Best Uses Of American Airlines AAdvantage Miles
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When it comes to the loyalty programs of the “big three” carriers in the United States, I tend to think that American AAdvantage offers the most value when redeeming miles for international premium cabin travel, both in terms of partner airlines and redemption rates.
There are plenty of markets where American AAdvantage has the best pricing for award travel among oneworld programs, while I’d argue the same can’t be said for Delta SkyMiles for SkyTeam awards, and United MileagePlus for Star Alliance awards.
In this post I wanted to share some of my favorite uses of American Airlines AAdvantage miles. I’ll focus primarily on awards originating in the United States, but I’ll also list some other sweet spots.
While American historically isn’t great about making reasonably priced premium award seats available on its own flights, there are some fantastic partner airline award opportunities, which are my favorite ways to use AAdvantage miles.
I think this is especially useful in the context of the current limited time bonus we’re seeing on the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard® (review). The card is currently offering a bonus of 75,000 AAdvantage miles after spending $3,500 within four months. The card’s $99 annual fee is even waived for the first 12 months. I can’t emphasize enough how good of a value this is, if you’re eligible.
Best uses of American Airlines miles
Unlike Delta SkyMiles and United MileagePlus, American AAdvantage continues to publish an award chart for travel on partner airlines. Below is what American AAdvantage’s award chart looks like for first & business class redemptions originating in the continental United States on partner airlines (and you should generally be redeeming your miles on partner airlines whenever possible anyway, given that they often have superior inflight products).
Contiguous 48 U.S. To:
Business Class
First Class
Contiguous 48 U.S. States
25,000
50,000
Canada & Alaska
30,000
55,000
Hawaii
55,000
80,000
Caribbean
25,000
50,000
Mexico
25,000
50,000
Central America
25,000
50,000
South America Zone 1
30,000
55,000
South America Zone 2
57,500
85,000
Europe
57,500
85,000
Middle East / India
70,000
115,000
Africa
75,000
120,000
Asia Zone 1
60,000
80,000
Asia Zone 2
70,000
110,000
South Pacific
80,000
110,000
American Airlines AAdvantage Premium Cabin Award Chart
While we’re at it, I should also mention:
- There are no carrier imposed surcharges on any of the awards that I outline below
- Most partner awards mentioned below can be booked directly on aa.com, making the booking process super easy
- American AAdvantage awards can be changed and canceled for free, which gives you tons of flexibility to speculatively lock in award tickets
With that out of the way, below are my favorite uses of American AAdvantage miles, in no particular order.
Business class to the Middle East & India (70,000 miles)
One area where American AAdvantage miles continue to be among the most valuable is for travel to the Middle East & India. Per American’s award chart, this region includes everything from India to the Maldives to Oman to Sri Lanka. There’s so much beauty in this area, and it’s somewhere that’s otherwise tough to get to on miles.
Best of all, American partners with both Etihad and Qatar, and both of them have excellent business class products. You can also fly Royal Jordanian, but the carrier’s business class isn’t quite as good.
Royal Jordanian 787 business class
All three airlines release a good amount of award availability, especially if booking in advance.
I’d note that Etihad and Qatar are inconsistent about releasing award space. Sometimes they open up tons of space in advance. Other times they don’t have any space for months at a time, and then suddenly there’s availability most days. There’s definitely value in locking in awards in advance, especially since you can cancel them for free.
Etihad Airways 787 business class
Business class to Africa (75,000 miles)
This is an extension of the above concept of going to the Middle East. Africa is one of the toughest continents to get to using miles, and with Etihad and Qatar you potentially have some great access.
While you could fly to Africa on British Airways or Iberia, that would mean you’d have to pay fuel surcharges. Instead I recommend flying Etihad and Qatar, which have great products and fly to lots of points in Africa.
Whether you’re flying to South Africa or Tanzania or Kenya or Rwanda, there are excellent options. Personally my favorite choice is Qatar Airways, and a couple of years ago I redeemed 75,000 miles to fly one-way from Cape Town to Dallas.
Qatar Airways A350 business class
Royal Air Maroc is now also a oneworld member, so you can use American miles to fly to Morocco and beyond on the national carrier. Fortunately American considers Morocco to be Europe for the purposes of award pricing, so you’d pay only 57,500 AAdvantage miles for a one-way business class award between the United States and Morocco (which is fair, given what a short flight it is).
Royal Air Maroc 787 business class
Business class to Asia 2 (70,000 miles)
Two of my favorite oneworld airlines are Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines, and both are pretty good about releasing business class award availability. For just 70,000 miles one-way you can fly business class between the United States and Asia 2, which includes China, Singapore, Thailand, etc.
Cathay Pacific A350 business class
Cathay Pacific and Japan Airlines are both great about making award seats available as soon as the schedule becomes bookable. Both airlines also release more award seats as the departure date approaches, assuming there are unsold seats.
