American Airlines Award Flight Trick
I’m not exactly an award flight booking expert, nor do I want to be. Though I’m liking it a bit more now, it’s still one of my least-favorite points and travel hobby chores. I’d rather be finding other ways to earn points and miles with that time. But over the years, my skills have slightly improved with booking award flights. (The bar couldn’t have been lower.) I’ve been booking American Airlines award flights more than any other program the past few years, and I’ve improved my saving techniques along the way. This method has come in clutch months, and sometimes mere days, before my flights.
How I Easily Save on American Airlines Award Flights
I enjoy the peace of mind of having a flight booked, even if it’s not the best possible award rate. When I find an acceptable rate for an American Airlines award, I quickly book it. That’s because I know I can lock it in at that given rate but also have the flexibility to do so over and over again as the flight nears. I do this via the following steps.
Step #1. Book a Flight
Okay, that sounds remarkably obvious. But I want to clarify the meaning behind it. I don’t bother booking a flight until it’s priced at an amount I’m okay accepting. There’s no precise formula here – it’s quite the opposite, actually. It depends on the destination, importance of the trip, time of year, solo/family travel, and pretty much everything else going on in my beautiful mind. I book what I consider a square deal. I’ll take the trip for what I initially booked it, presuming the price does not improve. But often, it does. Here’s how I efficiently discern.
Step #2. Navigate to Trips in the App
After opening the American Airlines app, tap Trips, right in the middle of the bottom menu. Under Your Trips, select the specific itinerary you want to follow up on.
Step #3. Select Change Trip
After going to the specific trip where you want to check pricing, scroll toward the bottom of the first flight. Select Change Trip. Follow the prompts, which usually involves checking the box confirming “yes, I want to change this flight” and reviewing the city pair and travel date. Tap Continue.
Step #4. Review Flights
Next, you arrive at a screen entitled Choose Flights. You can scroll to see a variety of options to change your flight to, sometimes more than you want to see. This often includes the flight(s) for which you are already confirmed.
To improve my review, I generally sort by number of stops. By doing so, I’ve noticed that the app conducts a secondary sort by earliest departure time. Next, I look at my various flight options. If I prefer to stay on my previously-confirmed flight(s), I check to see if that itinerary is pricing cheaper (denoted by the negative sign). Alternatively, I pick a different, cheaper flight, if my schedule allows.
Step #5. Select Flights and Cabin
If your preferred flight is cheaper, tap that option and select your cabin.
Step #6. Check Everything
Next, you will arrive at the Trip Summary screen. Review the changes, which generally show your previous trip value including miles used and fees paid. You’ll also see the mileage savings, reflected as “total remaining credit” on the screen, and additional taxes, if any. Tap Continue.
Step #7. Pick Your Seats Again!
An oddity of the above process is that you cannot pick your seats before making flight changes. And even if you pick the same itinerary, your prior seat assignments are lost. Consequently, return to Your Trips section, select the updated flight itinerary (even if it’s the same flights you originally booked), and complete the seat selection process.
Step #8. Review Your AAdvantage Balance
After making the flight itinerary change and selecting your seats, review your AAdvantage balance to ensure the saved miles have been returned to your account. In my experience, this has been fairly instantaneous, but chat or call AA, if necessary.
You’re all done!
Conclusion
Of course, you can repeat the above process as often as you want to possibly save more. I know many of you use award search tools and alerts, so also incorporate those as you deem appropriate. (I personally do not.) In terms of saving on award flights booked with AAdvantage miles, I’ve found the above process to be the most efficient way to have my cake and eat it, too. Also keep in mind that American flights are often cheaper when booked with Alaska Atmos miles.
How do you easily save on American Airlines award flights?
