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We are an independent publisher. Our reporters create honest, accurate, and objective content to help you make decisions. To support our work, we are paid for providing advertising services. Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Next” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. The compensation we receive and other factors, such as your location, may impact what ads and links appear on our site, and how, where, and in what order ads and links appear. While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, our site does not include information about every product or service that may be available to you. We strive to keep our information accurate and up-to-date, but some information may not be current. So, your actual offer terms from an advertiser may be different than the offer terms on this site. And the advertised offers may be subject to additional terms and conditions of the advertiser. All information is presented without any warranty or guarantee to you.

This page may include: credit card ads that we may be paid for (“advertiser listing”); and general information about credit card products (“editorial content”). Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Apply Now” button or “Learn More” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. When you click on that hyperlink or button, you may be directed to the credit card issuer’s website where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer. Each advertiser is responsible for the accuracy and availability of its ad offer details, but we attempt to verify those offer details. We have partnerships with advertisers such as Brex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and Discover. We also include editorial content to educate consumers about financial products and services. Some of that content may also contain ads, including links to advertisers’ sites, and we may be paid on those ads or links.

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American Airlines eliminates the most annoying fee in award travel

January 15, 2020 By Joseph Hostetler

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If you’re not in the habit of booking last-minute flights, you may not even know about this fee. For many of us, this change in AA’s policy will save us hundreds.

In short, if you book an American Airlines award flight within 21 days of departure, you’d be charged an arbitrary $75 “close-in booking fee.” But beginning today, Jan. 15, 2020, American Airlines has officially axed this fee.

The AA award chart has moved to dynamic pricing, meaning the airline now charges whatever it wants for each flight. Because of this, we were anxious to see if AA would slightly increase its award price for tickets within 21 days (United Airlines began this practice after eliminating their close-in booking fees). After some research, I can’t find enough evidence to convict. Here’s a sample fare a couple days from now between Columbus and Burbank (it’s an Economy Web Special fare):

Insanely cheap, both in miles and taxes. Yesterday, this ticket would have cost 5,000 miles and $80.60 ($75 close-in booking fee + $5.60 in taxes).

Last-minute travelers like myself are ecstatic to see this fee disappear. It was price-gouging at its ugliest; airlines know you’re desperate if you’re booking at the eleventh hour. Many of us have used miles and points to make unexpected emergency trips more affordable, such as the death of a loved one. It’s nice to know American Airlines miles will once again be an ally for trips like these.

Let us know what you think of the change. And subscribe to our newsletter to stay on top of the ever-changing landscape of miles and points.

Featured image courtesy of Philip Pilosian/Shutterstock

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Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)

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