Once I hit 2MM on AA, I'm going to earn on CX for status there.

After I finish my current earn/burn with AC and a few others, I'll earn for *A probably with UA.

advantage? yes

killer advantage? possibly, depending on your travel patterns

killer post for a newby? defintely... welcome to FT!

Yes, I'm sure. Almost all of my domestic redemptions have taken advantage of this; I don't stopover in cheap (to get to) cities like Chicago on award tickets.

So long as it is served by AA, there are no restrictions.

If using AS, you can still do this, but the stopover has to be along a published connection point. (Not so for AA metal)

Unfortunately, this applies to you.

But it does not apply to most of AA's customers.

Awards from North America to everywhere (as far as I am aware) allow stopovers at a connection point, a US or international hub. This applies both to AA metal and partner flights.

I have used as many as 5 airlines on a single ticket (in this case AA, BA, LX, SN, and AS)...this was not a simple partner award, not a OneWorld award...a stopover on this award in London was not a problem.

AA has a pretty decent off peak award (mid October to mid May) to Europe in coach for 40K. I did that when I met you for drinks in October, using my free stopover in Madrid on the way to Barcelona.

Didn't UA do something for 35K during the winter as a one-shot offering (while still in chapter 11)? Has it been added to the award chart permanently now?

One advantage of UA that I haven't seen mentioned is that if you fly a mix of discounted and full-fare tickets, you earn status much faster on UA than on AA. For example, say you take two 10,000-mile trips, one on a B-class ticket, one on a Q-class ticket. UA gives you 15,000 miles for the first ticket, and 10,000 for the second, for a total of 25,000 EQM, which gets you Premier status. AA gives you only 20,000 miles.

A possible advantage of AA is that you can buy 500-mile upgrades for $30 each, compared with 4 for $200 on UA. I've never bought a 500-miler, because I won't pay $300 for a SFO->JFK one-way upgrade, but I might be willing to pay $180. (Unfortunately, AA doesn't have P.S. on that route.)

Another advantage of AA for some people is in-seat power. However, I just bring a big battery, in which case the extra legroom in UA's economy plus section is a big win.

I just checked again with AA and this time the reply was slightly different: on an all partner award that goes between 'regions' (i.e., between South America and North America or Europe, but not within South America), one stop-over is allowed each way at point of entry into the second region. Within a region, no stop-overs are allowed.

Economy+ seating and in-flight entertainment.

Too bad this has evolved into yet another UA v. AA thread, with all of the usual arguments.

Personally I don't think the stopover is a big deal for US residents traveling within the US. I never ever stopover on leisure trips. Open jaw is another matter but usually one finds better value by buying and upgrading low-fare tix than by using a 25K award.

When traveling internationally, stopover could be more useful but again it is really the open jaw award that is most useful, i.e. fly to London, return from Paris.

Not to be unwelcoming :), but I don't think it is "Killer Advantage" for anyone but the OP.

Although I'd rather use miles for a intercontinental trip, I've used the domestic stopover and can imagine useful cases. If visiting CA from the east coast, it's nice to hit both the north & south especially if you have friends to visit. Another one could be visiting family on the way to another city for vacation.

Also, doesn't "within the US" really include Canada? I like visiting multiple cities on a leisure trip, and making a stop in places like YYZ/YVR/YUL is nice.

I disagre. Stopovers on an intercontinental flight are great. If I can arrange everything on one award ticket, things go more smoothly than trying to fill in gaps with a paid flight--- especially if I decide to change travel dates.

YMMV

(Edited to change transcontinental to intercontinental)

I think you are the exception. Vast majority of leisure travel are individuals or families going to one destination for a week, i.e. Orlando or perhaps a long weekend, i.e. Vegas.

Nobody is saying that stopover and open jaw are worthless. What we are saying is that they don't really matter for the vast majority of redemptions - and therefore not "Killer" by anybody's definition. FTers are also somewhat of a different lot, flying about on MRs at the drop of a dime (or rather, a fare drop!) and perhaps can find more use from such flexibility. Like you I have friends up and down the opposite coast, but like most people I don't have enough time to even look everyone up when I go visiting.

As you say, YMMV.

I'm not saying it's "killer," just disputing what you seemed to say about stopovers. The last time I did a domestic stopover was visiting family at Christmas and then continuing to another city for vacation & New Year's. Since I didn't plan the trip early enough, the award saved me buying an overpriced domestic ticket.

Thanks for mentioning this as I had no idea this were possible. ^

I had always assumed a stopover was permissible in a connection city, but not elsewhere. I do have one question though. In this case, does "domestic" refer to just the continental 48, or does it also include HI, AK, and possibly PR? For example, assuming availability on all segments, would either of the following be possible:

Out: LEX - LAS (stopover) - SJU
Back: SJU - LEX

or

Out: LEX -SEA (stopover) - HNL
Back: OGG - LEX

Thanks in advance.

It depends which award you mean. The 25k "domestic" is continental US and Canada. 30k includes the Carribean & Mexico, and 35k includes HI.

Sorry for the confusion. The OP states "On AA domestic award tickets you can have a stopover of any length in any connecting city, in addition to your roundtrip ticket, at no charge." I'm wondering if this allowable stopover is only permitted on 25k domestic awards, or can someone also include a non-connecting point stopover when redeeming a 30k award to PR or a 35k award to HI.