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Old May 11, 2015, 8:40 am
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guv1976
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Join Date: Dec 2003
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Since AA no longer allows free stopovers anywhere on their awards, it would cost you 80K AA miles per person to fly India-Europe-U.S. in Business (30K + 80K). (Also, Business Class departure taxes are particularly high on long-haul departures out of the U.K. and France.) AA does have several partners that provide service between India and Europe, including 9W, QR, EY, GF, AY (I think), and BA; but AA assesses high surcharges on BA redemptions.

You face a similar problem with UA miles, as UA one-way awards do not permit free stopovers. (And UA charges higher redemption rates on Business Class redemptions on partner airlines.)

Your best bet might be for you and your spouse to sign-up for Citi/AAdvantage credit cards, and purchase more AA miles, if you can catch one of the periodic mileage sales at aa.com. Of course, if you can find two J-class seats on UA metal from Europe to LAX, you have enough UA/UR points for that too, and could purchase additional UA points when UA runs a sale.
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