Even if you’re not flying the route covered below, you can still use the information for itinerary planning, and find the connecting flights most likely to have upgrades available, newer (and, therefore, better) seats, a free seat—or perhaps all three.
Business Class to Europe on American
New Non-stop From Miami: On Nov. 21, the airline starts new non-stop service to Milan using a B767-300 with angled-seats in Business Class (no First Class cabin), and not AA’s new flat-bed seat. AA charges 100,000 miles and $55 in taxes for a round-trip Business Class award ticket, and 50,000 miles and a $700 co-pay r/t for upgrading on any published economy fare, which we currently show starting at $1,133. The cost to buy a Business Class Miami-Milan ticket this winter is about $4,000 (excluding holiday travel dates during which time fares start as low as $2,500 r/t at Thanksgiving). So your return on miles is about 4¢ on a free award ticket and about 3.6¢ for the upgrade (not bad).
You can climb to the roof of the magnificent Duomo, the grandest Gothic church in Italy, or you can savor the roofline from the rooftop bar of the Rinascimento department store opposite.
Using American’s Route System to Fly Beyond Italy—and/or from 140+ U.S. Cities
Make a connection from any of American’s 140+ cities in the U.S. to Miami in First Class for the same mileage-cost required for Miami to Milan. Once in Milan you can use partners Air Berlin, British Airways, Finnair, and Iberia for onward connections to Finland, Germany, the U.K., and Spain at the same mileage rate. For other European destinations, you can buy a separate ticket to your final destination or even go by car or train. The most important aspect is getting the trans-Atlantic portion confirmed with miles. Click here for American’s route map.
Milan Briefing: If you’re staying in Milan, you can take the airport train to Piazza Cadorno Station, as it’s much smaller and less congested than Milano Centrale. Forget about getting tickets to see the Last Supper. There’s usually a six-month wait. Instead visit the Basilica di San Lorenzo Maggiore and the Brera Museum.
You can climb to the roof of the magnificent Duomo, the grandest Gothic church in Italy, or you can savor the roofline from the rooftop bar of the Rinascimento department store opposite.
Day Trips: Bologna, Italy’s most under appreciated great city, is only 90 minutes away on Freccia Rosa or Italo, Italy’s two fast trains. Rome is within reach, too, for a weekend, only 3.5 hours on either train.
Getting the Miles for American: Transfer 80,000 points from Starwood for Business Class. You can also buy up to 60,000 miles annually from AA.
Using Cathay Pacific Asia Miles to Get the Award for Less: Booking Miami-Milan on AA with Asia Miles brings the mileage cost down to 80,000 in Business Class and $56 in taxes. At times, award availability can be similar to AA’s, meaning you can book the AA flights using Asia miles.
Getting the Miles for Cathay Pacific: It takes 65,000 Starwood points for Business Class—only 15,000 miles more than many domestic airlines charge for economy. Another transfer partner is Amex Rewards. You can also buy up to 30% of the miles required if you have 70% already in your Asia Miles account.
Survey of Business Class Mileage Space on American Miami-Milan
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