Tag Archives: American Airlines

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Flights to Cuba & El Salvador: Thinking Outside the Box

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I’m well versed in flight options from the US, but when it comes time to plan trips between different regions, I have to think about my options a little more.  My boyfriend and I decided to plan a trip to El Salvador for the end of May, but I was going to Cuba right before as part of the last class for my MBA.  He was able to snag great flights on Delta for only 14,500 miles roundtrip during one of their sales. Unfortunately, I was locked in to flying to Cuba with my class – which, thankfully was a cheap $90 flight that I wouldn’t have used miles for anyway.  I decided it would make way more sense to fly directly from Cuba to El Salvador than to come back to the US first. As usual, I checked cash prices first. I was looking at around $300 for the one-way flight… ouch.

That’s when I turned to using miles. Flyermiler, one of my favorite tools, showed that I could book with Avianca LifeMiles for only 10,000 miles! It also showed that United would cost only 10,000 miles, but that’s not actually correct. United charges 12,500 or 17,500 miles for an economy class flight, depending on routing.  Luckily for me, I had some LifeMiles, so I was able to get a killer deal on my flight to El Salvador!

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Buy Miles/Points Promos Ending May 31 to June 7: American, Frontier, Spirit, Southwest, Choice, Hilton, IHG & SPG

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Good afternoon everyone.  I recently updated my Buy Miles/Points Page and I wanted to let everyone know that there are several buy miles/points promos ending in the next few days (May 31 through June 7).  If you are short on miles and points for your next award, now might be the best time to buy some miles and points.  Here are the deals, sorted by the end date of the promo:

If you need any other miles and points, check out the Buy Miles/Points Page.  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.  Have a great day everyone!

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Review: American Airlines Economy (A321T) from San Francisco (SFO) to New York (JFK)

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Hi everyone, I am happy to introduce my friend, Vincent, the newest writer on TWG.  We met through the SF Travel Hackers Meetup Group (now dormant) and we have stayed in touch over the years.  Here is his first post.  I hope you enjoy! –Grant

What’s it like taking American’s transcontinental A321T service in economy? It’s pretty good for domestic economy, there’s a responsive IFE, and they serve a complimentary cold meal.

A few weeks ago, I had the need to get back to the East Coast. Instead of flying my usual Southwest, I decided to work in American’s “premium” transcontinental service from SFO to JFK. I purchased the flight using my Chase Ink Business Preferred Card to further progress on my minimum spend requirement for its useful travel benefits. (If you’re interested in this card, I very much appreciate you using my referral links!)

I’m generally not a fan of red eyes as I get terrible sleep on them, but I can’t deny their utility. To my friends which travel frequently for work – or even leisure travelers with a specific schedule in mind – I can imagine them to be a godsend as they “save” an entire day. That is, you’re flying at night and not “wasting” the day.

Note: Since American calls “economy” and “economy-with-more-legroom,” “Main Cabin” and “Main Cabin Extra” respectively, I’ll be utilizing their naming convention for this post. But you’ll know it’s coach/economy.

Flight: AA 18
Route: San Francisco (SFO) to New York City (JFK)
Time: 11:30pm (Pacific) to 8:20am (Eastern) + 1
Duration: 5hr 50m
Aircraft: Airbus A321
Seat: 17F (Main Cabin)
Capacity: 70% Full

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Buy Miles/Points Promos Ending May 31: American, Southwest, Spirit, IHG & SPG

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Good morning everyone.  If you are short on miles and points, sometimes it can make sense to buy miles and points to top up your account balance so you have enough miles or points for a redemption.  If you are looking for American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, IHG or SPG miles/points, you are in luck.  All of these loyalty programs are offering promotions when you buy miles/points, but they all end May 31.  If you are interested in any other buy miles or points promotions, I keep an up-to-date list here.  Here is a quick rundown of each promo:

American Airlines is offering a tiered discount.  Depending on the number of American Airlines AAdvantage miles you buy, you can get a 5-35% discount.  Depending on the number of miles you buy and the discount you get, the price of miles varies with a low of 1.92 cents per mile.

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March App-O-Rama: Which 7 Credit Cards am I Considering?

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Good morning everyone, happy Saturday! Thanks for the comments on yesterday’s post regarding which non-5/24 Chase credit cards I should get. I think I have narrowed down my App-O-Rama (AOR) credit card list to these 7 credit cards. I plan on applying for these credit cards sometime next week. Please let me know if you agree or disagree with any of the credit cards on this list. If there are any credit cards that you think are worth applying for, please share them in the comments and I will check them out.

Based on yesterday’s post, I will apply for these 2 Chase credit cards:

  • Chase Marriott Business Credit Card: This is the only non-5/24 Chase business credit card and who couldn’t use more Marriott points? The current sign up bonus is 75,000 Marriott points after spending $3,000 in 3 months. The $99 annual fee is waived the first year. I already have the Chase Marriott Rewards Credit Card, so the annual category 1-5 Marriott free night certificates will pair nicely with each other. I don’t plan on spending much on this credit card after meeting the minimum spend requirement. As long as I can redeem the Marriott free night certificate for more than an $99 hotel night, this is a decent credit card to hold on to for a long time. *snarky comment alert* If Marriott keeps devaluing their program, by the year 2029, there will not be any Marriott category 1-5 hotels left…
  • Chase Iberia Credit Card: Since you can get 1 personal and 1 business credit card from Chase on the same day, I have decided to go for this personal credit card. The current sign up bonus is 50,000 Avios after spending $3,000 in 3 months and an additional 25,000 Avios after spending $10,000 in 12 months. The annual fee is $95. I don’t plan on booking any Iberia flights in the near future, so I won’t be able to take advantage of the 10% discount on Iberia flights. I don’t plan on spending much on this credit card after meeting the minimum spend requirement and will close the credit card when the annual fee comes due the following year.

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