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American Airlines has taken delivery of its 787 Dreamliners. It is the second US-based airline to do this–behind United.
Today on Twitter, American announced the first three routes for its Dreamliner.
Fly our @BoeingAirplanes #Dreamliner beginning 5/7 (DFW-ORD), int’l 6/2 (DFW-PEK) & 6/4 (DFW-EZE). Book starting 2/14 pic.twitter.com/nmsUuB9qd6
— American Airlines (@AmericanAir) February 11, 2015
To familiarize the crew with the plane, American will put it on a domestic route for a month before debuting it on two international routes:
- Dallas to Chicago, beginning May 7, 2015
- Dallas to Beijing, beginning June 2, 2015
- Dallas to Buenos Aires, beginning June 4, 2015
The Dreamliner won’t be loaded onto the schedule until February 14, but I wanted to take a look at award space now on the routes. The international routes only operate once daily, so if you book Business Class award space on them now for travel in June or later, your flight will be operated by the Dreamliner.
Award Space
The American Airlines Dreamliner only features two cabins: economy and Business.
There is literally no MileSAAver Business Class award space between Dallas and Beijing or Buenos Aires from June 2015 to January 2016 in either direction. None.
That means my plan of booking Business Class award space now and having the plane change over to a Dreamliner with my reservation intact wouldn’t work.
I also took a look at the next few weeks on each route to see if award space opens up close to departure. If it does, maybe we can book the Business Class space later in the year when the routes are actually operating.
Dallas to Buenos Aires is showing no Business Class Saver space in either direction for the next few weeks.
Dallas to Beijing doesn’t begin as a route until May 7, so I can’t check last-minute award space.
I should note that both the Buenos Aires and, especially, the Beijing route do have good economy award space. But I’m not particularly interested in an economy award on such long flights.
Great Award Space Dallas <-> Chicago
Chicago to Dallas has great domestic First Class (Dreamliner Business Class) award space in May when the Dreamliner will ply the route.
The space is wide open in both directions.Unfortunately there are many frequencies on the Dallas to Chicago route, and we won’t know until Saturday which one(s) will be flown by the Dreamliner. I expect award space to be great on this route, maybe even available for the inaugural flight, because the Dreamliner has a higher percentage of premium seats than the normal domestic aircraft that usually fly the route.
The Product
Business Class on the Dreamliner features aisle access from every 6’5″ long flat bed.
I would fly this Business Class in a heartbeat.
Let’s hope we get the chance with more award availability. We’ll definitely have the chance on the domestic route in May, I think, but so far we aren’t being given a chance on the real prize–the flights to Beijing and Buenos Aires.
Getting the Miles
American Airlines miles are super easy to get, and will be useful when Saver space opens up on these routes.
- Dallas to Chicago will cost 25,000 miles one way in First Class
- Dallas to Beijing will cost 55,000 miles one way in Business Class
- Dallas to Buenos Aires will cost 50,000 miles one way in Business Class
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If you just want to fly the new plane, you could also do DFW-ORD for 15k Avios. Probably not the best use of Avios but cheaper than 25k AA at least.
It’ll be 22,500 Avios. The cabin will be sold as First domestically, and Avios will treat it as such.
Oops — right you are.
If you just want to fly the new plane, you could also do DFW-ORD for 15k Avios. Probably not the best use of Avios but cheaper than 25k AA at least.
It’ll be 22,500 Avios. The cabin will be sold as First domestically, and Avios will treat it as such.
Oops — right you are.
You state, “AA Dreamliner only has TWO classes, economy & business…
Then why do you present DFW to ORD IN FIRST for 25 K miles ??
You state, “AA Dreamliner only has TWO classes, economy & business…
Then why do you present DFW to ORD IN FIRST for 25 K miles ??
[…] Award Space on American Airlines New 787 Dreamliner Routes, I noted that Dallas to Beijing and Dallas to Buenos Aires had no Business Class MileSAAver award […]
[…] Award Space on American Airlines New 787 Dreamliner Routes, I noted that Dallas to Beijing and Dallas to Buenos Aires had no Business Class MileSAAver award […]
[…] Maybe with the 787 being loaded onto American Airlines’ schedule, American Airlines feels less need to protect the 777-300ER’s premium cabins. Whatever the reason for the award space appearing suddenly, I love the fact that there are some days with five Business Class seats from the West Coast to Europe for 50,000 miles each. […]
Why has AA#997 been changed from the dreamliner back to a 777 for Jan.?
No idea. Plane swaps happen for a variety of reasons.