NetSurfer69

When I saw the email this morning, I was quite excited - though i wish this covered international award tickets as well. Anyways, i sat down this evening to explore this further and it is becoming apparent that this is pretty much useless for my personal and immediate family use patterns. I may use this on occasion when i gift award tickets for friends etc. (which is what i mostly use my miles for these days) ...

I tried several common itineraries that i tend to fly for business and leisure travel and DAA was a flop in each case based on the factors i used to evaluate. Just listing 2 scenarios here:

Typical Business Itinerary - late booking to NYC 3-4 days before flight: I tried for a DFW-EWR R/T (Mon 8/8 - Thur 8/11) which can get pretty pricey on occasion. I was flexible with flight timings and looked for cheapest option during each day.
1. Fare Ticket: $858 incl. taxes (1-stop flights both directions)
2. MileSAAver Economy: available for 25K miles (early am non-stop outbound and late afternoon non-stop return)
3. MileSAAver Business/First: available for 50K miles (early am non-stop outbound and late afternoon non-stop return)
4. Dynamic Air Awards: available for 49K miles + $10 (1-stop in both directions, late afternoon flights in both directions)


Typical Leisure Itinerary - book for a long weekend trip 3-4 weeks before flight: I tried for a DFW-BOS R/T (Fri 9/2 - Mon 9/5) an itinerary where i have used MileSAAver Business awards in the past. I was again somewhat flexible with flight timings, but preferred non-stop options, so not the cheapest option during each day. Also, have narrower schedule windows to maximize leisure time.
1. Fare Ticket: $634 incl. taxes (1-stop flights both directions)
2. MileSAAver Economy: available only for return; only AAnytime Economy available on outbound; so effectively 37.5K miles (non-stop flight schedules meeting requirements)
3. MileSAAver Business/First: available for 50K miles (non-stop flight schedules meeting requirements)
4. Dynamic Air Awards: available for 44.5K miles + $7.50 (1-stop in both directions, not in preferred time bands in both directions)


In each case, even if i opted to use miles instead of paying for these tickets, the other award options work out much better every way i look at it.

JumboD

Got it. Well, I still stand by my reasons for introducing the DAA program and the timing of the introduction.

Edwardvan

I got the email but not sure it is something I will ever use. Maybe this is their way of trying to soften the blow for when they increase the mileage awards for the routes we do actually fly.

Edwardvan

Also, having to pay a change fee or a reinstatement fee wipes out any benefit for me. I sincerely wish this dynamic option was not an option and hope this is not the beginning of an AA miles devaluation.

hillrider

A beginning it is not; AA miles have been devaluing constantly at a rate of at least 3-4% annually, without factoring in the huge devaluation from the introduction of the YQ on certain awards.

When I joined AA in 1984, I was promised that for 20,000 accumulated miles and no cash I would:

• fly roundrip on any US/CA flight as long as a single economy-class seat was available for absolutely free (they picked up all taxes/fees);
• sleep one night for free at a Marriott or similar;
• and drive a midsize car for free for 2 weekend days (IIRC).

In 2010:

• flying roundrip on any US/CA flight as long as a single economy-class seat is available costs 50,000 miles plus those taxes/fees that they no longer pay for;
• sleeping one hotel night at a Holiday Inn costs 31,250 miles and doesn't include "resort" charges;
• driving a midsize car rental for 2 days is 16,000 miles (extra charges unknown);

for a total of 97,205 miles plus cash to pay for taxes/fees and "resort" charges.

In other words, 1000 AA miles of 1984 are now worth less than 389 miles (less because I am not counting in the value of the cash co-pays).

That's an annual devaluation of the accrued miles of 3.58%

It's a safe bet to predict that our miles will continue to lose a similar, if not higher, amount per year in the future. As such, I would not be surprised in the least that AA's decision to invest its very scarce IT resources to develop the "dynamic air awards" system is to support this trend.

coremill

Isn't this slightly misleading, though? I haven't done the math and so can't be sure, but I suspect the increased ability to earn miles has kept up with, if not outpaced, the increased redemption rates. At least for PLTs and EXPs, the 100% bonus alone means earning capacity is twice what it was in 1984 (was this around back then?). Adding in credit card sign-up bonuses and the SPG 1.25:1 transfer ratio makes a big difference too.

Really the people who got screwed are the non-elite flyers w/o credit cards who save up over several years for one free ticket.

AmericanAirlines

Unfortunately, due to some technical limitations we are unable to offer Dynamic Air awards to members outside of the US at this time. We appreciate the candid feedback and will continue to work to make this available. We do value our international members and will continue to evaluate opportunities to provide value to you.

wdchuck1

I have been trying to see if this is going to be worthwhile or not but I can't figure out how to book it.

Any link that I get from the dedicated website throws me into a redemption screen without this as an option??

Has anyone used this?? Does it make any sense??

miamigrad

You're using the following website, correct (and logged in with you AAdvantage number & password)?
https://www.useaamiles.com/air/

wesmanz

About a week late for me, just burned through 125k miles for 3 award tickets for AAnytime awards since reduced rate wasn't avail. That kinda sucks!

Bonehead

LT Gold (No BIS status this year), got this message:

In order to complete your search, please note:

Access is a benefit of AAdvantage elite status membership. Please call the number on the back of your AAdvantage membership card if you received this message in error.

Please verify the information and try again.

canyonleo

coremill:
> At least for PLTs and EXPs, the 100% bonus alone means
> earning capacity is twice what it was in 1984


Not true, I think... I remember back in early '90s not only did top level receive bonus (not sure if it ws 100%) but didn't they also receive plateau bonuses?

3Cforme

It worked fine for me the other day.

Blueboys999

Interesting. So you're confirming that AAdvantage has 2 different customer categories - members and 'international' members?

in turn, I will continue to evaluate whether I'd be better off giving my annual fare spend to an airline that treats its most loyal customers the same way irrespective of where they happen to live in the world.

jafrelin

Played with booking tus to dca. Could not select exit row or any other restricted seats. Same flights on the regular web site allowed exit row with 25k rt tix. So extra 1k miles and no exit rows.