Jan 7, 2020, 1:43 pm
Last edit by: Prospero
Dynamic Award Pricing means award prices in miles will present with pricing dependent in accordance with supply and demand driven cash prices rather than by displaying static award prices on a published chart. Delta and United Airlines, among others, already offer dynamically priced awards, rather than pricing static miles costs on a chart.
Dynamic Award Pricing was initially introduced with multi-tier AAnytime awards, and expanded with the Economy Web Special awards listings added to the standard award display at the end of October, 2018 and fully operational in 2019. This means an award can price as a a lower than usual Economy Award Special or an AAnytime award as high as >400,000 miles for a one way longhaul award.
Links
Link to Economy Web Special" Award (dynamic price, fewer miles, more restrictions Oct 2018) (FT, 29 Oct 2019)
Link to AAnytime award dynamic tiers: higher costs coming to S Pac "late" Sep 2016 (AAnytime to SoPac can price at 375,000 J and 420,000 miles F.)
Link to Anytime / AAnytime award / awards [master thread] (Discusses three tiers and hidden fourth tier for AAnytime Award Pricing)
Articles:
link to American Airlines Dynamic Award Pricing is Here (Alongside Regular Awards) by Gary Leff on April 18, 2019
link to American Airlines Says Dynamically Pricing Awards is Coming by Gary Leff on May 30, 2019
Link to American Airlines Confirms That Dynamic Award Pricing Is Coming by Darren Murph May 30, 2019
Dynamic Award Pricing was initially introduced with multi-tier AAnytime awards, and expanded with the Economy Web Special awards listings added to the standard award display at the end of October, 2018 and fully operational in 2019. This means an award can price as a a lower than usual Economy Award Special or an AAnytime award as high as >400,000 miles for a one way longhaul award.
AA effectively moved toward dynamic pricing with the roll out of Economy Web Specials in October, with JT Genter noting the following: The appearance of discounted awards costing 9,500, 10,000, 10,500 and even 13,500 miles on a route where the standard rate is just 7,500 miles is quite concerning. Hopefully this is just a bug in the rollout, and not the first step toward a revenue-based redemption program like what weve seen Delta transition to over the past few years. - JT Genter, quoted in TPG - link
(On 30 May 2018) Senior Vice President of Revenue Management Don Casey said dynamic pricing of awards is a strategy theyre using to drive higher revenue from the loyalty program. More mileage redemptions means recognizing more deferred revenue, and redemptions at a higher mileage price does too. = G. Leff, see below for link
Weve said publicly were adding dynamic awards called web specials. Because weve received positive customer feedback so far and we will continue to roll out web specials. Some of the coverage were seeing now is pure speculation more web specials only mean more web specials for now. No decision has been made on anything beyond that. That said, we love when customers redeem miles. If TPG readers are thinking about a big, fancy trip, we hope they take it. Wed love to serve them soon. AA to TPG, 30 May 2019 (link below)
Link to Economy Web Special" Award (dynamic price, fewer miles, more restrictions Oct 2018) (FT, 29 Oct 2019)
Link to AAnytime award dynamic tiers: higher costs coming to S Pac "late" Sep 2016 (AAnytime to SoPac can price at 375,000 J and 420,000 miles F.)
Link to Anytime / AAnytime award / awards [master thread] (Discusses three tiers and hidden fourth tier for AAnytime Award Pricing)
AAnytime awards
With no blackout dates, you can use AAnytime awards for any seat on an American Airlines or American Eagle flight for as low as 20,000 miles each way, plus any applicable taxes and carrier-imposed fees.
AAnytime award levels vary by date (including time of day) and region. There are select dates that require a higher number of miles (in addition to Level 1 and 2 awards, there is a hidden level 3 based on aspirational value and premium product and even some hidden level 4 award space released on Flagship transcontinental flights). When you search for awards while booking, youll see the applicable available award level.
With no blackout dates, you can use AAnytime awards for any seat on an American Airlines or American Eagle flight for as low as 20,000 miles each way, plus any applicable taxes and carrier-imposed fees.
