I love that AA is arguably the worst major airline in the US, yet somehow the best award point redemption option. Really tells you the state of the airline industry in 2023! Wouldn't fly AA personally but considering some of their cards now because those OneWorld redemptions are fabulous
Thank you Greg and Nick for sharing the vast knowledge everytime! I do wish there was a list of flights and hotels to look for award stays. For eg: If I am planning to visit Florida, if there were data points on good hotels and flights, then the search narrows down and helps the community as a whole!!
always something to wait for on a Saturday morning. My first major redemption was also AA miles to fly JAL first class to Tokyo then business class to Vietnam.
I'd agree with the nonhub value I recently redeemed 18k miles for a flight from Bakersfield California to Jacksonville Florida. Flight is typically 550-650 dollars usually.
Hey Guys love the content! Thanks for the videos! Just felt I needed to chime in Chess sets aside LOL Using points for less the optimum value is still not a bad thing if it allows you to not have to spend money you didn’t want to for travel! Free travel regardless if it’s luxury or standard flights, hotels, etc… is why I got into the game. I would rather keep my money earning me money then having to shell it out for a trip. Just saying! Thanks again have a great day
I understand your point, but I think you have to be careful. If you're accepting sub-premium value for your points, you really need to consider whether you're not shelling out money in opportunity cost. For instance, if you're earning 2x miles on a purchase and then you're redeeming those miles at 1c each for a "free" trip, but you could have otherwise earned 2.62% back, then your trip isn't free. You could have used the cash back card, paid for the trip, and had money left over to invest, etc. Using miles poorly in a sense creates a hidden cost in that way. If I earned 100,000 points at 2x ($50K spend) and redeemed them for a "free" trip that would have cost $1,000, even though I didn't dip into my bank account to pay for the trip, I gave up the chance to earn $1,332.50 in cash back in order to earn those miles. I could have earned cash back and paid the $1,000 for the trip *and had an extra $332.50 invested*. In that sense, I think it is dangerous to say that using points for less than optimum value is OK as long as it helps to avoid spending money. That mindset covers up the cost. Now let's imagine you redeemed at only half a cent each because you wanted to take a trip but didn't want to spend money on it - now you're at $500 in value and you could have had enough cash back to pay for that trip two and a half times over. Obviously there are a million factors - maybe cash is tight and you really need a vacation, etc - but don't slip down the chess set slope as a habit. Nothing at all wrong with redeeming for non-luxury, I just try to be intentional about how I redeem so as not to negate the effort I put into earning by accepting poor value. Let me be clear: defining value is difficult (the classic "how much is my business class flight redemption worth" conundrum), but I don't want to throw away points just to make it feel like I got a "free" trip. -Nick
@@frequent-miler Nick, thanks for your reply! I appreciate your insight and I think 🤔 you are absolutely correct if maybe you fall into a certain category of traveler 🧳 somebody like your self maybe who has been in the hobby for a while and also someone who is consistently traveling all the time. I think where the pit fall is it’s going as deep as you did with the points you brought up. I think you run the risk of maybe alienating newcomers or making others feel like there is a wrong way to engage in this hobby. Deferring to one example you made, I myself could not get the 2.62% back simply because I do not currently have any Bank of America cards nor would I park a large amount of money into one of their accounts, which currently has an abysmal interest-rate simply to get back 2.62% on a credit card. My travel style is primarily domestic trips maybe 2-4 time a year. I also have very modest tastes in regards to where I stay. I have a mix of high annual fee cards and no no annual fee cards. Even though I have means I have learned it is always best to strive for value over flash. Not saying I don’t splurge as well it’s just I I guess I see my points differently then you see yours. I mentioned before when I discovered this hobby I very much liked the idea that I could travel for almost free . And I guess I have applied that in the broadest sense of my travel goals. So I use points first and foremost even if the redemption wouldn’t be considered premium. Not saying I don’t have some minimums in place because I do but at the end of the day I would rather use points for everything I can and keep the US dollars around because whether at home or away I can’t walk into a restaurant or a grocery store, or a retail shop and purchase something with just my MR or UR or thank you points. I still at the end of the day prioritize dollars bills higher than points. Thanks again for this dialogue. I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Also, if you honestly think that I’m missing something, please feel free to enlighten me. Hope you had a blessed thanksgiving.
