Using AA points for LAX-SYD segment of a flight
 

Hi folks,
I'm flying DCA-LAX-SYD October 9, returning to DCA October 25, and I'd like your help on using AA points for the LAX-SYD segment. I don't fly much so I'm not savvy about using points. I bought my ticket in February, and recently a friend suggested I have enough points that I don't need to travel in cattle car for the long flight from LAX-SYD.
I have 243,723 AA miles and 2,560 loyalty points.
To upgrade to premium economy on the LAX-SYD segment AA says I need 281.3k miles, but that's more than what a friend says AA requires for a straight LAX-SYD flight if I use imiles, rather than upgrade. So what's the best strategy at this point? I paid $1448.41 when I booked my ticket in February.
I'm currently booked DCA-LAX Flt AA1617, on October 9, then LAX-SYD on Flt 73 the same day, and returning SYD-LAX October 25 on AA Flt 72, and then connecting to LAX-DCA on Flt. 2828.
I'd love to be able to use points for once. Thanks for your help.

Since you're already ticketed, it sounds like you're seeing an offer to buy up to Premium Economy for 281,300 miles for one direction. That tracks since, if I were to try to buy those exact flights for points right now as a new booking it would be a lot more. Your friend may or may not be aware that AA now prices awards dynamically, whether it's for an upgrade or a new ticket.. There's no longer a fixed rate. They charge what the demand dictates.

Keep checking your reservation as the dates gets closer. If they have unsold seats they may start reducing that offer and you may also see business class awards. The first row is showing Coach/PE/Business. The LAX-SYD/SYD-LAX legs have a First class cabin as well and it shows up on the return search.
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Unfortunately due to some very recent changes to AA's program the only way to upgrade any AA flight with miles now is to pay whatever upgrade offer price you see when you pull up your reservation online. So if AA wants 281k miles to upgrade that segment, there's no way around it.

And unfortunately (again) with AA's new upgrade program the pricing is fixed at 1 cent/mile, long story short 90% of these upgrade offers are now terrible deals to use miles on; The thought of spending 281k miles to upgrade from economy to premium economy makes me shudder, that's absolutely atrocious.

But as PHL noted upgrade prices can and will change from day to day, keep checking back.

Using AA points for LAX-SYD or SYD-LAX segment
 

Thanks. So I'll follow your suggestion and check three weeks before my flight out. Since I'm 6,277 miles shy of having 250,000 is it worth it getting an AA credit card (no fee) so I can quickly earn enough miles for a segment on miles? Or, Is it worth it to cancel my flight and rebook using the miles I have?
What do you suggest? Keep in mind that I'm a neophyte when it comes to using points and find the whole business stressful.
Thanks.

You bought the ticket already, if you cancel will you be able to use the credit?

Are you flexible on dates? Based on the miles shown above the plane is pretty full. You could check how many business class or PE seats on your flight by using expertflyer.

i would not pay what you see talking about in points. I’d check seats.aero for straight award ticket costs.

Using miles LAX-SYD/ SYD-LAX
 

I'm afraid I'm not flexible on dates as I've made various travel arrangements within Australia based on those dates. How did you find out the flight is pretty full? I'd like to find that out as well for future flights.

I would not count on getting the bonus miles from a credit card in time to use on your upcoming trip. Bonus miles typically do not post to your AAdvantage account until after the closing date of the credit-card billing cycle during which you satisfied the requirements for the bonus. Nonetheless, getting 50,000 AAdvantage miles from Barclays for making one purchase of any amount is not a bad deal if you expect to have good use for those miles in the future.

Link to current Barclays offer:

applyaviator.com

I guessed based on the mileage they wanted for the award. But since you asked, I checked expertflyer, and there are only 3 tickets for sale in PE on that day if I have my fare codes correct (W) and non in discounted PE (P). You can get a free trial to Expertflyer if you want to give it a try.

There are more seats available in J. You have time to become familiar with Seats.aero and you can set an alert for awards that day between LAX-SYD. Assuming you are wiling to cancel your revenue flight and get a voucher for it after you book your mileage award.

Start checking about 14 days out. That's when you'll likely see significant drops in miles required.

Don't spend 250,000 miles on PE ticket. There are many ways you can use those miles in the future for a premium trip, and likely more than one. 250K is a terrible valuation.
Even if you could cancel and rebook, you'd then be spending 250K on a one way segment. I don't know if it's exactly 250K because I searched roundtrip and it priced PE at 500,000. That could mean 300k one way and 200K the other way, or some similar variation. You'd then need to 1.) Cancel your booking for future trip credit to use within a year, 2.) book a one way with those points and 3.) hope your other one way ticket for $$ is not a lot more money than your roundtrip. Some markets are priced cheaper for the roundtrip than 2 separate one way tickets.

Just to pile on, but if your dates are set then it is not worth doing anything right now with your miles on this trip. Do not get a credit card just to get a few more miles, don't cancel your existing flight, don't do anything. All of the options to use miles are terrible.

Even if you already had a million miles in your account, it is not worth spending 250k on a one-way segment between the US-Australia in premium economy. That is an absolutely horrible use of miles.

Just keep your existing paid flight, and check your reservation once a week or so and see if the upgrade price drops any. On longhaul flights it is not uncommon to see the economy to premium economy upgrade price drop to around $250-$500, which would be 25k-50k miles at the current rate. But these more aggressive upgrade offers only happen within about 1-3 weeks of the flight, so just keep an eye on it.

Notwithstanding the advice not to get a credit card for this trip, the Barclay aviator card will be around just a few more weeks perhaps, and it’s a great way to get miles. You get 70k miles after your first purchase and payment of the annual fee ($99).

if you are t familiar with it, check the View From the Wing blog post of Aug 18 (you can google “ Barclay aviator view wing” and it should come up.

Also keep an eye out for business class paid upgrades, as given current loads, they may be a more attractive value.

Using Advantage miles for LAX-SYD segment
 

Thanks a lot beachfan. I will keep my ticket and check seats.aero for straight award ticket costs.

Using Advantage Miles on LAX-SYD segment
 

Good suggestion, beachfan. I checked out the blog and attempted to apply online but Barclays' website is down. So I called Barclays instead but on the phone they're just giving 50k miles with the $99 card, so I'll keep trying Barclays website until it comes back up.
I hate these games credit card companies and airlines play. It seems as if the system is rigged to prevent people from accumulating and using miles.

Using Advantage miles on the LAX-SYD segment
 

Thanks JJeffrey. I'll keep an eye out for upgrades 1-3 weeks before my flight. Ideally, I'd prefer to upgrade to business, if at all.