AAnytime award levels vary by date (including time of day) and region. There are select dates that require a higher number of miles (in addition to Level 1 and 2 awards, there is a hidden level 3 based on aspirational value and premium product and even some hidden level 4 award space released on Flagship transcontinental flights). When you search for awards while booking, youll see the applicable available award level.
link to American Airlines Dynamic Award Pricing is Here (Alongside Regular Awards) by Gary Leff on April 18, 2019
link to American Airlines Says Dynamically Pricing Awards is Coming by Gary Leff on May 30, 2019
Link to American Airlines Confirms That Dynamic Award Pricing Is Coming by Darren Murph May 30, 2019
Dynamic AAdvantage Award / Drastically High Pricing (master thread)
Nov 1, 2019 | 1:48 pm
#121
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 268
Would you rather a website that fluctuates every time you look at it (I was monitoring First class airfare from ALB to HNL a while back and checked several times a day for 4-5 days straight. Prices fluctuated from 210,000 to 280,000 Skymiles roundtrip).
AA was "consistent" at the AAnytime First rewards for 1/2 the amount of miles.
Won't even touch the 400k+ skymiles for a roundtrip from JFK to Europe (or more if I remember someone posting a Delta dynamic pricing of almost 1 million skymiles in Delta One).
Although long layovers on AA aren't new. Last year they would do the same for the lowest price awards, IMO.
Nov 1, 2019 | 2:08 pm
#122
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: In the sky.
Programs: AA- EXP 3mm, Marriott Titanium(Lifetime), *wood Plat, Hertz Pres. Circle, *bucks Gold, Joan Ranger
Posts: 781
Nov 1, 2019 | 8:20 pm
#123
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: DAY
Programs: Rapid Rewards, Skymiles, Hilton HHonors, SPG/Marriott Rewards
Posts: 6,563
I guess it depends what's important. I should've clarified that AA's miles "pricing" for "dynamic" is nothing compared to Delta for Skymiles (again, IMO).
Would you rather a website that fluctuates every time you look at it (I was monitoring First class airfare from ALB to HNL a while back and checked several times a day for 4-5 days straight. Prices fluctuated from 210,000 to 280,000 Skymiles roundtrip).
AA was "consistent" at the AAnytime First rewards for 1/2 the amount of miles.
Won't even touch the 400k+ skymiles for a roundtrip from JFK to Europe (or more if I remember someone posting a Delta dynamic pricing of almost 1 million skymiles in Delta One).
Although long layovers on AA aren't new. Last year they would do the same for the lowest price awards, IMO.
Would you rather a website that fluctuates every time you look at it (I was monitoring First class airfare from ALB to HNL a while back and checked several times a day for 4-5 days straight. Prices fluctuated from 210,000 to 280,000 Skymiles roundtrip).
AA was "consistent" at the AAnytime First rewards for 1/2 the amount of miles.
Won't even touch the 400k+ skymiles for a roundtrip from JFK to Europe (or more if I remember someone posting a Delta dynamic pricing of almost 1 million skymiles in Delta One).
Although long layovers on AA aren't new. Last year they would do the same for the lowest price awards, IMO.
Nov 1, 2019 | 8:57 pm
#124
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: SNA
Programs: AA EXP, UA 1K (until it expires then never again), *wood Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 9,319
For my Oktoberfest trip this year where we were to spend 5 days in MUC then 3 in AMS I was able to find an award J ticket SEA-LHR back in Feb that worked for my dates, only one way as the return dates didn't have award availability so was watching for something to open to get me home from AMS. This award was ~$600 in taxes/fees plus the 57.5K miles and on top of that I'd have to get from LHR-MUC as there wasn't award seats on that leg. I ended up finding an AAVacations ticket round trip on BA SEA-LHR-AMS-LHR-SEA for $2200. If I had found award space for the return I'd have been out ~$1200 plus 115K miles, it was an easy call to cancel that award.
While an outlier and I think possibly a mistake on BAs part, I just this week booked a First ticket on BA JFK-LHR round trip for $2000, of which only $500 was "fare" the remaining $1500 was taxes/fees. That same award would have cost 170K miles plus $1300+ in taxes as an award. No thanks.
So in my view BA awards are only a good value if you're grabbing them last minute where discounted J tickets aren't available and their revenue tickets are crazy expensive (which BA does quite well) given discounted J tickets are often available for not too much more than the taxes/fees that you pay on top of the miles plus you earn EQM/D and RDMs. The challenge being that BA doesn't often open award space last minute, so the situations where awards on BA make the most sense/value are when you're very unlikely to find any space.