I’m surprised you didn’t mention the promotion that you had to register by 11/6 to earn 1 additional advantage mile and loyalty point per $1 spent for the month of November
Didn't think of that, but keep in mind that it's only an extra point per dollar spent *on American Airlines purchases*. Not bad if you're booking flights and would do it on that card ordinarily, but that wouldn't be enough to entice me not to use a card that offers travel protections. -Nick
I haven't seen any QR award availability using AA miles in quite some time. Nothing on the horizon for 2024 yet either. Hopefully this is a glitch or other issue that gets resolved soon.
Been AA EXP since Hyatt integration. One thing noticed about award redemptions past few weeks - I usually book SBA - DFW - XXX flights for parents as both live in SBA and easier to depart from home airport rather than airbus to LAX. Used to be able to book layover award tickets, ie SBA - DFW (layover) - XXX however suddenly it’s impossible to find any layover award travel. Did AA change their award availability? Also noticed that for smaller/regional airport award searches AA recommends more and more hub tickets and no offers for the smaller airports. IE I search for SBA flights and it returns ONLY LAX/BUR flight options wtf? Or SJU and it offers STT instead? So strange…
I love that AA is arguably the worst major airline in the US, yet somehow the best award point redemption option. Really tells you the state of the airline industry in 2023! Wouldn't fly AA personally but considering some of their cards now because those OneWorld redemptions are fabulous
Thank you Greg and Nick for sharing the vast knowledge everytime!
I do wish there was a list of flights and hotels to look for award stays. For eg: If I am planning to visit Florida, if there were data points on good hotels and flights, then the search narrows down and helps the community as a whole!!
Great episode, thanks! I recently started focusing on AA miles as I've realized they and their partners go everywhere I want to go
Thanks for the great info!!!
always something to wait for on a Saturday morning. My first major redemption was also AA miles to fly JAL first class to Tokyo then business class to Vietnam.
How was Vietnam? Any must see places?
I'm in Thailand 3 weeks, and thinking of Vietnam vs. Malaysia after
I'd agree with the nonhub value I recently redeemed 18k miles for a flight from Bakersfield California to Jacksonville Florida. Flight is typically 550-650 dollars usually.
Hey Guys love the content! Thanks for the videos! Just felt I needed to chime in Chess sets aside LOL Using points for less the optimum value is still not a bad thing if it allows you to not have to spend money you didn’t want to for travel! Free travel regardless if it’s luxury or standard flights, hotels, etc… is why I got into the game. I would rather keep my money earning me money then having to shell it out for a trip. Just saying! Thanks again have a great day
I understand your point, but I think you have to be careful. If you're accepting sub-premium value for your points, you really need to consider whether you're not shelling out money in opportunity cost. For instance, if you're earning 2x miles on a purchase and then you're redeeming those miles at 1c each for a "free" trip, but you could have otherwise earned 2.62% back, then your trip isn't free. You could have used the cash back card, paid for the trip, and had money left over to invest, etc. Using miles poorly in a sense creates a hidden cost in that way. If I earned 100,000 points at 2x ($50K spend) and redeemed them for a "free" trip that would have cost $1,000, even though I didn't dip into my bank account to pay for the trip, I gave up the chance to earn $1,332.50 in cash back in order to earn those miles. I could have earned cash back and paid the $1,000 for the trip *and had an extra $332.50 invested*. In that sense, I think it is dangerous to say that using points for less than optimum value is OK as long as it helps to avoid spending money. That mindset covers up the cost. Now let's imagine you redeemed at only half a cent each because you wanted to take a trip but didn't want to spend money on it - now you're at $500 in value and you could have had enough cash back to pay for that trip two and a half times over. Obviously there are a million factors - maybe cash is tight and you really need a vacation, etc - but don't slip down the chess set slope as a habit.
