I haven't seen anything on here about this. I was looking at AA.com and saw this text
here:
Economy Web Special awards
Economy Web Special awards are available exclusively on aa.com and may be offered on select flights and dates for fewer miles than either the MileSAAver or AAnytime award level. Travel is in the Main Cabin, and mileage levels vary by date and flight. When available, you’ll see the applicable award level while booking your trip. Tickets that include an Economy Web Special award don’t allow changes and, while you can cancel and reinstate your miles, fees may apply.
I then googled "Economy Web Special" and found this article on The Points Guy:
https://thepointsguy.com/news/aa-eco...ts-5000-miles/
Evidently AA is offering certain sub-500-mile routes at 5,000 miles one way instead of 7,500 miles. Doesn't look like it will impact me any, since the only routes it applies to for now are DFW-ICT/CRP/BRO/MFE, PHX-LGB, and CLT-MLB. But thought it was worth posting here.
Unfortunately, it looks like AA has messed up the award map tool with this update. The award map now shows tons of phantom 5,000-mile availability, rendering the tool essentially useless:
This is a shame because the award map used to be a reliable way to find Saver availability to reduced-mileage destinations in order to book tickets at the 8750-mile rate.