Nov 1, 2019 | 9:09 pm
#125
Suspended
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 31,464
This. The surcharges on BA awards only make that a viable option IMO if you're unable to find a good deal on a paid ticket, which if booking far in advance is often the case. Some data points:
For my Oktoberfest trip this year where we were to spend 5 days in MUC then 3 in AMS I was able to find an award J ticket SEA-LHR back in Feb that worked for my dates, only one way as the return dates didn't have award availability so was watching for something to open to get me home from AMS. This award was ~$600 in taxes/fees plus the 57.5K miles and on top of that I'd have to get from LHR-MUC as there wasn't award seats on that leg. I ended up finding an AAVacations ticket round trip on BA SEA-LHR-AMS-LHR-SEA for $2200. If I had found award space for the return I'd have been out ~$1200 plus 115K miles, it was an easy call to cancel that award.
While an outlier and I think possibly a mistake on BAs part, I just this week booked a First ticket on BA JFK-LHR round trip for $2000, of which only $500 was "fare" the remaining $1500 was taxes/fees. That same award would have cost 170K miles plus $1300+ in taxes as an award. No thanks.
So in my view BA awards are only a good value if you're grabbing them last minute where discounted J tickets aren't available and their revenue tickets are crazy expensive (which BA does quite well) given discounted J tickets are often available for not too much more than the taxes/fees that you pay on top of the miles plus you earn EQM/D and RDMs. The challenge being that BA doesn't often open award space last minute, so the situations where awards on BA make the most sense/value are when you're very unlikely to find any space.
For my Oktoberfest trip this year where we were to spend 5 days in MUC then 3 in AMS I was able to find an award J ticket SEA-LHR back in Feb that worked for my dates, only one way as the return dates didn't have award availability so was watching for something to open to get me home from AMS. This award was ~$600 in taxes/fees plus the 57.5K miles and on top of that I'd have to get from LHR-MUC as there wasn't award seats on that leg. I ended up finding an AAVacations ticket round trip on BA SEA-LHR-AMS-LHR-SEA for $2200. If I had found award space for the return I'd have been out ~$1200 plus 115K miles, it was an easy call to cancel that award.
While an outlier and I think possibly a mistake on BAs part, I just this week booked a First ticket on BA JFK-LHR round trip for $2000, of which only $500 was "fare" the remaining $1500 was taxes/fees. That same award would have cost 170K miles plus $1300+ in taxes as an award. No thanks.
So in my view BA awards are only a good value if you're grabbing them last minute where discounted J tickets aren't available and their revenue tickets are crazy expensive (which BA does quite well) given discounted J tickets are often available for not too much more than the taxes/fees that you pay on top of the miles plus you earn EQM/D and RDMs. The challenge being that BA doesn't often open award space last minute, so the situations where awards on BA make the most sense/value are when you're very unlikely to find any space.
When BA eventually rolls out their new J/C product to the USA it is a viable option if you want to go that route. Right now it isnt worth it. BA club world looks like Spirit Airlines
Nov 1, 2019 | 9:29 pm
#126
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: KARB
Programs: DL 2MM
Posts: 27,001
I guess it depends what's important. I should've clarified that AA's miles "pricing" for "dynamic" is nothing compared to Delta for Skymiles (again, IMO).
Would you rather a website that fluctuates every time you look at it (I was monitoring First class airfare from ALB to HNL a while back and checked several times a day for 4-5 days straight. Prices fluctuated from 210,000 to 280,000 Skymiles roundtrip).
AA was "consistent" at the AAnytime First rewards for 1/2 the amount of miles.
Won't even touch the 400k+ skymiles for a roundtrip from JFK to Europe (or more if I remember someone posting a Delta dynamic pricing of almost 1 million skymiles in Delta One).
Although long layovers on AA aren't new. Last year they would do the same for the lowest price awards, IMO.
Would you rather a website that fluctuates every time you look at it (I was monitoring First class airfare from ALB to HNL a while back and checked several times a day for 4-5 days straight. Prices fluctuated from 210,000 to 280,000 Skymiles roundtrip).
AA was "consistent" at the AAnytime First rewards for 1/2 the amount of miles.
Won't even touch the 400k+ skymiles for a roundtrip from JFK to Europe (or more if I remember someone posting a Delta dynamic pricing of almost 1 million skymiles in Delta One).
Although long layovers on AA aren't new. Last year they would do the same for the lowest price awards, IMO.
There are certain destinations where it is almost impossible to find low-level award in First or Business. Chief among these are Hawaii, JNB, and SYD.
