Originally Posted by
civico
This is a great way to add an extra leg on to your international trip and get a free one-way to somewhere in NA that you want to go.
With the above example between LAX and LHR, you could choose to stopover in JFK in between, or you could add a leg on before and after your trip.
Case in point:
ANC (Anchorage)- LAX (stopover)- LHR
LHR-LAX (stopover)- HNL (Honolulu)
You now have a one way ticket from Anchorage to Los Angeles, meaning you'd only have to buy the ticket up there, and a one way out to Honolulu, meaning you'd only have to buy the ticket home.
AA allows you 1 whole year in your stopover, so you'd have a ton of time to make use of the trip out to Hawaii, and they allow you to change the dates after you booked, so you don't even have to have another trip planned yet...you can "stash" the free leg out to Hawaii for later, assuming you use it within that year!
All told, in economy, this would cost 95k. If you booked everything as separate tickets, it would run you 130k in economy.
Another nice trick to be aware of with AA awards and N.A. stopovers is having your "final destination" in South America can cost fewer miles than having your final destination in North America. For example, HNL-DFW MileSaaver coach will cost 17.5K miles in off-peak, but HNL-DFW (stop)-LIM will cost 15K miles in coach MileSaaver off-peak. You can either end your trip in DFW and not use the DFW-LIM leg, or use the DFW-LIM leg later, and you saved 2500 miles over a simple HNL-DFW ticket.