# American Airlines (AA)
AA 2016 Elite Challenge Plan
With the rollout of a new mileage program, American Airlines (AA) has also launched a new 2016 elite challenge program. Overall, the new challenge is a bit easier than the old one,...
AA Releases Plenty of Peak Summer Award Space to/from Shanghai — First Come, First Served!
AA miles are a great sweet spot for redeeming business class awards between the U.S. and China: just 55,000 AA miles one way, compared with 70,000/80,000 one way using UA miles or...
Booking a U.S.–China Business Class Award: AA One-Way in Practice
A real-world business class award booking experience, starting from a second-tier city in China and ending in a second-tier city in the U.S. Just when it seemed impossible, a new o...
AA to Use a New Award Chart Next March — An Expected Devaluation (Part 1)
AA miles will switch to a new award chart on March 22, 2016. Overall, this is a devaluation, which is hardly surprising. But aside from China/U.S. first class, the damage is actual...
Following the Competition: Changes to the AA Frequent Flyer Program in 2016
In a previous post, chanye mentioned one key advantage of the AA frequent flyer program over UA/DL: redeemable miles were earned based on flight distance rather than ticket price....
American Airlines Admirals Club LAX T4 Los Angeles Main Terminal Lounge
Most airports with major AA operations have an Admirals Club lounge. LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) has 2 Admirals Clubs: one in the Terminal 4 main terminal area, and ano...
Award Ticket Tip: Use Wikipedia to Research Flight Routes
Many readers who know a bit about award tickets have probably noticed that for some itineraries—for example, a ticket from A to B—searching directly from origin A to destination B...
"$2,900-$4,500 in Value": How to Maximize the Citigold 50,000-Point/AA-Mile Account Opening Bonus
Citi recently launched a Citigold account opening bonus of 50,000 TYP/AA miles. If you are not sure how to apply, please refer to our other article. If handled well, this bonus can...
American Airlines Miles Guide (4): Advanced Redemptions (Part 2)
In the previous post, American Airlines Miles Guide (3): Advanced Redemptions (Part 1), we covered how to book partner awards that cannot be found on the AA website. AA is one of m...
Which Airline Mileage Programs Should You Focus On?
There are tons of airline mileage programs out there, and every airline has its own program. Learning how each one works can take a lot of time. If you spread your earning across t...
American Airlines Miles Guide (2) - Using Miles (Beginner Edition)
Starting with this post, chanye will show you how to use AA miles to redeem a free trip. As with any topic, it makes sense to start simple, so let’s begin with the most straightfor...