Last edited by xliioper; Nov 1, 2019 at 9:34 pm
Dec 17, 2019 | 8:48 pm
#127
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AA EXP, IC Amb
Posts: 6,026
Aadvantage Dynamic Award Pricing Now Live...
According to The Points Guy it looks like it's finally here.....ugh....
https://thepointsguy.com/news/aa-web...-pricing-480k/
Earlier today, we posted an update about American Airlines expansion of its web special pricing to premium cabins on international routes. In searches this morning, we found some web special awards between the U.S. and Europe that were priced higher than the published award chart. However, we were generally encouraged that award pricing didnt exceed the unpublished AAnytime Level 3 rates that have been in place since 2014.
Oh boy, how an afternoon has changed things. As American Airlines rolled out its new web special award pricing to all international routes today, we are seeing some extraordinarily higher award prices in many ways similar to its fellow legacy carriers (Delta and United).
Get ready for some sticker shock.
Can't wait to see some 700,000 Mile Awards!!!!!
https://thepointsguy.com/news/aa-web...-pricing-480k/
Earlier today, we posted an update about American Airlines expansion of its web special pricing to premium cabins on international routes. In searches this morning, we found some web special awards between the U.S. and Europe that were priced higher than the published award chart. However, we were generally encouraged that award pricing didnt exceed the unpublished AAnytime Level 3 rates that have been in place since 2014.
Oh boy, how an afternoon has changed things. As American Airlines rolled out its new web special award pricing to all international routes today, we are seeing some extraordinarily higher award prices in many ways similar to its fellow legacy carriers (Delta and United).
Get ready for some sticker shock.
Can't wait to see some 700,000 Mile Awards!!!!!
Dec 17, 2019 | 8:55 pm
#128
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Vancouver, BC & Sydney, NSW
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 108
Meanwhile, found a JFK-HND/NRT roundtrip in business 5 weeks out for 60k miles each way. So, there's still saver availability out there...
Dec 17, 2019 | 9:01 pm
#129
Join Date: Apr 2003
Programs: B6 Mosaic 3, Bonvoy LT Titanium (x SPG LT), UA Silver
Posts: 6,172
LAX-SYD is only 480,000 ow in business--get them while they are on sale...LOL
Dec 17, 2019 | 9:38 pm
#130
Join Date: Nov 2019
Programs: AAdvantage
Posts: 34
Meanwhile I found 2 80K awards to Tokyo next summer from AUS-LAX-HND then HND-ORD-AUS so SAAver awards are still alive!! Just got to check AA everyday!
Dec 17, 2019 | 9:53 pm
#131
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: OKC
Programs: IHG Plat, National EE, AA Plat
Posts: 2,540
Last week OKC-SYD was 190k (380k round trip) in J each way. Today, 709k.
Are they on crack?
Wow, AA. You truly do suck. I'm actually pissed that I made platinum this year - what a worthless airline to have status on.
Are they on crack?
Wow, AA. You truly do suck. I'm actually pissed that I made platinum this year - what a worthless airline to have status on.
Dec 17, 2019 | 9:59 pm
#132
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Upper Sternistan
Posts: 10,690
Sure feels like the value of my miles just halved.
I'm really more of a Delta person these days, though, so I'm used to this a bit.
But it does suck.
I'm really more of a Delta person these days, though, so I'm used to this a bit.
But it does suck.
Dec 17, 2019 | 10:18 pm
#133
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: LHR
Programs: Ex-NWA Plat
Posts: 1,534
Is there any plan to devalue partner awards too? Either OneWorld or other partners?
Dec 17, 2019 | 11:28 pm
#134
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: PHX, SEA
Programs: Alaska MVP, Avis Presidents Club
Posts: 4,511
Doug Parker: "Let's copy everything Delta does"
EXPs: "Looking forward to an improvement of in flight experience, IFE, and on time rating!"
Parker: "LOL not like that. Here are 500k business class awards."
EXPs: "Looking forward to an improvement of in flight experience, IFE, and on time rating!"
Parker: "LOL not like that. Here are 500k business class awards."
Dec 18, 2019 | 1:45 am
#135
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Watchlisted by the prejudiced, en route to purgatory
Programs: Just Say No to Fleecing and Blacklisting
Posts: 102,077
AAs been trying to jack me on award travel on routes where AA and UA are more less interchangeable. This has AA wanting 3 to 6 times the number of miles UA charges for the very same city pairs for flights at nearly the same time of day on the very same dates on relatively similar equipment.