Major Correction to Booking American Airlines Flights with US Airways Miles

I got something wrong in today's earlier post titled American Airlines Space Bookable with US Airways Miles and US Airways Space Bookable with American Airlines Miles. I corrected the information in that post.

American Airlines Space Bookable with US Airways Miles and US Airways Space Bookable with American Airlines Miles

Today marks a huge step forward for the integration of American Airlines and US Airways, which have already legally merged. (See integration time line here.)

Today you can use your American Airlines miles to book awards that include flights on US Airways.

You can also use your US Airways miles to book awards that include flights on American Airlines planes.

Even better: space on both airlines is now showing on both aa.com and usairways.com.

The American Airlines AAdvantage program and US Airways Dividend Miles programs are very different.

Predictions for Major Changes to Loyalty Programs in 2014

2013 was a year of several major devaluation announcements including:

United (kicks in February 1, 2014)
Southwest (kicks in March 31, 2014)
Delta (already kicked in on current award bookings for travel that starts February 1, 2014 or later)
Hyatt (kicks in January 7, 2014)
Ultimate Rewards (with three major transfer partners devaluing--United, Southwest, and Hyatt--the program took a major hit through no fault of its own)

But the more things change, the more they stay the same.

How to Get on a Qatar Dreamliner or Use American Airlines Miles to Fly Qatar to the Middle East and Beyond

Qatar Airways has fantastic Business Class award space on its Dreamliner and on its routes from the US to Doha and beyond in 2014.

Gold Mine Award Space to Europe in Summer 2014 on airberlin

Update at 5:49 PM ET on 12/20/13: Many commenters are saying they've had problems with aa.com showing "phantom award space" on airberlin flights. I have never had that experience, so I was surprised by the reports, but I'm sure they're accurate. My advice changes in light of this info.

How to Get More Free Stopovers and Use Fewer Miles on Your Next Trip to South America

Did you miss 20k Miles (or Less) to All of South America All Year yesterday? That post is a competing trick with this one, and it might be an even better deal for you.

Chicago to Santiago "should" cost 30,000 American Airlines miles each way in economy.

20k Miles (or Less) to All of South America All Year

Or: Save 10k Miles by Adding a Free Oneway

Summer airfare--during our summer or theirs--to Southern South America usually tops $1,000 per person in economy.

But you can get to South America this summer for only 20k American Airlines miles one way.

All the legacy carriers--Delta, United, American, and US Airways--charge 60k miles roundtrip on Saver economy awards to Southern South America, which includes Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, and Paraguay.

American and United let you go one way for half the price while US Airways and Delta charge 60k miles for one ways.

American is even more generous with

US Airways Will Leave Star Alliance March 30, 2014. US Airways MasterCard Will Be Updated in January.

US Airways announced yesterday that it is leaving the Star Alliance March 30, 2014 and joining oneworld March 31, 2014 as part of its merger with American Airlines that legally closed yesterday.

US *A exit date: 3/30/14.

Comparison Table of United, US Airways, Delta, and American Airlines Award Charts

United and Delta have devalued their charts in the last few months, but American and US Airways, which close their merger tomorrow, have not devalued theirs recently.

I have made my own tables comparing the economy, business, and first class award prices on each of the big four US-based airlines' worst announced award chart.

For United, that is the chart for awards BOOKED February 1, 2014 and later. For Delta, that is the chart for awards FLOWN June 1, 2014 or later.

Anatomy of an Award: Business Class Roundtrip to Europe with Two Free Oneways to Hawaii and Canada

Last month I wrote about using American Airlines' distance-based Explorer Award chart to save miles and add stopovers traveling to Europe. Check out Get a Roundtrip Business Class Award to Europe with Three Stopovers for 90k American Airlines Miles before proceeding. This post compares that Explorer Award option with a "regular" award option.

On a roundtrip from New York to Eastern Europe, I was able to add three stopovers and save 10k AAdvantage miles (90k vs.