AA Reduced Mileage Awards for August-November 2016
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
American Airlines and Citi currently offer reduced mileage awards — the latest iteration of which allows you to book discounted travel now through November 2016.
Note that the airports for August-September previously covered aren’t necessarily still available. Discounted award flights to/from the airports on this list had to be booked by July 31, and the list changed on August 1. Make sure to book award flights for the airports listed below before September 30 to avoid missing out.
In case you're wondering: Yes, the discount applies to flights both to and from the listed airports, although the terms now state that “travel must originate in the 48 contiguous United States or Canada.”
Who’s Eligible?
If you have one of the following cards, you can save 7,500 miles off of a round-trip award ticket (or 3,750 off one-way):
- Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard
- Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard
- CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Mastercard
The information for the Citi AAdvantage Platinum card and CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Or, you’re eligible for 5,000 miles off of a round-trip award ticket (or 2,500 off one-way) if you have one of the following:
- Citi / AAdvantage Gold World Elite Mastercard (as well as the old Visa and Amex versions)
- AAdvantage Aviator Blue MasterCard (not accepting new applications)
| One-way flights | Within the US (excluding <500) | Flights under 500 miles | To/From Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Award Chart cost | 12,500 | 7,500 | 15,000 |
| Reduced Mileage Award Discount | (3,750) | (1,000) | (3,750) |
| Mileage Cost | 8,750 | 6,500 | 11,250 |
| 10% Rebate (if eligible) | (875) | (650) | (1,125) |
| Net Cost | 7,875 | 5,850 | 10,125 |
If you have multiple types of cards (i.e., the Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard and Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard), you’re only eligible to take the discount once. However, you'll still be eligible for the 10% mileage rebate available on qualifying cards. So, your net mileage cost for a one-way economy flight could be just 7,875 miles (15,750 round-trip).
Note: Nonstop award flights of less than 500 miles (each way) now cost just 7,500 AAdvantage miles one-way — rather than the standard 12,500 miles one-way. While these <500-mile award flights aren’t eligible for the 3,750-mile discount noted above, you can use an eligible card to save 1,000 miles off of a one-way redemption. This means that you’ll pay just 6,500 miles one-way for flights of less than 500 miles — or just 5,850 net miles (11,700 round-trip) after the 10% rebate.
August Airports
Under the just-ended version of this promotion, American Airlines included 95 airports for August, but sadly only 60 airports made the cut on this version.
Here are the top contenders for August:
- Austin, TX (AUS)
- Key West, FL (EYW)
- Lynchburg, VA (LYH) — Down the road from LOCKN’ Festival (August 25-28)
- Nashville, TN (BNA)
- New Orleans, LA (MSY)
- Savannah, GA (SAV)
- Tucson, AZ (TUS)
Not mapped (for space): Tucson (TUS) and Yuma (YUM).
September Airports
Of the 79 options for September, here are some to keep in mind:
- Austin, TX (AUS) — Try to snag a reduced award flight to Austin City Limits (September 30-October 2; October 7-9)
- Houston, TX (IAH) — Host of the kickoff game for college football (September 3)
- Jacksonville, FL (JAX)
- Martha’s Vineyard, MA (MVY)
- Nantucket, MA (ACK)
- Quebec, Canada (YQB)
- San Antonio (SAT) — a short drive away from Utopia Fest (September 9-October 2)
- Sarasota, FL (SRQ) — for a end-of-summer beach trip
- Vail, CO (EGE) — Location of Vail Oktoberfest (September 9-11 and 16-18)
- Lots of pro and college football options
Not mapped (for space): Boise (BOI), Spokane (GEG), Quebec (YQB) and Yuma (YUM).
October Airports
There are 55 airports on the list for October. Some of the notable options:
- Jackson Hole, WY (JAC)
- Killeen, TX (GRK) — just an hour away from Austin City Limits (September 30-October 2; October 7-9)
- Quebec, Canada (YQB)
- Roswell, NM (ROW)
- San Antonio, TX (SAT)
Not mapped (for space): Boise (BOI), Spokane (GEG), Quebec (YQB), Vancouver (YVR) and Yuma (YUM).
November Airports
As we move into the colder time of the year, American Airlines is offering discounted award flights to/from 44 airports:
- Durango, CO (DUR) — catch the beginning of ski season
- Montreal, Canada (YUL)
- Myrtle Beach, SC (MYR)
- Vail, CO (EGE) — catch the beginning of ski season
- Vancouver, Canada — catch the beginning of ski season
Not mapped (for space): Vancouver (YVR) and Calgary (YYC)
How To Book
Once you’ve found MileSAAver award availability on American Airlines’ website, call American Airlines at 1-800-882-8880 — or your elite reservations number, if applicable — to book the award ticket. As these awards aren’t available for booking online, the Terms and Conditions state that the standard $30 phone-booking fee will be waived. However, if you book through an airport agent or AA travel center, a booking fee of $35 will apply.
For August-November 2016 reduced mileage awards, the discount code that you’ll have to provide the agent is:
| 7,500 / 2,000-mile cards | Within the US (excluding <500) | Flights under 500 miles | To/From Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Savings (per round-trip) | 7,500 | 2,000 | 7,500 |
| First Class (2-cabin aircraft) | UD21X2B / AVM92 | UD14B / AVA48 | UD26X2B / AVA45 |
| Business Class (3-cabin aircraft) | UD28X7B / AVA43 | n/a | UD33X7B / AVA46 |
| Main Cabin | TD8X7B / AVM91 | TD6X5B / AVA47 | TD11X2B / AVA44 |
| 5,000 / 1,000-mile cards | Within the US (excluding <500) | Flights under 500 miles | To/From Canada |
|---|---|---|---|
| Savings (per round-trip) | 5,000 | 1,000 | 5,000 |
| First Class (2-cabin aircraft) | UD22X5B / AVM90 | UD14X5B / AVA42 | UD27X5B / AVA39 |
| Business Class (3-cabin aircraft) | UD30B / AVA37 | n/a | UD35B / AVA40 |
| Main Cabin | TD10B / AVM89 | TD7B / AVA41 | TD12X5B / AVA38 |
Tips
1. The discount requires booking by September 30. The list of airports for October and November will likely change on October 1.
2. The $75 close-in booking fee still applies to award flights within 21 days — waived when American Airlines Gold, Platinum and Executive Platinum are using miles from their account.
3. As you can tell by the codes above, the discounts are also available for domestic business and first-class flights. The savings of 7,500/2,000 (5,000/1,000) miles are the same regardless of the cabin booked.
4. Award flights to/from Canada no longer cost the same amount of miles as flights inside the US; award flights to/from Canada start at 30,000 miles round-trip in economy. If you are flying to/from an eligible city, you can apply one of these codes to save 7,500-miles.
Which of these reduced mileage awards are you going to book?
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