Deal alert: 44+ domestic award routes pricing at just 5,000 miles each way
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
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In late 2018, American Airlines rolled out a new mileage discount program called Economy Web Specials which offers AAdvantage members a chance to book economy flights for as little as 5,000 miles each way. Although American started with just six obscure routes, it expanded to 11 routes in early November and up to 39 routes in mid-December -- including flights to Hawaii, Mexico, the Caribbean, South America and Europe (some of which are still available).
While the spectacular pricing on routes to Europe isn't available anymore, there are still plenty of domestic routes that are currently pricing at just 5,000 miles each way. Currently, we are seeing 44 routes pricing as low as 5,000 miles each way:
AUS-LAX, CLT-LAS, DCA-BOS, DFW-BOS, DFW-BRO, DFW-FLL, DFW-ICT, DFW-LAS, DFW-LIT, DFW-MFE, DFW-MIA, DFW-MSP, DFW-SEA, DFW-SFO, JFK-ATL, JFK-CLT, JFK-LAS, JFK-MCO, JFK-MIA, JFK-SEA, LAX-LAS, LAX-MCO, LAX-PDX, LGA-ATL, LGA-ATL, LGA-CLT, LGA-LAS, LGA-MCO, LGA-MIA, MIA-DEN, MIA-EWR, MIA-PHX, ORD-BNA, ORD-JAX, ORD-MSP, ORD-PHL, PHL-BOS, PHL-DEN, PHL-MCO, PHL-MSY, PHL-PBI, PHL-RDU, PHX-LAS, PHX-LGB
Sorting by the current lowest price, other routes include:
- 5,500 miles: MIA-LAS, DFW-CRP
- 6,000 miles: JFK-ORF, JFK-RIC, LGA-IND, LGA-ORF, LGA-RIC, PHL-GSO, DFW-MAF, JFK-BOS, LGA-BOS
- 6,500 miles: JFK-IND, ORD-DCA, ORD-IAD, LAX-PHL
- 7,000 miles: ORD-PSP
- 7,500 miles: LAX-CLT, PHX-DCA, PHX-EWR, PHX-IAD
- 8,000 miles: DFW-VPS, DTW-YYZ, PHL-SEA, PHL-SAN
There are likely dozens of other routes at each of these price levels, and these prices can change at anytime. So, make sure to check AA's website for the route that you're interested in booking.
At current TPG valuations, 5,000 AA miles are worth just $70. Add in taxes and fees of just $5.60 one-way and these deals are equivalent to paying around $76 for a one-way flight.
Airline: American Airlines
Routes: (see routes above)
Cost: 5,000 miles + $5.60 taxes/fees one-way
Book Via: Directly with American Airlines
Pay Taxes/Fees With: Citi Prestige® Card (5x on airfare), Citi Premier® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve (3x on airfare) or Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x on travel). While several American Airlines cards earn 2x miles on AA bookings, it's best to stick to a card that offers travel protections.
Here are a few examples of what you can book:
New York City (JFK/LGA/EWR) to Seattle (SEA) for 5,000 miles one-way:
New York City (JFK/LGA/EWR) to Las Vegas (LAS) for 5,000 miles one-way:
Los Angeles (LAX) to Orlando (MCO) for 5,000 miles one-way:
Miami (MIA) to Phoenix (PHX) for 5,000 miles one-way:
Charlotte (CLT) to Las Vegas (LAS) for 5,000 miles one-way:
Miami (MIA) to Denver (DEN) for 5,000 miles one-way:
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to Seattle (SEA) for 5,000 miles one-way:
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to Boston (BOS) for 5,000 miles one-way:
Philadelphia (PHL) to Denver (DEN) for 5,000 miles one-way:
How Economy Web Specials works
I'd recommend reading through all of the details in this post about how Economy Web Specials works. However, as a quick briefer:
- These awards don't have all of the American Airlines Basic Economy limitations.
- Executive Platinum elites get upgrades as they can on other domestic economy awards
- Where the American website says "Economy Web Specials cannot be changed once ticketed." This isn't defined but may mean that travelers can't use Same Day Flight Changes to switch to another award flight on the same day.
- You can cancel and reinstate your miles according to the same terms as any other AAdvantage award. A redeposit fee of $150 for the first passenger and $25 per additional passenger applies for everyone but AAdvantage Executive Platinum elites.
If these awards leave your AAdvantage account depleted, here are some ways to replenish your account:
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®: 50,000 bonus miles after spending $2,500 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.
- CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Mastercard®: 65,000 American Airlines AAdvantage® bonus miles after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first 4 months of account opening. Plus, 2x miles on a wide variety of eligible expenses.
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®: 50,000 miles after spending $5,000 on purchases in the first three months.
- American Airlines AAdvantage MileUp℠ Card: 10,000 miles and a $50 statement credit for spending $500 on purchases in three months — with no annual fee
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.
Featured photo by JT Genter/The Points Guy