AAdvantage is one of the world’s largest, most reputable frequent flyer programs. In April 2023, the AAdvantage Award Chart was simplified, reducing the number of award zones from 10 to just 4.

In addition, the new award chart is dynamic, making it harder to find good award redemptions, but hey, we are here to help. In this post, we’ll show you how to find AAdvantage award flights in no time using AwardFares, the world’s fastest award flight search engine.

Let’s get started!

In this post

What is AAdvantage?

AAdvantage is the frequent flyer program of American Airlines. It is one of the oldest and most popular frequent flyer programs in the world. AAdvantage members earn miles for flying on American Airlines and its partner airlines, as well as for using AAdvantage credit cards, making purchases with AAdvantage partners, and completing other activities. Miles can be redeemed for flights, upgrades, hotel stays, rental cars, and other rewards.

Why AAdvantage? (AAdvantage vs. other frequent flyer programs)

AAdvantage is heavily North America-centric, but there are many reasons why you might choose AAdvantage over other frequent flyer programs in general, no matter where you are located.

Here are a few of the most important ones. Spoiler alert: the AAdvantage shopping portal and the possibility to upgrade status through purchases are some of our favorite ones at AwardFares.

  • A huge network of partners. AAdvantage is a member of the OneWorld alliance, which gives you access to a wide range of airlines and destinations. You can earn and redeem miles on American Airlines, as well as on other OneWorld airlines like British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Qantas.
  • Many ways to earn miles. You can earn AAdvantage miles for flying on American Airlines and its partner airlines, as well as for using AAdvantage credit cards, making purchases with AAdvantage partners, and completing other activities. This makes it easy to earn miles even if you don’t fly very often.
  • Flexibility to redeem miles. You can redeem AAdvantage miles for flights, upgrades, hotel stays, rental cars, and other rewards. This gives you a lot of flexibility when it comes to using your miles.
  • Elite status levels. AAdvantage offers a variety of elite status levels, each with its own set of benefits. This means that you can earn more benefits as you fly more often.
  • A good customer service reputation. AAdvantage has a good reputation for customer service.

How to find AAdvantage Awards using AwardFares (Step-by-step)

1. Go to the AwardFares website and create an account

Create a new AwardFares account.

You will receive an activation link via email.

2. Select Frequent Flyer Program

In the Frequent Flyer Program picker, select AAdvantage.

Select AAdvantage in AwardFares Frequent Flyer Program Picker.

3. Select the route(s)

In the From and To fields, enter your departure and arrival airports.

Optional: you can also perform broad searches from an entire area, region, or metropolitan area (like a city, NYC)

Select the origin and destination city in AwardFares.

4. Add travel dates (optional)

If you know your travel dates, try adding them to the search field. You can also use the Timeline view to see flights available on different dates.

Select the desired date in AwardFares.

Once selected, AwardFares will start searching for available flights for that date, and will display them in a list below.

Search results for award flights on AwardFares (List View).

Alternatively, if you don’t have a set travel date, you can select the Timeline View to explore the availability for multiple days simultaneously. The bars show different classes in different colors.

Search results for award flights on AwardFares (Timeline View).

5. Add more filters (optional)

Try filtering out by cabin class (e.g. Business Class, First Class) or number of stops (e.g. nonstop)

Here’s an example of adding a cabin filter to only display Business Class flights:

Filtering results by cabin type in AwardFares.

And here’s another example of adding a filter by airline to only displays flights operated by American Airlines.

Select the origin and destination city in AwardFares.

Similarly, you can filter by number of stops, aircraft equipment, flight number, minimum number of passengers, and more!

6. That’s it!

That’s it! Pretty easy, huh? With only a few clicks, you can see AAdvantage’s inventory on both American Airlines as well as partner airlines.

With our premium features on Gold and Diamond, you can also set up alerts to get notified when a certain route or flight gets opened, as well as check seat maps, flight schedules, and more.

Why AwardFares is the easiest way to Find AAdvantage Award Flights?

AwardFares is the world’s fastest search engine for award flights, and it works on multiple frequent flyer programs at once! It makes it super easy to find award flights in seconds, without having to do manual searches on American Airlines website.

