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Editor’s note: This is a recurring post, regularly updated with new information.

If you frequently credit flights to the American AAdvantage program, you may be interested in what it takes to earn lifetime American Airlines elite status. Let’s discuss the specifics of American Airlines Million Miler status, including how to earn it, what it gets you and how to check your progress toward this status.

How to earn American Airlines Million Miler status

If you want to earn American Airlines Million Miler status, know that only base miles earned by flying on American Airlines, American Eagle and any other eligible airline participating in the AAdvantage program count, according to the AAdvantage Million Miler program terms and conditions.

In short, you’ll need to fly many miles on American Airlines and its AAdvantage partners to earn Million Miler status. While you can earn Loyalty Points toward American Airlines status through many methods — including spending on cobranded American Airlines credit cards, using the AAdvantage eShopping portal and SimplyMiles offers — only the flights count toward Million Miler status.

When looking through my recent flight activity, I found it wasn’t as simple as the base miles earned on flights counting toward Million Miler status. For example, on this American-operated and -marketed flight — for which AAdvantage calculated earnings based on the fare — my base miles were significantly lower than my Million Miler earnings. The flight distance was 4,965 miles, almost exactly what AAdvantage calculated as my Million Miler earnings.

Meanwhile, on this Japan Airlines-operated and -marketed flight — for which AAdvantage calculated my earnings based on distance — my base miles equaled my Million Miler earnings. Japan Airlines fares in the H class credit to AAdvantage at 70% of the flight distance (4,757 miles). This is how my base miles and Million Miler miles ended up at 3,339.

Although the AAdvantage Million Miler program terms and conditions state base miles are what matters when calculating Million Miler earnings, in practice, it’s your flight distance that actually matters. And for flights that post to AAdvantage based on distance, you’ll seemingly earn toward Million Miler status based on the percentage at which your fare class credits.

Related: How American Airlines sucked me back into AAdvantage with Loyalty Points

Benefits of American Airlines Million Miler status

The American Airlines Million Miler program has two tiers:

• 1,000,000 Million Miler miles: Lifetime AAdvantage Gold status and 35,000 AAdvantage bonus miles
• 2,000,000 Million Miler miles: Lifetime AAdvantage Platinum status and four one-way systemwide upgrades

As you keep flying with American Airlines and its partner airlines past the 2 million-mile mark, you’ll receive four additional one-way systemwide upgrades for each additional million miles you earn. However, you won’t earn a lifetime status higher than AAdvantage Platinum.

Related: So, what exactly is elite status in travel — and how can I get it?

How to check your American Airlines Million Miler progress

American AAdvantage makes it easy to check your Million Miler progress. Log in to your account and click on your name in the upper right-hand corner. Select your personal account if you have both a personal and AAdvantage Business account, and then click “Activity” on the navigation bar on the left. After doing so, a page with your current Loyalty Point balance and Million Miler balance will show.

You can scroll down and select an individual activity to see how AAdvantage posted its earnings. You can also check your activity and Million Miler progress within the American Airlines app.

Related: Is it worth pursuing lifetime elite status?

Bottom line

American Airlines’ Million Miler program is underwhelming compared to United Airlines Million Miler status and Delta Air Lines lifetime status. United and Delta offer lifetime Gold status — which isn’t the lowest elite status in either program — to members who reach this milestone. Meanwhile, American gives lifetime status in its lowest elite tier (Gold) and 35,000 redeemable miles.

But, as a frequent traveler who is nearing Million Miler status with AAdvantage, it’s a carrot to keep me engaged with the program. I considered switching my Oneworld loyalty to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan to earn toward elite status on award flights, but as of now, I plan to stick with AAdvantage for at least one more elite-qualifying year. This way, I can get to Million Miler status and earn lifetime AAdvantage Gold status.

After all, lifetime AAdvantage Gold status will give me a free checked bag, priority check-in and boarding, preferred seats at booking, Main Cabin Extra seats at check-in, and Oneworld Ruby status if AAdvantage doesn’t change the benefits at its Gold tier. These benefits will be useful even if my travel decreases or my loyalty changes.