American Is Blocking Partner Airlines From Domestic Close-In Nonstop Saver Award Space
As of several days ago, American has been blocking partner airlines, such as Alaska, BA, Finnair, JAL, and Qantas, from booking domestic nonstop saver awards on American within about 5 days of the flight date.
- On May 24th, nonstop AA flights were only bookable starting May 30th.
- On May 25th, nonstop AA flights were only bookable starting May 31st.
- On May 26th, nonstop AA flights were only bookable starting June 1st.
- On May 27th, nonstop AA flights were only bookable starting June 2nd.
I noticed that somewhere around 10:30pm ET last night, flights on 6/1 from cities located in ET stopped being bookable, while the same happened around 11:30pm from cities in CT.
I’d expect the same to happen tonight with flights on June 2nd being blocked.
Sample routes before the cutoff time with nonstop award space:
Sample routes after the cutoff time without nonstop award space:
That’s a real shame, as it can be much cheaper to book flights with partner airline mileage programs, and you can still take advantage of AA card and elite benefits when using partner miles.
Most of AA’s partner programs charge more miles for connecting flights than for nonstop flights.
Plus, the most valuable time to use miles is close-in to a flight when it’s most expensive to use cash.
Additionally, award space often only opens up close-in to a flight. By closing bookings 5 days in advance, the space that would have otherwise opened up will not open up.
This isn’t the first time that American has blocked close-in saver awards. Back in 2018, the airline blocked space within 2 weeks of a flight, even when using AA miles.
You can still use AA miles this time around, but the nonstop award space is blocked when using partner miles.
You can still book speculatively in advance and cancel or change awards up until the time of departure. Here’s what to do to avoid losing the partner booking fee on Alaska. If you have an Alaska Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® credit card there is no cancellation fee as there is no partner booking fee when using that card. Read more about it here.
Delta is infamous for blocking partners from booking saver awards within 3 weeks of a flight, and for charging astronomical sums for using Delta miles within 3 weeks.
For now, American still has reasonable rates for close-in flights, but it’s still higher than using partner miles.
We’ll have to wait and see whether this change is temporary or sticks around…
If you do need AA miles, you can transfer points from Citi, or open Citi AA cards:
Citi AA Cards include:
If you have the following Citi cards, you can transfer points into miles at the best transfer ratio:
- Citi Strata Premier® Card is offering a 60,000 point bonus for spending $4K in 3 months, 3 points per dollar on airfare, hotels, supermarkets, gas, EV charging, and dining. 10 points per dollar on hotels, car rentals, and attractions booked on CitiTravel.com. $95 annual fee. View Rates & Fees here. Citi is a DansDeals partner. Read more about this offer here.
- Citi Strata Elite℠ Card is offering a 75,000 point bonus for spending $6K in 3 months, 6 points per dollar on restaurants (including gift cards) on Friday and Saturday evenings, and 3 points at other times, and 1.5 points per dollar everywhere. Earn 12 points per dollar on hotels, car rentals, and attractions and 6 points per dollar on airfare booked on CitiTravel.com. Earn a $200 annual splurge bonus ($400 in first cardmember year) at the stores of your choice, $300 annual credit ($600 in first cardmember year) on 2+ night hotel stays, $200 annual ($300 in first cardmember year) Blacklane credit, Global Entry/PreCheck, Priority Pass Lounge membership, and 4 annual (8 in first cardmember year) Admirals Club passes. $595 annual fee. View Rates & Fees here. Citi is a DansDeals partner. Read more about this offer here.
Citi no-annual fee cards that are fantastic for earning points, but require a Citi Strata Premier or Elite Card for points transfers at the best ratio:
- The Citi Double Cash® Card is offering a rare 20K bonus for spending $1,500 in 6 months, and offers 2% cash back or 2 ThankYou points per dollar spent everywhere. If you also have a Citi Strata Premier or Elite Card you can transfer points into miles. No annual fee. View Rates & Fees here. Citi is a DansDeals partner. Read more about this offer here.
- The Citi Strata℠ Card is offering a 20K bonus for spending $1,000 in 3 months, and offers 3 points per dollar on the category of your choice as well as supermarkets, select transit, and gas and EV charging, plus 2 points per dollar on restaurants. If you also have a Citi Strata Premier or Elite Card you can transfer points into miles. No annual fee. View Rates & Fees here. Citi is a DansDeals partner. Read more about this offer here.
Will this change how you book award flights?