Japan Airlines 787 business class
First class to Asia 1 (80,000 miles)
American Airlines last devalued the partner AAdvantage award chart in 2016, and with that, the program largely adjusted the redemption “sweet spot” from first class to business class. Prior to these changes I almost always redeemed American miles for international first class, while that’s not the case anymore. The way I see it, many first class redemptions aren’t as worthwhile anymore:
- Redeeming 85,000 miles for first class to Europe is hardly worth it, since American historically doesn’t release much space, and award travel on British Airways is subjected to huge carrier imposed surcharges
- Redeeming 110,000 miles for first class to Asia 2 on Cathay Pacific is steep, especially when you can book that same award with a stopover through Alaska Mileage Plan for 70,000 miles
- Redeeming 110,000 miles for first class to Australia on Qantas is expensive, not to mention the award is one of the toughest to snag; when I see Qantas award availability I prefer to book through Alaska Mileage Plan, as the program charges just 70,000 miles for the same award, and allows a free stopover
With that in mind, the one international first class redemption originating in the United States that I consider to be a really good deal nowadays is flying to Asia 1 (which includes Japan) on Japan Airlines. The airline has an excellent first class product, and redeeming 80,000 miles for first class on a 13 hour flight is a great deal.
Japan Airlines 777 first class
The catch is that Japan Airlines isn’t consistent about releasing award availability in first class. The airline sometimes releases a seat when the schedule opens, but otherwise your best odds are to book closer to the departure date, as JAL often opens more availability. I realize that’s not ideal for those hoping to book in advance, or those traveling as a couple.
Japan Airlines first class
American first & business class flight awards
While AAdvantage continues to publish an award chart for travel on partner airlines, the program now has fully dynamic award pricing for travel on American. American doesn’t release much award availability that’s also bookable through partner programs (generally referred to as “saver” availability), though the airline does often have reasonably priced long haul first & business class flight awards through AAdvantage.
The pricing for these flight awards can vary significantly, but there’s potentially huge value to be had, with prices that are cheaper than you’d find if traveling on a partner airline.
Just to pull up some examples, you could fly between the United States and Europe in American first class for 75,000 AAdvantage miles, or in American business class for 65,000 AAdvantage miles.
Great American award pricing
You could fly between the United States and South America in American first class for 60,000 AAdvantage miles, or in American business class for 50,000 AAdvantage miles.
Great American award pricing
You could fly between the United States and the Middle East in American first class for 75,000 AAdvantage miles, or in American business class for 65,000 AAdvantage miles.
Great American award pricing
Note that you’ll almost always find the best value for connecting itineraries. American usually prices significantly higher if traveling nonstop, while a connection could drastically lower the award cost. Furthermore, note that most of these cheap awards can’t be booked in conjunction with an award on a partner airline.
American Airlines 777 first class
Great award values between other regions
Above I’m focusing on redemption values to & from the United States. That’s because a majority of OMAAT readers live in the United States, so that’s going to be the most practical for many. However, I did want to highlight some other fantastic award values between other regions, as this is often where you’ll find the most value.
Just to give some examples of other great values:
- You can fly between the Middle East and Asia 1 or Asia 2 for just 40,000 AAdvantage miles in business class; this could include a 10-hour flight in business class on Qatar Airways or Etihad
- You can fly between the Middle East and Europe for just 42,500 AAdvantage miles in business class or 62,500 AAdvantage miles in first class; this could also be used for a flight on Qatar Airways or Etihad
- You can fly between the South Pacific and Asia 1 or Asia 2 for just 40,000 AAdvantage miles in business class; you could use this for a 10-hour flight on Japan Airlines, Qantas, Fiji Airways, or Air Tahiti Nui
- You can fly between Asia 1 and Asia 2 for just 30,000 AAdvantage miles in business class; this could include quite a long flight between Japan and Southeast Asia
Those are just a few examples, but if anything, you’ll find the value with redeeming AAdvantage miles outside of North America is even better.
Fiji Airways A350 business class
The best ways to earn American AAdvantage miles
If you’re looking to earn American AAdvantage miles for oneworld redemptions, there are lots of ways to acquire these miles, beyond crediting flights to the program:
Bottom line
Of the “big three” carriers in the United States, I tend to think the American AAdvantage program has the most valuable award redemption opportunities, especially for someone with a diversified mileage portfolio. There are all kinds of awards where American has the best redemption values, especially for travel to the Middle East, Africa, India, etc.
On top of that, American has no change or cancelation fees for awards, which gives members lots of flexibility when locking in awards. Hopefully the above is some inspiration for the next time that you’re planning an adventure.
What are your favorite ways to redeem American AAdvantage miles?
