AAdvantage more advantageous - short flights, fewer miles

Frequent-flier programs are terrific when they work, but when you have to wait to hit a certain threshold to cash in for a “free” flight they aren't so attractive.

American Airlines’ vaunted AAdvantage program is rendering short hauls less expensive. Previously, it took 25,000 miles to book a round-trip MileSAAver (SM) award on routes under 750 miles. From September 1, (at least for a while) you can do it for 15,000.

Those runs don't apply to the Caribbean; they've got to be within the continental United States or Canada. Still, that will open up some significant territory. Consider, 15,000-mile Short-Hop awards will work such routes as Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to Denver (DEN), Chicago O'Hare (ORD) to Atlanta (ATL), Chicago O'Hare to New York LaGuardia (LGA), Miami (MIA) to New Orleans (MSY), Los Angeles (LAX) to San Francisco (SFO), or Raleigh/Durham (RDU) to Boston (BOS).

The advantage for American in this promotion is that it induces frequent fliers to “burn” miles on routes that are less in demand for leisure trips.

AA would much rather you use miles between Detroit (DTW) and Chicago (ORD) than Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) and Maui (OGG).

The Short-Hop promotion is good for nonstop travel from September 1 through February 29, 2008. What remains to be seen now is whether key competitors, such as United Airlines and Delta Air Lines will match American's initiative.

© Cheapflights Ltd Jerry Chandler

Comments

[Bill Hazelton]

Beware of the "expedite" fees that AAdvantage will charge you for redeeming your miles with less than 21 days until your departure. $100 a ticket. Ouch!