American Airlines have kicked off another round of bonuses when purchasing AAdvantage miles. This time around the offer is for up to 42,500 bonus miles when you purchase AAdvantage miles, if you purchase prior to February 17, 2017. There is an additional discount of 10% on offer if you buy the miles by 8 February 2017.
The cost of the miles does vary depending on how many you buy. In the current promotion, the best value to be found is when buying the 100,000 points. Taken together with the bonus 42,500 points bonus, and the 10% discount, it enables you to purchase points for a shade over 2 US cents each.
There is however, a slight restriction in purchasing points. You do need to have been an AAdvantage member for at least 30 days to qualify for the promotion. So, if that rules you out of the current promotion, perhaps you can look at joining now for free to be ready for the next promotion.
Why purchase AA miles?
As a oneWorld member, AAdvantage miles may be used to redeem seats on the services of other oneWorld carriers. So, in addition to redeeming for American Airlines flights, members can also redeem flights on the services of other oneWorld carriers such as Qantas and Cathay Pacific.
When using purchased AAdvantage miles to redeem an award, you are essentially buying an Award seat. Now, this will not always be advantageous, but if you are seeking the comfort of a premium cabin, there is often good value to be had.
There are a few factors you need to consider if you wish to go down this path. However, with a bit of research, it is possible to determine if it is worthwhile for your intended route.
Generally speaking, if choosing the services of Qantas, good value can be found in the following services:
- Domestic business class seat. These will generally set you back 20,000 points (or about US$400 on the current promotion)
- New Zealand services – A business class seat will set you back 25,000 points (about US$500)
- Fiji services – A business class seat will set you back 30,000 points (about US$600)
- South East Asia services – come in at 40,000 points (about US$800) for a Business seat
So, there is good value to be had. Having said that, Award seats on Qantas can be a bit scarce. As a result, it is best to check on availability before committing to purchasing points for am Award redemption.
Factors to Consider
As always, there are several factors to keep in mind if heading down this path:
- American Airlines will price points in US Dollars, so you will need to be aware of variations in exchange rates that come into play
- There are taxes and charges associated with award bookings, that will be priced separately.
- Check the award availability for the route you have in mind. For Qantas you can do an online search. For other oneWorld airlines, you may need to call.
- Some routes offer better savings than others. For example, routes to Europe do not normally offer the same savings as those mentioned above
- There is a limit to the number of points you can purchase each year, so only buy if the deal is good, or you have a redemption in mind.
Summing Up
.Purchasing points may not be for everyone. However, there can be good value in the premium cabins, if this is your thing.
The current AAdvantage promotion is not best, in terms of cost per point, that American have run, however there can still be good value to be had.