Wide Open Business-Class Award Space to Europe on American
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
American Airlines is notorious for offering little to no business saver awards. Usually you'll be paying AAnytime rates, which are almost double what you'd pay for saver awards. But today, it looks like American has opened up lots of premium-cabin saver award seats on flights from the US to Europe.
You'll only be redeeming 115,000 AA miles plus taxes and fees for a round-trip flight instead of 220,000 miles at the AAnytime rate.
Note that while American's partner British Airways offers decent availability year-round, you're forced to pay exorbitantly high fuel surcharges, so what makes this news worthwhile is that you'll be flying on American metal. AA awards are still subject to the UK's Air Passenger Duty, so expect to pay a few hundred dollars in fees on flights departing from UK airports.
Discounted flights seem to be open from October 2017 through April 2018, with multiple seats available on each flight. You'll want to plug in your ideal departure city and destination on American's website and then make sure you click "show full calendar" to see what days have business saver awards available.
Just make sure you're checking what plane you'll be flying before booking a ticket, since American's business-class products can vary greatly. Reference our post Every American Airlines Premium Seat Ranked From Best to Worst to choose the best possible product.
If you want to accrue more American miles, you can earn 60,000 bonus miles if you sign up for the Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite Mastercard and spend $3,000 in the first three months of account opening. The information for the Citi 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.
The screenshots below show the routes/month with the most availability, though other dates and routes were still available. Here are a few examples that have lots of seats up for grabs:
New York to Barcelona
Plenty of seats are open on flights from JFK - BCN:
Chicago to London
Los Angeles to Madrid
Dallas to Paris
Will you be booking an AA award?
H/T: View From The Wing
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| 3X | Earn 3 Points per $1 spent at Restaurants and Supermarkets |
| 3X | Earn 3 Points per $1 spent at Gas Stations, Air Travel and Hotels |
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Annual Fee
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Why We Chose It
The Citi Premier’s 3 points per dollar spent across a wide range of popular categories is one of the more lucrative offerings in the world of points and miles. The Citi Premier comes with a $95 annual fee and is currently offering a solid sign up bonus of 80,000 points after you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months. It also has some valuable transfer partners to make the most of your rewards. Add in access to Citi Entertainment plus a $100 hotel credit for any single-stay hotel booking that exceeds $500 or more, excluding taxes and fees, booked through the Citi travel website, there are few reasons why the Citi Premier should not be in every traveler’s wallet.Pros
- Earns 3x points on restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, air travel and hotels.
- $100 annual hotel savings benefit (on single hotel stay bookings of $500 or more, excluding taxes and fees, booked through thankyou.com)
- Points transfer to 16 airline programs, from JetBlue to Virgin Atlantic.
- World Elite Mastercard benefits, extended warranty, damage and theft protection.
Cons
- $95 annual fee
- Lacks travel protections that other travel rewards cards come with
- For a limited time, earn 80,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening
- Earn 3 Points per $1 spent at Restaurants and Supermarkets
- Earn 3 Points per $1 spent at Gas Stations, Air Travel and Hotels
- Earn 1 Point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Annual Hotel Savings Benefit
- 80,000 Points are redeemable for $800 in gift cards when redeemed at thankyou.com
- No expiration and no limit to the amount of points you can earn with this card
- No Foreign Transaction Fees on purchases
Rewards Rate
| 3X | Earn 3 Points per $1 spent at Restaurants and Supermarkets |
| 3X | Earn 3 Points per $1 spent at Gas Stations, Air Travel and Hotels |
| 1X | Earn 1 Point per $1 spent on all other purchases |
Intro Offer
For a limited time, earn 80,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account openingEarn 80,000 ThankYou® points60,000 pointsAnnual Fee
$95Recommended Credit
Credit ranges are a variation of FICO© Score 8, one of many types of credit scores lenders may use when considering your credit card application.670-850Excellent, Good
Why We Chose It
The Citi Premier’s 3 points per dollar spent across a wide range of popular categories is one of the more lucrative offerings in the world of points and miles. The Citi Premier comes with a $95 annual fee and is currently offering a solid sign up bonus of 80,000 points after you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months. It also has some valuable transfer partners to make the most of your rewards. Add in access to Citi Entertainment plus a $100 hotel credit for any single-stay hotel booking that exceeds $500 or more, excluding taxes and fees, booked through the Citi travel website, there are few reasons why the Citi Premier should not be in every traveler’s wallet.Pros
- Earns 3x points on restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, air travel and hotels.
- $100 annual hotel savings benefit (on single hotel stay bookings of $500 or more, excluding taxes and fees, booked through thankyou.com)
- Points transfer to 16 airline programs, from JetBlue to Virgin Atlantic.
- World Elite Mastercard benefits, extended warranty, damage and theft protection.
Cons
- $95 annual fee
- Lacks travel protections that other travel rewards cards come with
- For a limited time, earn 80,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening
- Earn 3 Points per $1 spent at Restaurants and Supermarkets
- Earn 3 Points per $1 spent at Gas Stations, Air Travel and Hotels
- Earn 1 Point per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Annual Hotel Savings Benefit
- 80,000 Points are redeemable for $800 in gift cards when redeemed at thankyou.com
- No expiration and no limit to the amount of points you can earn with this card
- No Foreign Transaction Fees on purchases