Award Discounts for AAdvantage Credit Cardholders

Got an AAdvantage credit card issued by Citibank or American Express? 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 higher-annual-fee Platinum, World Elite, and Select 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 a hefty 30 percent discount for coach.

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

The lists of eligible award destinations for December, 2013, through March, 2014, have just been published. Note that although travel dates extend through March 2014, bookings at the reduced rates must be made by January 31, 2014.

For December, there are eight discounted cities in the Northeast, 32 in the Midwest, 27 in the Southeast, 24 in the Southwest, two in the West, and five in Canada. The numbers for November are similar.

Discounted awards must be booked by phone, so there will be a $35 service charge for non-Executive Platinum elite members.

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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 New York or Chicago or Orlando. And San Francisco is available only in February.

But there are plenty of cities well worth visiting as well. Examples: Charlotte, Houston, Santa Barbara, Santa Fe, Memphis, Nashville, Washington, D.C., Montreal, and Toronto.

If you have a Citi AAdvantage 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 a Citi AAdvantage card to your credit card collection, consider these discounts among the reasons for doing so.

Reader Reality Check

Have you taken advantage of these credit card award discounts? Are there destinations on the lists that you’d like to visit?

This article originally appeared on FrequentFlier.com.