There are circumstances where it is more advantageous to use Hilton Honors points to book AA flights. Using an HH Amex credit card, you get 5 points per dollar spent at Hilton properties, grocery stores, drug stores, restaurants, gas stations, and paying cellular phone bills; and 3 points per dollar on everything else.
An AA award domestic coach ticket requires 100,000 HH points, which would be a $20,000 spend (compared to $25,000 to get 25,000 AA miles) if you spend it in the favored categories. It only requires a 14-day advance booking (vs. 21 days for AA miles without a fee), but does require a Saturday night stay. The same 100,000 HH points will also get you a California/Nevada ticket to Hawaii (which is fine for me as I live in California), but it's more for the rest of you. An AA ticket to Europe during all months is 200,000 HH points, which is a $40,000 spend (in favored categories), compared to 40,000 miles during low season, and 60,000 miles during high season. However, I don't believe upgrades are available, so you must be satisfied with coach.
Also, I have heard these fares are booked in N class, so I believe you get mileage with these flights and .5 Q points, but I am not sure of this. Here is a link to the appropriate page on the Hilton web site: http://hhonors.hilton.com/en/hhonors.../airline.jhtml
Any thoughts on this from the FT fraternity?