Originally Posted by
DHAST
But for me, the alternative (using Avios points under the new scheme) isn't all that advantageous. That only works really well if one lives in an AA hub city, which I don't. As for the European bit, It's probably going to be 4-5 years before we get over there, and I'd rather not sit on that many points for that long.
It also can work out if you're flying to a hub city. One of the things I did when the Avios changes were made is take a look at where AA flies direct from my city -- even though it's only DFW, ORD and MIA, the redemptions are still good enough that I could see using Amex for them. I wouldn't typically use miles for this kind of domestic travel, but given that BA does bonuses on Amex transfers fairly often, I think it's good to have some on hand. A 12k Amex transfer right now is 16k, and 15k is enough for a RT to DFW for me. I would never spend 25k AA to go to Dallas, but for a $350 flight, getting close to 3 cpm for Amex if I'm not in the mood to come out of pocket isn't bad.