anat0l
Enthusiast
- Joined
- Dec 30, 2006
- Posts
- 11,564
With US DM soon to meet its merger-maker, I was preparing a small info sheet for some of my family and friends who have considered US DM but now may have to move to AA with their cache of US DM miles. (It's easier to give them the sheet than explaining to all of them - one at a time - what they can and can't do). As part of this, I put up an indicative cost (based on miles purchased) of itineraries to and from places.
I'm not sure if it's useful to anyone else, but I thought I'd also post it here. Might be useful to get a better gauge of what you're up for if you've just come from US DM.
Now of course, the prices below aren't direct ticket prices. You can't look a price up, say, "OK, I've got this money. Here you go - give me a ticket." This is the indicative price to buy the miles required to get the award. Then you take your miles, book with AA, pay other fees and taxes, and there's your ticket. One should also note that unlike US, AA imposes limits on the number of miles you can purchase per calendar year. It could take you years to accumulate the required mileage. Sweeping over miles to AA via SPG etc. of course isn't factored into any of the prices below: these are just pure buy miles prices.
AA and US certainly have different programmes with different rules and racking up points in each one is quite different in a way. One interesting feature of AA (indeed, oneworld airline FFPs) are the oneworld distance-based awards. I've also included their costs here.
Finally, sorry about the tables below. I don't use the rich text or WYSIWYG editor on AFF, and I've forgotten the BB code for adding borders (it is a CSS class / style declaration that I can't remember). But, below should be readable enough.
Nota bene:!::!::!:
Methodology of calculating prices is based on 2.00972 US cents per mile, which is what you would've paid based on AA's 2012 Christmas period promotion (buy and get 50% more; annual purchase limit lifted to 60k). This unit cost includes the sales taxes associated with mileage purchase. The cost of ancillary taxes, fees and surcharges based on itineraries are, of course, not included in prices below. Prices are in US Dollars ($), rounded to nearest whole dollar.
General AA All-Partner Awards (zone based)
Prices based on return journey with direct travel between zones. One-way travel is half the indicated cost.
The table has been abridged for sake of brevity and ease of understanding for non-FF / seasoned travellers. For more precise definitions and the full table, consult the AAdvantage website.
oneworld Explorer Awards
Award price is based on total distance travelled in statute miles (GCM is a good enough proxy for this, I'd suppose).
I'm not sure if it's useful to anyone else, but I thought I'd also post it here. Might be useful to get a better gauge of what you're up for if you've just come from US DM.
Now of course, the prices below aren't direct ticket prices. You can't look a price up, say, "OK, I've got this money. Here you go - give me a ticket." This is the indicative price to buy the miles required to get the award. Then you take your miles, book with AA, pay other fees and taxes, and there's your ticket. One should also note that unlike US, AA imposes limits on the number of miles you can purchase per calendar year. It could take you years to accumulate the required mileage. Sweeping over miles to AA via SPG etc. of course isn't factored into any of the prices below: these are just pure buy miles prices.
AA and US certainly have different programmes with different rules and racking up points in each one is quite different in a way. One interesting feature of AA (indeed, oneworld airline FFPs) are the oneworld distance-based awards. I've also included their costs here.
Finally, sorry about the tables below. I don't use the rich text or WYSIWYG editor on AFF, and I've forgotten the BB code for adding borders (it is a CSS class / style declaration that I can't remember). But, below should be readable enough.
Nota bene:!::!::!:
Methodology of calculating prices is based on 2.00972 US cents per mile, which is what you would've paid based on AA's 2012 Christmas period promotion (buy and get 50% more; annual purchase limit lifted to 60k). This unit cost includes the sales taxes associated with mileage purchase. The cost of ancillary taxes, fees and surcharges based on itineraries are, of course, not included in prices below. Prices are in US Dollars ($), rounded to nearest whole dollar.
General AA All-Partner Awards (zone based)
Prices based on return journey with direct travel between zones. One-way travel is half the indicated cost.
The table has been abridged for sake of brevity and ease of understanding for non-FF / seasoned travellers. For more precise definitions and the full table, consult the AAdvantage website.
| Destination Zone (Origin: Australia / South Pacific) | Business | First |
| North America (including Hawaii and Alaska) | $2,512 | $2,914 |
| North Asia (Japan, Korea, Mongolia) | $1,809 | $2,412 |
| Rest of Asia (including China; excluding India, CIS and Middle East) | $1,407 | $1,809 |
| Europe | $2,412 | $3,216 |
| Central America and northern South America | $2,613 | $3,015 |
| Rest of South America (does not include Easter Island) | $2,010 | $3,015 |
| Africa | $2,010 | $3,015 |
| Oceania (including Easter Island) | $1,203 | $1,708 |
| Australia domestic and New Zealand | $703 | N/A |
oneworld Explorer Awards
Award price is based on total distance travelled in statute miles (GCM is a good enough proxy for this, I'd suppose).
| Award Zone | Distance band (miles) | Economy | Business | First |
| 1 | 0 - 1,500 | $603 | $1,206 | $1,608 |
| 2 | 1,501 - 4,000 | $703 | $1,507 | $2,010 |
| 3 | 4,001 - 9,000 | $1,206 | $1,608 | $2,010 |
| 4 | 9,001 - 10,000 | $1,407 | $1,809 | $2,412 |
| 5 | 10,001 - 14,000 | $1,809 | $2,311 | $3,015 |
| 6 | 14,001 - 20,000 | $2,010 | $2,613 | $3,618 |
| 7 | 20,001 - 25,000 | $2,412 | $3,015 | $4,622 |
| 8 | 25,001 - 35,000 | $2,814 | $3,818 | $5,627 |
| 9 | 35,001 - 50,000 | $3,216 | $4,421 | $6,632 |
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will do that
