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Both cards offer other benefits too. One benefit that I had overlooked in the past, but is actually fantastic: both offer a gigantic list of domestic award destinations for 8,750 miles one way!
American Airlines offers discounted MileSAAver awards within the United States and Canada to select cardholders. Both the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® MasterCard® and the CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World MasterCard® are on the list of cards that offer a 7,500 mile discount roundtrip.
Every two months, American Airlines publishes a list of new destinations in the United States and Canada eligible for discounted awards. The current list covers awards that must be booked by March 31, 2015 for travel by May 31, 2015.
Award travel must originate somewhere in the continental United States or Canada and must go to a city on the very long destination list. Awards can be booked one way for 8,750 miles in economy or 21,250 miles in First Class. Roundtrip awards are double those prices.
You have to call American Airlines at 800-882-8880 to book the discounted awards. Luckily American Airlines just eliminated the phone booking fee for awards that can’t be booked online!
Here is the full list of discounted destinations for February through May. Not all destinations are discounted each month. For instance, Houston is only discounted in February, March, and April while Greensboro is discounted all four months.
Major cities are on the list–Montreal!–as well as competitors’ hubs like Houston, Atlanta, and Newark.
How Good Are These Awards?
Let’s say you have the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® MasterCard®.
You decide to go from Los Angeles to Atlanta with your miles. You find ample award space with a search on aa.com (which is what you’ll find for pretty much every domestic route over the next few months.)
You pick out your American Airlines-operated flights with MileSAAver space, even finding award space on the new, direct flights.
At this point, you do NOT complete the purchase. Purchasing online will cost 25,000 miles. You have to call in to get your discount: 800-882-8880.
You book the roundtrip for 17,500 miles and $11.20. You use about 1/3 of the 50,000 mile bonus you got from the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® MasterCard®.
- Because you have the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® MasterCard®, you get an automatic 10% rebate on the award that is deposited into your account in a few weeks. That makes the net cost only 15,750 miles for a roundtrip that costs $305.
- Because you have the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® MasterCard®, you get a free checked bag in both directions, saving you $50 roundtrip.
United and Delta charge at least 25,000 miles roundtrip for domestic awards. You could book these flights for 25,000 British Airways Avios roundtrip, though sometimes using Avios will be cheaper than one of these discounted awards because Avios award prices are distance based.
Bottom Line
Discounted domestic and Canada MileSAAver awards open to American Airlines credit card holders are a fantastic deal.
If you need to book a domestic award, see make sure to check what destinations are discounted. If your destination is on the very long list, you can save big miles.
Key Links
Some credit card offers in this post have expired, but they might come back. If they do they will appear –> Click here for the top current credit card sign up bonuses.
- Here is the full list of discounted destinations for February through May
- The personal American Airlines credit card is offering 50,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 in the first three months.
- The business American Airlines credit card is offering another 50,000 bonus miles after spending $3,000 in the first three months.
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
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Actually, the deal is even better, in my new account approval letter concerning my new Citi/AA Platinum Select MC, the bonus terms are 50K AA Miles after only $2000 in spend in the first 3 months of cardmembership. I expect to get my card in a day or two so, I haven’t put any spend on it yet. I’m definately looking at these reduced mileage awards! The bonus is even better than my recent bonus for the CSP card, it gives only 40K UR points, and this is after $4000 in spend in 3 months.
Actually, the deal is even better, in my new account approval letter concerning my new Citi/AA Platinum Select MC, the bonus terms are 50K AA Miles after only $2000 in spend in the first 3 months of cardmembership. I expect to get my card in a day or two so, I haven’t put any spend on it yet. I’m definately looking at these reduced mileage awards! The bonus is even better than my recent bonus for the CSP card, it gives only 40K UR points, and this is after $4000 in spend in 3 months.
(Normal) Award redemptions are also usually met with a rebate when you have a card. Assuming these don’t get that % back as well, or do they?
This post answers this question. They do. You get 10% back on award redemptions up to 100,000 miles redeemed per year.
you are correct; i just gloss over credit card links, and it was nested in there
(Normal) Award redemptions are also usually met with a rebate when you have a card. Assuming these don’t get that % back as well, or do they?
This post answers this question. They do. You get 10% back on award redemptions up to 100,000 miles redeemed per year.
you are correct; i just gloss over credit card links, and it was nested in there
Wonder how this works if you change travel dates (normally free) to dates without the discount? (With AAnytime awards, if you change to a date that costs more, they just charge you the extra miles; no fee. If you change to a date that costs less, you can either forfeit the mileage difference or get it put back in your account for a $150 fee. Not sure if these reduced mileage awards work the same way.)
Wonder how this works if you change travel dates (normally free) to dates without the discount? (With AAnytime awards, if you change to a date that costs more, they just charge you the extra miles; no fee. If you change to a date that costs less, you can either forfeit the mileage difference or get it put back in your account for a $150 fee. Not sure if these reduced mileage awards work the same way.)
[…] American has off peak awards, it is always cheaper to use those than a US Airways award. (The off peak domestic award is only available to AA cardholders.) Otherwise, the US Airways chart is generally […]
[…] American has off peak awards, it is always cheaper to use those than a US Airways award. (The off peak domestic award is only available to AA cardholders.) Otherwise, the US Airways chart is generally […]