Category Archives: oneworld

How to See Where Your American Airlines Miles Can Take You

Posted on March 20, 2013 by | 23 Comments

Don’t forget to follow me on  Facebook or Twitter!

American Airlines launched a new award map which makes it somewhat easier to see where your American Airlines miles can take you.

American Airlines Award Map

American Airlines Award Map

This award map will NOT show you award flights on ALL American Airlines partner airlines, but only a select few partners such as Air Berlin, Alaska Air, British Airways, Hawaiian Air, Finnair, OpenSkies & Qantas.  However, American Airline has ~XX partner airlines, so the award map isn’t that useful. Continue reading →

→ 23 Comments

Posted in American Airlines, oneworld

Book American Airlines Award Flights Like a Pro: Part 11b – Finding Air Tahiti Nui Awards to France & French Polynesia with ExpertFlyer

Posted on September 26, 2012 by | 28 Comments

Don’t forget to follow me on  Facebook or Twitter!

Book American Airlines Awards Like a Pro:

Note:  You can search for award flights on Air Tahiti Nui using FlightStats as well, but I prefer using ExpertFlyer because it is easier to use and has more features including the ability to send you an email when an award seat opens up.

Air Tahiti Nui routes

Air Tahiti Nui flies 2 important routes from the US:

  • Los Angeles to Paris
  • Los Angeles to Papeete (capital of French Polynesia)

The Los Angeles to Paris route usually has great award availability, particularly in coach, so it is a great way to get to Europe using AA miles.

The flights from Los Angeles to Papeete (the capital of French Polynesia) are a lot harder to get, particularly in business class.  However, coach availability isn’t that bad and it is a night flight so you will hopefully be asleep through most of the flight. Continue reading →

→ 28 Comments

Posted in Air Tahiti Nui, American Airlines, oneworld, Uncategorized

Book American Airlines Award Flights Like a Pro: Part 10 – Finding LAN & South American Award Availability

Posted on April 9, 2012 by | 41 Comments

Book American Airlines Awards Like a Pro:

American Airlines has terrific availability on its own flights as well as oneworld partner airline LAN to South America.

The best way to check American Airlines’ award availability to South America is online at AA.com.

However, AA.com does NOT show LAN award availability, so we have to use the British Airways website or Qantas website to find LAN award availability, and then call American Airlines to book those flights. Continue reading →

→ 41 Comments

Posted in Airline Award Booking, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, oneworld

Book British Airways Award Flights Like a Pro: Part 1 – Love it or Hate it; An Introduction to British Airways Avios

Posted on April 8, 2012 by | 53 Comments

[Emily and I get a referral if you use this link to apply for the British Airways card.  We've both had the card and are very grateful to readers who apply for the card using our link]

I’ve been getting a lot of questions on British Airways Avios, perhaps because of the recent Chase British Airways credit card offer, so here’s a series on how to use Avios miles.  Please comment if you have any questions and I’ll try to answer your question in the comments or in future posts in the series!

Book British Airways Award Flights Like a Pro:

  • Part 1 – Love it or Hate it; An Introduction to British Airways Avios
  • Part 2 – What Does a Distance Based Award Chart Mean?
  • Part 3– Taxes and Fees
  • Part 4 – What Else Can I do with Avios Points?
  •  Part 5 – Using Miles to Upgrade Paid Tickets
  • Part 6 – Cash and Points
  • Part 7 – Household Accounts
  • Part 8 – The Companion Pass
  • Part 9 – How to Find Award Availability
  • Part 10 – The Best International Awards Using Avios
  • Part 11 – The Best Domestic Awards Using Avios
  • Part 12 – The Best Short Distance  Awards Using Avios Continue reading →

→ 53 Comments

Posted in British Airways, oneworld

Book American Airlines Award Flights Like a Pro: Part 9 – Finding Iberia (& European) Award Availability using the Qantas Website

Posted on March 28, 2012 by | 65 Comments

Book American Airlines Awards Like a Pro:

qantas Award Website

The Qantas website is easier to use than the British Airways website and lets you see a 30 day calendar of award availability for American Airlines, British Airways, and Iberia flights.  This makes it a bit easier when searching for awards to Europe.

But it is quirky in that it doesn’t show Japan Airlines award availability (use the British Airways website for that) and that it sometimes shows award availability for Cathay Pacific (better to use the Japan Airlines website) and other airlines, which can’t be booked by American Airlines (also known as phantom availability). Continue reading →

→ 65 Comments

Posted in Airlines, American Airlines, Iberia, oneworld, Qantas

Book American Airlines Award Flights Like a Pro: Part 8b – Finding Cathay Pacific Award Availability using Japan Airlines’ Website

Posted on March 27, 2012 by | 71 Comments

Book American Airlines Awards Like a Pro:

In yesterday’s post, Gary Leff, who has redeemed more than 100 million miles worth of awards, Phil & Arizona Guy commented that the Japan Airlines website may be easier to use than the British Airways website.

So here’s a post on how to use the Japan Airlines website to find Cathay Pacific award availability.  Thanks, Gary, Arizona Guy & Phil!

