American Airlines (AA) miles are still one of the most popular airline currencies in the U.S. Honestly, it makes sense why. AA is a major U.S. airline. Its mileage program is familiar. Its partner list (aka friends list) looks exciting. When people start looking at partner award pricing on paper, AA seems like one of the best deals out there. That is exactly why so many families get pulled in.
The Shiny Objects
Sometimes, the value of AA miles really is there. I’ve seen things like Papeete, Tahiti (PPT) to Los Angeles (LAX) with 2 business class award seats at 80,000 miles per person, 4 premium economy class award seats at 65,000 per person and 2 economy class award seats at 40,000 per person This means eight people on the same plane.
We also redeemed 2 award seats from Rome via Doha to Hong Kong operated by Qatar Airways in business class + first class for 75,000 AA miles per person.
AA miles can absolutely still be useful on AA’s own flights too, including their newer business class suite on Boeing 787-9 routes between Dallas and Brisbane / Auckland.
So this is not a post about AA miles being bad. It’s a post about something more specific: AA miles can look amazing on paper, but that does not always make them the best tool for families booking premium class award seats to Asia during school breaks. That’s where people get stuck:
The Myth
Here’s the myth: If a program has a low award price for a partner flight, it must be the best way to book it.
A good award redemption rate only matters if the award seat is actually there when you need it. For families, that matters even more. Booking one seat is one thing. Booking three or more premium class seats on fixed school-break dates or fixed Paid Time Off (PTO) dates is a completely different game.
At that point, the real question is not just, How many award miles does this cost?
It’s this:
Will my family actually have access to those award seats when it’s time to book?
What Keeps Families Stuck With American Airlines
The first issue is timing.
AA award availability opens almost 30 days later than some of the frequent flyer programs it competes with. Think about programs like Cathay Pacific (their award calendar opens 360 days out), Japan Airlines (360 days), Finnair (360 days), and British Airways (355 days). That matters because premium cabin seats often get picked up as soon as they are released.
Related Reading: How To Prepare Winter Award Bookings
In my own experience every winter, business class and first class award seats can disappear almost immediately. Sometimes even economy class award availability goes fast.
- Related reading: How To Book Award Tickets During Peak Seasons: My Insider’s Strategy
So even if AA shows a great rate on paper like Japan Airlines business class at 60,000 miles one way per person, that award redemption rate may not help much if other programs had access four weeks earlier.
The second issue is award access.
Even though AA may have a good partner award redemption rate, airlines have become much more protective of their best award availability since COVID. More and more, they keep those seats for their own members. Take Cathay Pacific as an example. People still talk about the good old days of booking Cathay Pacific first class with Alaska Airlines award miles or finding more their business class award availability through partners. But those good old days are mostly gone. Now you rarely see Cathay Pacific business class award availability on the AA website, especially on the routes between Hong Kong and North America.
That’s where people get misled. They see that AA award miles can theoretically book Cathay Pacific or Japan Airlines because they’re both in Oneworld Alliance. In theory, yes. In practice, there are different levels of friendship. The real issue is not the published redemption rate. The real issue is whether those seats are actually flowing into AA’s system meaningfully for a family of three, four, five or six. That’s why AA can still look sweet and still feel frustrating in real life, especially during school breaks.
What Has Actually Changed
One thing I would update, though, is the earning side. For a long time, one of AA’s weaknesses was that it didn’t connect to a major flexible points ecosystem the way United Airlines and Delta Air Lines did. When people think of United Airlines, they think of Chase. When people think of Delta Air Lines, they think of Amex.That is no longer the cleanest critique.
AA is now much easier to earn than before. Between Citi AAdvantage co-branded cards and Citi ThankYou Rewards points -earning cards like Citi Strata Elite, Citi Strata Premier, and cards like Citi Double Cash, Citi Custom Cash, and no-annual-fee Citi Strata, there are now more ways to build toward AA award redemptions. So I would not say the big problem today is earning AA miles. I would frame it this way instead:
AA is easier to earn than before however that does not solve the booking problem.
For families, the bigger challenge is using them in a way that actually fits their travel style and family schedule.
Who AA Still Works For
AA still makes plenty of sense for some people. It can work well for travelers with flexible dates, people who often travel solo or as a pair, and travelers who redeem a lot of AA-operated flights from AA hubs. I still remember using 8,500 AA miles for a ticket home from Flagstaff to San Francisco that would have cost around $550 in cash. I also booked a self-care trip to Philadelphia for just 9,000 AA miles on AA metal. Those were real wins. Not to mention the 6 award tickets on AA business class from Dallas to Auckland, New Zealand.
AA also work well for people who naturally earn a lot of AA miles through co-branded cards, shopping portals, or hotel bookings specifically with Citi / AAdvantage Executive. So no, I would not write this as “don’t use AA.” I would write it this way: AA is useful. Just not as universally useful as people think.
What Families Should Do Instead?
If your real goal is a specific airline, the better question is not: Can AA theoretically book this?
The better question is:
Which program gives my family the best real-world chance of getting the seats we want during school breaks?
Sometimes that means the airline’s own program. Sometimes that means another program with a similar booking window or better award access.
- Take Japan as an example. If your goal is to grab award seats right when the calendar opens, the strategy is usually not to focus on AA first. The better move is to use programs that open at 360 or 355 days out, like Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Finnair, or British Airways.
- AA, on the other hand, can still be very useful later in the process. Because of its flexible cancellation policy, it can be a good program for holding something decent while you set alerts and wait for something better to open closer in. That’s especially true for last-minute releases. See below closer in from Hiroshima, Japan to Seattle / San Francisco.
The same logic applies elsewhere. If you’re looking at Europe, or flying to Asia on Finnair’s product for 2 and above, then Finnair’s own program, and even Cathay Pacific program may simply give you earlier and better access than AA.
Either way, the strategy is the same: Choose program based on award access, not just the lowest rate on an award chart.
Final Thought
AA miles still have value. But for families booking premium class award seats to Asia during school breaks, the biggest challenge is often not the mileage requirement. It’s whether the seats are there when your family needs them. That’s why AA miles can look great on paper and still leave families stuck.
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