AA Points, is it worth it ?

[johnstra]

Hi All,


Do you still see it as viable to purchase AA points at this stage if was planning to travel from Melbourne to LAX or Las Vagas to a conference in November of next year ?
I am hoping to travel Business class and I have 320000 QFF points in stock.
I would appreciate your input
Does anyone have any suggestions ?
Regards
Ross

 

[ChasingDaylight]

If I was you, I'd be making sure that I can get the flights I want/can work with before purchasing points.

 

[johnstra]

Ok thanks,
yes I am unsure how this works, but I guess see what flights are available say on Qantas and then do I click on points and pay?

I will see what is available and you might be able to advise.
kind regards
Ross

 

[RooFlyer]

If you purchase AA miles, you can only redeem them for an AAward seat via the AAdvantage frequent flyer program of American Airlines (the seat could be redeemed on the Qantas or American Airlines flights). You can't combine AA miles with your QFF points.

Assuming you buy enough miles, then there has to be a seat available for you to purchase. It should be visible on the AA web site by now (you have to be a member of AAdvantage), for next November if it is.

To see if its financially worth while, just convert the A$ cost of buying enough miles (and be aware the cost of AAward seats is going up as of next March!!) and compare it to the regular or sale cost of the same ticket, which you can search on line. Personally, I don't think it very good value, due to the current FX but you might come out in front.

Edit: if you are not already a member of AAdvantage, joint today! There is a qualifying period between when you join and when you can purchase .. it might be a week or 10 days.

 

[johnstra]

Thanks for your reply,
yes I am a member of AA, yes you are right, by the time I convert into USD , it may be worth while.
The first point of call is to see if I can get flights in November on either AA or Qantas and then see if there is a $$ saving.
thanks again for your reply, I will see how I go
Regards
Ross

 

[JohnK]

Value of points is relative.

You have more than enough QFF points for the award you want. Have you checked availability for the dates of travel?

 

[johnstra]

Hi,
thanks for your reply,
yes I dis have a look on Qantas but it said to travel business to LA return, I would require something like 800000 points?
i must be doing something wrong, any ideas
Regards
Ross

 

[andye]

You are looking at the number of points foa an Any Seat Award (nearly always available, invariably poor value). You would need a Classic award, a much less common thing especially Au-US in J

 

[magnacartic]

Hi Ross,

Question: Is this trip tax deductible? It would be silly to use available miles on a trip that would be tax-deductible. I'm no accountant, but from my understanding, you should have to use the miles in the same tax year if you're planning to claim purchased miles for the award trip as a business expense.

Just throwing in an idea: It may be worthwhile to just purchase an economy ticket and just use miles to upgrade, since AA started the SYD-LAX + AKL-LAX routes and I've seen ticket prices as low as $700.

 

[anabolism]

One thing to note is that all AA awards are one-way, so one option might be to use AA in one direction, and QF points in the other. Also, AA miles can be used for award flights on all AA partners, including AA, QF, BA, CX, JL, QR, EY, etc. So, if you can't find an award seat on an AA or QF flight, you might be able to find seats on connecting flights. Most connections between Australia and the U.S. require two awards, though, which costs more.

I also think magnacartic's suggestion of buying a seat and using miles to upgrade is worth considering. You'll have to pay a cash surcharge in addition to the miles, but if you can find a flight with available upgrade space, you can confirm the upgrade immediately.

 

[Oxy]

What is the reason you are purchasing miles? You already have enough qantas ones for the trip you are after. The biggest hurdle you will face is availability, especially with set conference dates to meet. If you don't see a classic reward seat on qantas, you won't see one on aa either. You could do points plus pay which is a ridiculous amount as you found out., and aa have a similar option on their site which is not quite as horrendous as on qf.

Your stash of qantas points would be enough for going via hkg with cx, where availability is better as a plan b.

Don't forget for the upgrade to come through is a long shot also, depending on a number of factors.

 

[Limewood]

You might be able to snag award seats via QF on new AA AUK to LAX.

 

[grussellt]

As much as a trip via Alaska would be interesting I think it would be preferable to start in AKL.

 

[Limewood]

yes meant AKL of course