Please help me figure out how to use AAdvantage awards points

DH and I are flying to London in October. For the main leg over, we thought it might be nice to try and upgrade to Business class (for the beds) using our points. This is an Airbus A330-300.

I have search American Airlines, Google and this board, and am still having trouble trying to figure out how to take advantage of our AAdvantage awards points. We don't have many, but did find a chart that says we will need $25,000 points, plus $350 each (We have the cheap tickets.) to do this one way. That's fine, but how do we make it happen!!! What is the process? Obviously, we have never booked an award seat or tried for an upgrade on any airline. :o

I was new at this last year and have learned much here on CC for using points. First of all up the number of points you have with credit card bonus or buying bonus. You want those bonus points because it goes pretty slow just spending for points:p

Perhaps you won't be able to do so on this trip but you can start planning for the future. Buying upgrades I was told is hard and expensive. Very frequent business travelers with more points and status than the casual traveler will ever have gobble up the upgrades before an electron can get to you. Thus in my experience not much can be done upgrading with points. Can take the money you have gotten from credit card spends and "erase" a bill or pay off an amount on your bill freeing money to be used to upgrade fees on ticket.

I am experienced with United and Southwest only. Southwest tends to be really easy because usually I look at my loyalty account and when have enough points use them for ticket. I am near their Baltimore base and daughter is near Ft Lauderdale base so go several times a year. United have been bigger trips (got a roundtrip to Asia for 2 last year and hope to score a one way to Europe for next July's TA this year ). Buying miles on United milage sale and charge to credit card that gives 2 points per dollar then pay the bill partially with my spending points earned by spending and opening account equals a free ticket) Chase product allows you to transfer 1:1 for United but I have not found anything like that for other airlines.

Good luck. Study up and ask questions and even call AA and ask them to walk you through the basics. Be prepared to ask questions (like I have 20,000 points and can I upgrade my ticket with those points?) etc. If you get a snippy clerk hang up and try for Miss Friendly -- there are some out there.) Also can come back to CC and they will help if specific questions.

DH and I are flying to London in October. For the main leg over, we thought it might be nice to try and upgrade to Business class (for the beds) using our points. This is an Airbus A330-300.

 

I have search American Airlines, Google and this board, and am still having trouble trying to figure out how to take advantage of our AAdvantage awards points. We don't have many, but did find a chart that says we will need $25,000 points, plus $350 each (We have the cheap tickets.) to do this one way. That's fine, but how do we make it happen!!! What is the process? Obviously, we have never booked an award seat or tried for an upgrade on any airline. :o

Thank you, Bowie MeMe. It just so happens that we are getting ready to "throw away" our old Visa Travel card and get one of the AA cards.

You may have misunderstood, but we do have enough miles to pay for the one way. In fact, we have enough for both ways, but we do not care to use more points or pay the extra $700 to fly back in Business Class until we see if we like the BC...especially the beds, first. We figure that we will need more rest going over since we will have a full day in London. On the way back from the cruise, we will be so worn out, we should be able to sleep in our steerage seats. :D

Gardyloo - Thank you for the information. I thought I could just book them online.:rolleyes: Didn't realize that there is a method and rejection process. :(

So, we also have to pay and release our miles before even knowing that we may be getting the upgrade? :confused:

We fly on Friday, October 16th. We leave from TRI, but want the Business Class from CLT to Heathrow.

Yes, it is still USAirways until the day we fly home. The official switch IS the day we fly home. I am a bit worried about something happening...computer glitch?

The funny thing is, when we booked this flight, we booked on the American Airlines site thinking that we would be on a plane that offered the "Extra Comfort" seating. We were going to pay more to have more leg room. We were ticked when we got to the seating map and found out that they had put us on a USAir plane. Had we known that, we would have flown with Delta which is our choice airline when flying overseas.

One more question. I noticed on SeatGuru that 6 of the Business seats are near the forward and mid-plane restrooms. I know this is bothersome when flying in Economy because people stand alongside your seat waiting for their turn, but is it that bad when flying in Business? I assume if we were to receive the upgrade, that's where we would end up.

