American Airlines has been my airline of choice the last several years because it flies (or used to fly) to places I tend to go the most: South Florida, New York, Toronto, and Hawaii. It also flies wide-body 777s on the LAX-MIA flight that I took the most pre-COVID-19, when I would visit my dad every three weeks. Because I’d fly off-peak I’d usually get upgraded to a lie-flat seat. Even when I didn’t get upgraded, because of my elite status (Executive Platinum) I could usually at the very least secure a Premium Economy seat—which is better than a domestic first class seat with most airlines (incl American).
Well, Zach Griff over at TPG has just written a good post explaining “why now is the perfect time to book American Airlines awards.” And he’s right. AA just hired a new person in charge of AAdvantage, and they’re expected to devalue the award chart. What else is new when it comes to airline award miles? in general, I always recommend not holding on to your miles like they’re money in the bank. Airline miles never gain value for you; instead, they lose it. When you see a good opportunity to use them, therefore, you should take it. However, if you have a ton of miles, it can be smart to hold onto a handful of them, just in case there’s an emergency and you need to buy a last-minute ticket that’s crazy expensive in cash.
I digress. Zach’s point is that if you book an American Airlines award ticket right now, AA is waiving all change and cancelation fees for tickets booked in the month of June. This means that you can lock in award space now for future travel and decide to cancel it just a few days before your trip and still get your miles and taxes back. Furthermore, AA is waiving the upgrade redeposit fee for any upgrades applied this month.
Related:
- How to Earn Double Miles on Summer and Fall American Airlines Flights
- You Now Have to Be Earlier to the Gate Before American Airlines Flights
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