Best Uses For American Airlines Miles
American Airlines AAdvantage frequent flyer program offers some great value whether you want to fly American itself or one of its partner airlines all over the globe. What's more American miles have gotten easier to earn as of late. For a while, American was not a partner of any of the major transferrable points currencies. The only way to rack up a ton of American miles was with one of the airline's own credit card offerings. But Citi recently added American as a transfer partner, meaning you can now earn ThankYou points on cards like the Citi Strata Premier or the new Citi Strata Elite and transfer them to AA at a 1:1 ratio. Here are the best uses for American Airlines miles.
Using American Miles
American is a member of Oneworld, one of the major airline alliances. In addition to redeeming miles for flights on American, you can also redeem miles for flights on any of its nearly 20 Oneworld or non-alliance partners. This creates an opportunity to use AA miles to book flights to places American doesn't fly, like the Middle East, Africa, and more, sometimes for less than what other airlines are charging.
American prices its own award flights dynamically. The number of miles you need for a given flight can vary wildly depending on the cash price of the flight. The airline does publish a region-based award chart for its own flights. However, these rates are simply there to give you a general idea of how many miles an award flight might cost. In reality, you're likely to see higher rates — or, in some cases, even lower than what American is advertising. For it's partner airlines, American uses a separate, region-based award chart.
American Airlines also has one of the most generous policies when it comes to change or cancellation fees on award tickets. The airline doesn't charge any fees to cancel or change and award booking. So if you cancel an award ticket, you'll get all your AA miles refunded along with any taxes and fees — completely free. Another plus: Unlike with airlines like Delta, when you're booking with miles, you're always booking at least a main cabin ticket, not basic economy.
Best Uses of American Airlines Miles: Cheap Domestic Flights
Domestic flights on American start at 7,500 miles each way, according to American's award chart. But since American prices its award flights dynamically, you can often find domestic flights for even less.
For example, you could book this short hop from Washington, D.C. (DCA) to New York (JFK) for just 6,000 miles each way.
It's not even the case that the longer the flight, the more miles it will cost. Take a look at this transcontinental flight from New York all the way to Los Angeles (LAX). It's still only 10,500 miles and $5.60 in taxes and fees — just a few thousand miles more than the flight above.
American's award calendar can help you find the cheapest dates. Start your search as normal, with your departing airport, destination, and desired dates. On the search results page, click the “calendar” button in the upper right-hand corner.
This will open a calendar showing you a month's worth of flights. The dates in green indicate the lowest fares.
Off-Peak American Economy Flights To Europe
According to American's award chart for its own flights, flights between the U.S. and Europe start at 25,000 miles each way in economy. But thanks to its dynamic pricing, it's possible to find flights for even less — especially if you're flexible on dates. This one-way flight from Dallas (DFW) to Paris (CDG) in late April is a great example.
Your best bet for finding cheap award flights to Europe on American is to target seasons with lower demand like the winter months or even the shoulder season in the spring and fall.
American occasionally has award sales that can lead to some incredible deals on flights to Europe and other destinations. This past spring, for instance, flights to Europe were bookable for just 15,000 miles each way — 30,000 miles roundtrip!
Japan Airlines in Economy, Business, Or Even First Class
American and Japan Airlines (JAL) are both members of the Oneworld airline alliance, which allows you to book JAL flights through American. It's one of the best ways to book JAL flights, whether you want to fly economy or all the way in the front of the plane in first class.
American charges just 35,000 miles each way in economy, 50,000 for premium economy, 60,000 for business class, and 80,000 for first class. With American's region-based award chart, you'll pay those same rates whether you're flying from the West Coast or all the way from East Coast cities like Boston (BOS) or New York.
It's the taxes and fees that make these flights such a great deal. American charges just $5.60 in taxes and fees. By comparison, booking through British Airways, another Oneworld partner, you'd pay more miles and 92,500 Avios and about $200 in taxes and fees.
Economy award availability is fairly easy to come by, but award availability for JAL business and especially first class can be extremely hard to find.
JAL flies nonstop from the following U.S. and Canadian cities:
- Boston (BOS)
- Chicago (ORD)
- Dallas (DFW)
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- New York (JFK)
- San Diego (SAN)
- San Francisco (SFO)
- Seattle (SEA)
- Vancouver (YVR)
But you may be able to book a connection from your home airport for the same award rate. Take this Japan Airlines first class flight from Minneapolis (MSP) to Tokyo (NRT) with a stop in Chicago (ORD) — still just 80,000 AA miles one-way!
Qatar Airways QSuites
Another of the best uses for American Airlines miles is Qatar Airways QSuites. Qsuites are one of the favorite business class seats among the ToP team. With American Airlines, you can book Qatar's business class to its hub in Doha (DOH) or connect onward to other destinations throughout the Middle East, India, or even the Maldives for just 70,000 AAdvantage miles. For just 5,000 more AA miles, you can fly to Africa, including all the way to Cape Town (CPT) in South Africa in one of these business class seats.
There's one catch: Finding award availability to actually book these seats through American has been like finding a needle in a haystack as of late. Search any of Qatar's routes from the U.S. and you can scroll through months without finding a single available flight.
That's likely due to timing. American only allows you to book flights up to 331 days in advance. Meanwhile, booking through British Airways (another Qatar partner airline), you can book up 351 days in advance, while Qatar's booking window is up to 361 days. There's a good chance those seats are getting booked up by members by British Airways Club and Qatar Airways Privilege Club members first, before AAdvantage members even get the chance.
But if you can find the award availability, booking Qatar Qsuites is easily one of the best values for your AA miles.
Flights to Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America
American miles are also great for getting to destinations throughout Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central America. American has arguably the most extensive network of flights to the region, including not only popular tourist hotspots like Cancun and the Bahamas but to other off-the-beaten path destinations, too.
Flights can be found for 10,000 AA miles each way (or 20,000 roundtrip), or even less depending on when you're going or if you can take advantage of an AAdvantage award sale.
Even flights from smaller regional airports with connections like the one above from Madison, Wisconsin (MSN) to Turks and Caicos (PLS) can be booked for these low rates. Keep in mind that taxes and fees are often higher on these routes compared to other award flights.
Upgrades With Miles
The last option we cover for the best uses of American Airline miles is a surprise. This use is upgrades with miles. American recently changed its upgrade policy, now allowing travelers to upgrade their flights with cash or miles. The airline has been selling cash upgrades for a while. For instance, in 2023, I was able to upgrade my flight from Santiago, Chile (SCL) to Dallas (DFW) from economy to a lie-flat business class suite for a little over $300. Now, that same upgrade offer will also be available for the equivalent price in AAdvantage miles.
Upgrading with miles can be a great way to get yourself into a more premium seat, especially if you booked a cheap cash flight. Not every upgrade offer will be a good deal, so do the math to see if it's worth it for you.
Best Uses For American Airline Miles: ToP Thoughts
There are plenty of great ways to spend your American Airlines AAdvantage miles, whether you want to fly American or one of its partner airlines all over the world. Now, with a new transfer partner in Citi, it's easier than ever to earn AA miles. These are just a few examples of how to maximize your AA miles to use as a jumping off point for your future travels. What are your favorite uses of American miles?
Let us know in the ToP Facebook group!
