With American no longer offering much free award availability, here’s how to beat the bad news to South America.
First, the bad news. American Airlines mileage award availability is few and far between nowadays to most destinations.
But there still are some deals to be had. Last month we looked at the AA state of play to Europe and this month we’re looking at South America.
Just over a year ago, 14 routes to South America had good availability. Amazingly, some had months with 4 to 6 seats in a single day. Now our data is showing there are only seven routes with upgrade availability.
So yes, some upgrade award options are still out there, you just need FCF’s truffle hounds to sniff them out for you.
Don’t Get Sidetracked For Miles
We’ve ignored the free mileage variety because as mentioned, there aren’t many to be found, and also, they don’t earn you elite credit.
And, as we said last month (but it bears repeating), stop earning more American miles and instead switch to multi-currency credit cards to score many more upgrade options. We’re currently favoring cards that earn Amex points—which are most of them. For more on Amex Rewards go here, here and here.
So back to the good news as promised: here are three examples to make this South American mileage upgrade work for you.
HIDDEN TREASURE #1:
To Brazil: SAVE 67% ON BUSINESS CLASS
Say you’re traveling Dallas-São Paulo in May (or from any other of the countless North American cities that fly non-stop to Dallas). You’d pay ~$1,157 for a non-stop on American in coach, while Business Class is often $5,637 ($4,480 more). So even with the $700 co-pay (to South America, AA requires 25,000 miles plus a $350 co-pay each way to upgrade from the lowest upgradeable coach fares), you’re only paying $1,858 total, saving 67% ($3,780) off the published Business Class fare by upgrading from coach using miles. See chart below for our upgrade award availability survey.
HIDDEN TREASURE #2:
To Santiago Chile: SAVE 49% ON BUSINESS CLASS
Book Miami (or from 57 cities AA has connections) to Santiago in April or May and you’re looking at a Business Class fare of $3,431—while the upgradable coach fare is $1,053. Again, spend the miles and the $350 each way to upgrade from coach, and you’ll pay only $1,753—saving $1,678, or 49%, by using your miles.
The Picture: Number of Days with Business Class Upgrade Awards vs. Free Awards for Two Passengers
[table_opt id="6053" style="black-header" width="narrow" alignment="thcenter" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter" responsive="no" /]
BRIDGE ROUTE CONNECTIONS CAN SAVE UP TO 70%
One of our favorite strategies teaches smart travelers how to use the long-haul Business Class flight as a “bridge” between two continents. You just have to get to and from the bridge gateway, but these routes open up loads of options.
From the U.S. to South America, this means you might even buy a coach “through-fare” ticket, getting you to and from the international gateway all on one ticket—not two separate tickets (you often have to purchase two separate tickets with free awards that don’t have availability on the connecting flights).
Then, first upgrade the long international legs of the trip–the ones that count the most anyway. After that, check upgrade space for the short-haul connecting flights; if it’s there, that’s just icing on the cake.
For example, say you’re traveling from New Orleans to São Paulo in May. The through-fare coach ticket gets you to and from São Paulo with a connection in Dallas from New Orleans—as AA does not fly nonstop from New Orleans to São Paulo—for $891 instead of $5,242 for a Business Class ticket on the same route. Even with the $700 co-pay, you can save 70% ($3,651) off the published fare by using miles–$891 for the coach ticket plus $700 to upgrade round-trip, for a total of $1,591 instead of $5,242.
Traveling Onward in South America
The whole point of the bridge route is to get you to another awesome continent. From there—you’ll have lots of options about where to go. And getting to those places is easy if you stick with AA’s partner, LATAM, and book the entire trip on one ticket.
For example, say you want to fly Miami-Puerto Montt, Chile. On American, that means making a connection in Santiago. The round-trip through-fare is $1,261 in coach versus $3,579 in Business Class. So, upgrade the bridge legs of the trip (Miami-Santiago and Santiago-Miami—because LATAM flights don’t allow upgrades). Even with the $700 co-pay, you can save 45% ($1,618) off the published fare by using miles—$1,261 for the coach ticket plus $700 to upgrade for a total of $1,961 instead of $3,579. Note that the Santiago-Puerto Montt leg will be on LATAM in coach but the flight is less than two hours.
FYI–Puerto Montt is in southern Chile and the gateway to the amazing Andes mountains and the Patagonian fjords. There’s also an active volcano with a summit trek nearby for more adventure.
HOW ANYONE CAN PLAY THIS UPGRADE GAME
This all sounds great, but what if you don’t have any or enough American miles? No problem. Just buy American miles when they go on sale (recent opportunity here) or transfer Marriott points and save up to 70%.
Sweet Redeems Survey: American Airlines Business Class Upgrade Awards to South America
[table_opt id="6054" style="black-header" width="wide" alignment="thcenter" heading="thcenter" rows="tdcenter" responsive="no" /]