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American Airlines has published a new set of destinations for its popular Reduced Mileage Awards promotion. If you're unfamiliar, Reduced Mileage Awards provides a mileage discount for American Airlines co-branded Citi and Barclays cardholders. Depending on which card you have, you’ll save anywhere from 1,000 to 7,500 miles off of a round-trip award ticket.
What are Reduced Mileage Awards?
American Airlines Reduced Mileage Awards are discounted award tickets to and from select cities for American Airlines co-branded credit cardholders. The list of eligible airports depends on the month, and the number of miles you save depends on the flight distance and which AAdvantage credit card you hold.
- Nonstop flights under 500 miles are discounted either 1,000 or 500 miles each way.
- Longer and connecting flights are discounted either 3,750 or 2,500 miles each way.
You can take advantage of the promotion if either your destination or origin airport is on the Reduced Mileage Award list for the month you're traveling. It's also worth emphasizing that you can use this promotion for both round-trip and one-way award flights.
A 7,500-mile discount may not sound that incredible. However, if you value American miles at 1.5 cents each, the Reduced Mileage Award discount provides a savings of around $113 of miles for just one round-trip and just one passenger. That alone can offset the annual fee on some of the eligible cards. The savings can really add up if you're able to use it a few times a year or for more than one passenger.
Which Cities Are Included On The List?
The current list is valid from April 1, 2020 through July 31, 2020, but you need to book travel by May 31 before American rolls the list over to new cities.
The latest list of eligible airports is shorter than in previous months, covering just 107 airports. Given how limited travel opportunities are at the moment, it seems prudent to focus on options in June and July. Below we've gathered a few of the highlights for each month, with maps to paint a picture.
Which Cards Are Eligible?
The full list of eligible cards can be found on AA's Reduced Mileage Award page—including several cards that are no longer available to new cardholders. Cards that offer the full 7,500-mile discount and are still available to new cardholders include:
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard®
- CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Mastercard®
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ Mastercard®
- AAdvantage® Aviator® Red Mastercard®
- AAdvantage® Aviator® Business Mastercard®
- Free checked bags for you and up to 4 companions on domestic itineraries
- Priority boarding to help you win the race for overhead bin space
- A 25% discount on inflight food, beverage, and Wi-Fi purchases
- Reduced Mileage Awards can save you 7,500 miles on roundtrip MileSAAver Awards
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent on cable and satellite providers
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent at gas stations
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent on select telecommunications merchants
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent on car rentals
- Earn 2X miles for every $1 spent on eligible American Airlines purchases
- Earn 1X mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases
Eligible Airports for June
June offerings include 47 airports across the country eligible for Reduced Mileage Awards. A few of the destinations to consider when making prospective travel plans include:
- Lynchburg, VA (LYH)
- Martha's Vineyard, MA (MVY)
- Monterey, CA (MRY)
- Nantucket, MA (ACK)
- Waco, TX (ACT)
American Airlines planned expanded seasonal service to both Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket starting at the end of June this year. However, given the impacts of COVID-19, expect changes to that schedule.
Eligible Airports for July
Not Pictured: Flagstaff, AZ (FLG) and Roswell, NM (ROW)
While the list of July destinations includes 50 airports, these are all but limited to the East Coast and Midwest. Notable cities include the following:
- Huntsville / Decatur, AL (HSV)
- Lexington, KY (LEX)
- Salisbury, MD (SBY)
How To Book Reduced Mileage Awards
We've covered how to book a Reduced Mileage Award in more detail, but here's a quick overview:
- Check award availability on American Airlines' website. (You'll need an economy or business-class “MileSAAver award”)
- Find the discount code that applies to your American Airlines co-brand card at the top of AA's Reduced Milage Award page.
- Call American Airlines reservations at 1-800-882-8880 (A phone booking fee of $30 will not be charged as there is no way to complete this booking online).
Key Terms
- For the list of cities linked above, you must book by May 31 for travel before July 31, 2020.
- There must be a MileSAAver award available for the flight you wish to book.
- Award travel must originate and terminate in the 48 contiguous United States or Canada.
- Travel can be in Main Cabin or First Class; the discount is the same regardless of your class of service.
