25% bonus when you convert hotel points to American Airlines

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• Alan says:

  16 Feb16 February 08:27

  Indeed, AA miles can be pretty valuable:
  AA – 80,000 miles + £93.31 – MEL(-SYD)-DXB-LHR-EDI in *F*, 60k in C
  SQ – 80,750 miles + £437.16 – MEL-SIN-LHR [then need sep LHR-EDI – 4.5k + £17]
  QR (via BA) – 140,000 miles + £205 – MEL-DOH-EDI
  QF (via BA) – 100,000 miles + £359 – MEL-DXB-LHR-EDI

  So AA are the lowest cost by far, both points and cash. You can see why all the US bloggers opt for travelling in F rather than C given the small incremental price difference!

• Liz says:

  16 Feb16 February 09:58

  Alan, we are planning a trip to Australia in probably 3 years to visit family. We usually holiday in the US and spend our Avios that way. If AA is one of the cheapest ways in terms of miles and charges then how do you collect AA miles in the UK. I only collect Avios via credit cards and shopping and not frequent flying. We would be looking at EDI – LHR- SIN (poss stayover for 3 days) on to MEL for say 3 days then to BNE then back from BNE to EDI with no stops. What would I need to collect in terms of miles and what is the best way to collect them in the UK.

  • Alan says:

    16 Feb16 February 10:21

    Sadly there’s not many great options – I earned mine via AA credit card sign up (x2) and some IHG and other online shopping purchases. You obviously can also credit flights to them, potentially of more use with the reduced BA earnings in the future. If each person signed up for the CC they might get enough for redemptions – however the BIG caveat is that you’re planning a trip in 3 years and there’s likely to be at least one if not two AA devaluations before then, certainly one is imminent with the US merger. This makes it a much more unknown quantity (as is the case with any FF plan!).

    • John says:

      16 Feb16 February 10:43

      AA’s now on holidaycheck.com. Have been earning 150 Air Berlin tbs per review (capped at 10 per month) but think AA rate is lower.

      Click on share your experiences on home page for all partners. Useful German based site which asks for evidence (booking email) of hotel stays every ten or so reviews, so is a lot less made up than trip advisor often seems to be.

      • Rob says:

        16 Feb16 February 11:05

        This is on my ‘to do’ list for an article this week!

    • Liz says:

      16 Feb16 February 12:19

      Ok thanks Alan, think I will keep it simple and stick to Avios saving!

      • xcalx says:

        16 Feb16 February 14:46

        You can also earn AA miles by converting Amex points to SPG . I always wait for a SPG to AAdvantage bonus. During the last bonus period I trade 80000 MR for 40000 SPG which converted to 60000 AA instead of the normal 50000.
        I value 60000 AA much more than 80000 Avios.
        You can also collect AA via erewards ( search google for a 750 sign up bonus. In fact open a few with individual emails as when transfering erewards the name can be changed to keep depositing points into the same AA account) its surprising how quick you can accumulate a nice AA fund.

        • Liz says:

          16 Feb16 February 15:22

          Thanks xcalc, I will bear that in mind – I already use e-rewards so will try that!

        • Alan says:

          16 Feb16 February 20:54

          Ah great, thanks for clarifying that – I almost made mention of going via SPG but couldn’t remember if excluded or a rubbish transfer rate! Based on the indicative redemption costs I noted above at their present redemption levels AA miles are worth at least double Avios (in pure miles terms, let alone once you consider taxes!) so agree that seems a good transfer rate.

        • Rob says:

          16 Feb16 February 21:22

          True, that is not a bad deal. Same with Lufthansa – my last LH First Class trip was part funded the same way, Amex to SPG to Miles & More.

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