Just thought I would share this with folks on this board.

Usually most airlines like Continental, Northwest/KLM, Delta, United and other US based airlines charge else redeem 80,000 miles minimum for an Economy class award.

However, I found that that if you are redeeming AA miles you can do that on BA for 75,000 miles or if you go via Korean Air you can redeem it for 60,000 miles.

And Cathay Pacific runs promotions where 55K AA miles get you an award seat to India which now includes Delhi. However the best use of the miles is getting a business class seat to India. Asiana ia 90K, Cathay is 100K and JAL is 110K using AA miles. Best part of these deals is that you can have one stopover at an international gateway each way. So this summer my parents flew DEL-SEL-SFO-(stopover)-JFK(final destination)-SJC(overnight)-LAX-SEL-DEL for 90K. The US segments were on AA either in J on a 3 class aircraft or in F in a two class aircraft. So with some creative planning you can also include a US RT in premium cabin with the 90K miles. Of course being an EXP helped in getting the confirmed reservations (booked 4 months in advance). Parents felt that Asiana was better than domestic AA premium so I have no complaints.

I agree best use of miles is upgrades. Or use upgrade coupons. I know a friend who does a stopover in London whenever goes to Kolkatta.

I've always SWUs for upgrades. This will probably come to an end next year :-(