New Benefit for AAdvantage Elite Status Members. Dynamic Air Awards: Any Seat, Any Time, in the Lower 48 for Fewer Miles
All AAdvantage members can book an AAdvantage AAnytime award, which allows them to redeem miles for any available seat, at any time, but at twice the number of miles as the lowest MileSAAver award.
Purchasing a ticket at the last minute can be expensive, especially if you’re within the 7 day advance purchase window, so despite the higher cost in AAdvantage miles, the flexibility of an AAnytime award can save you a lot of money.
Now American Airlines is introducing a new benefit for their most frequent flyers: Dynamic Air Awards.
Basically it allows those with AAdvantage elite status to book any coach seat, any time, for travel in the lower 48 states for fewer miles than an AAdvantage AAnytime award. This includes one-way awards.
Here’s how it’s described at AA.com:
AAdvantage elite status members have exclusive access to a new flight redemption option with Dynamic Air awards. You can now use your miles to book any Economy Class seat for travel within the U.S. for fewer miles than what’s required for an AAnytime award
American Airlines is pleased to offer this product in celebration of the 30th anniversary of the AAdvantage program. Dynamic Air awards are available to you in addition to MileSAAver and AAnytime awards, so you now have more options and flexibility when redeeming miles for air travel.
The number of miles required to claim a Dynamic Air award varies, it depends upon when and where you’re flying and the fare.
For example, a Dynamic Air award for round-trip travel this weekend from Dallas to New York will cost 46K AAdvantage miles (4K fewer than an AAnytime award), but that same trip will only cost 34K AAdvantage miles in October.
I was able search the Dynamic Air award site and find round-trip awards for as few as 20K miles to some destinations, and as much as 46K to others; so the savings can be as little as 4 thousand miles or as much as 30 thousand AAdvantage miles. Here are the results from some of my sample searches:
DFW – New York LGA
Travel 8/5 – 8/8
Fare = $888
Dynamic Air award = 46K miles
Travel 10/28 – 10/31
Fare = $ 392
Dynamic Air award = 34K miles
DFW – Columbus, OH
Travel 8/5 – 8/8
Fare = $ 750
Dynamic Air award = 46K miles
Travel 10/28 – 10/31
Fare = $ 354
Dynamic Air award = 30K miles
DFW – Oklahoma City
Travel 8/5 – 8/8
Fare = $ 356
Dynamic Air award = 30K miles
Travel 10/28 – 10/31
Fare = $ 106
Dynamic Air award = 20K miles
DFW – Lubbock, TX
Travel 8/5 – 8/8
Fare = $ 360
Dynamic Air award = 34K miles
Travel 10/28 – 10/31
Fare = $ 192
Dynamic Air award = 22K miles
DFW – Los Angeles
Travel 8/5 – 8/8
Fare = $ 768
Dynamic Air award = 46K miles
Travel 10/28 – 10/31
Fare = $ 281
Dynamic Air award = 26K miles
For the record, these search results are for information purposes only. I’m not suggesting that it’s a good use of your miles to redeem 22K AAdvantage miles for an otherwise $192 fare (insert Lubbock joke here;) .
With mileage costs as low as 20K to some cities (mostly those offered at sub $200 fares), Dynamic Air tickets can be a better deal than even 25K MileSAAver awards.
I know I sound like a fAAnboy, but I think this is a nice enhancement to the AAdvantage program and great way for American to provide some extra value to their best customers.
This a worthless perk…No one in their right mind is going to use 20K miles on a $106 ticket or 46K on a $900 coach ticket (especially when you can fly o/w biz to europe for 4K more miles). Flyertalk members seem to agree.
While I see your point, my view is a little less black and white. It seems to me that whether or not it’s a good value is situational with respect to the number of miles required to redeem a Dynamic Air award, the availability of other award options (U and T awards), and the amount of money you would otherwise have to spend on a fare. It doesn’t rank up there with double miles or waived baggage fees, but I think it’s a good perk in that it’s nice to have it as an option.
I read through this thread on FlyerTalk, and while the discussion is as lively as always, I would say that the reviews were mixed, rather than decidedly negative or positive. But then the closest thing to an overwhelming consensus in the AAdvantage forum is 51% agreement, so you may be right:-)
Thanks for starting a discussion.