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Along with priority boarding and a free checked bag, Citi-issued American Airlines co-branded credit cards also offer a lesser-known perk: reduced mileage awards. This promotion allows you to save between 1,000 and 7,500 miles per round-trip, depending on the route and the type of card you’ve got.
The reduced mileage award program is only valid for two months at a time, and there’s no guarantee it’ll be renewed. So, we always breathe a sigh of relief when we see another list posted. Thankfully, it’s been renewed yet again. This time for bookings through January 31 for flights through the end of March.
Updates
The discount applies to flights both to and from the listed airports. However, American Airlines agents are instructed to only apply the discount for flights between the “48 contiguous United States or Canada” and the listed airports. So, unfortunately, this keeps you from applying this discount for flights between a listed airport and Europe, Asia or even the Caribbean.
On the last reduced mileage award post, one commenter asked if this discount could be applied to Alaska-operated flights. I’ve tried a few times but haven’t had luck booking an Alaska Airlines-operated flight with this discount. However, I haven’t been able to determine whether there is an actual exclusion of this, or I just haven’t found the right agent.
Who’s Eligible?
If you have one of the following cards, you can save 7,500 miles off of a round-trip award ticket (or 3,750 off one-way):
- Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite MasterCard
- Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite MasterCard (as well as the old Visa and Amex versions)
- CitiBusiness/AAdvantage Select Visa or MasterCard (not accepting new applications)
- CitiBusiness / AAdvantage Platinum Select World MasterCard
- AAdvantage Aviator Silver/Red/Business MasterCard (not accepting new applications)
Or, you’re eligible for 5,000 miles off of a round-trip award ticket (or 2,500 off one-way) if you have one of the following:
- Citi / AAdvantage Gold MasterCard (as well as the old Visa and Amex versions)
- AAdvantage Aviator Blue MasterCard (not accepting new applications)
| One-Way Flights | Within the US (excluding <500) |
Flights under 500 miles |
To/From Canada |
| Award Chart Cost | 12,500 | 7,500 | 15,000 |
| Reduced Mileage Award Discount | (3,750) | (1,000) | (3,750) |
| Mileage Cost | 8,750 | 6,500 | 11,250 |
| 10% Rebate (if eligible) | (875) | (650) | (1,125) |
| Net Cost | 7,875 | 5,850 | 10,125 |
If you have multiple types of cards (i.e., the Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite MasterCard and Citi / AAdvantage Platinum Select World Elite MasterCard), you’re only eligible to take the discount once. However, you’ll still be eligible for the 10% mileage rebate available on qualifying cards. So, your “net” mileage cost for an economy flight could be just 7,875 miles one-way (15,750 round-trip).
As of March 22, nonstop award flights of less than 500 miles (each way) cost just 7,500 AAdvantage miles one-way — rather than the standard 12,500 miles one-way. While these <500-mile award flights aren’t eligible for the 3,750-mile discount noted above, you can use an eligible card to save 1,000 miles off of a one-way redemption. This means that you’ll pay just 6,500 miles one-way for flights of less than 500 miles (before the 10% rebate).
December Airports
December’s amended list includes 62 airports. But, before you get your hopes up about cheap award flights for the holidays, remember that there must be MileSAAver award space available for you to get the 7,500-mile discount — which will likely be hard to come by.
Here are the top contenders for December:
Not mapped (for space): Bakersfield, CA (BFL); Calgary, AB (YYC); Flagstaff, AZ (FLG); Monterey, CA (MRY)
January Airports
January’s list of reduced mileage award airports is incredible. An overwhelming 171 destinations are available for reduced mileage awards! While you can go pretty much anywhere, here are some of the top destinations you might want to consider:
Not mapped (for space): Calgary, AB (YYC); Eugene, OR (EUG); Jackson Hole, WY (JAC)
February Airports
The cornucopia of airports continues in February, with a wide-ranging list of 155 airports. Here are some you might be interested in booking:
Not mapped (for space): Bangor, ME (BGR); Calgary, AB (YYC); Garden City, KS (GCK)
March Airports
As we start moving into spring months, American Airlines understandably is cutting back on the number of reduced mileage award airports. Yet, 96 airports are still on the list for March. Here are some of the top destinations you might want to consider:
Not mapped (for space): Bangor, ME (BGR); Calgary, AB (YYC)
How To Book
Once you’ve found MileSAAver award availability on American Airlines’ website, call American Airlines at 1-800-882-8880 — or your elite reservations number, if applicable — to book the award ticket. As these awards aren’t available for booking online, the terms and conditions state that the standard $30 phone-booking fee will be waived. However, if you book through an airport agent or AA travel center, a booking fee of $35 will apply.
For December 2016 – March 2017 reduced mileage awards, the discount codes that you’ll have to provide the agent for the larger discount are:
| 7,500 / 2,000-mile cards | Within the US (excluding <500) |
Flights under 500 miles |
To/From Canada |
| Savings (per round-trip) | 7,500 | 2,000 | 7,500 |
| First Class (2-cabin aircraft) | UD21X2D / AVM05 | UD14D / AVA72 | UD26X2D / AVA69 |
| Business Class (3-cabin aircraft) | UD28X7D / AVA67 | N/A | UD33X7D / AVA70 |
| Main Cabin | TD8X7D / AVM04 | TD6X5D / AVA71 | TD11X2D / AVA68 |
And for the smaller discount:
| 5,000 / 1,000-mile cards | Within the US (excluding <500) |
Flights under 500 miles |
To/From Canada |
| Savings (per round-trip) | 5,000 | 1,000 | 5,000 |
| First Class (2-cabin aircraft) | UD22X5D / AVM03 | UD14X5D / AVA66 | UD27X5D / AVA63 |
| Business Class (3-cabin aircraft) | UD30D / AVA61 | N/A | UD35D / AVA64 |
| Main Cabin | TD10D / AVM02 | TD7D / AVA65 | TD12X5D / AVA62 |
Tips
1. Note that the airports for December-January previously covered aren’t necessarily still available. Discounted award flights to/from the airports on this list had to be booked by November 30. Make sure to book award flights for the airports listed below before January 31 to avoid missing out. The list of airports for February and March will likely change on February 1.
2. The $75 close-in booking fee still applies to award flights within 21 days — waived when American Airlines Gold, Platinum and Executive Platinum members are using miles from their account.
3. As you can tell by the codes above, the discounts are also available for domestic business and first-class flights. The savings of 7,500/2,000 (5,000/1,000) miles are the same regardless of the cabin booked.
4. Award flights to/from Canada no longer cost the same amount of miles as flights inside the US; award flights to/from Canada start at 30,000 miles round-trip in economy. If you are flying to/from an eligible city, you can apply one of these codes to save 7,500 miles.
Source: thepointsguy.com