Originally Posted by
super_
I am asking this because, for example, I consistently see the lowest point cost from LAX-JFK in business is ~30k. When I look just after midnight CST and check on the last day of the schedule that just opened, these awards are not available at this cost, even though AA just opened up the awards. I am interested in understanding if there is a trend of when AA typically will release a ~30k point business class award (on any route, this is just an example route).
I fly this route often and with dynamic pricing, AA charges 100k for most flights on most days, from the time the schedule opens up. There are some obvious super low load factor days where awards will be cheaper from time of release (ie Thanksgiving Day, etc.). Otherwise, more discounted awards may pop up later if RM opens up the lowest fare buckets, but it’s not guaranteed. I have seen cases where awards remain priced at 100,000 miles even though they represent a less than 1 cent per mile valuation compared to cash prices.
With the exception of a few select days a year (for example, today is one of them when I was seeing J awards a few months back for around 30k), nowadays a J award priced in the 50-60k range for this route is about as low as it gets.