- You don't need both your origin and destination to be on the list; either city will make your trip eligible.
- One-way awards can be booked for half the discount of a round trip.
- American allows free date changes on awards when your origin and destination stay the same; however, date changes on Reduced Mileage Awards are limited to the dates your airport is on the list.
Final Thoughts
Reduced Mileage Awards are another great way to find discounted AAdvantage award tickets for flights on American Airlines. Even if your travel plans don't match up right now, the cities change on a regular basis, so it is worth bookmarking this post so you can check back regularly.
Pro Tip: British Airways Avios points can also be redeemed for travel on American Airlines. If your itinerary is a nonstop flight, it's often cheaper to book with Avios. Plus, British Airways generally has lower fees for canceling or changing awards.
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Great promo Thanks for info
I hope destinations outside US were included.
Just used this for a trip to Kansas City.
do these reduced miles award show up as the ‘saver’ level for partner awards?
Hey Charles, the inventory you can book is the same as the normal saver awards. So this could be verified by checking AAs website. You can’t use the Reduced mileage award on partner flights.
Does this reduction apply to web specials as well? Or just to “sAAver” fares?
I don’t believe you can apply this to the Web Specials, but it might be possible with the right phone agent. Please let us know what you find out if you give it a try.
I did find nonstop saver awards from Chicago to Charleston S.C. in November. Thank you for the reminder!
In your experience, do they play games with availability to/from the cities on the list?
Perfect Timing as my miles are expiring. How often does AA publish these breaks though?
Changes quarterly.
I wish it was for all destinations instead of a select few.
That certainly would be nice. However, it’s very unlikely. They’re likely offering up underutilized routes at the discount, and they have no incentive to discount popular routes with high demand, unfortunately.
Good discount if the cities work but the catch is that you need to hold the credit card in order to benefit from the discount.
Yeah, if you think of these more as a perk of the card, it’s a great deal but if you’re getting the card just for these, you really need to evaluate how much it’s worth.
Great article! Thanks.
Surprised (but happy) to see Aspen in the list during the winter peak season there.
Thanks for this – will get looking!
Good deal, thanks!
Thank you. This is a good reminder.
the British Airways Avios points option is more useful if your uk based
Or if you only have Ultimate Reward points.
Or if you have a short nonstop flight
This is a huge discount. Perfect for this time of the year!
I bet there are not too many who remember this. Also, with the hassle of having to call would drop how many do this. I know I forget all the time. I should bookmark that AA page somewhere it’ll pop up at me when I’m looking for flights.
It’s good to know AA is offering a few discounts here and there. Especially in light of the recent news that they are making moves towards dynamic award pricing. Points inflation does not make me happy. :/
Still one of the better perks from these cards
Thanks for the information. I am hoping, by leaving/returning to an airport on the list, will allow for an Caribbean non-U.S. destination.
Thanks. Perfect for my upcoming trip to LA.
Great promo to some smaller market with high fare prices. I see MCI is there now, great for some BBQ.
Thanks for the great info!
Awesome tip thank you
Another interesting promo, thanks for posting!
I wish all of the major airlines would have sales.
If they offered more locations it would be great but THANKFULLY I do live near one of these listed and I WILL be taking advantage of this offer. If I can I will do it twice.
Thanks. I just booked several award tickets, but nothing on the list. Hopefully next time.
Nice info but too bad about the $75 close-in fee
Not anymore! AA just dropped their close-in fee. 🕺🏼💃🏻
It seems that the things just get better with AAdvantage 🙂
Crazy in 2019 that they make these such a pain to book. That’s American IT for you.
Businesses don’t make things difficult for no reason.
I appreciate this promo and can be useful, but i have a hard time finding award space, let alone for multiple people.
Cheers thanks for the pro tip
Great information! Thanks!
Thanks for the tip!
I wish there was an easy way to look at all the reduced price deals. For now, I have to keep trying different destinations and pick different calendar dates, and feel like it’s not the best way to do this…Am i missing something?
dont think so.. but i was wondering the same thing
This is a great deal if you’re a Citi card holder!
Very good promo. Would be better if outside US destinations were included.
This is a very good promo!!
