Discounted American Awards for Credit Card Holders

Got an AAdvantage credit card issued by Citibank or Barclays? Then you may be entitled to book award flights for fewer miles.

Holders of the various AAdvantage-affiliated credit cards can book awards to selected U.S. and Canadian destinations at discounted prices. The discount varies, according to the card type.

For the Platinum, World Elite, Select, and other higher-annual-fee cards, first-class award prices are reduced from 25,000 miles to 21,250 miles each way; and coach awards are discounted from 12,500 to 8,750 miles each way. That’s a 15 percent discount for first class and an even heftier 30 percent discount for coach.

For Gold and Aviator Blue cardholders, the first and coach awards are discounted by 10 and 20 percent, to 22,500 and 10,000 miles each way, respectively.

The list of eligible award destinations for the October-January period has just been published. For October, there are more than 120 discounted cities on the list, with somewhat fewer on offer for November and December, but even more available during January.

The discounted awards must be booked by phone. There’s no fee to make the booking via American’s toll-free reservations number, but there will be a $35 service charge for non-Executive Platinum elite members booking at a ticket office or airport location.

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The discounts range from decent, at 10 percent, to compelling, at 30 percent. Most high-demand destinations are absent from the list — no discounts on award flights to San Francisco or New York or Orlando, for example. But there are plenty of cities well worth visiting as well: Austin, Ft. Lauderdale, Houston, New Orleans, Raleigh/Durham, Reno, San Diego, St. Louis, and West Palm Beach.

If you have a Citi AAdvantage or a Barclays AAdvantage Aviator card, have a look at the list of discounted award destinations. You might just find a city on your bucket list.

And if you’re thinking of adding an AAdvantage credit card to your collection, consider these discounts among the reasons for doing so.

Reader Reality Check

Have you taken advantage of these award discounts?

This article originally appeared on FrequentFlier.com.