American Airlines has long offered discounted award tickets from select airports for holders of the American Airlines credit cards. However, American will no longer offer these Reduced Mileage Awards from 10/1/21 onward. This means that the current reduced-mileage awards list will be the final one.
American’s reduced-mileage awards have long been good for a discount of 7,500 miles round trip (3750 each way) with most American Airlines credit cards on flights of 500 miles or more. They have long published eligible cities as a list available by month over the coming 3-4 months and you need to call to book over the phone. This made sense when awards were priced at 12,500 miles one-way within the US (and thus a reduced-mileage award was 8,750 miles one way. Now that American Airlines has such variable pricing for quite a while, these reduced-mileage awards have occupied an awkward place.
Indeed, that’s how American is pitching this change: given that everyone has access to Web Specials, which start at just 6,000 miles each way and can be booked 330 days in advance, American is eliminating reduced mileage awards. The problem with that analogy is that web specials can not be changed and are more likely available when fares are very low. I’ve occasionally used a reduced mileage award to save on a very last-minute flight which otherwise would have been quite expensive.
At any rate, the current list of reduced-mileage awards will be the last, with select destinations still available by month in July, August, and September. If you’ll be traveling to or from any of the cities on the list, be sure to call in to book and get your discount if you have a qualifying credit card.
H/T: Dan’s Deals
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Is there any reason left to get the Citi AA cards?
So the AA card now has even less value than before, and we have even less of a reason to keep that overpriced card.
Is anybody still falling for the hype and signing up for AA cards?
At least I still get a free checked bag with my AA Card…….it does justify the 95$ annual fee, since I usually fly American r/t every other month……
No Fee card to keep points alive and top off.
When you take a survey that asks you about whether you think inflation will be coming, always reply that you expect inflation to be low or nil.
Companies buy this research and use inflation expectations as a license to raise prices and/or deflate their product some. If potential customers expect inflation and then they get it, they are less apt to buy elsewhere.
I suppose this wont change the low cost BA flights on AA (low cost Avio wise)
Because this is what our frequent flyers wanted!
Sad (but expected) to see this go 🙁