So not only is AA flying more frequently, across the US, Canada, The Caribbean and Mexico, but they are using larger aircraft, normally deployed on long-haul routes. This all adds up to better American Airlines award flight availability within the Americas. Whilst it would be easy to assume that, American Airlines AAdvantage Miles redemptions for routes across the Atlantic or Pacific will be harder to come by, that’s not necessarily the case either. AA has a significant number of codeshare agreements in place, in other words not all international flights marked as American Airlines routes are operated using American Airlines aircraft.
AA has good award flight availability, this summer and autumn, to and from European destinations, for 30,000 AAdvantage miles each way, plus taxes and fees. You can also use your miles with Oneworld alliance partners including British Airways, Finnair and Iberia. Off-peak award flight redemptions are only 22,500 American Airlines miles each way from January 10th until March 14th, and from November 1st to December 14th.
What’s the deal?
With vaccinations rolling out apace in the US and travel restrictions starting to ease, American Airlines wants to tempt its previously frequent flyers back to the skies.
AA’s latest promotion is intended to entice AAdvantage cardholders to redeem their miles, during the busy summer travel period and get a mileage rebate in return.
If you book an American Airlines award flight by May 2021 and fly during the months of June or July, you’ll get 400 miles back per flight, for up to four flights in total.
AAdvantage cardholders must register for this offer, it isn’t automatically applied. You can see if you are one of the lucky individuals who’ve been given the opportunity to register by searching under the “Promotions” tab of your AAdvantage profile. Then, once you register, a tracker will become available, showing your redemptions and rebates.
The original registration deadline for this promotion was May 14 2021. However, we have heard reports that selected AAdvantage members are still being offered this deal.
To be eligible, flights must be both marketed with an American Airlines flight number and operated by AA or American Eagle. That means partner flights, such as those operated by British Airways or Alaska Airlines, do not qualify for this promotion.
Even if you can’t register for this specific offer, AA has also been targeting its loyalty club members with other deals on Web Special awards which vary by date and flight. These tickets don't allow changes, but you can cancel and get your miles back at no charge. If you find a Web Special award flight offer while you're searching and the flights and dates match what you're looking for, you can secure some huge mileage discounts for both economy and business class flights.
Discounts on AA Miles Purchases
American Airlines has launched a further promotion, allowing you to purchase AAdvantage miles with up to a 50% or 75,000-mile bonus until May 31, 2021. This brings the cost down to around 2.15 US cents per mile.
It rarely makes sense to buy airline points speculatively since they tend to devalue over time. Right now there is also a risk in effectively buying voucher tokens from any airline, whilst the economics of the travel industry remains precarious.
However, if you are already planning a trip on a route flown by American, but are a few miles short to book it as an award flight booking, this offer could make a lot of sense. American Airlines recently eliminated all change, cancellation and admin fees for award flight tickets, so you will have some flexibility and protection if your plans, or the airline’s schedules, change.
Douglas
