In the previous post, we introduced how to earn AA miles (American Airlines Miles Guide (1) - Earning Miles). But knowing how to earn miles is only half the job—and the relatively easy half at that. The more important and more complicated part of points and miles is how to use them. If all you do is collect points, then they are just numbers. Only when you learn how to redeem them can you truly enjoy the benefits of this hobby.

Starting with this post, chanye will show you how to use AA miles to redeem a free trip. And as with any topic, it makes sense to start simple, so we’ll begin with the most straightforward way to use miles.

Basic Steps

  • Go to the AA website.
  • Log in to your account, enter your departure airport and destination, choose your dates, number of travelers, one-way or round-trip, and check “redeem miles” to book an award ticket.1

  • Select a date with “MileSAAver” availability, then click continue2
  • Select an available award flight, then click continue3
  • You will then see the passenger information page. Fill it out and click continue4
  • You will next see the seat selection page. Blue seats are available. After choosing your seat, click submit at the bottom5
  • You will then be taken to the review page for this booking6
  • At the bottom, you will be asked to choose a payment method. From left to right, the options are credit card/debit card payment, six-month financing, or placing the reservation on hold.

    If you choose credit card payment, payment fields will appear below, and once the charge goes through, the ticket will be issued.
    If you choose to place the reservation on hold, the reservation will be held for five days, and payment must be completed within those five days (the screenshot date was August 25, 2015).7

  • Here we choose to place the reservation on hold. You will then see the confirmation page. If you have already paid, the red boxed area will display “ON REQUEST” or “CONFIRM,” indicating that your ticket has been booked.8
  • That’s it—enjoy your free trip.

Summary

This post is only a beginner introduction, providing you with a step-by-step guide to the simplest way to use American Airlines (AA) miles to book a flight back to China.

For the sake of simplicity, this example uses the nonstop route Dallas-Beijing (DFW-PEK), operated directly by American Airlines (AA). This route had only launched earlier that year, so award availability was relatively good.

For beginners, by following this example, you should already be able to book your own trip back to China.

But you may ask:

  • Can American Airlines (AA) miles only be used to book flights operated by American Airlines itself?
  • Can American Airlines (AA) miles only be used to book nonstop flights?
  • Can American Airlines (AA) miles only be used to book flights back to Beijing/Shanghai?

The answer to all of these is no. You can use American Airlines (AA) miles to book flights on any American Airlines (AA) partner airline, though some partners may have restrictions on eligible routes, which we will not cover here. Your origin and destination can also be any airport served by American Airlines (AA) and its partners, though in practice there may be restrictions related to MPM and published fare, which we also will not discuss here. These questions will be answered in upcoming posts.

In addition, using American Airlines (AA) miles involves a fair amount of strategy, and we will cover some booking tips in future articles as well.