American Airlines’ AAdvantage frequent flyer program is one of my favourites. Being able to redeem AA miles for travel on Etihad Airways or Qatar Airways and their fantastic First Class and Business Class products is the main reason why I love AAdvantage.
While American Airlines miles are a bit harder to collect than United Airlines or Delta Air Lines miles, for example, AA miles still are worth having for unique redemptions. You can’t transfer from AMEX, Chase, or Citi to AA. However, you can transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to American Airlines miles.
There are many aspects I love about AA’s frequent flyer program and many things I don’t. My favourite redemption is 100k miles for First Class between the Middle East and the South Pacific. Some of the biggest downsides to AA is that they don’t allow you to transit via a third region in many cases, limit you to only 4 segments on one-way bookings, have high redemption rates for certain regions, and more.
American Airlines
Country-Based Sweetspots
American Airlines AAdvantage offers cheap redemption options for both Economy Class and Business Class if flying within one country. The key is that you have to fly domestically only within that country and of course, there must be award availability. You can book most of these country-based sweetspots online, but not all of them.
Finland
- Finnair
- 10k miles Economy one-way
Spain
- Iberia
- 10k miles Economy one-way
- 15k miles Business one-way
United Kingdom
- British Airways
- 10k miles Economy one-way
- 15k miles Business one-way
Jordan
- Royal Jordanian
- 7.5k miles Economy one-way
- 10k miles Business one-way
Low Miles = Great Value Last Minute
My favourite “part” of mileage redemption is when you can redeem very few miles for a last minute ticket that would usually cost a lot of money if booked last minute. Many frequent flyer programs feature a discounted mileage price when redeeming miles only within one region or only within one country.
In the case of American Airlines, we can see above. With United Airlines, for example, most flights outside of North America that are under 800 miles in distance cost just 8k miles one-way in Economy Class. British Airways has a distance-based frequent flyer program, so the more you fly, the more you pay.
Explore the World
In Conclusion
American Airlines AAdvantage offers some incredible redemption rates when flying within one country. It is usually a great use of miles when booking travel last minute on short flights at a low redemption rate where cash tickets can be expensive.
American Airlines miles are worth having as AA does offer some unique redemption opportunities – especially on their partner airlines. Remember that you will have to search for award availability through other airline websites if you cannot see it on AA.com – or you can just call AA directly. You can also place award flights on hold while you transfer in miles or think about your travel plans.