Originally Posted by
ECUPirateBoy
Trying to get best bang for a # of diff points and plans. AMEX Business Plat member w/ 3M miles and access to 35% rebate w/ AA on bookings through AMEX travel. AA Executive Plat member with 300K miles and 400K Chase Sapphire points. Looking to travel from east coast to HI (GSO to LIH). Prefer AA as I have opportunity to be upgraded, but flexible. TPG and Expert Flyer are helpful but feel like I am missing something. What other sites are recommended? To confirm even though AA may offer a codeshare flight segment on UA I cannot use AA points to pay for? Any advice appreciated.
You cannot, under any circumstances, redeem AA miles for travel on UA metal.
AA serves LIH with nonstops from LAX and PHX only. AA partner AS serves LIH from several West Coast cities. If you want to travel from GSO to LIH with connections only (no stopovers), just search using aa.com, or the AA app. If you want to stop over for a day or more in PHX or on the West Coast, you could consider using BA Avios (converted from Amex MR points or Chase UR points) for a nonstop from the intermediate point to LIH: BA charges only 13,000 Avios for such a nonstop, but you would have to find MileSAAver space on an AA nonstop, or low-tier award space on an AS nonstop.
Of course, it's worth comparing any discounted cash price you could get through Amex in order to determine whether you would be getting decent value for your AAdvantage miles or your MR/UR points.