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With the big American Airlines devaluation kicking in on March 22, I wanted to check the current picture of premium cabin and off peak award space to Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. It is much better than award space to Australia/New Zealand at the moment, which I looked at last week.
Why This Matters
Ideally you’d book award space to Southern South America now to save a lot of miles.
Current award prices:
- 20,000 AA miles one way in economy from March 1 to May 31 and August 16 to November 30
- 30,000 AA in economy on all other dates
- 50,000 in Business
- 62,500 in First
Award prices for bookings made March 22 or later:
- 30,000 AA miles one way in economy all year round (adios off peak awards to Southern South America)
- 57,500 in Business
- 80,000 in First
While many off peak awards are going up in price or having their off peak dates slashed, Southern South America is the only off peak award being eliminated.
Award Space
Premium Cabins
I found good award space in June and July in Business Class and First Class from Dallas to Buenos Aires.
I found regular award space from Miami to Santiago in September in Business Class and First Class if you can fly mid-week.I found regular award space from New York to Sao Paulo in First Class and Business Class in January 2017 if you can fly early in the week.
These award calendars intentionally show space from American Airlines hubs to big cities in South America. You can tack on award space from your home airport to the hub for zero extra miles. You can tack on connecting flights in South America on LAN or TAM for zero extra miles also.
Off Peak
Right now you can book award flights through May 31, 2016 and from August 16 to November 30, 2016 to and from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Bolivia for 20,000 miles each way in economy.
I found great award space next month to Rio de Janeiro for 20,000 miles each way.
Award space is much scarcer to Buenos Aires during the Fall off peak window.
Bottom Line
If you’re looking to burn American Airlines miles before the devaluation, Australia, Brazil, and Chile are a good bet. You can book plentiful First Class award space now for 62,500 miles one way for 2016 or 2017 travel that goes up in price to 80,000 miles one way next Tuesday.
Or you can book economy awards for 20,000 miles each way at off peak prices before off peak awards are eliminated next Tuesday.
Further Reading
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>>I found regular award space from New York to Sao Paulo in First Class and Business Class in January 2017 if you can fly early in the week.<<
I think you need to click through on this. The details show first class flights from NY to LA and then a connection to Sao Paulo in Economy class. This is a very typical results on AA out of JFK.
All true. Note that this was the only premium award space calendar that was not for direct flights. The other calendars are more reliable.
I think it is a funny glitch in their system. If you search for flights to southern S.A. from LAX it will also show up as first class – but in fact it will be first class to NY and economy to Sao Paulo or BA or wherever. So the NY flights route you to LA and the LA flights route you to NY, but both send you onward in economy – at least in the Jan 17 calendar.
Question: I have AA miles and ultimate rewards. Planning a trip to Hawaii and wondering your thoughts are on either using AA miles before the devaluation or UR because they are cheaper? On the one hand, I know miles aren’t an investment, but seems a waste of spending 90-120k AA miles per person on either a BDL or JFK trip to Hawaii (probably the Big Island, maybe Maui) as opposed to using 45k miles with UR points and doing a trip with another carrier through Korean Air. Have about 500k miles on AA and 300k UR currently.
Any thoughts?
First check award space. The question might be moot if there is only award space on one carrier. Then use AA miles, Korean miles (UR transfer), or Singapore miles (UR transfer) to fly AA/Alaska, Delta, or United, whichever uses the fewest miles.
@scott, With this devaluation coming in two minutes, do you recommend booking some flights speculatively and then change later for a date that works better? South America and Australia sound nice, but making everything work is difficult. So, how hard would you say is it to change dates, particularly for next year?
Thanks!
I’ve written how to make changes, not whether you should lock in speculatively: https://milevalu.wpengine.com/how-to-lock-in-pre-devaluation-american-airlines-award-prices-for-awards-booked-in-2017-maybe/
That’s up to you based on the probability you’ll want to fly the award later and the amount the award is going up in price.
[…] With the big American Airlines devaluation kicking in on Monday (March 22,) I am highlighting all the good award space I see, like this award space to Argentina, Brazil, and Chile in 2016. […]