Is anyone else unable to use American Airlines Advantage miles, accumulated over a long time by spending generously on a credit card? In July I called the AAdvantage call centre to book business class flights to the US next May using my miles, which were sufficient for two round trips. I chose a date, and was told there was no availability. I said try any day within a week of that. No availability. I tried again in early September with the same outcome.
This seems to me to be a deceit. Of course no guarantee for a particular flight can be made, but surely it should be possible to find a flight over several days when the inquiry is made nine or 10 months in advance? Otherwise there is no point in the scheme, and one is being seriously misled.
I also asked about using miles for a flight to Portugal. I could use my miles but had to pay taxes of about £150 return. I then went to the easyJet website, and was able to book a return flight, with reserved seat, at convenient times, for £75. AWJ, London
You are not the first reader to question the value of an airline loyalty programme scheme, and are unlikely to be the last. As you have found, the benefits can be next to impossible to cash in – not least as they never seem to offer the flights people want.
We asked American to investigate, and it claimed that you didn’t have enough points to book business class flights on the dates you wanted – contradicting what you were told on two occasions.
“It is typically a busy period for travel so reward seats in business class using miles are more difficult to secure; selecting another date earlier or later in the season will likely open up other seat options,” says AA.
You tell us you have spoken to others in the same position, and reckon that transatlantic flights on American (you were heading to Dallas) are almost totally unavailable. We’d like to hear if other readers have had more success. Email the usual address.
In the meantime, you have since used some of the accrued points to book an internal US flight, perhaps explaining why you don’t have enough points.
Broadly speaking, airlines use air miles schemes to fill empty seats at unpopular times. The moral of the tale seems to be that you should always go for the best deal on a flight – irrespective of whether it earns you points or not.
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