Don't worry about "lines" for the restroom...people flying in this section don't stand in line ;)

Gardyloo - Thank you for the information. I thought I could just book them online.:rolleyes: Didn't realize that there is a method and rejection process. :(

So, we also have to pay and release our miles before even knowing that we may be getting the upgrade? :confused:

Right now, both US flights from CLT to LHR on the 16th are pretty wide open in business class, but that can change quickly; business class seats are often purchased close to the last minute by... surprise... business users.

WOW...how do you know that the seats are open?

But just because they are open, doesn't mean we can get two seats, does it? We will still be at the back of the gravy line and seats can fill up by those with more clout...correct?

PS - We have business to attend to...it's called sleeping! :D

WOW...how do you know that the seats are open?

 

But just because they are open, doesn't mean we can get two seats, does it? We will still be at the back of the gravy line and seats can fill up by those with more clout...correct?

 

PS - We have business to attend to...it's called sleeping! :D

There are websites like Expert Flyer where you can see availability by fare class, and also seat maps showing seats that have been selected. The seat maps are not definitive as some people might have tickets but haven't selected seats yet, but the availability numbers, such as figures like "J9 R9 D9 I4 C0 U0 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 L9 W9 V9 G9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 E0 T4" tell the tale - this means at least 9 seats are available in business class, and at least 9 seats are for sale under various fare classes in the economy section (the J/R/D/I fares are business, everything else is coach.) Note these are not cumulative, they just mean that you can buy up to X seats at a given fare as of today. Usually as the sale progresses, you'll see the fare categories farther to the right, such as Q9 O9 will start becoming Q9 O5, then Q5 O1, etc., meaning the cheapest/most restrictive fares are sold out, leaving the pricier ones still for sale.

In that list, "C" is used for business class seats open for mileage upgrades, "U" for seats available for straight awards, and over to the right, "T" represents coach seats available for mileage redemption. So in this example, the (earlier of the two) CLT-LHR flights have plenty of business class seats for sale, none for awards or upgrades, and 4 open for economy awards. All these categories can go up and down, for example if all 4 coach award seats are claimed tomorrow, the airline can (and will, usually) simply assign more seats to the "T" class. The computers that manage this system never sleep.

...Business Class until we see if we like the BC...especially the beds, first.

"IF" isn't the question!

There are websites like Expert Flyer where you can see availability by fare class, and also seat maps showing seats that have been selected. The seat maps are not definitive as some people might have tickets but haven't selected seats yet, but the availability numbers...

That is a super helpful post (I reduced the quote for readability). I am about to hit the 100k AA Mile mark thanks to a few J flights and getting their credit card. I am hoping to redeem for a free flight to Japan one day. Now I know where to start.

There are websites like Expert Flyer where you can see availability by fare class, and also seat maps showing seats that have been selected. The seat maps are not definitive as some people might have tickets but haven't selected seats yet, but the availability numbers, such as figures like seats to the "T" class. The computers that manage this system never sleep.

Haha...I fell asleep just reading this! :D Way above my head, but very helpful in my next step. Thank you!

Haha...I fell asleep just reading this! :D Way above my head, but very helpful in my next step. Thank you!

I certainly mean no offense, and I'm certainly not suggesting that people become as wonkish as me on air travel stuff (or some others who frequent this board.) But step back a second and ask yourself this: How much research would you put into choosing which washer/dryer set to buy? Wouldn't you go to consumer reports, or look at reviews on various websites, look at the product warranty details? Well, a plane ticket to Europe can easily cost just as much, or double if you're talking two people, so why not do your homework just as you would with a major appliance or a riding lawnmower? Just sayin'.

I certainly mean no offense, and I'm certainly not suggesting that people become as wonkish as me on air travel stuff (or some others who frequent this board.) But step back a second and ask yourself this: How much research would you put into choosing which washer/dryer set to buy? Wouldn't you go to consumer reports, or look at reviews on various websites, look at the product warranty details? Well, a plane ticket to Europe can easily cost just as much, or double if you're talking two people, so why not do your homework just as you would with a major appliance or a riding lawnmower? Just sayin'.

:o

I am doing my homework by asking here.;)

As I said in my first post, I searched all over for my answers before coming here. And I thank you very much for the help.:) I am a little dyslexic, so all the numbers and letters run together for me.

PS - What a great link!

WOW...how do you know that the seats are open?

 

But just because they are open, doesn't mean we can get two seats, does it? We will still be at the back of the gravy line and seats can fill up by those with more clout...correct?

