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Thread: Help with most economical strategies to fly AA Flagship transcon J or F
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Old Oct 14, 2023 | 6:34 am
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someone
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Question Help with most economical strategies to fly AA Flagship transcon J or F
Hi all, a bit of an AA newbie so my apologies if this should be in the newbie lounge. (First time in this forum.)

I am just trying to understand my options for Flagship transcontinental flights -- e.g. SFO-JFK -- in J or perhaps F.

It seems like the best equipment is the A321T "sharklet" until the A321XLR and 787-9 arrive in 2024, correct?

My options appear to be:
  1. Purchase J outright at $850-$1120 per segment.
  2. Wait for a J sale at $550-$650 per segment. How rare are these?
  3. Purchase Main Cabin and hope for an app upgrade. How rare are these, and how much is the upgrade?
  4. Become Exec Platinum via credit card spend and hope for complimentary upgrades. I presume these are hard to come by on transcon routes?
  5. Wait for an AAdvantage award at 33k miles per segment. Are there ever any 30k, 25k or lower deals with the new dynamic pricing?
  6. Purchase a low Main Cabin fare (everything but B?) and upgrade each leg for (15k miles + $75) *2. Do these clear immediately if C space is available and it is before T-5 days (i.e. the 100-hour CK upgrade window)?
    1. This comes to ~4.1c per mile: (1750 - 360 - 75 - 75) / 30k miles. Pretty reasonable, no?
  7. Purchase a low Main Cabin fare (everything but B, N, O, Q, S) and upgrade using a Business Extra BXP1 voucher. Do these clear immediately if C space is available and it is before T-5 days (i.e. the 100-hour CK upgrade window)?
    1. This comes to $1 / BE point. Pretty reasonable, no?
  8. Any other options?
To do this monthly would require:
  1. Full-fare: $21k (ouch)
  2. Award tickets only: 800k miles (ouch -- just 2.55 cents per mile)
  3. Main Cabin + miles upgrade: $4.3k + $1.8k copay + 360k miles (4.13 cents per mile -- better)
  4. Main Cabin + BXP1 certificate: $4.3k + 15.6k BE points (~$80k of annual corporate spend) -- this seems best but is the hardest to sustain
  5. Main Cabin + Executive Platinum: $4.3k + $3.7k (= up to 1.85% CC fee on $200k of spend) -- upgrade not guaranteed. But you also have 200k AA miles to spend on 15k mileage upgrades for at least half the year?
Thanks for your insights!
Last edited by someone; Oct 14, 2023 at 6:41 am Reason: formatting
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