7. American Airlines’ Fast Pick-up eliminates “economy” award travel

American Airlines has canceled its ‘economy’ and ‘anytime’ awards. Right now, the only option when using American Airlines with American miles are Web Exclusive Rewards, which are called Flight Rewards. Nothing will change at this point, although several things will flow from this decision.

Most of the prizes were web exclusives. There is a new reward chart, but it doesn’t provide much information. I generally consider the change to be negative, but it’s mostly just a recognition of past price cuts rather than representing a new price cut.

Here are 7 key things to understand about the transition:

1. Prize values ​​are often lower than what the prize chart shows. They print the “from” price, which is not the lowest price. Although the lowest fare on the chart is 7,500, you can still book some domestic coach flights starting at 6,000 miles. The chart says domestic first class to Alaska starts at 60,000 miles one way, when in fact you can book flights starting at 30,000 miles.

   That is, the new reward chart is not very useful – it is not the price you expect to find or the lowest price. But they haven’t exactly changed the variable award price for American Airlines travel. At this point. They have now converted web specials (most rewards) to flight rewards.

2. Affiliate rewards have not changed. Booking an AAdvantage award for travel on a partner (such as Qatar Airways, Qantas, British Airways, etc.), or for travel on a partner and American Airlines, it works in the same way as before. Those reward charts are still in place and haven’t changed. The prize rules remain the same. Even the inventory ‘buckets’ (T, U, Z) remain intact.
3. No changes to awards are allowed after booking. But there is a way around this! American Airlines specialists did not approve the changes. If you want to make a change, you will have to cancel the award and rebook the miles (which are free) and then start over. And the current price could be higher!

   Most American Airlines flight awards are held as web exclusives that do not allow changes. In advance. But there is no award type that allows any changes for all American Airlines travel. But changes are still allowed under the old law for partner awards.

   If you want an award for travel on American Airlines, such as a specific flight time or route changes; Make sure to include a partner when booking. If it’s a domestic award, include an Alaska Airlines or JetBlue class. If to London America, add British Airways, Finnair or Iberia class (say). If to Qatar, add a short segment in the Middle East on Qatar Airways.

   Sometimes (rarely) saver awards are cheaper than web specials, now called flight awards, and this allows you to get lower fares and also handle things like date and time changes, or things like dropping your departure and flight class. The destination remains in the same region.

4. Award travel on America with partners such as British Airways and Etihad is unchanged. American is still printing the same ‘saver reward stock’ as before. Because that chart is gone, they no longer allow AAdvantage members to redeem awards at saver rates.
5. “Additional Rewards Offer” for top elites has been scrapped. That was ‘Additional Saver Rewards Accumulation’ and Saver Rewards are no longer being held. This is a change to an advanced feature without notice.
6. American Airlines rewards for interstate travel Other than North America to be more expensive. No longer are you waiting for special prices for things like ‘Europe via North America to Asia’ or “Asia to South America via North America”. Where there are two long-haul flights, they are priced as two awards – the chart includes travel to and from North America. Through North America it will be Asia to Europe, Asia to North America and North America to Europe.
7. Upgrade rewards remain unchanged. The only change is saving money and getting rid of rewards and things that go with it Those. Upgrades work as before – using miles and cash co-payment (and no change in the number of miles required) or an upgrade tool such as a system-wide upgrade certificate.

I still expect more price cuts in the future, with both American Airlines return prices sliding upward and the other shoe dropping on partner awards.

The new award chart shows that travel on American Airlines is significantly more expensive than travel on partner airlines. For example, a business class flight to Tokyo on American Airlines starts at 95,000 miles, while a business class flight to Tokyo on Japan Airlines costs only 60,000 miles. This does not seem sustainable.

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