 

PS - We have business to attend to...it's called sleeping! :D

There are 2 flights available, and I can confirm, at this point they are wide open. But- last minute, there can be a lot of changes. :) with upgrades on these flights usually being gone long before flying. I do, very much like the envoy seats, and if you can confirm round trip- I wouldn't think you would be sorry. :) I am coming from a different perspective, with "costs" being insignificant, but, usually comments are positive for the upgrades.

Do we HAVE to book a Business Class UPGRADE (using award points) as a ROUND trip? That's something I never thought about.:eek: We just wanted to try the ONE WAY. The flight home will be during the daylight hours and we just don't see the advantage of paying that much more, including using our points, for a seat that we will use for reading and watching movies. We will also get up and down more since the flight is during the day.

Most award tickets are one way. You pay for two award tickets roundtrip. Examples: IAD to AMS (Washington DC to Amsterdam) economy is 30,000 points AND AMS to IAD return is 30,000 points. Put them together roundtrip.

Now if you only want one way and will BUY (cash) the segment back hold on to your hat. The price ONE way from Europe to USA is over double the cost of a ROUNDTRIP fare IAD to AMS ($1,300 economy roundtrip and $2,800 ONE way) YES you did see that right! (I just booked the examples for a transatlantic cruise and only needed one way fare to Amsterdam -- what a shock!). So what ever you do keep it roundtrip. You can not buy roundtrip and throw away the first segment -- airlines cancel the whole ticket!!!

Go ahead and splurge on Business if you can! Bet that you will still be more comfortable in front of the plane:D. My husband and I usually fly economy and upgrade to E+ on an AMERICAN airline (United, American, Delta) European premium economy is a different product and much more expensive but also much nicer. Ability to sleep on any plane is a very personal thing as is "the is it worth it ? question". Hope you get what you want and need.

Do we HAVE to book a Business Class UPGRADE (using award points) as a ROUND trip? That's something I never thought about.:eek: We just wanted to try the ONE WAY. The flight home will be during the daylight hours and we just don't see the advantage of paying that much more, including using our points, for a seat that we will use for reading and watching movies. We will also get up and down more since the flight is during the day.

On the eastbound v. westbound question, I personally much prefer business class on the return/westbound flight. For one thing, those flights are at least an hour longer than the eastbound ones, due to headwinds that slow the ground speed of the plane down by as much as 100 mph. Second, since they're in the daylight, I have more time to enjoy the perks of business class - stretch out in the bed, walk around the cabin, maybe get a peek at Greenland... And I also find it helps jetlag, which in my case is worse westbound than east. But that's just me.

For future reference, though, I thought I'd throw out some numbers here regarding the mileage/award/upgrade thing.

I don't know what you paid for your coach tickets but I'll just guess around $1200.

If you wanted to upgrade in both directions, you'd be looking at a total of 50,000 miles and $700 in co-pays per person, so call it $1900 out of pocket and 50K miles.

Most of us who play this game assign an arbitrary value to our miles, typically ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 cents per mile. The airlines treat miles as a form of currency, so why shouldn't we?

So say you valued your miles at 1.5c. If so, then the 50,000 miles would have a "value" of $750, making the whole deal "cost" $2650. Okay, that's not terrible for a business class ticket to Europe; in the summer from LAX they typically cost pretty close to $3000 to buy, closer to $4000 in the fall and winter, when actual business users buy more of them.

But wait. Right now (and this happens throughout the year) AA is having a sale on purchased frequent flyer miles, up to 35% off.

For travel on or after October 15, a one-way coach award to/from Europe costs 20,000 miles. A one-way business class award costs 50,000 miles year-round.

Say you already have 50,000 miles between you, and say you wanted to fly both ways in business class. You'd need 200,000 miles for the ticket, or 150,000 miles to add to your current 50K.

You can buy 75,000 miles for $1548. Add to the 25K miles you already have per person, and you've got a business class round trip to Europe for $1550, vs. $1900 plus 50K miles if you upgrade both ways.

I hope this isn't confusing, but I mention it to illustrate that sometimes upgrades are not the best deal, given the cost of the cash co-pays involved, and that you might well be better off accumulating enough miles - even if it means buying them - to do the whole trip as a straight award.

