Here’s how FCF will define an American Airlines Sweet Redeems (SR) alert “deal” going forward, the lowest mileage rates we’ve seen (and why it doesn’t matter), and why you shouldn’t get too greedy in this new dynamic pricing environment.
Spare a thought for FCF’s research team, please.
As quickly as we brief our research team on a miles price range to qualify for a specific FCF Sweet Redeems availability alert, it changes, right before their eyes.
Oh how we long for the good old days… Before dynamic pricing came in and when the big three U.S. airlines would work off an ancient tablet called a “miles cost chart.” Back then, you always knew the highest cost and the lowest cost. Life was so much simpler.
And now? It seems like anything goes. Especially with American Airlines’ dynamic pricing. (Whoops, don’t want to say the “A” word too loudly around here as it triggers anxiety with our team of availability analysts.)
FCF, What Do You Mean by “Dynamic Pricing?”
Let us count the ways. Consider things like American charging a “ya gotta be kidding me” 960,000 miles for a round-trip Los Angeles to Sydney in Business Class as reported here in January.
Or a 49% decrease in miles cost to Hawaii when compared with 2019 prices.
And, as reported just last month, savings of between 20% and 35% to regions all over the world when compared with 2019 prices.
Pricing Trend with AA This Month
We’re seeing lowest-available mileage redemption rates changing by the day, by the week, and by the month. For example:
- Philadelphia-London round-trip in Business Class was 84,000 miles in April and 100,000 in May.
- Miami-Sao Paulo round-trip in Business Class was 80,000 miles on May 13 and 90,000 on May 21.
- Washington, DC-Hong Kong round-trip in Business Class was 90,000 miles on May 13 and 120,000 on May 14.
- Austin-London round-trip in First Class was 104,000 on May 13, 124,000 on May 19, and 132,000 on May 21.
Even though the miles price range is fluctuating like crazy, these are all still amazing deals. By the way, even with the increases from the lowest rate FCF has seen, they are still extremely rare finds. So, if you’re planning to travel and use AA miles for later this year or next year, now is still the perfect time to try to snag an amazing deal with American.
Compared to Last Year: Perspective
So before we get all outraged, and perhaps greedy, only last year American had AAnytime space to Europe at the price of 270,000 miles! Now that’s a price to be outraged about. We used to be able to search Europe for a whole year and not find one seat under 270k on many routes, because low-cost mileage awards were almost never available.
Or, take Asia. This region only had AAnytime space at the price of 350,000 miles. Again, that’s because low-cost mileage awards were almost never available.
Hey, it’s easy to be greedy when you see those ultra-low-cost redemptions, like Europe for 84,000 miles. So why not be satisfied with 115,000? It’s still a lot better than paying 270,000 and if you balk at 115,000 who knows what it will be a week from now. So don’t hold off too long, current prices are still amazing.
Also, with covid, mileage award opportunities are still unprecedented for booking now for travel later this year and 2021, which will most certainly not be the case in three to six months from now.
So where do you go from here? How do we soothe our beloved analysts, and still give you the intel you need?
We’re Going to Show a Range of Mileage Rates in Our Alerts
Up until now, our Sweet Redeems (SR) alerts simply showed the lowest mileage rate for AA and the dates it applied to. But given the ultra-dynamic state of affairs with American’s lowest-cost mileage rates, we’re going to show you a range of prices we’ve found in the “Flash Deal Summary” section of the alert. The chart below shows the prices FCF will be reporting on by region and class of service.
AA’s Dynamic Redemption Prices
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FCF will continue to monitor AA’s dynamic pricing closely and keep you posted on any changes.
Power to the Less Flexible
The dynamic American pricing actually helps those who are less flexible with dates. Because now there are so many prices, the chances are you will probably only have to pay a little more to fly on the days you want, rather than jump to a whole new pricing tier like in the old days. This is where nuanced volatility can work in your favor.
Freeze That Great AA Deal
If you want to “snap freeze” great opportunities but haven’t sorted out convention plans, school vacations, the date for Tom and Ruby’s engagement party, and the like, you can hold the award seat for five days for no additional charge.
You can also hold more than one destination, and then cancel the ones you don’t need. FCF’s chief editor said she’s held as many as six bookings at a time, and why not–there’s no charge for the mileage award hold. For more details go here.