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Is American feeling the heat from Delta flash sales? It’s anybody’s guess, but it seems that the recently-debuted “Economy Web Specials” weren’t a one-off. Gary Leff at View from the Wing reports on some much more interesting routes this time and availability that exceeds normal saver levels. While routes are still quite limited, they seem a bit more useful than the original list (and if this is a sign of regular flash sales to come, it may be more interesting for a wider range of customers). Hopefully, this won’t be the first step towards a revenue-based system…but in the meantime, it gives folks a chance to get better value out of their miles.
The Deal
- New American Airlines “Economy Web Specials” have launched, which includes sales from 5K miles each way (pricing varies based on route). The following routes have been reported to include economy web specials:
- Austin <-> Los Angeles
- Baltimore <-> Orlando
- Dallas <-> Fort Lauderdale
- Phoenix <-> Dallas
- Portland <-> Los Angeles
- Honolulu <-> Los Angeles
- Honolulu <-> Phoenix
- and more
Quick Thoughts
First of all, there is no dedicated page for these. Apparently, you’re just supposed to stumble upon them. I got some of the routes above from Million Mile Secrets and others from View from the Wing, but each of those sites lists other routes that I didn’t include — see their posts for included routes and screen shots.
The nice thing is that these don’t seem to be under the typically-small window of flash sales. For instance, Gary Leff reports the Austin-Los Angeles route being available from January 8th onward. He also notes that if you start your search before January 8th, it will default to Economy Saver awards, not the web specials (you’ll have to click the appropriate green box). It’s worth checking out his post to see just how wide open those 5K awards appear to be.
Overall, this is a decent opportunity if you’re traveling between the included city pairs and makes it worthwhile to take a glance at American now and then since we apparently won’t know when a web special will pop up.
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[…] Airlines is continuing to run unadvertised Economy Web Specials (which first debuted in November 2018). This time, they have outstanding economy award prices to a few warm weather destinations. The […]
[…] Some awesome AA web specials: Austin-LA for 5K, LA-Hawaii 12.5K, more […]
[…] A few weeks ago we covered a new type of discounted AA award type called “Economy Web Special” and I disparaged American for it’s poor choice of routes. I’m happy to report that they have expanded these awards to bigger cities and longer flights. I am not proud to admit that I have no clue how to find the specific routes these awards are available for (If anyone else know, please fill me in). AA still has a ways to go before they catch up to the level of Delta awards lately, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction. The web special option doesn’t appear to have a set price but starts at only 5K miles and is currently widely available on the following routes for travel after January 8th. (As reported by View from the Wing and Frequent Miler.) […]
[…] If American Airlines wants these to be a success they desperately need to create a landing page advertising these specials and the routes they are on. For example some of the above routes are 5,000 miles whereas others are 12,500. Hat tip to View From The Wing. […]