How to book domestic American Airlines flights with points and miles

As one of the world’s largest airlines, American Airlines has a huge route network across the United States and the world.

Whether you live near a major American hub like Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) or any of the hundreds of U.S. airports the airline flies to, you may be wondering how best to book American Airlines domestic flights with points and miles.

While you can redeem American miles through the carrier’s own AAdvantage program, the best option might actually be to book your American flight through partner programs instead. Here are a few of TPG’s favorite options for booking American domestic flights using your points and miles.

Related: Your ultimate guide to American Airlines AAdvantage

Redeem AAdvantage miles to book domestic American flights

The American Airlines AAdvantage program has now adopted dynamic pricing for flights it operates itself, both domestically and internationally. This means that you’ll need fewer AAdvantage miles on dates and times with less demand, while the rates rise on dates in high demand.

The good news is that domestic flights start from just 7,500 miles on dates with less demand, and this can include convenient travel dates like a Saturday morning in September.

Better yet, the regular web specials AAdvantage offers occasionally mean domestic flights can be booked for as few as 5,000 AAdvantage miles.

It is a great option to book American flights this way at this price, especially given the fees and taxes are only $5.60, about the price of a cup of coffee at these airports.

Flights in domestic first class start at 15,000 miles and are priced dynamically, rising to 145,000 miles on peak dates. Given the excellent long-haul partner redemptions you can book for fewer miles than what AAdvantage charges, we do not recommend redeeming your AAdvantage miles in this way.

Related: A review of American Airlines in first class on the Airbus A321neo from Philadelphia to San Francisco

Use partner miles to book AAdvantage domestic flights

If you have a stash of AAdvantage miles, and you can find domestic American Airlines flights for under 10,000 miles per person, this is a great way to redeem them.

However, if you’re facing dynamic pricing higher than this, you may want to consider using a partner’s currency instead. TPG recommends using carrier partners that use Avios as a loyalty currency to book American Airlines flights.

Though British Airways Executive Club significantly increased the prices of Avios redemptions for flights operated by American Airlines and Alaska Airlines, the Avios prices through Qatar Airways and Finnair remain unchanged.

Since British Airways Executive Club is a transferable partner with Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Wells Fargo Rewards, you can use your credit card reward points and transfer them at a 1:1 ratio. You can then transfer Avios between the programs — Qatar, Finnair, Aer Lingus, British Airways and Iberia — at a 1:1 rate in any direction.

Using this redemption option can be much cheaper than booking through AAdvantage for the same American Airlines domestic flights.

Qatar Airways Privilege Club

Right now, the best option to book American (or Alaska) domestic flights under 2,000 miles in length is to redeem them through the Qatar Airways Privilege Club program, which uses Avios as its loyalty currency.

You will need the following Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios for American flights:

• Flights up to 650 miles in length: 6,000 Avios in Main Cabin economy, or 12,500 Avios in first class
• Flights 651-1,150 miles in length: 9,000 Avios in economy, or 16,500 Avios in first class
• Flights 1,151-2,000 miles in length: 11,000 Avios in economy, or 22,200 Avios in first class
• Flights 2,001-3,000 miles in length: 13,000 Avios in economy, or 38,750 Avios in first class

While the taxes and fees are a couple of dollars higher than AAdvantage charges, this is still an excellent way to redeem your points and miles.

Finnair Plus

Another program that uses Avios is Finnair Plus, which is a good redemption option when booking domestic flights operated by American Airlines. This program charges a flat 11,000 Avios for any domestic AA flight, regardless of length, or 30,000 Avios in domestic first class.

If your flight is less than 1,151 miles in length, such as from Miami International Airport (MIA) to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL), it’s cheaper to book with Qatar Airways Avios than Finnair Plus Avios. For flights between 1,151 and 2,000 miles, it’s the same price when booking through either Avios program. For flights over 2,000 miles, it is cheaper to use Finnair Plus Avios rather than Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios.

You may need to call Finnair Plus at 929-474-6049 to book an American domestic award if they do not show up online (you could also check availability through American’s or Qatar’s website).

Remember, you can transfer Avios between any programs that use Avios as the currency (including Finnair and Qatar) in any direction at a 1:1 rate as many times as you like in any direction.

Related: Transfer Avios to and from the Finnair Plus loyalty program

British Airways Executive Club

Redeeming Avios through BA’s Executive Club program to book domestic American Airlines (and Alaska Airlines) flights used to be a great deal. However, a series of recent devaluations means these flights start from 12,500 Avios for American Airlines flights of up to 650 miles in length in economy and up to 20,000 Avios for flights 2,001 to 3,000 miles in length, so it’s a better deal to use Avios through Qatar Airways Privilege Club or Finnair Plus.

All of these Avios redemption prices are fixed, regardless of dates, and while it might seem like a smart deal to redeem Avios on peak dates when AAdvantage dynamically prices these flights (potentially) higher than the fixed amounts, remember that American Airlines only provides a limited number of seats to partner programs.

While it is worth checking the prices across programs, if AAdvantage raises award prices on peak travel dates, seats may not be provided to partner programs.

How to earn points and miles to book American Airlines domestic flights

Whether you want to earn AAdvantage miles or Avios, it is easy with the right credit card.

Earning AAdvantage miles

You can open an American Airlines cobranded credit card and earn miles on your everyday spending, plus earn a lucrative welcome bonus. Here are some of the best options:

The information for the AAdvantage Aviator Red has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Earning Avios

As mentioned earlier, British Airways Executive Club is a transfer partner of all major transferable rewards programs except for Citi ThankYou Rewards. Additionally, Finnair Plus is a transfer partner of Capital One miles; Qatar Airways Privilege Club is a transfer partner of American Express Membership Rewards and Citi ThankYou Rewards. All credit card points can be transferred to Avios at a rate of 1:1.

The following cards all currently offer strong welcome bonuses that you could easily convert to Avios:

• American Express® Gold Card: Earn 60,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $6,000 on purchases in the first six months of card membership.
• The Platinum Card® from American Express: Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $8,000 on purchases within the first six months of card membership. Check to see if you’re targeted for a 125,000-point welcome offer through CardMatch (offer subject to change at any time). Terms apply.
• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card: Earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening, plus a $250 Capital One Travel credit in the first cardholder year.
• Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card: Earn 75,000 bonus miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months from account opening.
• The Business Platinum Card® from American Express: Earn 150,000 bonus points after spending $20,000 on eligible purchases on the card in the first three months of card membership.

Bottom line

You can find some great deals when booking domestic flights operated by American Airlines using points and miles. AA’s own AAdvantage program has low rates on off-peak dates, with flights typically starting at 7,500 AAdvantage miles — and occasionally dropping to just 5,000 miles.

Unfortunately, the program’s pesky dynamic pricing means these rates are much higher on many dates, such as during the holiday season. Consider redeeming Avios through Qatar Airways Privilege Club for shorter American Airlines flights or Finnair Plus for longer AA flights.