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American Airlines is one of the largest airlines in the world and has an incredibly strong loyalty program with its many partners. Being a member of American Airlines’ frequent flier program will enable you to earn AAdvantage miles that can be redeemed for award travel.
Redeeming miles is one of the most enticing benefits of any frequent flyer loyalty program, but sometimes it can look challenging. You can rest assured that you have plenty of options to redeem your hard-earned AAdvantage miles.
To help make your next AAdvantage redemption as seamless as possible, here is a step-by-step guide to explain all your options to redeem your American Airlines AAdvantage miles.
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What Are AAdvantage Miles?
AAdvantage miles are the award currency of American Airlines’ frequent flyer program. Once you start earning AAdvantage miles by doing things like flying with American Airlines and its partners or using an American Airlines credit card, you’ll be on your way to planning your AAdvantage redemption.
American Airlines is one of the few US-based carriers that still publishes a region-based award chart, making it easier to know exactly how many miles you need for an award fight. You will get the most value out of redeeming AAdvantage miles on award flights.
American Airlines recently announced that its award travel on American will become “fully dynamic” with its award pricing sometime in 2023 but will also have a simplified award chart. While the details of what that means are unclear, American Airlines has already been using some dynamic award pricing for award tickets.
AAdvantage miles can be redeemed on American Airlines flights for as low as 7,500 miles each way with MileSAAver awards and 20,000 miles each way with AAnytime awards. American Airlines also offers Web Special awards that can be even fewer miles but with one major caveat—AA does not allow changes to these award flights, although you may cancel your flight and have the miles redeposited into your account.
It’s important to understand American Airlines’ award chart when looking to redeem your miles due to its dynamic award pricing. You should always strive for the best redemption possible. Just because an award flight is available, doesn’t mean it’s always the best redemption.
How To Redeem AAdvantage Miles on American Airlines Flights
Redeeming AAdvantage Miles on American Airlines flights is simple. You can book American Airlines award flights on the American Airlines website, app or over the phone.
It’s best to start your award search on the American Airlines website or the app. Depending on where you are looking to travel, there could be plenty of different award flight options at vastly different award rates.
You can search for award flights the same way you search for paid flights; you just need to check the “redeem miles” box before initiating the flight search.
First, you will need to select if you are looking for a round-trip, one-way or multi-city itinerary. Each of those search options will show you the award price for each segment of your trip separately, so if you are flexible , it’s best to search for one-way flights first.
Then, you will need to input your destinations in the “From” and “To” fields and select the dates you want to travel. If you are flexible with your dates, American Airlines will give you the option to view a monthly calendar for award pricing on their website. When using the app, the search automatically shows you award rates a week before and after your initial travel date selection.
Finally, to start the search, you will need to specify the number of tickets you are searching for. When on the American app, you also have the ability to select if you want to specifically search for business and first-class flights. Also be done on the American Airlines website after you search and view the award pricing calendar.
Once the search is complete, you will be able to view the award flights available and the number of miles needed to redeem plus any applicable taxes and carrier-imposed fees. Then, you will select your preferred itinerary, confirm the award redemption rate, verify the passenger details and select your seats.
Lastly, you will need to pay for your trip. If you still need time to decide on your award redemption, American Airlines offers five-day holds on award flights with no credit card required. If you’re ready to book your award trip, proceed with making the payment and click “pay now.”
That’s it. Your award redemption on American Airlines is complete, your miles will be deducted and the award itinerary will be on its way to your inbox.
American Airlines Partners
American Airlines has a vast array of travel partners, including membership in the Oneworld alliance. AAdvantage miles can be redeemed for award travel on partner flights, car rentals, hotels and more.
