One-Way Tickets: Elite Status?
 

I travel twice a month on average, and usually have to book one-way tickets:

Jetblue non-stop: HPN to FLL
AA non-stop: MIA to LGA

Unfortunately, AA does not fly directly to FLL from HPN, so I'm finding it impossible to make it to AA Gold Status using one-way's!! Does anyone have any tips on how to maximize my one-way flights? I've been an AA Advantage member since 1998, but I've only been a frequent flyer for about a year or so. The AA Amex card and the AA Mastercard are the only 2 credit cards I use. It's frustrating that I've been loyal to AA for so long, yet I'm still not eligible for automatic upgrades if there is room in first.

Aside from the fact that being loyal to these 2 brands doesn't do much for me, if I have to change my flight dates I'm paying $100 for Jetblue and $150 for AA..what's up with that!!

Just out of curiosity, why are you booking these as one-ways? They are really round-trips for fare construction purposes, or they would be on United... United considers FLL and MIA to be co-terminals, as well as HPN and LGA. Have you tried pricing your trips out on United? They might come out cheaper. There's also a double-EQM promo going on until June 15.

(That said, I don't know if there are non-stops available; you might have to use connecting flights if you want the trip entirely on one carrier.)

Hi there,

I live in NYC but work in White Plains, so its easiest for me to fly out of White Plains (into Ft. Lauderdale) one way, and then on the way home fly from Ft. Lauderdale or Miami to NYC. If American flew direct from White Plains into Ft. Lauderdale or Miami I would book round-trip. But they only fly LGA to MIA direct, so sometimes I do that, but getting in past midnight on a regular basis takes a toll on you. Flying from White Plains to Ft. Lauderdale gets me in at 10pm, which makes flying so often a lot easier.

I did register for the double miles - do you know if I will get them for one way flights or only round trip?

Right, which is why I mentioned co-terminals; HPN/LGA and FLL/MIA are co-terminals on United's system, and probably also on AA's, so you should be able to purchase HPN-FLL/MIA-LGA as a round-trip rather than one-ways. I see that your choice of using JetBlue is because AA doesn't have a non-stop, so that's understandable...

Have you looked at United and whether they might have better schedules for you?

I believe you should get them for any segment (whether round-trip or one-way) that is flown on the correct carrier (whether that's AA or UA, depending on which promo for which you registered) during the eligibility period. I'm not entirely familiar with AA's rules, but that is the case for UA.

Oh, and welcome to FT. :)

If you want to maximize your one way trips on AA, you are going to want to start flying connections instead of non-stop. I think HPN-MIA will go through ORD and LGA-MIA will go through BOS or some other places.

Doing so will increase your travel time quite a good bit though.

Alternatively, you can charge everything on your AA credit cards and hope that you'll hit the 1M mark before they decide to stop the CC miles to count toward the 1M miles.

regards,
drew

thanks Drew. What's the 1M miles? Do you know if my cc miles count towards elite status or only miles I can use to book a flight or upgrade.

If you're willing to fly LGA-FLL both ways with a connection look at Southwest starting June 28. No first class but there are also no change fees or fees for canceling a ticket.

CC miles are redeemable miles only; they do not count towards elite status. However, they do count towards your "lifetime miles." Once you reach 1 million lifetime miles, you get Gold-for-life status regardless of your flying. (This applies to AA only; on UA, the CC miles do not count towards lifetime status.)