AAdvantage sounds too good to be true

[heptinstall]

Hi everyone,

I'm chasing some advice on American Airlines points.

I have been a long time Qantas and Kris flyer member, however since Kris flyer have changed their redemption requirements I have been looking for a better deal.

Whilst researching American Airlines, it appears they seem to be significantly better value for points redemptions than any other airline I have come across.

The issue in Australia is that there are no credit cards that directly transfer to AAdvantage. That being said, with American Express you can transfer your Amex points into SPG starpoints at 1:0.5 ratio.

Then you can transfer your starpoints into AA points at 1:1 ratio and currently you get a bonus 5000pts for every 20,000pts transferred boosting the ratio to 1:1.25

Booking flights through AA using points seems to have a lot more availability than Qantas, with lower points and lower taxes seems too good to be true.

For example a First class return flight from Perth to London was;
336K points with QF and 225K with AA. Both using Emirates through Dubai.

Another perk AA offers is buying points. For example they currently have a bonus. Buy 150k points and get 100k bonus.
Buy 250,000 points (150k + 100k bonus) for $3982 is enough to buy the points required for First class flight PER to LHR which is a $10,000 saving if you where to book the same flights using cash through Qantas.

Does anyone have any experience in doing this, am I missing something or this is too good to be true?

 

[citrusb]

Booking flights through AA using points seems to have a lot more availability than Qantas, with lower points and lower taxes seems too good to be true.....

Just be aware of 'phantom availability' on AA for the route in question.....in my experience, searching through Qantas availability first and then checking through AA avoids the phantom disappointment...also watch the taxes and charges if AA gives available BA flights.. Another tip AA is 330 days out and many qantas awards have already snapped up by Qantas redemptions at 355 days or similar....

I thought AA on the Aus - LHR or similar had actually gotten harder....that said I have 2 x first Syd-LHR in Nov....

 

[Danger]

This thread - http://www.australianfrequentflyer....couple-questions-aadvantage-newbie-59133.html - is the best place to get the lowdown on AAdvantage.

 

[drron]

There was a time when I was one of AAs greatest fans here.No longer.It is still a good program but it has been devalued a lot in the last few years.
It is extremely difficult to get premium cabin awards on AA itself at sAAver prices therefore there are a horde of AA elites chasing those awards on their partner airlines.
Although I have LTP with AA I no longer buy points from AA and in the next couple of days will probably move on to another OW program.

 

[earlyriser]

Having a problem with them at time moment on a redemption as BA decided to cancel the PEK-LHR leg of CBR-LHR.

 

[grussellt]

Hi everyone,

I'm chasing some advice on American Airlines points.

I have been a long time Qantas and Kris flyer member, however since Kris flyer have changed their redemption requirements I have been looking for a better deal.

Whilst researching American Airlines, it appears they seem to be significantly better value for points redemptions than any other airline I have come across.

The issue in Australia is that there are no credit cards that directly transfer to AAdvantage. That being said, with American Express you can transfer your Amex points into SPG starpoints at 1:0.5 ratio.

Then you can transfer your starpoints into AA points at 1:1 ratio and currently you get a bonus 5000pts for every 20,000pts transferred boosting the ratio to 1:1.25

Booking flights through AA using points seems to have a lot more availability than Qantas, with lower points and lower taxes seems too good to be true.

For example a First class return flight from Perth to London was;
336K points with QF and 225K with AA. Both using Emirates through Dubai.

Another perk AA offers is buying points. For example they currently have a bonus. Buy 150k points and get 100k bonus.
Buy 250,000 points (150k + 100k bonus) for $3982 is enough to buy the points required for First class flight PER to LHR which is a $10,000 saving if you where to book the same flights using cash through Qantas.

Does anyone have any experience in doing this, am I missing something or this is too good to be true?

Emirates is not in OneWorld and you can't use AA miles to book awards on these flights. South Pacific to Europe is 115,000 miles one way so 230,000 miles return.