Redeeming AAdvantage miles on partner flights gives access to nearly 1,100 destinations worldwide. These redemptions provide excellent value, oftentimes better than redeeming on American Airlines flights directly. Oneworld alliance airlines include:
- American Airlines (AA)
- Alaska Airlines (AS)
- British Airways (BA)
- Cathay Pacific (CX)
- Finnair (AY)
- Iberia (IB)
- Japan Airlines (JL)
- Malaysia Airlines (MH)
- Qantas (QF)
- Qatar Airways (QR)
- Royal Air Maroc (AT)
- Royal Jordanian Airlines (RJ)
- Sri Lankan Airlines (UL)
Additionally, American Airlines partners with the following airlines outside of the Oneworld alliance:
- Air Tahiti Nui (TN)
- Cape Air (9K)
- China Southern Airlines (CZ)
- Etihad Airways (EY)
- Fiji Airways (FJ)
- GOL Airlines (G3)
- Hawaiian Airlines (HA)
- IndiGo (6E)
- Jet Blue (B6)
- Silver Airways (3M)
You can also redeem American Airlines AAdvantage miles for other travel needs through the travel portal, whether it be hotels, car rentals, lounge access or upgrades. AAdvantage miles can also be redeemed to support a few charitable organizational categories.
How To Redeem AAdvantage Miles on Partner Flights
Redeeming AAdvantage miles on partner flights is similar to redeeming miles on American Airlines flights. There is a separate region-based award chart for redemptions on Oneworld and partner airlines that clearly lists the amount of AAdvantage miles needed for each different class of service, but the process is still the same.
All Oneworld alliance members can be booked directly online. Most of American Airlines’ other partners can also be booked online, except for Etihad, China Southern Airlines and IndiGo airlines where you will have to call AAdvantage to search and redeem. Etihad award availability, you can search on one of Etihad’s other partners like Air Canada Aeroplan before calling.
Partner award availability can be significantly less than what you’re used to seeing for American Airlines flights. Each partner is different when it comes to releasing award space to be booked by their other partners. Just because a seat is available to purchase, does not mean a seat is available to redeem miles for.
The American Airlines website and app aren’t perfect when it comes to partner award searches. Sometimes it’s best to search segment-by-segment to check for availability. If the award search online isn’t matching what you’ve pieced together, give AAdvantage a call to book.
American Airlines also has some important routing rules that are detailed in the partner award chart. For example, flying from the US to the Middle East and Africa can only be transatlantic.
Another important point to consider when booking American Airlines’ international partners is that any stopover that is 24 hours or longer may be priced as two separate awards. You will also want to be mindful of the different taxes and fees charged on partner awards. British Airways is well known for having high fees on award flights.
How To Redeem AAdvantage Miles on Other Experiences
While redeeming AAdvantage miles for flights will most likely give you the best value, you do have other options for redeeming your miles for other experiences.
It is possible to book your entire vacation with AAdvantage miles. AAdvantage has a travel portal where you can search and redeem your miles for hotels and car rentals to book the complete vacation package. You can even redeem AAdvantage miles for an annual Admirals Club membership, but again these options often provide less value compared to flight awards.
Upgrading paid flights with miles is often viewed as an easy way to fly in business or first-class, and it is possible to upgrade on American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia flights. However, upgrading flights with miles has additional costs and restrictions.
Flights eligible to be booked with miles to upgrade on American Airlines flights need to be booked in a specific fare class but that does include some discount economy fares. Upgrading with British Airways or Iberia requires at least a full-fare economy ticket, which is the highest-priced economy fare.
AAdvantage does partner with several charitable organizations where you can donate your miles. You can search their organizations based on categories, which include miles for social good and miles for our planet.
Donating miles is also an effective way to extend the life of your miles if you are coming close to the 24-month expiration date due to inactivity on your AAdvantage account. The minimum number of miles you are able to donate is 1,000.
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bottom line
American Airlines AAdvantage miles can be redeemed for flights on American Airlines, Oneworld alliance airlines and other partner airlines. Most of these flights can be directly booked online with few exceptions, and the award search is just like searching for a paid flight. redeem AAdvantage miles for other travel-related experiences or you can redeem your miles to donate to a good cause.
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