In the previous post, American Airlines Miles Guide (3): Advanced Redemptions (Part 1), we covered how to book a partner award that cannot be found on the AA website. AA is one of my favorite mileage programs, and it definitely has plenty of sweet spots. Today, chanye will introduce some of the standout uses of AA miles.
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Reduced Mileage Awards
What is a reduced mileage award?
A reduced mileage award is a benefit for co-branded credit card holders of the AA mileage program. It allows cardholders to redeem fewer miles for domestic U.S. flights with certain airports as the destination. For details, see the AA website – Reduced Mileage Awards.
Eligible credit cards
At present, the discount has two tiers depending on which card you hold: a 7,500-mile round-trip discount or a 5,000-mile round-trip discount.
Eligible cards are:
7500 miles discount：
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World EliteTM Mastercard®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Visa®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® American Express®
- CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Select Visa®
- CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Select Mastercard®
- CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®
- AAdvantage® AviatorTM Silver World Elite Mastercard®
- AAdvantage® AviatorTM Red Mastercard®
- AAdvantage® AviatorTM Business Mastercard®
5000 miles discount：
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Gold American Express®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Gold Visa®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Gold Mastercard®
- AAdvantage® AviatorTM Blue Mastercard®
For more on the Aviator credit card family, see ymlulu’s post on this site: Barclays Aviator Series (Basic/Blue/Red/Sliver) — The Swan Song of US Airways. For the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®, see ymlulu’s post here: Citi AAdvantage Platinum — A Great Card for Saving Miles
How to use this award
- Hold an eligible credit card
- Find the corresponding discount code (you can find it in Step 2 on the AA website – Reduced Mileage Awards)
- Find the airport you want to redeem for in the list of participating airports
- Call 1-800-882-8880 to book the ticket
Tips and tricks
On the AA website – Reduced Mileage Awards, you can see that the participating airports change every month. So what if, during the month you want to book, your destination airport is not on the list?
Although the AA website – Reduced Mileage Awards clearly states that this deal only applies when the destination is on the list, real-world experience shows that as long as either your trip’s destination or origin is on the list, you can still use the discount!
So what if neither your origin nor your destination is on the list? There is still a way to use it. For example, suppose your origin is A and your destination is B, and neither A nor B is on the list, but location C is. You would just need to find an A-B-C connecting itinerary, book it as a one-way ticket, and then NO SHOW the B-C segment.
Of course, if you use this method, it is best not to check-in bag, and also best not to do this too often. Aside from being a bit shady, it could also get you blacklisted by AA.
Off-Season Discounts
What is an off-season discount?
An off-season discount (Off-Season Saver) is a discounted AA award level offered for economy class travel to specific regions during specific dates.
Eligible regions and dates
AA/US redemptions
- Hawaii: January 12 - March 13, August 22 - December 15
- Caribbean and Mexico: September 7 - November 14
- Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela: January 16 - June 14, September 7 - November 14
- Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay: March 1 - May 31, August 16 - November 30
- Europe: October 15 - May 15;
- Japan and South Korea: October 1 - April 30
oneworld and partner redemptions:
- Hawaii: January 12 – March 8, August 22 – December 15
- South America Region 2: March 1 – May 31, August 16 – November 30
- Europe: October – May 15
- Asia Region 1: October – April 30
For the exact regional definitions, see American Airlines Miles Guide (3): Advanced Redemptions (Part 1).
For details, see the AA website – AA/US redemptions and the AA website – oneworld and partner redemptions.
Sweet spots
If you can take advantage of an off-season award, it is usually a very good deal. Here, chanye recommends North America to Europe for 20,000, North America to Japan for 25,000, and North America to Hawaii for 17,500.
Flying to Alaska
Why it stands out
From the award charts mentioned above, we can see that AA charges 12,500 miles one-way between the continental U.S. and Alaska, which is the same price as a domestic U.S. award. Among the three major U.S. low-cost carriers airlines, this is the only one that does so.
So if you are planning a trip to Alaska, consider using AA miles for this segment.
Also worth mentioning: AS is also an AA redemption best buddy partner, and AS award space can be searched directly on the AA website. Doesn’t that make redemptions much easier?
Conclusion
Ever since AA eliminated international one-way awards with a gateway city stopover, using AA miles has become a lot less fun not quite as rewarding as it used to be. Still, there are plenty of sweet spots left, as mentioned in this article.