American Airlines MileSAAver Awards Vanish From Many Routes, Airline Working on Fix
Update 7:48pm ET: It appears that that fix has been implemented, as many routes have returned to showing award availability. For example, in the Atlanta (ATL) to New York LaGuardia (LGA) route used as an example below, there's now 23 of 29 dates that have saver availability -- instead of zero dates earlier Monday.
The original story continues below.
American Airlines has confirmed what AAdvantage members have been seeing for the past few days: saver award availability has virtually disappeared from many award routes — even those routes that almost always have availability.
For example, I'm a regular on American Airlines' route between Atlanta (ATL) and New York-LaGuardia (LGA). Saver award availability is never an issue for me on this route. Instead, I can't find a single date that has economy MileSAAver availability for months.
In this example, there's not much of an issue as Economy Web Special rates are typically below the MileSAAver rate of 12,500 miles and the Reduced Mileage Award rate of 8,750. However, this is a perfect example that there's an issue with MileSAAver: AA is offering dynamic award prices for many dates below the standard rate, but there's not a single date available at the MileSAAver rate.
The issue is a much bigger deal on other routes. In a FlyerTalk thread about the issue, one of the example routes listed was from Kansas City (MCI) to Chicago-O'Hare (ORD). The member noted that "it doesn't look like there are any available Economy MileSaaver seats for the rest of the year." Sure enough, when I checked, the short 403-mile route didn't have a single day of economy MileSAAver availability either direction for the remainder of the year. And the airline isn't offering cheaper Economy Web Specials on this route:
The only routes that I've been able to find MileSAAver award availability are routes that don't (yet) have Economy Web Special pricing. For example, Las Vegas (LAS) to Minneapolis/St Paul (MSP):
Speculation is that this is related to AA extended cancellations of the 737 MAX. However, the problem persists well beyond the extended cancellation date of September 3.
The good news is that AA acknowledges this issue and is working on a fix. An American Airlines spokesperson confirmed to TPG on Monday afternoon:
We're aware that MileSAAver availability is not displaying correctly. We're working on addressing and expect to have things back to normal [Tuesday] morning.
There's an important question that this naturally raises: Is this actually a glitch, or is this giving us a glimpse into the future of award pricing at American Airlines? In late May, American Airlines executives confirmed that the airline is considering dynamic award pricing, and that's what we were seeing here on many of these routes. But for now, it seems that we haven't reached the death of MileSAAver.
TPG featured card
at Bilt's secure site
Terms & restrictions apply. See rates & fees.
| 1.25X | Earn up to 1.25X points on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee |
| 2X | Earn 2X points on everyday purchases |
Pros
- Earn up to 1.25 Bilt Point per dollar spent on rent and mortgage payments
- Elevated everyday earnings with both Bilt Points and the option to earn Bilt Cash
- $400 Bilt Travel Portal hotel credit per year (up to $200 biannually)
- $200 Bilt Cash annually
- Priority Pass membership
- No foreign transaction fees
Cons
- Moderate annual fee
- Designed primarily for members seeking a premium, all-in-one card
- Earn up to 1.25X points on rent and mortgage payments with no transaction fee.
- 2X points on everyday spend
- $400 Bilt Travel Hotel credit. Applied twice a year, as $200 statement credits, for qualifying Bilt Travel Portal hotel bookings.
- $200 Bilt Cash (awarded annually). At the end of each calendar year, any Bilt Cash balance over $100 will expire.
- Welcome bonus (subject to approval): 50,000 Bilt Points + Gold Status after spending $4,000 on everyday purchases in the first 90 days + $300 of Bilt Cash.
- Priority Pass ($469/year value). See Guide to Benefits.
- Bilt Point redemptions include airlines, hotels, future rent and mortgage payments, Lyft rides, statement credits, student loan balances, a down payment on a home, and more.
- Earn additional points through Bilt Neighborhood Benefits™ when you use your card at Bilt's network of 50,000+ merchant partners.