Deal alert: Book American Airlines round-trip flights for just 10,000 miles
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
American Airlines has a new award sale for AAdvantage members across its short- and long-haul network, with one-way flights in economy available for as little as 5,000 AAdvantage miles each way or 10,000 miles round-trip.
The award sale is available until July 2, and unlike previous AAdvantage award sales limited to domestic flights only, these discounted fares are offered across most of American's worldwide network.
The AAdvantage program prices awards for flights operated by American Airlines dynamically, so regular prices are always "starting from" and may be much higher during peak periods, such as summer holidays. This promotion reduces the starting prices by as much as 35%, and plenty of dates and routes are available, which you can browse here.
Related: A review of American Airlines economy on the Boeing 777-300ER from Los Angeles to London
American Airlines award sale
American is one of an increasing number of airlines offering discounted redemptions. Singapore Airlines and Air France-KLM offer monthly award promotions, and Virgin Atlantic also occasionally offers discounts.
Deal basics
Airline: American Airlines.
Routes: American Airlines-operated flights within the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific.
How to book: Directly with the airline.
Travel dates: Aug. 19-Dec. 13 for domestic, Mexico, Caribbean and Latin American flights; Aug. 19-Dec. 13 for flights to Europe and Asia Pacific. For all routes, blackout dates are Sept. 2 and Nov. 21-Dec. 1.
Book by: July 2.
Before you book, a few other things to know: All mileage rates are subject to availability — so don't wait to book. Additionally, you can't apply the offer retroactively or to existing reservations.
The promotion is only valid on American Airlines- or American Eagle-operated flights; codeshare flights operated by other carriers, such as British Airways or Alaska Airlines, are not included.
Finally, basic economy nonrefundable fares are included in the promotion, but you won't be assigned a seat until you check in.
American Airlines award sale sample flights
To book, go to aa.com and enter your departing airport and destination in the usual boxes. Filter the results to show only routes available to book with miles (not cash) to see what's on offer.
Related reading: Best credit cards for American Airlines flyers
Here's a snapshot of some of the routes currently on offer:
Domestic flights from 10,000 miles round-trip plus $12 in fees and taxes (usually starting at 15,000 miles)
- Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
- Los Angeles to Miami International Airport (MIA)
- Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) to San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
- Dallas Fort Worth to Denver International Airport (DEN)
- Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) to Miami
Flights to the Caribbean and Mexico from 13,000 miles round-trip plus $96.23 (usually starting at 20,000 miles)
- Charlotte to St. Maarten's Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM)
- Charlotte to Jamaica's Sangster International Airport (MBJ)
- Miami to Grand Cayman's Owen Roberts International Airport (CGM)
- Dallas to Antigua's V. C. Bird International Airport (ANU) (from 14,500 miles)
- Dallas to Cancun International Airport (CUN) (from 15,000 miles)
Flights to Europe from 43,000 miles round-trip plus $55.30 (usually starting at 50,000 miles)
- Los Angeles to London's Heathrow Airport (LHR)
- Los Angeles to Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG)
- Dallas to London
- Dallas to Paris
- Miami to Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD)
Flights to Asia Pacific from 48,000 miles round-trip plus $40.54 (usually starting at 70,000 miles)
- New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL)
- San Francisco to Tokyo's Haneda Airport (HND) (from 56,000 miles)
- Dallas to Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG) (from 56,000 miles)
- Los Angeles to Sydney Airport (SYD) (from 57,000 miles)
- Dallas to Auckland Airport (AKL) (from 68,000 miles)
- Dallas to Brisbane Airport (BNE) (from 75,000 miles)
Best travel credit cards to maximize your purchase
If you book this deal and want to maximize your spending on fees, taxes or other add-ons, use a credit card that earns bonus points on airfare purchases, such as:
- The Platinum Card® from American Express: 5 points per dollar spent on airfare when booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel (on up to $500,000 of these purchases per calendar year, then 1 point per dollar)
- Citi® / AAdvantage Business™ World Elite Mastercard® (see rates and fees): 2 miles per dollar spent on eligible American Airlines purchases
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card: 2 points per dollar spent on travel
- American Express® Gold Card: 3 points per dollar spent on airfare when booked directly with the airline or through American Express Travel
- Chase Sapphire Reserve®: 3 points per dollar spent on airfare
- Citi Strata Premier℠ Card (see rates and fees): 3 points per dollar spent on air travel
Bottom line
American Airlines is offering an award sale with round-trip flights starting at 10,000 miles, a discount of up to 35% on the regular prices. A wide range of routes and dates are available, but you must book before July 2 to take "advantage" of this great offer.