American Airlines Dynamic pricing recently implemented, which replaced the airline’s previous MileSAAver and Web Specials. Previously, the airline did not offer any savings on round-trip bookings. Instead, it essentially combines the prices of two one-way tickets to calculate the total mileage cost for a round-trip award ticket.
However, the airline has now started offering cheaper award tickets to those who book select return flights, as first reported by the airline. Prize wallet.
That said, this appears to be very limited on the US route network, as TPG tested these US routes and found no lower round-trip prices in the premium cabins:
- John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to San Francisco International Airport (SFO).
- JFK to Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD).
- JFK to São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport (GRU).
- JFK to Buenos Aires Ezeiza International Airport (EZE).
- Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) to MAD.
- Miami International Airport (MIA) to EZE.
- MIA to Rio de Janeiro/Galeão International Airport (GIG).
- Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) to Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport (SCL) of Santiago, Chile.
- DFW to Seoul, South Korea’s Incheon International Airport (ICN).
- DFW to Lima, Peru’s Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM).
However, you can save on AAdvantage miles by booking a round trip ticket.
In a sample search from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport (ORD) to Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO), you’ll need 50,000 miles to book a pair of one-way economy class tickets.
By booking flights that are exactly the same as the return journey, you’ll save 8,000 miles.
You can save quite a bit going this route, as 8,000 AAdvantage miles are worth over $140 based on TPG valuations.
Related: How to earn miles in the American Airlines AAdvantage program
Here’s another example, this time looking for business class from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to London Heathrow Airport (LHR).
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As you can see, booking an outbound flight as a one-way flight will set you back 67,000 miles and keep the same price on return, bringing the total mileage cost to 134,000 miles. However, combining them in a round trip will reduce the mileage required to 112,500 miles — a saving of 21,500 miles.
Note that this does not apply to award tickets operated by partner airlines, so those tickets will still be priced based on the award rankings (still published) on aa.com.
bottom line
American officially phased out its own metal award charts a month ago, and it is now offering the ability to book select round-trip award tickets at a discount to two one-way tickets. Currently, this is not common on the carrier’s network. That is to say, check the round-trip reward ratio before placing a one-way reward on your next AAdvantage redemption.
