We just redeemed a whole bunch of AA miles for a trip this summer. I found it easier to call them to do this than to use their website. But note that there is a per ticket fee to do this - I think about $25. They also told us our miles would go further on AA flights than British Airways. We got a really great deal - 30,000 miles each way to London and back from Paris.

12:24 again here in flight (I should be working but...)

You can get to Europe w/ AA miles w/o big departure tax if you avoid London.

For Thailand, fly Cathay Pacific. You can't search or book it through AA's website. Search for Cathay flights through the British Airways website. You have to create a BA frequent flyer account to do so, but the search is quite easy. Once you find your flights, call AA and they will book.

For Japan, consider flying JAL (also search through the BA website). You can also search JAL's website, which is more accurate than BA's, but not as easy to navigate.

There are tons of how-tos online to help you get started.

Hope your family has a great trip!

OP here. Actually we have over 500k in miles.

Hi OP here. Thanks for the responses. We have about 400,000 miles. Family of 5. So not enough to take the fam to Asia on business class, although that sounds amazing.

Thinking about trips to: Scandinavia, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, or maybe just Hawaii, Alaska, or Pacific Northwest. The ideal would be to find a way to fund most of the trip using miles (airfare & hotels).

And yes- it was connecting in LHR that was killing us with the departure tax - would have been 4K or something in fees for our "free" flights.

12:24 here, didn't mean to be confusing. I'm flying today and just boarded another flight. Agree that a Google search is your best bet but I'm happy to help if you give a sense of what you're trying to do (where, how many, what class of service, etc)

If you look and see the alliance that AA is part of, you can use any of those airlines and redeem your miles w/them. I believe you need to contact their CS team though to do so--can't do online.

What I have heard is a great use for AA/BA miles is flying to Dublin on Aer Lingus.

How many miles are we talking about here?

I had the same issue and finally decided to use my AA miles for hotels. Worked out great. Have to book through their website but easy and good selection of hotels available.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ive made big AA redemptions lots of times. Taking the whole fam to SE Asia in business class next week. Tell me what you're trying to do and I'll tell you how to do it.

PS - don't use BA through London bc departure tax is crazy. Open jaw out of Dublin would serve you better.

Huh?

Google is your friend, PP.
OP I recommend checking out FlyerTalk, they will have lots of great advice for you. But don't go "huh?!" when they use travel-speak like "open jaw."

Anonymous wrote:Ive made big AA redemptions lots of times. Taking the whole fam to SE Asia in business class next week. Tell me what you're trying to do and I'll tell you how to do it.

PS - don't use BA through London bc departure tax is crazy. Open jaw out of Dublin would serve you better.

Huh?

Try calling AA, maybe they will work with you.

Ive made big AA redemptions lots of times. Taking the whole fam to SE Asia in business class next week. Tell me what you're trying to do and I'll tell you how to do it.

PS - don't use BA through London bc departure tax is crazy. Open jaw out of Dublin would serve you better.

We've accumulated a ton of AA miles and want to use them for a big trip but I am finding the website really cumbersome. We tried to use them to fly to Europe but the fees required for any flight on British Airways wiped out any savings.

Looking for inspiration -- has anyone out there used AA miles for a great vacation? Thanks.