Shocked AA miles required for flight

[b2bailey]

I've been sitting on my AA miles, wanting to book a one way ticket to Europe in Business class. Looked for SFO to Milan -- early May next year. Lowest was 200,000 miles. Tried a variety of cities, changed to east coast departure, etc. Best I found was premium economy for 40,000 miles plus $900 fees.

Is this the new normal?

 

[buzglyd]

De-select British Airways in your search. BA tacks on huge fees. Sometimes Iberia shows up for a decent price connecting through Madrid I think.

Generally AA miles are terrible for Europe flights.

 

[Luanne]

Out of curiosity I looked at United, one way from SFO to Milan in early May. The miles required is about the same. Lowest is 200,000 miles.

 

[elaine]

Biz is a lot. My AA (coach) east coast-Lon and return from Paris--were 20K each the day they came out. Economy+ was 62-93K and biz was 252.

 

[Ken555]

Too late for great prices in May on award travel for business, other than a few exceptions and cancelations, etc. I book international business the week the seats are released and only then have a small chance of getting what I want.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

one way ticket to Europe in Business class. Looked for SFO to Milan -- early May next year. Lowest was 200,000 miles

As with TSs, have to be early and be flexible. Using AA pts, I just booked SF to Luxembourg (via JFK) R/T in Biz Class for next August for 55,000 miles + not many $s. NE France is our real destination, but we will move around a bit and Luxembourg is close enough. The risk of missing a flight bugs me, but as you saw, to get the fastest, least -risk R/T was 200 K miles + real $s. So that was almost 11 months in advance.
as Ken said, you should try to book awards ASAP as seats are released. They are refundable after all. We are supposed to meet someone in Strasbourg, but that person may end up not making it. If not, we cancel, or maybe go to be alone. Having the 55 K mile R/T res is a nice one in the hand. We're not even yet sure where we will be when we head back to LUX.

I don't fly enough variety anymore to know whether "be early" is definitely the best way to be if you are paying cash for a variety of flights. But for FF miles, it sure seems to always be better, and again, they're changeable / cancellable.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

I book international business the week the seats are released

over the last few yrs, I have learned this is the trick. Bailey's potential seats were prob released 3 months ago.

 

[Passepartout]

Your AA miles work on Icelandair.

 

[elaine]

Your AA miles work on Icelandair.

I didn't know that! But, I just tried and I cannot book online. Do you have to call AA to book?

 

[Passepartout]

I didn't know that! But, I just tried and I cannot book online. Do you have to call AA to book?

I honestly don't know. We used Alaska (One World) miles to Iceland last month. I would call Icelandair and ask how to book using AA miles.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

Looked for SFO to Milan -- early May next year. Lowest was 200,000 miles

this thread made me ask my wife about exactly what she booked. Turns out she booked only the 1-way to Europe (LUX). 55 K miles + small # of $s. She is waiting on the return, figuring we may spend 3 wks there, and knowing, as I said, there isn't any reason for us to return via LUX. So, pertinent, she is waiting for the return flights to become available, which she says is 10 mos out or slightly more for AA.
Also, she says so far it looks like the best value in AA mile flights coming back from Europe may be Milan & LHR, not LUX. I really don't feel like going to London, so I hope it isn't LHR, but her idea is we could take cheap flight to LHR from a bunch of places in Europe. I guess being there 3 wks makes it easier to schlep around a bit.
So, if you'll be in Milan, you're in the right place but to get a great mileage-price on a return flight, maybe you could delay your trip til next Aug/Sept, and hit that 10 mo availability?
there is a site called pointsyeah.com that might help greatly. She doesn't use it. She's just a power-user of AA & UAL FF sites.

 

[Sandi Bo]

Using AA - I have been successful rebooking close (very close) to our departure day - for a couple tickets now. They were domestic flights. I've seen some crazy things. In July when I needed to get back east, flying into Hyannis (Cape Cod) was something like 7,000 points. I've seen that a few times, small airports at super cheap cost. It didn't work for me, but it was tempting (to book into a cheap alternative with a one way car rental). When I search, I select to look for nearby airports.

 

[TolmiePeak]

I never understood why the number of miles required for business class tickets was so low. Shouldn't the value of the miles be fixed no matter what type of flight you are trying to reserve? I would expect the airlines would close the loophole that allowed you to buy a business class ticket at a massive discount.

 

[Carolinian]

FF programs have gone way downhill, both on earning and using miles since the airline merger mania. I used to maintain mid level elite status on at least one airline ff program all the time, but the programs have gone downhill so much I do not even bother anymore. I just fly price. My old mile earning credit cards are switched to cash back cards. My stocks of AA and UA miles are harder to use at an acceptable rate. My last trip to Europe where I used miles, I flew one direction on AA and one direction on UA to get the flights at a decent rate in miles.