American Airlines AAdvantage is a great loyalty program. It is the largest airline by passengers carried and has many Oneworld and non-alliance partners that you can redeem AAdvantage miles for travel to many destinations.
It's hard to get a lot of value out of your AAdvantage miles with the airline's move to dynamic pricing. It is possible to get a lot of value from domestic awards.
There are some strategies you can use to maximize your redemptions.
One of the easiest ways to redeem AAdvantage miles is on American Airlines flights. You can find your award ticket by going to American's website.
American Airlines doesn't publish award charts for flights on other airlines. You can book discounted Web Special awards for certain flights and dates if you look at the award chart. The MileSAAver awards can give a lot of value.
The award chart for American flights can be found on the website. The American AAdvantage award chart shows flights that originate in the contiguous U.S. and Canada.
Many rates that don't show up on the award chart are when you look for an award flight. The MileSAAver or AAnytime award price can be discounted by web special awards. There are more than just the two levels listed.
The award chart for American flights only has limited value. The best way to find out the price of an American-operated AAdvantage award is to use the American Airlines website or mobile app.
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Use an alternate airport or fly at a less convenient time if you want to redeem fewer miles. Consider this option for Thanksgiving travel.
You can fly nonstop out of Fort Lauderdale for 19,500 miles. If you want to fly out of Miami, you need to get up for the 8:16 a.m. departure and connect through Las Vegas. If you have schedule flexibility, you may be able to save some miles or book a better itinerary if you fly on an adjoining date.
One million American Airlines AAdvantage miles would be spent by TPG staffers.
If you are a member of the Oneworld alliance, you can use your AAdvantage miles to book flights on some of the world's best airlines. American's Oneworld partners are listed here.
Here are American's other partners.
There is a fixed award chart on the American Airlines website. No matter which airline you fly with, you will pay the same amount of miles. Carrier-imposed fees are one of the things that vary by partner.
One-way awards from the contiguous U.S. and Canada can be found here.
There are a lot of redemptions you can book with your AAdvantage miles. No matter which cabin you choose, the carriers set the bar incredibly high. You can book tickets online.
The partner award chart is a great part of the AAdvantage program.
One of the best value partner awards is from the United States to Japan or South Korea. A one-way flight from the U.S. to Japan or South Korea costs between 35,000 and 80,000 miles in economy, premium economy, or business class.
The cost of flights to the rest of Asia is a tad higher. It is a good deal to fly business class to many Asian destinations for only 70,000 miles.
You can fly first class from the U.S. to many Asian destinations. It is possible that your flight from Japan to Asia will be in business class.
You can book flights from the U.S. to the Middle East for 40,000 miles one-way in economy or 100,000 miles one-way in business class. Booking flights from the US to Africa will cost you 75,000 miles in business class.
Taxes and fees can be high on British Airways flights. You will probably want to fly with other partners like Royal Jordanian.
A great product is offered by Air Polynesia. One of the best ways to fly to Tahiti is with AAdvantage. It is possible to fly between Los Angeles and Polynesia. You can get a one-way award for up to 80,000 miles in business class.
The AAdvantage partner award chart can give a lot of value. Take a look at the award chart and see what sweet spots you find.
There are some sweet spots with American Airlines.
If you need to fly on American Airlines, AAdvantage might not be the cheapest program to use.
You could use the British Airways distance-based award chart to book a flight for less. If you're less than 650 miles away from North America, you can book an economy flight for just 7,500 British Airways Avios.
A nonstop economy flight to North America from anywhere in the world would cost 9,000 Avios. There is a nonstop flight between 1,152 and 2,000 miles. It's relatively easy to earn British Airways Avios and they can be used to book nonstop domestic flights.
British Airways has a system for booking award flights.
If you want to fly in the forward cabins of the plane, you can use American Airlines flights. The award chart for American-operated flights is similar to the award chart for AAdvantage. The airline requires less miles to fly American flights.
It is possible to save American miles by not using the AAdvantage program to book flights.
Oneworld award flights are not related to book this.
The ability to cancel awards until departure for free was added to the AAdvantage program in late 2020. Executive Platinum elite members were the only ones who received this benefit previously.
If you find a better award option or find a better price, booking awards speculatively is not a good idea. If you can cancel AAdvantage awards for free and get the miles deposited back into your account, you'll be more likely to book through AAdvantage.
How to change or cancel a flight.
You need to earn American miles in order to redeem them. It is relatively easy to increase your balance. You could make money by earning miles.
Adding American Airlines credit cards to your wallet is worth it. Here's the sign up bonus and earning rates for some American Airlines cards.
The best credit cards for flyers.
It's important to have a good idea of how to get good value before you start searching.
It is possible to get a better value using your AAdvantage miles for partner flights to Asia and the Middle East. If you want to redeem American miles to fly on an American operated flight, look at all the award options and decide whether you're willing to add in an extra connection or travel at less popular times.
Additional reporting was done by Andrew Kunesh and Richard Kerr.
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