RewardExpert.com is an independent website that is supported by advertising. RewardExpert.com may be compensated by credit card issuers whose offers appear on the site. Because we are paid by our advertising partners it may impact placement of products on the site, including the order in which they appear. Not all available credit card issuers or card offers are included on the site.

American Airlines Devaluation: Book AA Seats at Former Levels via Alaska Airlines

icon-comments 0 Comments

If you feel nostalgic about the old American Airlines’ award chart, you’re not alone. AAdvantage used to be the most valuable frequent flyer program bar none, but since March 22nd it’s more on par with other legacy programs like United and Delta that have undergone severe business and first class award devaluations.

There is still great value in using AAdvantage miles though, mostly due to its airline partners.

However, if you would like to get the same redemptions on American and use its old award chart levels, you still can. You can book your travel on American using partner Alaska Airlines program. Alaska uses the exact same chart American used to. So you can book an American award flight, but you will have to pay with Alaska Mileage Plan miles.

Here is the case in point. New American levels for transcontinental flights are 32,500 miles for business class and 50,000 miles for first (to read more on why it’s worth paying so many miles read our previous post). However, if you book the same flight using Alaska miles you will only pay 25,000 miles in business and 32,500 miles in first. That’s a terrific value, especially for a first class seat, and would cost roughly 50 percent less.

AA-FIRST-ON-AA-JFK-LAX

AA-FIRST-ON-AS-JFK-LAX

You can only book American award flights on Alaska if American has saver award availability for these flights. This rule holds whenever you book a partner flight with any frequent flyer program.

Best Value Awards

Aside from the U.S. transcontinental first class award, there are a few other routes where you could benefit greatly from booking an American award flight using Alaska miles.

Europe and South America 2

In January 2017, American is going to start running a 3-cabin 777-200 between Miami and Barcelona. While it’s not a very long flight, its business class cabin will feature angle-flat seats, so you would be much more comfortable in a first class seat, which is excellent.

American also flies a 777-300 between New York and Sao Paolo with lie-flat seats in first class and angle-flat seats in business, and current availability is pretty good throughout the year.

The cost difference between American and Alaska miles is quite considerable, especially for first class.

U.S. - Europe/South America 2 (one- way)BusinessFirst
American Airlines AAdvantage miles57,50085,000
Alaska MileagePlan miles50,00062,500

Asia

American runs a 3-cabin flight between Dallas and Hong Kong, and while getting a first class Saver award from Dallas is not easy, it is possible for a flight back, as long as you’re flexible of course. In order to get your ticket with Alaska, we recommend you find your award on the AA website first to confirm availability.

Travel to Hong Kong

As you can see, the mileage difference between Alaska and American awards is whopping 63%.

U.S. - Asia 2 (one- way)BusinessFirst
American Airlines AAdvantage miles67,500110,000
Alaska MileagePlan miles55,00067,500

 Australia

Flights between L.A. and Sydney feature a 777-300ER with excellent configuration in both first and business class cabins, but premium class seats on this route are virtually impossible to get at saver award rates. If you manage to snatch a first class ticket to or from the continent down under using Alaska miles you will save you over 50 percent.

U.S. - Australia 2 (one- way)BusinessFirst
American Airlines AAdvantage miles62,50072,000
Alaska MileagePlan miles72,000110,000

How to Search and Book an AA Award on Alaska

You can research availability and book your American award flight on the Alaska website. Keep in mind, though, that the Alaska site often displays phantom availability, which means you can see flights that are not actually available. On the other hand, just because you’ve found an available flight on the American website, that doesn’t always mean you will be able to book it on Alaska. Sometimes it might be prudent to check if both search engines have availability for your preferred flight.

Working the new Alaska search engine is quite easy. Just go to the Alaska website, click Mileage Plan in the top menu, then Award Charts.

Image of Alaska Website

Next screen shows you a lot of options, most of which we don’t need.

Mileage plan gives you the world

Let’s try to find a first class award seat on American between New York and Sao Paulo, Brazil sometime in May. We know that AA flies a 777-300ER with excellent configuration in both first and business class on this route, which might explain why first-class availability on this route is abysmal. Choose Continental U.S. and South America, and then narrow the search results to the data you see on the screen.

Alaska website credit cards

Now that we’ve narrowed things down, let’s click Book Now.

Screenshot of Alaska Website

Make sure to search one-way and tick the box that says Award Calendar if you are flexible. Click Find Flights.