I think I follow you. ;)

This is what we have:

Our Economy class flights cost around $1400 each to LHR. (I saw them drop to around $1200 just briefly... a few months after we purchased. :()

Our flight leaves on October 16th. :)

DH and I have 95.407 miles between us. I have more than him.

There is a notation on our awards email that says the miles expire 12/30/16. We do have another trip to Europe coming up next May.

So if I understand you correctly, are you saying that we should use our points to buy round trip tickets for another flight to Europe and not upgrade for this upcoming trip?

I have seen the email about buying the miles promo. Also, DH is applying for one of the AA credit cards. It will probably be the 55,000 mile promo where the annual fee is waved the first year and then it's $99 a year, thereafter. Our VisaTravel card never had annual fees.

DH and I have 95.407 miles between us. I have more than him.

Miles are almost always not fungible between accounts without some kind of transfer charge. (Yes, there are a few Asian programs that allow for family pooling). So you need to look at the amount in each account, not the total.

Be careful with this.

 

Miles are almost always not fungible between accounts without some kind of transfer charge. (Yes, there are a few Asian programs that allow for family pooling). So you need to look at the amount in each account, not the total.

Oh I know that! I was just combining our miles in reference to Gardyloo's example. ;)

Say you already have 50,000 miles between you,

Called AA. They said that it would not be at all possible to upgrade to Business Class (using miles) on the CLT to LHR because that leg is on USAir code share. Of course, when we booked the flight, we did so directly on the AA website and thought we would be flying on a AA plane with the "extra comfort" seats, so we are a little upset at that.

Anyway, they do not have anything on the return flight, but could put us on a wait list. I declined.

Then I asked about using our miles for the flights next May (which we have yet to book) and gave her the dates. We have enough points (40,000 each RT) but there is nothing available except for purchasing at 110,000 miles pp? :eek: I asked when seats might become available for the 40,000 miles and she said "one never knows...just keep checking." :rolleyes:

How/where do I do that? Expert Flyer? AA online? Or do I have to keep calling them? And how long do I go before we realize that we better go ahead and buy our tickets?

Called AA. They said that it would not be at all possible to upgrade to Business Class (using miles) on the CLT to LHR because that leg is on USAir code share. Of course, when we booked the flight, we did so directly on the AA website and thought we would be flying on a AA plane with the "extra comfort" seats, so we are a little upset at that.

 

Anyway, they do not have anything on the return flight, but could put us on a wait list. I declined.

 

Then I asked about using our miles for the flights next May (which we have yet to book) and gave her the dates. We have enough points (40,000 each RT) but there is nothing available except for purchasing at 110,000 miles pp? :eek: I asked when seats might become available for the 40,000 miles and she said "one never knows...just keep checking." :rolleyes:

 

How/where do I do that? Expert Flyer? AA online? Or do I have to keep calling them? And how long do I go before we realize that we better go ahead and buy our tickets?

As I said before, there aren't any seats shown as available for business class upgrades on your CLT-LHR flights as of today, but there may well be before you fly. The airline will only make them available once their computers tell them the seats aren't going to sell for a bazillion dollars. Call back every week or so - more often closer to your flight date - and see if things have changed, otherwise if you want to get familiar with ExpertFlyer, you can go that route. Phoning is cheaper and easier, although with EF you can set up an "alert" that will send you an email when and if two upgrade seats open.

Looking for award seats for next May might be too early right now, for the same reasons as above. People seem to think that award seats become available as soon as the flights do, but that's not the case - they come available - and go - throughout the 11 months of the schedule. For straight awards, you can just go on AA.com and put in your cities and dates, and you can get a calendar showing when award seats are available in your chosen class (economy, business, etc.) Remember, not seeing your chosen dates as available today doesn't mean they might not open tomorrow or next week.

:confused: Both AA agents that I talked to yesterday (the first agent connected me to another agent after I questioned the USAir leg of the flight) confirmed that I would not be able to upgrade to Business using any awards because the first 2 legs of the flight were with USAir. It didn't seem to matter if I had the points or if they had the available seats to offer, or not. :( Remember that the merger between the airlines is not official until the day after we take off (we will actually still be in the air on our way to London.:D)

They did say that when we got to the gate and there were BC seats available, that we could purchase them for the going fare. :p So we are resigned to the fact that we will not be trying Business on this trip. We are not going to use our miles to try it on the way back.

