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Along with the ability to defeat basic economy , American Airlines’ cobranded credit cards offer a lesser-known — but quite valuable — per...

How to save up to 7,500 miles on domestic American Airlines awards now through January 31

By 110-220 Volts December 05, 2019 0 coment�rios
How to save up to 7,500 miles on domestic American Airlines awards now through January 31

Along with the ability to defeat basic economy, American Airlines’ cobranded credit cards offer a lesser-known — but quite valuable — perk: reduced mileage awards. This benefit allows you to save between 1,000 and 7,500 miles per round-trip, depending on the route and the type of card you have.

And, it’s not like there are only a few airports that qualify. The current list has an incredible 164 qualifying airports on the list for at least one month from December 2019 to March 2020. Of these, 27 are on the list for all four months. As the number of potential destinations can be overwhelming, we’ve found it helpful to have maps of all the options. You’ll find those maps below.

But, before you scroll down, here’s a quick reminder of how reduced mileage awards work. Say you live near State College, PA or near any of the other airports listed all four months. If you have an eligible credit card and can find saver award availability, you can fly to any airport in the U.S. for just 17,500 miles round-trip from December 2019 through March 2020 — since your airport is listed for all four months. For flights less than 500 miles nonstop each way (i.e., State College to Philadelphia), the cost is just 6,500 miles one-way or 13,000 round-trip

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But, even if your airport isn’t listed for a month, you can still fly from your airport to any of the airports mapped below for as little as 13,000 miles (for direct flights less than 500 miles) round-trip, if there’s award availability on the route.

In This Post

Who is eligible for AA Reduced Mileage Awards?

If you have one of the following cards, you can save 3,750 miles off one-way award tickets:

The information for the Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Or, you’re eligible for 2,500 miles off a one-way award ticket if you have one of the following:

  • Citi® / AAdvantage® Gold World Elite Mastercard
  • Other credit cards listed here that are no longer open to new applicants.

If you have multiple types of cards (i.e., both the Citi Executive and the Citi Platinum Select), you’ll only get the discount once.

Nonstop award flights of less than 500 miles normally cost just 7,500 AAdvantage miles. These sub-500-mile award flights aren’t eligible for the full 7,500-mile round-trip discount noted above. Instead, there’s a savings of 1,000 miles each way. This means that you’ll pay just 6,500 miles one-way for flights of less than 500 miles.

Related: Maximizing redemptions with American Airlines AAdvantage

Here’s how the numbers break down for flights both longer and shorter than 500 miles:

One-way flights Within the U.S.
(excluding <500)		 Flights under
500 miles
Award chart cost 12,500 7,500
Reduced Mileage Award discount (3,750) (1,000)
Mileage cost 8,750 6,500

December 2019 airports

AA is kicking off this version of the Reduced Mileage Award list with 54 airports for December — down significantly from the 136 on the just-expired list. Here are some of the top destinations to consider:

January 2020 airports

As we start the new year, there are an incredible 158 airports on the list for January 2020. Here are some notable options to consider:

February 2020 airports

Not mapped: Medford, OR (MFR) and Redmond / Bend, OR (RDM)

In February, there are 108 airports listed. Here are some you might want to consider:

March 2020 airports

Not mapped: Redmond / Bend, OR (RDM)

For March, the list narrows to just 66 airports. Here are some options to consider for spring break:

Airports all four months

There are 27 airports available for all four months. If you live in one of these cities, you can fly anywhere that you can find saver-award space from December 2019 to March 2020 for just 8,750 miles each way. Or, you can visit these cities for just 8,750 miles each way during the next four months:

How to book AA Reduced Mileage Awards

Once you’ve found MileSAAver award availability on American Airlines’ website, call American Airlines at 800-882-8880 — or your elite reservations number, if applicable — to book the award ticket. As these awards aren’t available to book online, the terms and conditions state that the standard $30 phone-booking fee will be waived. However, if you book in person through an airport agent or AA travel center, a booking fee of $35 will apply.

For December 2019 – March 2020 reduced mileage awards, the discount codes that you’ll have to provide the agent for the larger discount are as follows:

7,500 / 2,000-mile cards Within the U.S.
(excluding <500)		 Flights under
500 miles
Savings (per round-trip) 7,500 2,000
First class (two-cabin) UD21X2D / AVM05 UD14D / AVA72
Business class (three-cabin) UD28X7D / AVA67 n/a
Main cabin TD8X7D / AVM04 TD6X5D / AVA71

And for the smaller discount:

5,000 / 1,000-mile cards Within the U.S.
(excluding <500)		 Flights under
500 miles
Savings (per round-trip) 5,000 1,000
First class (two-cabin) UD22X5D / AVM03 UD14X5D / AVA66
Business class (three-cabin) UD30D / AVA61 n/a
Main cabin TD10D / AVM02 TD7D / AVA65

Tips

1. The discount applies to flights both to and from the listed airports. I periodically get an AAgent that insists otherwise, so I have to employ the HUCA (Hang Up Call Again) technique. One thing is clear though: American Airlines agents are instructed to only apply the discount for flights inside the U.S. to/from the listed airports. So, unfortunately, this keeps you from applying this discount for flights between a listed airport and Europe, Asia or the Caribbean.

2. Unfortunately, the discount only applies to American Airlines-operated flights; Alaska-operated flights don’t qualify for the discount.

3. The airports on the previous RMA list for December 2019 and January 2020 aren’t necessarily still available. Discounted award flights to/from the airports on the previous list had to be booked by Nov. 30. Make sure to book award flights for the airports listed above before Jan. 31, 2020 to avoid missing out, as the list of airports for February and March 2020 will likely change on Feb. 1, 2020.

4. The $75 close-in booking fee applies for travel within 21 days. This fee is waived when American Airlines Gold, Platinum, Platinum Pro and Executive Platinum elites use miles from their account.

5. Reduced mileage award discounts codes can be applied to domestic business and first-class awards. The savings of 7,500/2,000 (5,000/1,000 for lesser cards) miles are the same regardless of the cabin booked.

Featured photo of an American Airlines Boeing 777-200 by JT Genter/The Points Guy. All other images generated using Great Circle Mapper.

This is The Points Guy’s permanent page about American Airlines’ reduced mileage awards, so you can bookmark it and check back regularly for the latest offer. Keep in mind you may see some reader comments referring to older versions below.

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