickets.

Those who save enough for larger purchases can eventually redeem them on air travel at rates that sometimes reach two cents per mile which for longer routes can add up to hundreds of dollars in difference.

But American Airlines is positioning the gift card program as “more flexibility in how […travelers can] redeem them” which will, of course, appeal those who prefer frequent small perks rather than saving for a larger holiday sometime down the line.