The easiest free way to check Cathay Pacific award availability is by using the  Japan Airlines website to check Cathay Pacific award availability. Continue reading →

→ 71 Comments

Posted in Airline Award Booking, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, oneworld

Book American Airlines Award Flights Like a Pro: Part 8 – Finding Cathay Pacific Award Availability Using the British Airways Website

Posted on March 26, 2012 by | 85 Comments

Book American Airlines Awards Like a Pro:

The best free way to check Cathay Pacific award availability is by using the British Airways website.  Alternatively, you could also use the Japan Airlines website to check Cathay Pacific award availability.

You can also check the Cathay Pacific website itself for award availability, but it may show you award seats which cannot be booked by partner airlines such as American Airlines.  That’s why I prefer checking the website of a partner airline such as British Airways and then calling American Airlines to make the booking.

Cathay Pacific is one of the nicest airlines in the world, and is a great way to spend your American Airlines miles.

Using Cathay Pacific to fly from the US to Hong Kong makes it much easier to get to Asia using American Airline miles because not only can you fly on Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong, but you could then connect to other Cathay Pacific flights (including its Dragon Air subsidiary) to get to other destinations in Asia.

You can also fly on American Airlines or Japan Airlines to Japan and then connect on either Japan Airlines or Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong and from Hong Kong to other Asian destinations.

 British Airways Award Website quirks

The British Airways website will display award availability for ONLY British Airways if there are award seats on British Airways flights available.

For example, if you are flying from the US to Hong Kong and British Airways AND a partner airline both have award seats, the British Airways website will initially display ONLY the British Airways award seats (and not show the partner award seats). Continue reading →

→ 85 Comments

Posted in Airline Award Booking, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, oneworld, Uncategorized

Book American Airlines Award Flights Like a Pro: Part 7 – Finding British Airways Award Availability

Posted on March 7, 2012 by | 70 Comments

Book American Airlines Awards Like a Pro:

The best free way to check British Airways award availability is by using the British Airways website.

Using British Airways awards makes it much easier to get to Europe using American Airline miles because not only can you fly on British Airways to London, but you could also fly on American Airlines to London (to keep those fuel surcharges down) and then connect on a British Airways flight to the rest of Europe (~$20 in fees per segment).

Or use British Airways to go to Africa, India, and the Middle East using American Airline Miles.

The British Airways website is a bit clunky to use initially and will occasionally crash, but is easy to navigate once you get the hang of it.

Remember, British Airways has terrific award availability from many cities to London.  Sure the fuel surcharges are a bit high (~$250 in coach, ~$400 in Business Class or First Class per segment), but you’ll almost certainly find seats from 23 cities in the US & Canada to London.  If you’re looking for more than 2 award seats, chances are that you’ll find them on British Airways. Continue reading →

→ 70 Comments

Posted in American Airlines, British Airways, oneworld

Book American Airlines Award Flights Like a Pro: Part 6 – International Award Routes

Posted on March 5, 2012 by | 85 Comments

Book American Airlines Awards Like a Pro:

American Airlines through its oneworld and non-oneworld partner airlines offer a lot of choices when booking international awards.

However, none of these partner airlines (except Alaska Air) can currently be booked via AA.com.  I get lots of emails from folks who can’t find award availability when they search online.  That’s because only American Airlines and Alaska Airlines results show up online and you don’t see availability on the many other partner airlines.

However, American Airlines has pledged to include more partner airlines online and British Airways awards could soon be available online at AA.com

You’ve got to call AA reservations (800-433-7300) and pay a $25 fee to book via the telephone.  But paying this fee is worth it, because it opens up so many possibilities when booking award tickets! Continue reading →

→ 85 Comments

Posted in Airline Award Booking, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways, Hawaiian Airlines, Jet Airways, oneworld

Book American Airlines Award Flights Like a Pro: Part 5 – American Airlines, Alaska Airlines & Hawaiian Airlines for North American awards

Posted on February 21, 2012 by | 86 Comments

 Book American Airlines Awards Like a Pro:

American Airlines Awards

Booking travel within North America (as defined by American Airlines) using American Airlines miles is very easy to do (if there are award seats available) and can be completed on AA.com (unless you’re booking seats on Hawaiian Airlines).

According to American Airlines, North America refers to the US (including Hawaii and Alaska), Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, the Bahamas and the Caribbean.

For flights within North America, you can use your American Airlines miles for award flights on:

  • American Airlines (including American Eagle etc.)
  • Alaska Airlines
  • Hawaiian Airlines
  • Cathay Pacific from New York (JFK) to Vancouver, Qantas from Los Angeles to New York (JFK), and LAN from New York (JFK) to Toronto

You can search for award seats on American Airlines and Alaska Airlines online at AA.com and you can complete or put the booking on hold at AA.com

You can hold your award for 5 days if booked between 330 and 15 days prior to departure, 1 day if booked within 14 days of departure, and for 2 hours if booked within 24 hours of departure.  There is NO charge for holding an award. Continue reading →

→ 86 Comments

Posted in Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, oneworld