American Airlines award chart sweet spots you might be ignoring

During our Million Mile Madness challenge, it probably isn’t a surprise that Greg, Stephen, and I have all filled in some gaps in our travels by using our miles to buy award tickets. Given the large distances to cover and the desire to keep cash outlay under control, you would probably expect that we’d all redeem a few miles somewhere along the way. However, you might find it interesting to know that all three of us have taken advantage (pun intended) of using the same type of miles, albeit with different sweet spots in play: American Airlines AAdvantage miles. This post is a look at the ones we’ve used and the ones you might be ignoring, but shouldn’t.

The Middle East to/from Asia for 40,000 American Airlines miles in business class or 50,000 American Airlines miles in first class

We’ve covered this awesome AA sweet spot before, but I think it nonetheless deserves one more shoutout: American Airlines AAdvantage offers a great deal for premium cabin tickets between its “Middle East” region and both “Asia 1” and “Asia 2” (which includes most of the countries we would typically think of as constituting Asia, apart from the Indian subcontinent, which costs even less).

Given the sheer distances that could cover, it represents a terrific deal. For instance, traveling a route like Cairo to Japan or Dubai to Jakarta in business or first class for just 40K or 50K miles is a standout value — you could easily be looking at getting 10+ hours in a premium cabin for 40 or 50K miles. That’s effectively 4K or 5K miles per hour, which is a price I’d be happy to pay.

And we’re not talking about a ho-hum in-flight experience here. You can fly partners like Qatar, Etihad, or even Japan Airlines in a premium cabin and get a far better experience than with most other airlines for what is essentially a steal.

But it’s not just the superior in-flight experience that you’re getting for your miles, it’s also what is in some cases an impressive ground game. For instance, Greg and I both enjoyed time in the gorgeous Qatar Airways Al Mourjan business class lounge in Doha. During my 4-hour layover, I enjoyed the chance to grab a shower, order a complimentary meal in the restaurant, order a salad in the “deli” section, have a glass of champagne, and just enjoy the ambiance of the business class lounge.

And it could have been even better: many (most?) of Qatar’s flights within the Middle East market the forward cabin as “first class”. Since most of the planes are 2-cabin planes, the forward cabin only gets charged the business class price, but since the boarding pass indicates that the short leg within the Middle East is in “first class”, you can access the Al Safwa first class lounge in Doha on a connecting itinerary even where the majority is flown in business class provided that short leg within the Middle East is marketed as “first”.
Unfortunately, this time around, the plane that Greg and I booked actually had 3 cabins, so business class was not marketed as “first”. That meant that we only got access to the (still wonderful) business class lounge. But keep in mind that many of these Middle East<->Asia awards will include first class lounge access, which is a fantastic perk for the price.

Europe to/from the Middle East for 62,500 miles in first class

While business class between Europe and the Middle East can also be a solid deal at 42,500 miles, Greg used 62,500 miles to fly in first class, which is an outstanding deal for those interested in flying Etihad Airways apartments class between Europe and the Middle East.Etihad only operates its first class apartments on the A380, and it’s A380 routes are limited. Before starting the planning process for this challenge, I hadn’t realized that Etihad began flying the A380 between Paris and Abu Dhabi. That is an exciting development for a few reasons.

First, it means that there is another option for getting the Etihad apartments experience. An increase in options is always welcome!Second, and perhaps more importantly, it provides an apartments option between Europe and the Middle East that is attractive in both directions.

In Greg’s video review of the flight, he talked up the fact that the last time he flew Etihad apartments was on an overnight flight and this time it was a daytime flight, so he felt like he got the full experience.

In the past, the apartments route to/from Europe as been Abu Dhabi to/from London. The problem there is that the daytime route is London to Abu Dhabi — but if you book the award in that direction (which is to say departing the UK, you’ll be on the hook for the UK Air Passenger duty, making taxes & fees substantially more expensive. The Paris route adds a daytime flight that costs a bit less. Of course you’ll still pay less in taxes & fees departing the Middle East since both France and the UK having higher departure taxes than you’ll find in most (all?) Middle Eastern countries.

Europe to/from the Indian subcontinent (even via the Middle East) for 62,500 miles in first class

There’s no doubt that Greg got a great deal flying Paris to Abu Dhabi in Etihad first class apartments for 62,500 miles. However, would you be surprised to know that he may have left 3 additional hours of apartments first class on the table?

That’s because American charges the same 62,500 miles for first class between Europe and the Indian subcontinent. And since Etihad now flies the A380 between Paris and Abu Dhabi and also between Abu Dhabi and Mumbai BOM), it is actually possible to get two A380 legs on a single reservation (and, in this case, a layover of almost 20 hours in Abu Dhabi) for the same 62,500 miles.

In Greg’s defense, both the Paris and Mumbai routes are relatively new additions for the A380 and finding availability for both on flights that line up isn’t necessarily easy.

Los Angeles to/from New York in flat bed business for 21,500nmiles

Stephen used American Airlines miles for what works out to an even better deal in terms of miles burned per hour of premium cabin flying when he redeemed 21,500 American Airlines AAdvantage miles to fly in American Airlines domestic first class from Las Vegas to Los Angeles to New York.

Somewhat unfortunately, this deal is less replicable, but it is perhaps more relevant knowledge for many readers.

If Stephen had just booked Los Angeles to New York in flat bed business class, American Airlines would likely have priced that flight at something like 100,000 miles one-way. However, by connecting to that LA-NY leg, married segment pricing takes over and can make the award substantially cheaper – flying farther cost Stephen far less.

While you can’t count on his specific example of Las Vegas to Los Angeles to New York pricing at 21.5K in business all the time, you can very often find much more attractive premium cabin pricing on American Airlines by connecting either before or after that premium cabin leg. I’ve written about this trick before in the context of international premium cabin awards, but Stephen’s award points out that this also happens on awards within the United States. Even if you lived in Los Angeles, you aren’t necessarily out of luck if you can find an itinerary that connects beyond New York or one that connects beyond Los Angeles on the way home.

Flights within Japan for 7.5K miles + $0

Over the summer, I was in Japan when a typhoon hit. While the typhoon didn’t directly affect our plans, I overhead another guest at our hotel near Tokyo Disney mention that he’d been trying to get to Osaka for days but trains had been cancelled. I wondered whether flights were still flying. I imagine that if they were, he probably hadn’t considered them due to cost. But American Airlines miles can be a winner here since domestic flights on Japan Airlines can be a very good deal with AA miles — and that you don’t pay any taxes beyond the miles.

Note that the 7.5K economy class or 15K business class prices even hold up as far as Okinawa.

North Asia to/rom South Pacific for 40K in business class

Yet another way to potentially get 10+ hours in business class for 40,000 miles is flying business class between North Asia and the South Pacific for 40,000 miles each way. For instance, Tokyo to Sydney to Brisbane on Qantas in business class runs 40,000 miles on Qantas booked via American Airlines AAdvantage.

At 4,000 miles per hour of luxury, a route like that one could certainly be a great deal.

Bottom line

These aren’t the only good deals you can get with America Airlines AAdvantage miles, but they are some standout values for the award price. Of key importance is not to ignore American Airlines for connecting cities / regions outside the United States. Many of those redemptions can be very strong — and because you’re competing against a much smaller number of customers in redeeming miles for them, you may both find them to be better deals and more widely available.

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.