AA Reduced Mileage Awards for October 2016 — January 2017
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Along with priority boarding and a free checked bag, reduced mileage awards are one of the top perks of Citi-issued American Airlines co-branded cards. The reduced mileage award program is only valid for two months at a time, and there's no guarantee of renewal. So, we always breathe a sigh of relief when we see another list posted. This week, we were pleased to see that it was renewed again through the end of November.
Note that the airports for October-November previously covered aren’t necessarily still available. Discounted award flights to/from the airports on this list had to be booked by September 30. Make sure to book award flights for the airports listed below before November 30 to avoid missing out.
It's always one of the most popular questions: Yes, the discount applies to flights both to and from the listed airports, although the terms 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 an economy flight could be just 7,875 miles one-way (15,750 round-trip).
As of March 22, nonstop award flights of less than 500 miles (each way) 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.
October Airports
Under the just-ended version of this promotion, American Airlines included just 55 airports for October. Good news! AA bumped the list up to 78 airports in this version — including airports on the West Coast for the first time in a while.
Here are the top contenders for October:
- Greensville-Spartanburg, SC (GSP) and Tri-Cities Regional Airport, TN (TRI) — for fall foliage in Great Smokey Mountains National Park
- Jackson Hole, WY (JAC)
- Jacksonville, FL (JAX)
- Lexington, KY (LEX) — fall foliage and Keeneland Fall Meet (October 7-29)
- Quebec, Canada (YQB)
- Vail, CO (EGE)
Not mapped (for space): Quebec (YQB)
November Airports
As we move into slower travel months, American Airlines is expanding the number of cities available for reduced mileage awards. November sees a whopping 105 possible destinations, including:
- Brownsville, TX (BRO) — perfect time for a beach getaway to South Padre Island
- Durango, CO (DRO) — catch the beginning of ski season
- Montreal, Canada (YUL)
- Myrtle Beach, SC (MYR)
- Santa Barbara, CA (SBA)
- Tucson, AZ (TUS)
- Vail, CO (EGE) — catch the beginning of ski season (November 18)
December Airports
For December, AA included just 66 airports on the list. Before you get your hopes up about cheap award flights for the holidays, remember that there must be MileSAAver award space available for you to get the 7,500-mile discount — which will likely be hard to come by.
Here are some you might be interested in booking:
- Aspen, CO (ASE)
- Brownsville, TX (BRO) — perfect time for a beach getaway to South Padre Island
- Columbus, OH (CMH) — catch the NCAA Volleyball Championship (December 15 and 17)
- Jackson Hole, WY (JAC)
- Vail, CO (EGE)
Not mapped (for space): Bakersfield, CA (BFL); Flagstaff, AZ (FLG); Jackson Hole, WY (JAC); Monterey, CA (MRY).
January Airports
January's list of reduced mileage award options is rather overwhelming. An incredible 173 destinations are available for reduced mileage awards! While you can go pretty much anywhere, here are some of the top destinations you might want to consider:
- Denver, CO (DEN); Vail, CO (EGE); and plenty of other Colorado skiing options
- Houston, TX (IAH)
- Jackson Hole, WY (JAC)
- Las Vegas, NV (LAS) — need we say more?
- San Diego, CA (SAN)
- San Francisco, CA (SFO)
- Santa Barbara, CA (SBA)
- Tucson, AZ (TUS)
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 October 2016 - January 2017 reduced mileage awards, the discount codes that you’ll have to provide the agent for the larger discount are:
| 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) | UD21X2C / AVM01 | UD14C / AVA60 | UD26X2C / AVA57 |
| Business Class (3-cabin aircraft) | UD28X7C / AVA55 | n/a | UD33X7C / AVA58 |
| Main Cabin | TD8X7C / AVM99 | TD6X5C / AVA59 | TD11X2C / AVA56 |
And for the smaller discount:
| 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) | UD22X5C / AVM98 | UD14X5C / AVA54 | UD27X5C / AVA51 |
| Business Class (3-cabin aircraft) | UD30C / AVA49 | n/a | UD35C / AVA52 |
| Main Cabin | TD10C / AVM97 | TD7C / AVA53 | TD12X5C / AVA50 |
Tips
1. The discount requires booking by November 30. The list of airports for December and January will likely change on December 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.
Where will you go with this list of reduced mileage awards?
