60k points - AAdvantage World Elite Mastercard from Barclays. Just for opening the card, and making a single purchase, you will earn 60,000 American Airlines miles. The card's $99 annual fee is even waived in your first year of card membership.
https://www.applyaviator.com
50K points - This card currently has a welcome offer bonus to earn 50,000 AAdvantage Miles after spending $2,500 within the three months of card membership. And the card's $99 annual fee is also waived for the first year of card membership.
https://citicards.citi.com/usc/LP...index.html
Put these two cards together, and spend just $2,500 on the other (the Citi Platinum Select World Elite card) in the first three months. Bam: You've got 110,000 American Airlines miles. All without paying an annual fee in your first year.
That's an easier (and cheaper) path to pile up more than 100,000 miles than you'll find with almost any other airline. Of course, it requires opening two credit cards and responsibly meeting the minimum spending requirement
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Applied for aviator twice since and a delta card all were rejected stating I've had too many card cancellations
Now having said that if I didn't live in an AA hub city with few other options for international travel I honestly would have zero loyalty to AA.
I live in dallas, i can get direct flights to Europe and South America, quick hops to the Caribbean through Miami or charlotte.
Unfortunately united and delta, which are superior to AA do not have large footprints here in the dfw area and southwest doesn't have a lot of international flight destinations.
So that leaves me with AA. Mediocre customer service, decent flight options, decent pricing and actually decent redemptions on points.
As an example I fly around the country using points and can save thousands of dollars annually.
If you don't know how to redeem points check out some basic guides from the points guy.
The availability of awards is always YMMV and it used to be extremely good before Japan reopened and domestic redemptions were also way cheaper before travel reopened (like in March 2022). I was able to get Business Class tickets to Hawaii non-stop at very nice rates.
But now most flight awards require double or triple miles unless you have the flexibility of going during a low season.
So I'd say the miles could be worth a lot less nowadays given the dynamic pricing and that is very YMMV depending on personal situation... (e.g. whether you have the flexibility to travel during a non-peak season/days or not)
Also, it is worth noting that United has better coverage for Asia and AA has better coverage for Europe going from DFW. Therefore it depends on the destination which one is better.. A lot of the United credit cards give way more sign up bonus miles than AA...
The availability of awards is always YMMV and it used to be extremely good before Japan reopened and domestic redemptions were also way cheaper before travel reopened (like in March 2022). I was able to get Business Class tickets to Hawaii non-stop at very nice rates.
But now most flight awards require double or triple miles unless you have the flexibility of going during a low season.
So I'd say the miles could be worth a lot less nowadays given the dynamic pricing and that is very YMMV depending on personal situation... (e.g. whether you have the flexibility to travel during a non-peak season/days or not)
Also, it is worth noting that United has better coverage for Asia and AA has better coverage for Europe going from DFW. Therefore it depends on the destination which one is better.. A lot of the United credit cards give way more sign up bonus miles than AA...
I've got a plan for all the miles for this year. The minute I get the points, I'm redeeming immediately
It's so easy to earn a point through a partner that if your miles expire, that's on you. Get gas at shell or something 1 time
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The availability of awards is always YMMV and it used to be extremely good before Japan reopened and domestic redemptions were also way cheaper before travel reopened (like in March 2022). I was able to get Business Class tickets to Hawaii non-stop at very nice rates.
But now most flight awards require double or triple miles unless you have the flexibility of going during a low season.
So I'd say the miles could be worth a lot less nowadays given the dynamic pricing and that is very YMMV depending on personal situation... (e.g. whether you have the flexibility to travel during a non-peak season/days or not)
Also, it is worth noting that United has better coverage for Asia and AA has better coverage for Europe going from DFW. Therefore it depends on the destination which one is better.. A lot of the United credit cards give way more sign up bonus miles than AA...
I just checked DFW to Tokyo (HND) one way on 6/14/2023.
It costs 105k miles for main cabin (Economy).
No AA award chartā is showing 105k one way (210k round trip) for an Economy Class ticket to Asia. (highest is 85k) For the same flight the Premium Economy is 140k one way(chart says 115k max) and Business is 300k one way. (chart has max 175k)
AA Award Chart:
https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantag...-chart.jsp
Given the above, 110k aa miles are barely enough for one way Economy ticket to Tokyo non-stop. Not a deal IMO.
On the other hand, if I change the date to Oct 17 for example, then the same flight costs 35k on JAL and 39k on AA metal. In that case it's somewhat useful but most people who have school age kids can't go on Oct 17.
It may not be called dynamic pricing but in reality it is the same.
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