American Airlines are doing up to 75000 bonus points when you buy points.
You can purchase anywhere up to 200,000 points for US$3687.
Using those points, you can book cheap international trips.
e.g. it's 72,000 points one way to New York first class. Which means you can fly to NYC first class return for US$2600.
Use https://www.americanairlines.com.au/reservation/awardFlightS… to find available flights. You can put a flight "On hold" for up to 4 days until you buy the points.
Max buying 125000 per year; but the bonus points don't count!
So you are purchasing 125,000 and getting the 75,000 as a bonus, not being able to purchase 200,000 as stated above.
Remember AA have just de-valued points redemptions so unless you need a flight now its going to be more expensive, March the 23rd I think is the change over date to the new amounts, book before then if you can find anything, don't store away points
So you are purchasing 125,000 and getting the 75,000 as a bonus, not being able to purchase 200,000 as stated above.
Is that not the same as buying 200000 points? => you give them US$3687; they give you 200000 points.
Remember AA have just de-valued points redemptions so unless you need a flight now its going to be more expensive, March the 23rd I think is the change over date to the new amounts, book before then if you can find anything, don't store away points
You can still find good value flights after March 23rd. e.g. I just booked business class to CPT for 50K points each way in June.
But yes. never store the points away: book your flight on hold; then buy the points.
When you say purchase 200,000 miles it makes it sound like you have to purchase 200,000 to get the 75,000 making 275,000 for US$3687 which is a better deal than it actually is
There are still flights available but all the popular one will be gone as people are trying to strip their AA balances before the 23rd to get max value and its been on the flying forums for a few weeks now.
Not all flights will show online, to get other one world airlines or even Qantas Link I think you need to phone up
AA used to have one of the best bang for bucks on their award charts. Now they are just back in the pack IMO. For those not informed, Point Hacks has a great read on the before and after plus the new sweet spots. http://www.pointhacks.com.au/american-airlines-redemption-pr…
I looked up a fare but it then said subject to airline fees and taxes . bit of a worry if they are anything like qantas
AA are nothing like Qantas
I paid $180 in fees and taxes on a one way first class Qantas flight to London. I think QF is about $600 +
I was lucky as I bought the points when the dollar was 90c US. Those we're the days
It's ~1.85 US¢/mile if you're buying 125,000 and getting the 75,000 bonus. Great for oneworld redemption, especially Qantas domestic First/Business. Just stay away from BA due to fuel surcharges.
80,000 points first class PER-London, each way. Don't know about taxes etc. This is QFF and BA via SIN
via Sydney ……
60,000 business class
you could go via DXB on Qantas numbers (???) but you would need to phone up, or on QR
What are the expiry terms for AA Points?
1.5 years of inactivity, miles gone.
But then the whole program will be devaluated by a factor of ~1.5-2 in just 3 months, holding onto miles beyond then means a VERY bad deal.
Be aware there is a lot of phantom availability on the AA website for QF First Class to LHR.
While AA redemptions on Qantas don't have high fees, redeeming on BA isn't a deal to write home about. E.g. SYD-LHR one way comes with upward of 600USD in surchages IF you manage to find space. SYD-SIN return in business, add about 700USD in surcharges.
I'm not sure this 'deal' deserves to be on Ozbargain. There are way better bargains out there.
Don't think I agree considering you can use AA miles for EY A380 Apartment flights, that in itself is a great deal IMO pre March enhancement (it would of been a bargain when the AUD was higher).
As an aside the prices the OP has posted are incorrect as they don't include the Federal Excise Tax you will pay when you purchase the points i.e $3994 USD for the 200,000 miles.
I beg to differ. A return SYD-LHR trip will require the full 200k miles (60+40 each way) and that's before the devaluation (after devaluation it jumps to 280k!). On top of that needs to be super flexible to find availability on all 4 sectors, and would still have to pay about 500 dollars in fees and taxes.
Prior to this promo it was IMPOSSIBLE to buy anywhere close to the 200k.
Now for someone who usually spends 10k AUD (very few do that, most get a negotiated/unpublished fare) on a return F fare with Etihad, saving about 4 grand that might be a bargain but if you're someone who can afford such trip on regular basis, the limitations and the number of loops one needs to jump through make it an unattractive proposition.
And if someone says it's still great for the casual flyer, I would say, splurging upwards of 6k on an inflexible trip sounds like being shafted when one can get actual paid fares for that much. The right travel agent, will be happy to get a flexible negotiated fare for about 7-8k that earns status/miles. Hence making any saving differential much less that it really is.
But yeah, I agree the main post is misleading, it doesn't include the taxes/fees that will bring the total to just under 4000USD (or about 5750AUD).
[I beg to differ. A return SYD-LHR trip will require the full 200k miles (60+40 each way) and that's before the devaluation (after devaluation it jumps to 280k!).]
Agreed.
[On top of that needs to be super flexible to find availability on all 4 sectors, and would still have to pay about 500 dollars in fees and taxes.]
I again agree. And I will add I do not believe in speculative buying of points. I would only buy points after checking availability of FF seats first. As for the tax component you quote that might be correct booking an EY award via VA but is incorrect with booking via AA. Also AA waives the booking fee for most Award flights. It is $163 each way as an example MEL-AUH-LHR.
[Prior to this promo it was IMPOSSIBLE to buy anywhere close to the 200k.]
Back in May you could of bought 160,000 points. Only 20% short so pretty close IMO.
[Now for someone who usually spends 10k AUD (very few do that, most get a negotiated/unpublished fare) on a return F fare with Etihad, saving about 4 grand that might be a bargain but if you're someone who can afford such trip on regular basis, the limitations and the number of loops one needs to jump through make it an unattractive proposition.]
Agreed. Hence only purchasing miles with a specific trip in mind as well as making sure via EY there are Guest Seats available for those dates.
' [The right travel agent, will be happy to get a flexible negotiated fare for about 7-8k that earns status/miles. Hence making any saving differential much less that it really is.]'
If you have a travel agent that can get you a flexible F Fare (most F fares are) on EY for the MEL or SYD to LHR for $7-8k I tip my hat to you. That's $4k less than what I have seen. But you can take that one step further to those ridiculously priced CX F flights you can also book (if you find availability) that go for $23k to Europe. Can a travel agent do that at 7-8k?
As an aside there are a lot of people both on AFF and FT that do purchase AA miles for using on CX, EY, QR etc, most the time for a specific trip in mind. So they see a value proposition to them.
Once again though I will reiterate that I don't believe in speculative buying of miles/points and only to do so with a specific trip in mind with dates available before the devaluation in March with AA.
Re the discounted fares, it's strictly with EY. I've seen first class for about 7k, companion first 6.5k, companion business 5.5k. They are reasonably flexible, book in A for F, and C for business (except for maximum stay of 3 or 6 months, and penalties of 200-300 per change).
I thought AA was only 100,000 points a year that you could buy??