American Airlines’ Reduced Mileage Award Tickets

If you’re a holder of a co-branded American Airlines credit card, did you know you were eligible for reduced mileage awards on select American routes?

This is an often-overlooked benefit of carrying an American Airlines co-branded card, and one that very well may save you miles on your next award trip.

The cards that unlock this benefit include:

• Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Silver World MasterCard, Red MasterCard, or Business MasterCard (all of which are no longer open to new applicants)
• Citi AAdvantage Executive World Elite MasterCard
• Citi Platinum Select AAdvantage MasterCard, Visa or American Express
• CitiBusiness AAdvantage Select Visa or MasterCard
• CitiBusiness AAdvantage Platinum Select MasterCard

The above cards provide a savings of 7,500 American Airlines miles for a roundtrip itinerary or 3,750 American miles on a one-way trip for select routes (savings are for flights more than 500 miles…shorter flights have lower savings amounts).

And two cards – that are no longer available to new applicants – provide a 5,000 mile discount on a roundtrip award ticket and 2,500 on a one-way ticket (savings are for flights more than 500 miles…shorter flights have lower savings amounts).  The cards are:

• Barclaycard AAdvantage Aviator Blue MasterCard
• Citi Gold AAdvantage American Express, Visa and MasterCard

If you hold any of these credit cards, even if the cards are no longer open to new applicants, you can take advantage of the award ticket mileage discounts.

The reduced mileage destinations change monthly, and are listed on American’s website, usually showing options a few months out so that you can plan your reduced mileage trips.

The current chart is showing reduced mileage eligible destinations through July 2016.

Mileage discounts apply to flights within the U.S., as well as flights to/from the U.S. and Canada.

The only downside to using the reduced mileage discounts is you have to call the American reservations 800 number to book the flights.

An Award Booking Example

Key West, Florida is one of the eligible destinations for July, so let’s see what American award availability there is for a trip from Chicago.

A quick award search shows low-level, economy class availability for July 8 – 15, pricing at 25,000 miles for the roundtrip itinerary.

However, if you hold a card that will give a 7,500 mileage discount, a simple call to the American Airlines 800 number to book the trip will make what was a 25,000 mile award, a 17,500 mile award.

Now that’s a deal!

Booking a Reduced Mileage Award 

• Be a primary cardholder of any of the above listed credit cards
• Search for low-level award availability to the reduced mileage destination of your choice
• Call American Airlines Reservations at 800-882-8880 to book your trip

There are specific codes (listed on the American Airlines Reduced Mileage Awards page) that must be provided when booking to obtain the mileage discount.  The codes are tied to class of service, and selected flight.

There are no fees to book these trips via the telephone because they cannot be booked online.  However, if you are booking your trip within 21 days of departure, you will be subject to the $75 close in award booking fee.

These discounted award tickets can also be booked at the airport or at an American ticket office, but those options will incur a ticketing fee, so it’s best to just call the 800 number.

Bottom Line

If you carry one of the co-branded American Airlines credit cards, you’re eligible for discounted mileage award tickets.

Depending on the card you hold, you can save up to 7,500 miles on a low-level, roundtrip award ticket to select destinations.  A very nice savings, indeed.

So, take a few minutes to scan the upcoming eligible destinations list.  You never know, you may be able to save miles on a trip you were already planning!