Here’s why you should try AwardFares

  1. It is free to use. You can use AwardFares to search for award availability without having to create an account or pay a fee. You can upgrade to get more features, such as monitoring and alerts, or higher search limits.
  2. It is easy to use. Our interface is modern and simple, it makes it easy to find award availability and understand the results. You can enter your departure and arrival airports, your travel dates, and your class of service, and AwardFares will display a list of flights that are available for award redemption on AAdvantage.
  3. It is comprehensive. AwardFares searches for award availability on all of American Airlines’ partner airlines too! This means that you can find award flights on a wider range of airlines than you would if you were only searching on the American Airlines website.
  4. It is up-to-date. AwardFares updates its database of award availability regularly. This means that you can be sure that the information you see is accurate.

AAdvantage Award Chart (Updated)

On American Airlines

American Airlines AAdvantage award chart was simplified in April 2023, with the number of award zones reduced from 10 to 4. The new award chart is dynamic, meaning that the number of miles required to book an award flight can vary depending on the time of year, the day of the week, and the availability of seats.

The new award chart is as follows:

  • North America
    • 7,500 miles for a one-way award in economy
    • 12,500 miles for a one-way award in business class
    • 22,500 miles for a one-way award in first class
  • Latin America and the Caribbean
    • 12,500 miles for a one-way award in economy
    • 17,500 miles for a one-way award in business class
    • 27,500 miles for a one-way award in first class
  • Europe
    • 15,000 miles for a one-way award in economy
    • 20,000 miles for a one-way award in business class
    • 30,000 miles for a one-way award in first class
  • Asia, Africa, and Oceania
    • 20,000 miles for a one-way award in economy
    • 25,000 miles for a one-way award in business class
    • 35,000 miles for a one-way award in first class

There are a few exceptions to the above award prices. For example, awards to Hawaii start at 12,500 miles in economy, and awards to Alaska start at 15,000 miles in economy.

Award prices can also vary depending on the time of year. For example, awards to Europe are typically more expensive during the peak travel season (June through August).

On Partner Airlines

We briefly mentioned the wide range of AAdvantage partner airlines above, but the number of miles required to book an award flight on a partner airline will vary depending on the airline, the cabin of service, and the distance of the flight.

Here is a summary of the number of miles required to book an award flight on some of American Airlines’ partner airlines:

  • British Airways
    • Economy: 7,500 miles one-way
    • Business: 12,500 miles one-way
    • First: 22,500 miles one-way
  • Cathay Pacific
    • Economy: 12,500 miles one-way
    • Business: 17,500 miles one-way
    • First: 27,500 miles one-way
  • Finnair
    • Economy: 12,500 miles one-way
    • Business: 17,500 miles one-way
    • First: 27,500 miles one-way
  • Iberia
    • Economy: 7,500 miles one-way
    • Business: 12,500 miles one-way
    • First: 22,500 miles one-way
  • Japan Airlines
    • Economy: 15,000 miles one-way
    • Business: 20,000 miles one-way
    • First: 30,000 miles one-way
  • Malaysia Airlines
    • Economy: 12,500 miles one-way
    • Business: 17,500 miles one-way
    • First: 27,500 miles one-way
  • Qantas
    • Economy: 15,000 miles one-way
    • Business: 20,000 miles one-way
    • First: 30,000 miles one-way
  • Qatar Airways
    • Economy: 15,000 miles one-way
    • Business: 20,000 miles one-way
    • First: 30,000 miles one-way
  • Royal Air Maroc
    • Economy: 12,500 miles one-way
    • Business: 17,500 miles one-way
    • First: 27,500 miles one-way
  • Royal Jordanian Airlines
    • Economy: 12,500 miles one-way
    • Business: 17,500 miles one-way
    • First: 27,500 miles one-way
  • SriLankan Airlines
    • Economy: 12,500 miles one-way
    • Business: 17,500 miles one-way
    • First: 27,500 miles one-way

Learn More

Check out this post with the Best AAdvantage Redemptions.

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