AAdvantage Miles Now Cheaper Than Ever….But Do We Really Care?

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I don’t remember a time when American Airlines AAdvantage Miles were worth less that they are right now. The devaluations that messrs Parker and Kirby have foisted upon AAdvantage members have taken their toll and a once amazing loyalty program is now a shadow of its former self.

But that’s not going to stop American Airlines from selling us AAdvantage Miles and, in a move that would seem to show that even the leadership at AA recognises that their currency is worth a lot less than before, the latest “buy AAdvantage Miles” promotion sees AAdvantage Miles on offer at 1.72 cents each.

Buy AAdvantage Miles For 1.72 Cents

As is common with most “buy points/miles” promotions nowadays this one is tiered:

Screen Shot 2016-06-14 at 08.09.33And, as with most tiered promotions, the best value to be had is the top end of the tiering.

If you were to purchase the full allowable amount (150,000 AAdvantage Miles) you would end up with 250,000 AAdvantage Miles (including bonus) at a cost of $4,311.19….

buy-aadvantage-miles

…which comes to 1.72 cents per AAdvantage Mile.

If you’re not going to purchase the full amount then be very aware how the tiering actually works.

Within each tier you get the same number of bonus miles whether you buy at the top end of the range or towards the bottom end so the better value is at the lower end of the tier.

For example:

If you were to purchase 149,000 miles you would get a bonus of 70,000 miles and end up with 229,000 miles at a cost of $4,282.65 or 1.87 cents per mile. But, if you were to buy 126,000 miles, you’d still get a bonus of 70,000 miles (giving you a total of 196,000 miles) at a cost of $3,626.20 or 1.85 cents per mile. That’s not exactly a big difference…..but it is a difference.

Should You Buy AAdvantage Miles?

As time goes on I’m less and less tempted to purchase AAdvantage Miles for anything other than a trip I’m happy to book immediately.

I’ve already shown how I value AAdvantage Miles at just 1.24 cents each following the devaluations so it’s perhaps not surprising that I’m not a keen buyer when the airline tries to sell them to me at 1.72 cents each. But, even if you value them at a higher rate, you should have a good long think before you hand over your money.

Reasons Not To Buy:

1. American Airlines isn’t exactly great at releasing a lot of award inventory (although they did recently release a lot of trans-Atlantic inventory for early next year) so, if you haven’t already found an award you want to book there is no guarantee that an award you’re interested in will become available.

2. Thanks to the recent devaluations the aspirational awards on partner airlines cost considerably more AAdvantage Miles than they did in the past and, even at 1.72 cents/mile, I can’t see the value.

3. It seems to be getting easier to book cheap Business Class flights so why would you book with miles?

Earlier today I posted a fantastic Business Class fare, on American Airlines, for travel between Paris and New York. At just $1,223 round trip it’s a great deal and one that no mileage purchase could match.

If you wanted to use AAdvantage miles for a Business Class Paris to New York trip you would need 115,000 AAdvantage Miles + cash for taxes and fees – at 1.72 cents/mile that would equate to $1,978 + taxes and fees – over 60% more expensive.

This sale isn’t an oddity for trans-Atlantic travel.

Just two weeks ago there was a great sale by Delta/Air France/KLM in which you could purchase Business Class fares across the Atlantic (from numerous US cities) for under $1,600 and, alongside those fares, I showed how you could fly, in Business Class, from San Francisco to Europe for under $1,100 on British Airways.

Here are a few more examples:

And there are a lot more such examples for travel commencing on either side of the Atlantic and for travel from the US to Asia…..and they’re all better value than buying miles.

Buying a cheap cash ticket will get you:

  • Miles towards elite status
  • Redeemable miles you can put towards a future award

And those are two things that not only have an inherent value but that you also don’t get when you book an award ticket.

Reasons To Buy:

Just as there’s uncertainty when it comes to finding award flights there’s uncertainty in finding great sale fares. There’s no guarantee that a sale fare will appear for dates and destinations that work for you.

If you can see that there’s award availability for a trip you’d like to take then that’s a pretty good reason to buy miles….but only once you’ve checked the cash fare for the trip and seen how it compares to what you’re  going to pay American Airlines for the miles.

Bottom Line

I’m not buying miles in this promotion because I’m shifting the way I plan and book my trips and how Joanna and I plan our vacations. I’m content to sit back and wait for great fares to appear before we decide what part of the world to visit – the good fares we’ve been seeing cover the globe so it’s not like we’ll be restricted in where we can and cannot visit….we’ll just to be a little patient.

If, on the other hand, you’ve got a destination in mind and can see that award availability is out there then buying miles in this promotion probably isn’t a bad way to go. Parker and Kirby know their currency has taken a big hit thanks to their recent decisions but they’re still unlikely to drop the price of miles much below what they’re at in this promotion.

Overall, however, I’m coming around to the opinion that we should care less and less about what price American Airlines is prepared to hawk its currency and, instead, focus on how we can fly in comfort at incredibly discounted rates.

American Airlines appears to be more interested in discounting its Business Class cabins (often to a great extent) than it is in opening up award availability on a number of its routes….so why pay the airline for AAdvantage Miles? If you can, just wait for the cheap fares to come along…they seem to be coming along pretty regularly.

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