Not bad. but i miss the RTW awards, you can do a RTW trip in Bussines for 190k Miles!
I forgot about that! Those were the days!
When was the award withdrawn?
You need at least 25% more miles for similar awards these days.
Que bueno para poder aumentar las millas de American Airines
Great! Thank you!
Great! thank you
Great discount. It is an interesting tip and it is useful for me. Thank you
Graet Blog! tks for the info
This Is great! Thank you flor share This promo with así!
American Airlines always has great promos
United, please take note.
It is interesting, a great offer for people that travel to and from select cities 🙂
Thank you very much for the information! I will use for my next holidays!!!
It s a good promotion, I d like for more destinations . I ll be looking forward. Thanks
Very good option to fly by AA from my city Cordoba to Miami.
Great article! Thanks.
Thanks for this. Very good promo
Cheers!!! I really appreciate this information, I’ll be taking advantage of this. Thanks!!
+1 on including international destinations. I like the AAdvantage program but as an overseas customer I’m not feeling the love sometimes.
This is timely, we’re planning to travel soon and being able to use award travel at a reduced rate is more of an incentive to fly AA. Thank you.
Thanks a lot for the post. This info really helps. Very interesting!
I did find nonstop saver awards from Chicago to Washington in December. Thanks a lot!!
Thank you! Good promo!
Thanks for the information!
Great article. This is a good reminder. When do you blog in Spanish? Thanks!
Great promo! I will use it on my next trip! Thks
American Airlines is my number one airlines when it comes to travel. Great deals and excellent customer service!
Its kind of awkward that at this time and age, you have to call to take advantage of this kind of promo…
Yes that is rather clunky!
Agreed. How on earth do you still have to call in for this??
So you have to pay the phone booking fee?
No, the phone booking fee should be waived because you can’t book this online. I’ve very rarely gotten any pushback on that, but it is definitely policy to waive the booking fee. You can ask for a supervisor or hang up/call back.
Great article. The airporlist may or seems to bring slight restriction to the chances of using the promo.
Fees associated to this promo?
Just the normal taxes you’d pay without the promo on an award ticket.
Great info! Is this going to be available for international destinations too?
No, this is U.S./Canada flights only.
It s a good promoción, i d like for more destinations, i ll be looking forward.
muy claro el articulo, esperemos que se incluyan destinos en centroamérica, y principales ciudades de latinoamerica.
are destinations outside the USA are included
Just a few in Canada.
VERY GOOD INFORMATION, I WAS TO EXCHANGE MILES … THANKS
Great info! Thanks!
Great promo!! Thanx
Yo realice canje de millas para vuelo entre los angeles y san francisco y salio todo perfecto incluso me ayudaron con el canje
Thanks for the article. It’ll be very useful for my next holidays.
Thanks for the information ! Really useful, now that we are planning a short vacation !
Thanks for the information, very good promo
This promos work if I travel from Argentina? Thanks!
This one is for flights in the US and Canada only.
I’ll have to see if the discount is worth it because there will be a $30 fee to reserve by phone….
In this case there is no fee because it can ONLY be booked by phone.
Any idea when the Feb 2020 cities will be listed?
First thank you for the info. It’s about waiting for something for Ry NY Boston???
Thanks. I missed this when it was first posted. Good deals and just in time for ski season. See you on the slopes!
Thank you for the info!! I’ve reddemed a trip to Santa Barbara for me and my brother!!
Thanks again!!
Yes! Gonna book one soon!
Reduced mileage awards are awesome! I once caught one of this promo where my trip Buenos Aires – Miami round trip cost 45.000 miles instead of 60.000. I do not use miles till one of this promo is announced.
Time to start planning for my next trip!
Any idea when the next promo would start?
Good chance to spend some miles. Thanks for the information.
Thanks for the info. Useful.
Thank you for the article.
Great info!!!!!
Thanks!!!!!
Thanks a lot for this information!
Thank you very much for this information!
Excelent article. Thanks for this valuable information!
The close in fee really kills these deals for me. I always end up just using my BA Avios when booking an AA flight because of that. Fortunately, I usually travel short distances so am not penalized by BA for that.