Tick First class on the left, and you will see one date, May 12, displaying the 62.5K figure, which should be what American would charge for this flight. Let’s hope it’s a non-stop flight we need, and not the one connecting in Miami. Click Continue.

Screenshot of Alaska Website

Luckily, it is a non-stop between New York and Sao Paulo with both business and first class available on this date. Pick your choice and complete your reservation.

How to Get Alaska Mileage Plan Miles

If you don’t fly very often on Alaska Airlines, you can get Alaska Miles using an old and trusted method.

Credit Cards

There are two co-branded Alaska Airlines cards issued by Bank of America.

Alaska Airlines Visa Signature with 25,000-Mile Bonus and $100 Statement Credit

  • Spending Requirement: $1K/3 months
  • Annual Fee: $75

Here is another link if the first one isn’t working. There is no $100 credit, but also no spending requirement.

Alaska Airlines Visa Signature with 25,000-Mile Bonus

  • Spending Requirement: None
  • Annual Fee: $75

BoA Alaska Airlines Visa Business Card 25,000 miles

  • Spending Requirement: None
  • Annual Fee: $75

You can have more than one personal Alaska Airlines card (and get more than one bonus), but you shouldn’t apply for more than one personal card on the same day.

Next: American Airlines Devaluation: Save AAdvantage Miles by Booking on Etihad Airways

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

UGC Disclosure: The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.

How to Keep Your AAdvantage Miles From Expiring

0 Comments

American Airlines AAdvantage miles expire 24 months after you earn them unless there’s some activity in your account. Luckily, you can reset the expiration date by either earning or redeeming miles, which means that there are dozens of ways to keep your miles fresh for your next award flight.

Here are some of the ways you can keep your AAdvantage miles from expiring:

Use a Co-Branded Credit Card

Shop

Nearly all of the airline frequent flyer programs offer an online shopping portal. Simply log in, search for the merchant where you’d like to shop and click through to the online store. You’ll earn a certain number of miles per dollar spent at that merchant, and that activity will reset the clock on the expiration of your miles. Visit American’s AAdvantage eShopping Mall or shop through these links for FTD, 1-800-Flowers or Vinesse.

Grab a Bite to Eat

If you dine out, you can earn AAdvantage miles for every dollar you spend at select restaurants through the AAdvantage Dining Program. Sign up now and miles earned this way will reset the expiration date on your account.

Fly

Fly with AAdvantage Miles

You’ll earn AAdvantage miles anytime you fly on American, and that will reset your account. You can also earn AAdvantage miles when you fly on any oneworld alliance member airline or any of American’s individual partners, such as Air Tahiti Nui, Alaska Airlines, Cape Air, Etihad, Fiji Airways, Hawaiian Airlines and Malaysia Airlines. Just make sure you select the correct frequent flyer program to earn rewards when booking your ticket.


Drive

Likewise, you can earn miles for renting a car from Alamo, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Hertz, National, Payless or Thrifty. Partners can offer savings on base rates of your rental as well as miles earnings per rental, rental day, or for every dollar spent.






Stay

You can earn miles by staying at thousands of hotels around the world that are owned by various hotel chains like Starwood, Marriott, Hilton and others. Review all your options and make sure to credit your stay to your AAdvantage account.

Book an American Airlines Vacation or Cruise Package

You can also earn AAdvantage miles for booking a vacation or cruise through American Airlines Vacations or American Airlines Cruises.

Book through American Airlines Cruises and keep you miles from expiring
Book through American Airlines Cruises and keep you miles from expiring

Donate

You can donate your miles to Stand Up To Cancer to keep them from expiring. Only donations of $25 or more earn miles. AAdvantage® members can also earn miles by donating miles and cash to those in need.



Buy, Gift or Share Miles

Anytime you buy, share or gift AAdvantage miles, your account’s expiration date will reset. You can buy as few as 1,000 miles for $29.50 plus a $2.21 Federal excise tax. The processing fee for the purchase of miles is $0. This is not a cost effective method of resetting your mile expiration date so use this option as a last resort.

All of these methods of earning miles will reset the expiration date of your AAdvantage account. Don’t forget that any time you redeem miles, that activity will also reset your account. Every single mile is precious, so keep tabs on the date of your last activity and don’t accidentally lose miles.
As a last resort, you can pay to have your lost miles reinstated. AAdvantage charges $200 to reactivate 1 to 50,000 miles, $400 for 50,001 to 75,000 miles and $600 for more than 75,000 expired miles.

Show Full Article
0