American Airlines has an ongoing promotion for reduced mileage award for flights within the U.S. and Canada that is exclusively for the airline’s credit card holders. The reduced mileage amount is based on what type of American Airlines’s credit card you are holding. This does not only work with economy class, but also works with business and first classes. Below I’ll talk more about this promotion and show you how to book an award ticket using the discount code that’s available for this reduced mileage award promotion.
Step 0. Are you an American Airlines’ credit card holder? If you are not, you cannot take Advantage of this promotion.
Step 1. Determine what kind of American Airlines’ credit card you have because the amount of miles saving is based upon the type of credit card you are holding and the distance you are flying. See below:
Whether it is economy class or business class, holders of the following AA’s credit cards get 7,500 mile discount on a round-trip award ticket if the flight’s distance is more than 500 miles, and 2,000 mile discount on a round-trip award ticket if the flight’s distance is 500 miles or less.
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ MasterCard®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® Visa®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® MasterCard®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® American Express®
- CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Select Visa®
- CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Select MasterCard®
- CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® MasterCard®
- AAdvantage® Aviator® Silver World Elite MasterCard®
- AAdvantage® Aviator® Red MasterCard®
- AAdvantage® Aviator® Business MasterCard®
Holders of the following AA’s credit cards get 5,000 mile discount on a round-trip award ticket if the flight’s distance is more than 500 miles, and 1,000 mile discount on a round-trip award ticket if the flight’s distance is 500 miles or less.
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Gold American Express®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Gold Visa®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Gold MasterCard®
- AAdvantage® Aviator® Blue MasterCard®
Please note that the discount is based on a round-trip award ticket; however, it is possible to book a one-way ticket and you will just need to divide the mileage discount in half. For example, if you are eligible for the 7,500 miles discount and you book a one-way ticket in economy class, your discount will be 3,750 miles.
Step 3. American Airlines releases the eligible destinations a few months in advance. The destination airport that you are flying to need to be on the list corresponding with the eligible month. Keep in mind that although I said destination airport, it is possible also to fly out of that destination airport. For example, at the time of this writing, Atlanta (ATL) airport is on the destination list, you are eligible to get the mileage discount whether you are flying into ATL or out of ATL. As you go through the list, keep in mind that besides round-trip, one-way is possible and two one-ways are also possible.
The complete list of the eligible airports and months can be found here. The list will be updated a few month in advance by American Airlines.
Step 4. Head over to AA.com, sign into your account and search for the flight using miles. The date and airport (origin or destination) need to correspond with the list that American Airlines offers in Step #3.
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| Search AA.com for Award Availabitliy |
Step 5. Once the award calendar shows the availability, MileSSAver in green for economy and in blue for business/first are the ones that you want. If nothing shows under the MileSSAver, you cannot book via this promotion. The AAnytime ones are not eligible.
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| You Want the MileSSAver ones |
Step 6. After you know what flight and date that you want, the next step is to get the discount code that corresponds with the mileage discount based on your AA’s credit card that you are eligible for.
- Flights within the U.S. (more than 500 miles) 7,500 mile discount award codes
- First Class (2-cabin aircraft) – UD21X2D / AVM05
- Business Class (3-cabin aircraft) – UD28X7D / AVA67
- Main Cabin – TD8X7D / AVM04
- Flights within the U.S. (more than 500 miles) 5,000 mile discount award codes
- First Class (2-cabin aircraft) – UD22X5D / AVM03
- Business Class (3-cabin aircraft) – UD30D / AVA61
- Main Cabin – TD10D / AVM02
- Flights within the U.S. & Canada (500 miles or less) 2,000 mile discount award codes
- First Class (2-cabin aircraft) – UD14D / AVA72
- Main Cabin – TD6X5D / AVA71
- Flights within the U.S. & Canada (500 miles or less) 1,000 mile discount award codes
- First Class (2-cabin aircraft) – UD14X5D / AVA66
- Main Cabin – TD7D / AVA65
- Flights to / from Canada 7,500 mile discount award codes
- First Class (2-cabin aircraft) – UD26X2D / AVA69
- Business Class (3-cabin aircraft) – UD33X7D / AVA70
- Main Cabin – TD11X2D / AVA68
- Flights to / from Canada 5,000 mile discount award codes
- First Class (2-cabin aircraft) – UD27X5D / AVA63
- Business Class (3-cabin aircraft) – UD35D / AVA64
- Main Cabin – TD12X5D / AVA62
Step 7. Currently it is not possible to book this promotion online. You must call this number 1-800-882-8880 to book. Feed the agent with the origin and destination along with the date that you saw MileSSAver is available. After she confirmed it’s available as well, let her know that you have the discount code for the reduced mileage award because of the AA’s credit card you hold or however you word it. Through my experience, the TD code is sufficient.
Step 8. The agent will go through some questions with you to check your eligibility. There’s no need to worry about this. If you are a real person, you will pass those questions with flying colors!
Step 9. The agent will go over with you on miles requires after the discount and all the fees involved. Keep in mind with the flowing fees:
- Award ticket has tax and fees: U.S. – $5.60 per one-way trip and Canada – up to $124.
- Some incompetent agent might want to charge you for $35 booking fee on the phone, simply remind him/her that you can’t book this online and thus the booking fee via phone is waived.
- Finally, there’s a a $75 fee for award tickets booked less than 21 days before the departure. So plan accordingly to avoid this unnecessary charge.
Want to hold award ticket? It is possible to hold award ticket with American Airlines up to 5 days, but the agent can only hold the ticket under the normal 12,500 miles one-way for economy and 25,000 miles one-way for business. All you will need to do is call back before the hold expires to provide the discount code again. The reason behind that is because American Airlines agent needs to verify you and check your eligibility. It’s just a standard procedure.
Run into issues with AA agent that can’t help with any of your request after reading all these steps? For instance, she might say that you cannot originate from the airport on the list, remain courteous and simply thank her then hang up the phone. Call back and talk to the next agent.