I just booked two AA award flights CLT to AUS for Christmas using my Barclay card for the incidental pay, but it seems I’m much too late to get the discount. I booked online and seats were running out so I didn’t want to delay. Too bad. I could have saved many., many miles. Oh well, I just need to watch your blog more carefully in the future I guess. Thanks.
Very good so I can take advantage of this offer for travel in next January!
Information is new for me. Thansk. Please would be nice to read the blog in spanish.
Thanks for the reminder!
Perfect! I’ve been sitting on a stash of American miles/
Most of these destinations are obviously underutilized, however they appear to be very good value options. It would be worthwhile to keep an eye on the available options since they change.
Awesome news ! Now I can save some miles for Jan rewards ticket booking.
Great offer from AA, however the $75 ‘short notice’ fee is a real downside of this programme
They all get you somewhere. United just “did away” with that fee but now you’ll find that those flights just cost more miles instead.
Very good deal. Thanks!
I was able to take advantage of one of these for the first time. Definitely nice when my plans coincide with an offer.
This promotion is valuable. Will check and book
I see that these promotions have become a quarterly event.
Vail/Eagle, CO (EGE) is handy for the ski season if you can score a deal.
I was just thinking the same!!!
No doubt. I can’t believe this is an underutilized route at this time of year in need of such a promotional discount.
Good tip about British. I tend to book nonstop flights with them
Good use of miles… before they get further devalued.
Also, look out for intl deals.
I booked USA-Germany (MUC) RT for 34K miles for March.
They had great promos to Australia for the last promotion.
I never knew there was a place named Hilton Head Island…is this city/island related to the Hilton hotel chain?
No, it is just an island off the coast of South Carolina famous for resort vacations.
So puzzling – other than laziness or unwillingness to pay to do it – that they can’t program this to work online.
The more difficult the process is, the less likely people are to take advantage of it. It’s a win for any company.
Sounds fun! Gotta get cracking on them!
Awesome blog! Very Useful about American Airlines tips and for bonus miles. Thanks
MSY for Mardi Gras usually expensive, hopefully this articke will help us there. Les Bon Temp Rouler and Geaux Tigers!!
Nice promo, and I love their special Web fares!
Always a pleasant surprise if you find one of these.
Here in Argentina the Web Platform to redeem doesn´t allow to change online =(
Really useful information! Thanks for the info on the promo!
Thank you for the detailed instructions. This is much appreciated!
This is a great deal, love how they have these reduced mile options.
Any idea when the next promo would start?
Good timing, just about to look for award flights ! Thanks !!
This program has been around for many years and has value. I have a repeating appointment in my calendar to check it . Down side is I often want to lock my flights a long time ahead to get best rates
Great news!
I wish these were in the NYC area. I feel like they NEVER are.
Excellent post, I will see if I can use it to travel to any city
Thanks for sharing this info! Really appreciated!!
Great Info! I’m planning to sign up for the barclay card soon.
Somewhat shocked to see New Bern on the list….nice!
The post says “The current list is valid from December 1, 2019 through March 31, 2020”. Does this mean this is something AA does on a regular basis like IHG with its Points Break hotels?
Yes, the airport list is updated every 1-2 months
Great Promo! thank you for the data! will try to remember in the future.
Wow!! Did not know that. Will have to keep an eye out. Thanks.
Interesting information, a route at 7500 miles is always worth it and if the route is longer even more.
It’s great! But it should include destionations outside the US
That would be nice. Web Saver Specials have been expanding, and those do cover international routes. Rather than a flat discount, you’ll just see lower prices than the saver level on select routes and dates. For example, we covered some good ones back in December https://awardwallet.com/blog/american-airlines-business-class-to-europe-for-84k-round-trip/
I wasn’t aware of these reduced mileage awards. I will definitely keep an eye out for future awards. Thanks for sharing.
Timely article, thanks as I have some AA miles to use.
