Most effective use of AAdvantage Miles
 

I'm planning some travel for 2015 and had planned on building a Oneworld Reward Flight before realizing AA no longer books Explorer/OW tickets.

I didn't see any threads on how best to get the most out of large amounts of AA miles. Any tricks/thoughts for post-OW Award AA mile use (e.g., alternative methods? can miles be transferred to another OW airline?)?

Specifically, I have 80k miles and am going to Buenos Aires February-July and thought I might build a Oneworld Round-the-World or Circle Atlantic ticket. Tacking on a loop to Europe in July before returning to the US would give a total trip costing 110k miles, so I could buy the remainder for ~$600, but I don't know if this is the best way to go about booking such a trip. Would very much appreciate any tips from more experience mile users. Thanks for any help!

There really aren't alternatives. Trying to transfer AA miles to another program will result in a huge loss of value.

Personally, I see redeeming for Cathay Pacific flights in F as a great use of miles and a way to get good value. But that won't help for South America.

Of course you can see South and Central America on several one-way's on LAN. Mst direct flights are 10K and you can go from San Salvador to Lima to Argentina and then to Brazil for 40K.

QR/EY F, 40k miles from the Middle East to Europe.

The best use is to go somewhere you want to go that doesn't cost nearly as much in miles as in cash, especially in a premium cabin if you value that.

80k really isn't a large amount in that context - not enough for a 1-way ticket in F to India/Middle East/Maldives (but plenty to get to Sri Lanka, just next door - i.e. pay attention to nearby destinations that may be cheaper with miles.)