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Why American Airlines AAdvantage has become my most valuable rewards currency
Clint Henderson is a managing editor at TPG who has worked in the journalism industry for more than 25 years. He is obsessed with travel and has used points and miles to explore the world.
February 5, 2026 • 8 min read
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Quick summary
American Airlines AAdvantage miles continue to offer strong value for premium cabin redemptions on partner airlines such as Cathay Pacific, Etihad Airways and Japan Airlines.
Recent award bookings have included first and business class flights to destinations like Tokyo, Abu Dhabi, Johannesburg and Hong Kong, often at rates that are no longer available with other major U.S. airline programs.
Award availability can be limited, but flexibility, early booking and using specialized search tools can help secure these high-value redemptions.
There are currently several notable welcome offers for products that can help increase your AAdvantage miles balance.
What to consider
Award space for premium cabins on partners is often scarce and may require booking far in advance or being flexible with travel dates.
Taxes and fees vary by route and carrier, so total out-of-pocket costs can differ significantly.
Some offers to earn additional AAdvantage miles have specific spend requirements and eligibility criteria.
What you'll miss from the article
Step-by-step strategies for finding rare award seats and maximizing the value of AAdvantage miles on premium international flights.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
While our normal advice at TPG is to collect transferable points and miles that you can send to various hotel and airline programs, for me, it's recently been all about American Airlines AAdvantage miles.
I've held top-tier American Airlines Executive Platinum status for most of the past decade, and I've always been able to squeeze a ton of value from the program, starting with my first major redemption: a first-class Japan Airlines flight to Tokyo way back in 2016 for just 80,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles.
The wild thing is that redemption still exists a decade later. In fact, I just wrote about scoring that same redemption again last year. Those kinds of outsize redemptions are nearly impossible with United MileagePlus and Delta SkyMiles these days.
Over the past year, I've scored a bevy of incredible redemptions with my AAdvantage miles. It's the one airline currency that I still recommend people collect. Just in the past few months, I've been able to book multiple business- and first-class seats on Etihad Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines and, of course, American Airlines. We're talking flights to and from Johannesburg, Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi and Tokyo, to name a few incredible destinations.
And that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to outsize value from American Airlines.
There are several amazing welcome offers right now that are worth considering if you want to repeat some of these bookings. More details on that below, but let's start with what I've been finding and booking.
Cathay Pacific business class to and from Asia
Cathay Pacific Aria Suite. ELLIE NAN STORCK/THE POINTS GUY
While it's not easy to find availability these days, you can book Cathay Pacific business-class (or even first-class) tickets using American Airlines AAdvantage miles.
A few months ago, I saw the floodgates of availability had opened to book business class on Cathay Pacific to and from Seattle using either AAdvantage miles or Alaska Airlines Atmos Rewards points. The reason? Cathay Pacific had just announced a new route to Seattle and made a bunch of seats available to Oneworld partners.
I booked a one-way ticket from Hong Kong to Seattle for just 70,000 AAdvantage miles plus $64.81 in taxes and fees. (I booked another of these awards for just 75,000 Atmos Rewards points plus $5.60 in taxes and fees to get to Hong Kong.)
While this availability is pretty rare, it can be booked if you are patient.
Etihad business class to South Africa and first class to Abu Dhabi
ERIC ROSEN/THE POINTS GUY
Another hard-to-find redemption is booking Etihad first or business class, but the award gods must have been feeling generous this spring when Etihad suddenly opened the floodgates to American Airlines redemptions. Etihad even opened up bookings for its first class, The Apartment, via American Airlines.
I was able to book several first-class flights in Etihad's The Apartment to and from Abu Dhabi and Paris. Each flight was just 62,500 American Airlines miles plus $158 in taxes and fees.
I cannot wait to try Etihad for the first time, and to do it in the legendary Airbus A380 in first class, which features a shower in the sky, is a dream come true. (I'll be reporting on the experience for TPG.)
But the Etihad party didn't stop there. I was also able to book the carrier's new service from Atlanta to Abu Dhabi and then on to Johannesburg for just 75,000 AAdvantage miles each way in business class.
That's 150,000 AAdvantage miles for an itinerary that would cost $5,785 in cash. Safari, here I come.
Japan Airlines first and business class to Tokyo and Shanghai
I found first-class award space on a Japan Airlines flight from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD) to Tokyo's Narita International Airport (NRT) departing in September for just 80,000 AAdvantage miles.
I've also been able to book business-class tickets a few times using just 60,000 AAdvantage miles. Japan Airlines offers remarkable value in its premium cabins when you use your AAdvantage miles.
Another fun booking I pulled off last summer was from Tokyo to Shanghai for just 30,000 AAdvantage miles in business class. That plane was operated by Japan Airlines with a Boeing 777-300, which meant it offered first class, so I was able to select a seat in the first-class section for the three-hour flight thanks to having elite status.
American Airlines business-class cabin on a flight from Rome to New York in 2023. CLINT HENDERSON/THE POINTS GUY
Of course, AAdvantage miles are also super helpful if you just want to score a cheap business-class flight to Europe. You'll often find business-class seats to Europe for as low as 57,500 miles and minimal taxes and fees.
You'll need to be flexible and use American's award calendar to find the cheapest dates, but it's pretty common to find one or two seats on at least a few days every month.
We found these kinds of deals (i.e., business-class seats for as low as 57,500 miles each way) when American opened sales on several new seasonal routes from Philadelphia to Prague and Budapest, Hungary, beginning in May.
A search while writing this story found similar deals to London for this summer. A quick search also turned up one-way business-class flights to Paris this summer for as few as 65,000 AAdvantage miles.
How to find award availability
Here are a few of my top tricks to land these hard-to-find redemptions.
To start, flexibility is key. You may have to travel whenever seats are available, including at the last minute.
Try booking as soon as schedules open up. For airlines like Japan Airlines, you'll find the best availability 11 months in advance, as that's when it opens seats to partner airlines.
Award search tools have become a must in today's points and miles world. Seats.aero and ExpertFlyer (owned by TPG parent company, Red Ventures) are my go-to picks for finding award availability, but I've also been testing out Roame.travel lately. The award tool Points Path sits on my browser, too, so I see award availability when I search on Google Flights.
When conducting award searches with American Airlines, I use the carrier's award search calendar to find business-class seats for months at a time. Here's an example of that for flights from New York to Paris.
American Airlines' award calendar for flights from New York to Paris. AMERICAN AIRLINES
As you can see, I found six days with more affordable saver availability at just 57,500 miles each way in business class. Score!
I usually search for flights from New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles, even if I'll need to book an inexpensive positioning flight to get there. That's what I'll do to position myself in Atlanta for that upcoming trip to Johannesburg that I mentioned earlier.
How you can bulk up your stash of AAdvantage miles
Right now, the Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (see rates and fees) is offering 75,000 bonus points after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening. While the annual fee of $595 is steep, the welcome bonus is worth $1,425 based on TPG's February 2026 valuations.
The Citi® / AAdvantage® Globe™ Mastercard® (see rates and fees) has a welcome offer that allows new cardholders to earn 60,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