I did some reading on ExpertFlyer last night and have a better understanding of the difference between AAnytime (the 110,000 miles being quoted for the May trip) and MileSAAver awards, however what is the difference between "award seats" and "straight awards" that you wrote of in your last paragraph above?

:confused: Both AA agents that I talked to yesterday (the first agent connected me to another agent after I questioned the USAir leg of the flight) confirmed that I would not be able to upgrade to Business using any awards because the first 2 legs of the flight were with USAir. It didn't seem to matter if I had the points or if they had the available seats to offer, or not. :( Remember that the merger between the airlines is not official until the day after we take off (we will actually still be in the air on our way to London.:D)

 

They did say that when we got to the gate and there were BC seats available, that we could purchase them for the going fare. :p So we are resigned to the fact that we will not be trying Business on this trip. We are not going to use our miles to try it on the way back.

 

I did some reading on ExpertFlyer last night and have a better understanding of the difference between AAnytime (the 110,000 miles being quoted for the May trip) and MileSAAver awards, however what is the difference between "award seats" and "straight awards" that you wrote of in your last paragraph above?

First, the polite term for what the agents told you is hogwash. The less polite term has to do with male cattle. The problem is that AA and US HAVE merged, but the reservations systems aren't officially combined until the day you fly. But even then, the problem is mainly human in the meantime - US people not fully cross-trained with AA systems, and vice-versa. As you can encounter in any "customer service" field, sometimes the easy answer is "no," because "yes" would involve more work on their part.

Like I said, it's possible/probable that you'll be out of luck for the outbound flight, but keep checking anyway. The universal, golden, unbreakable rule about frequent flyer stuff is, "Say thank you, hang up, and call back."

Second, regarding "straight" awards v. SAAver v. AAnytime, no, what I meant was "straight" awards v. upgrade awards. SAAver and AAnytime are two versions of "straight" awards. (My term, call them "conventional" if you want.)

Trying to pitch AAnytime awards is simple upsell. "Sir, most of our new Fords are bought with an extended warranty, and we strongly recommend buying this inexpensive coverage."

If you value your miles at a couple of pennies per, and do the math, you'll discover that the "AAnytime" award costs more than just buying a business class ticket in the first place, with the added bonus that the bought ticket will actually earn several thousand miles.

Last year AA also added a second "tier" to its AAnytime awards, which now can cost way more miles depending on the time of year and the route (e.g. Hawaii at Christmas.) In general AAnytime awards are a mediocre deal at best.

Got it! :D Thank you. I have learned so much!

For straight awards, you can just go on AA.com and put in your cities and dates, and you can get a calendar showing when award seats are available in your chosen class (economy, business, etc.) Remember, not seeing your chosen dates as available today doesn't mean they might not open tomorrow or next week.

If we are unsuccessful with the "upgrade awards" on the outbound flight, we will checking on the May flight until soon after the new year. I think we should still be able to find good Economy seats that late. We will also be checking the Delta flights. :rolleyes:

Got it! :D Thank you. I have learned so much!

 

 

 

If we are unsuccessful with the "upgrade awards" on the outbound flight, we will checking on the May flight until soon after the new year. I think we should still be able to find good Economy seats that late. We will also be checking the Delta flights. :rolleyes:

I've been playing around a lot with AA's awards charts and credit cards lately.

First, the cards: there is an Citi Executive Advantage card right now that has 75,000 bonus miles, but you have to spend $7,500 in the first 3 months. If I get this card I'll probably pay off the cruises I have booked to qualify for it. It has a $450 annual fee that you pay immediately, so you have to compare that $450 to what other fees/costs you will pay for a seat.

You get free checked luggage, too.

Awards: I'm seeing business awards for May 2016 for the one's I'm interested in (Hawaii).

I go to the AA web site, click on the AAdvantage link, click on Book Awards, click on Book Awards again. That takes you to the booking tool. Be sure to select "AA and Participating airlines" at the bottom, because that way you get all the awards for all the partner airlines. For my route I'm seeing 37,500 mile business awards in May.

I agree you should book one way awards, because that way you can book economy one way and business back. I did a lot of research and found out the Extra Comfort seats CAN be purchased as an upgrade when you book an economy seat with an award.