As AA miles will start devaluing on March 22, one-way business class between the U.S. and China will increase from 55,000 to 70,000 miles, and first class will jump from 67,500 to 110,000 miles. Naturally, everyone is thinking about how to burn make good use of their AA miles before the devaluation. The good news is that AA, which used to be very stingy with award space on U.S.-China routes, has recently been opening up much more availability. Three weeks ago we mentioned that AA released a large amount of business class award space on Los Angeles/Chicago–Shanghai flights, and two days ago AA suddenly released a huge number of business class award seats on the Dallas–Beijing route. Today, OneMoreDay noticed that AA premium cabin award space between the U.S. and China has now opened up across the board!! Finally, the remaining three routes—Dallas–Hong Kong, Dallas–Shanghai, and Chicago–Beijing—have also widely released premium cabin award space. This is AA’s final wave of madness before the devaluation!!
Shanghai–Dallas
June business class dates for two passengers in the Dallas–Shanghai direction:
August business class dates for two passengers in the Shanghai–Dallas direction:
Beijing–Chicago
June business class dates for two passengers in the Chicago–Beijing direction:
July business class dates for two passengers in the Beijing–Chicago direction:
There’s a bit less availability in August.
Hong Kong–Dallas
June business class dates for two passengers in the Dallas–Hong Kong direction:
June first class dates for two passengers in the Dallas–Hong Kong direction:
August business class dates for two passengers in the Hong Kong–Dallas direction:
August first class dates for two passengers in the Hong Kong–Dallas direction:
As you can see, there are still a lot of seats available, so remember to redeem before the devaluation. How do you search and book these awards? chanye wrote an excellent introductory guide on this topic: American Airlines Miles Guide (2) – Using Miles (Beginner Edition).
Dallas–Beijing, Dallas–Shanghai, Los Angeles–Shanghai, and Chicago–Beijing are operated by AA’s newest Boeing 787-8 aircraft, which do not have first class and feature 28 business class seats (many dates show as many as 7 business class award seats!). The seats are in a 1-2-1 reverse herringbone fully flat configuration, so the hard product is quite good. (2/1 update: According to airlineroute, Los Angeles–Shanghai will switch to the 777-200 starting June 2. It is swapping aircraft with the Chicago–Shanghai route, so if you want to book Los Angeles–Shanghai business class, it is best to book flights before June 2.)
The Chicago–Shanghai route uses a Boeing 777-200, with 8 fully flat first class seats (and there is plenty of award space there too). The current business class cabin is in a 2-3-2 configuration, which is fairly old and does not lie flat. However, AA is refurbishing the 777-200 business class cabin. The new seats will be similar to those on the 787, also in a 1-2-1 reverse herringbone fully flat layout. Whether the full refurbishment will be completed by summer is anyone’s guess, but if you get the new cabin, AA’s nonstop Chicago–Shanghai business class would also be a very solid option in terms of hardware. (2/1 update: According to airlineroute, Chicago–Shanghai will switch to the 787-8 starting June 2. It is swapping aircraft with the Los Angeles–Shanghai route, so if you want to book Chicago–Shanghai business class, it is best to book flights after June 2.)
Hong Kong–Dallas is operated by the Boeing 777-300ER, with 8 first class seats and 52 reverse herringbone business class seats in a 1-2-1 layout. Both cabins are fully flat. Since Hong Kong is a Cathay Pacific HUB with many onward flights to major cities in China, those of you who are not based in Beijing or Shanghai may want to consider connecting onward on Dragonair using AA miles.
U.S.–Japan Routes
In addition to the U.S.–China routes, AA has also released a large amount of premium cabin award space on U.S.–Japan routes, including Los Angeles–Tokyo, Chicago–Tokyo, and Dallas–Tokyo.
Of course, the better transpacific option is JAL first class. OneMoreDay previously explained in Japan Airlines Miles Guide (1) – A Great oneworld Award Search Tool how to use the JAL website to search JAL first class award space. Unfortunately, the JAL U.S. website has recently suspended that search function, so OneMoreDay used a Taipei address to register an account and then searched through the JAL Taiwan website. European addresses and the European site also work. There is plenty of first class award space in February and March. As shown below, there are lots of first class seats available in both directions between the U.S. and Japan:
After finding award space, remember to double check it on the BA website. If you want to book JAL first class using AA miles, you can refer to chanye’s article American Airlines Miles Guide (3) – Using Miles (Advanced Part 1).