Nothing at all wrong with redeeming for non-luxury, I just try to be intentional about how I redeem so as not to negate the effort I put into earning by accepting poor value. Let me be clear: defining value is difficult (the classic "how much is my business class flight redemption worth" conundrum), but I don't want to throw away points just to make it feel like I got a "free" trip.
-Nick
@@frequent-miler Nick, thanks for your reply! I appreciate your insight and I think 🤔 you are absolutely correct if maybe you fall into a certain category of traveler 🧳 somebody like your self maybe who has been in the hobby for a while and also someone who is consistently traveling all the time. I think where the pit fall is it’s going as deep as you did with the points you brought up. I think you run the risk of maybe alienating newcomers or making others feel like there is a wrong way to engage in this hobby. Deferring to one example you made, I myself could not get the 2.62% back simply because I do not currently have any Bank of America cards nor would I park a large amount of money into one of their accounts, which currently has an abysmal interest-rate simply to get back 2.62% on a credit card. My travel style is primarily domestic trips maybe 2-4 time a year. I also have very modest tastes in regards to where I stay. I have a mix of high annual fee cards and no no annual fee cards. Even though I have means I have learned it is always best to strive for value over flash. Not saying I don’t splurge as well it’s just I I guess I see my points differently then you see yours. I mentioned before when I discovered this hobby I very much liked the idea that I could travel for almost free . And I guess I have applied that in the broadest sense of my travel goals. So I use points first and foremost even if the redemption wouldn’t be considered premium. Not saying I don’t have some minimums in place because I do but at the end of the day I would rather use points for everything I can and keep the US dollars around because whether at home or away I can’t walk into a restaurant or a grocery store, or a retail shop and purchase something with just my MR or UR or thank you points. I still at the end of the day prioritize dollars bills higher than points. Thanks again for this dialogue. I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Also, if you honestly think that I’m missing something, please feel free to enlighten me. Hope you had a blessed thanksgiving.
Thank you guys again🤗❤️
I too was approved for a Citi AA, unaware the rule was 48 months, not 24, made the spend, and did not receive the SUB
I’m surprised you didn’t mention the promotion that you had to register by 11/6 to earn 1 additional advantage mile and loyalty point per $1 spent for the month of November
Didn't think of that, but keep in mind that it's only an extra point per dollar spent *on American Airlines purchases*. Not bad if you're booking flights and would do it on that card ordinarily, but that wouldn't be enough to entice me not to use a card that offers travel protections.
-Nick
I haven't seen any QR award availability using AA miles in quite some time. Nothing on the horizon for 2024 yet either. Hopefully this is a glitch or other issue that gets resolved soon.
I imagine that you saw what happened on this front this week. There was wide open space for a day or two. Mostly got scooped up quickly!
-Nick
Great awards redemption value just hard to find availability
Been AA EXP since Hyatt integration. One thing noticed about award redemptions past few weeks - I usually book SBA - DFW - XXX flights for parents as both live in SBA and easier to depart from home airport rather than airbus to LAX. Used to be able to book layover award tickets, ie SBA - DFW (layover) - XXX however suddenly it’s impossible to find any layover award travel. Did AA change their award availability? Also noticed that for smaller/regional airport award searches AA recommends more and more hub tickets and no offers for the smaller airports. IE I search for SBA flights and it returns ONLY LAX/BUR flight options wtf? Or SJU and it offers STT instead? So strange…
Can you resell the Mr & Mrs Smith gift cards?
I just remembered US Bank will approve you for the Altitude Reserve and not give you the bonus as well.
wait what
Never heard of this. Can you explain more?
-Nick
Does any of this apply to domestic only travelers?
Sure. We talked about domestic travel.
-Nick
is there a Barclay's American Airlines referral bonus?
I searched all over and it seems like they only ever do referrals as targeted promos.