American Airlines’ AAdvantage program is 35 years old this month, and to promote that milestone, the airline is giving away miles:

• A chance to win 350,000 AAdvantage miles by entering the “Miles for Milestones” sweepstakes
• 350 AAdvantage miles for describing “what milestone you’re saving for and when it is” on the promotion landing page, plus an additional 350 miles for sharing the stories via Facebook or Twitter

As always with sweepstakes, “odds of winning depend upon the number of Eligible Entries received.” AAdvantage has almost 100 million members, many of whom will undoubtedly participate in this sweepstakes. So the chances of winning are too infinitesimally small for me to bother with.

On the other hand, if you’re a relatively inactive AAdvantage member (as am I), the opportunity to earn as many as 700 miles for posting a brief write-up of your loyalty-program experiences or aspirations amounts to a quick and easy way to extend the life of all the miles in your account for an additional 18 months.

Count me in!

Reader Reality Check

AAdvantage miles, anyone?

After 20 years working in the travel industry, and almost that long writing about it, Tim Winship knows a thing or two about travel. Follow him on Twitter @twinship.