Correction – American Eliminated $75 Close-In Award Booking Fee effective, January 15 2020.
https://viewfromthewing.com/american-eliminates-75-close-in-award-booking-fee/
… look who also reported that a week ago :)))
https://awardwallet.com/blog/american-airlines-drops-close-in-booking-fees/
Thanks VL Much appreciated!! 🙂
Although it is nice that you are offering 5 free AA miles for every comment on your blog (BTW, I am not logged in myself, so I am not getting the miles) , this well-intended policy resulted in a humongous number of comments with ZERO value… (like, “oh, thank you”, “good to know”, “I have nothing to say, but give me my miles”…) and that makes it really hard to even scroll through all of them, not to mention find the useful ones.
I suggest you stop doing that, and instead, if you want to award your readers pick the ones who provide meaningful and useful tips and information, and award those.
Great idea, but ended up hurting the readability of your blog.
All the best!
Correct! We don’t want people gaming the system, we are simply looking for more meaningful comments where people share their personal experiences or opinions related to the post. Typically, comments like “Thanks for the heads up”, “Great deal”, “Cool” go to spam automatically (not always though as we tweak the system) because they clutter the discussion without adding value. Thanks for your feedback.
Irene, I completely understand the value of that feature … the main value is that 5 miles can help users to avoid the miles balance expiration. For this purpose it is priceless…. but to achieve that you can even limit it to once a month per account, and that hopefully would reduce the number of “empty comments”.
All the best.
Thank you for everything you are doing… especially for your application.
Pass my thanks to your IT folks… they are doing a GREAT job!
VL, good to know that you enjoy our service 🙂 Thanks! We will consider your suggestion.
I agree and disagree. I come here every day for the miles but I also am sure to add to the discussion. I never just post “thanks” and move along.
So…if you do not specifically have the Citi or Barclay co-branded cards, you aren’t eligible for the reduced fare?
Correct, this discount only applies to the cobrand cards listed.
There’s often a catch and in this case they want you to hold the cards.
Good info to know, thanks.
This is great news for Citi and Barclay card holders!
I feel like this used to be a better perk before the Web Specials days, now it is still useful – and a reason to keep the Citi Exec card (converted the other to Costco) – but as an LAX person usually its not that big a perk.
These awards should be bookable on their website. Why in this day and age, it requires a phone call?
An optimistic way to look at the phone requirement is that it perhaps limits promo participation a bit, leaving awards available for a longer period of time…
Necesitaría que me lleguen ofertas por app alguien sabe como?
Gracias por la información. Les quiero comentar que hay muy buenas promociones con descuento de millas a muchos destinos de american airlines pero la oferta solo es valida en http://www.aa.com, yo encontre varios tickets con mucho descuento desde mi pais a EEUU
Great article! Good timing for award booking. Thanks.
Thank you so much for informing about the American Airlines new set of destinations for its popular Reduced Mileage Awards promotion. This kind of information is key to save miles for a round-trip ticket. Valuable information 🙂
if only it included foreign cities
It turns out that it is not so practical to travel abroad right now.
Great promo!! need more than that for more miles 4 my trip!
GREAT PROMO! I used this once and hope it extends to Outside US destinations!
Can AwardWallet give notice to specific cities when they come up for these awards? We missed ours and our city doesn’t come up often. Also please remind people to check for web specials. We were told by a platinum desk person to check because they couldn’t do that for us. We would have missed it otherwise.
I don’t believe AW currently offers that functionality. However, there are a number of services online that can monitor a website and alert you when changes to the page are made. So, you could set up one of those monitors for the AA award page here, and it will alert you immediately when the new round of cities is released.
Too soon 😬
These would have been great destinations in normal circumstances. I’ve wanted to visit Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard for years. I hope they’ll have these destinations again.
Is anyone traveling? This is one NUTTY promo from AA
This has been around for years. They just haven’t chosen to stop it during the current situation, which is a good thing.
You had me at 76k! I’ve taken the time to look this deal over, and it seems to be a very workable option. It is not always necessary to incur a large cash expenditure to realize good point acquisition. This is such a deal.
Hard to see this as being great timing for most people. But I get that some planes and people still need to travel.
This promotion does not drive me crazy. For me, 7,500 miles is a good deal, but getting a ticket before May 31 is not. Hopefully they continue with the promotion (or improve it) in the future.
I’m surprised this promotion is continuing. However, since some people do still need to travel, it’s good that the reduced mileage awards will still be available.
Can’t see people being incentivised to travel because of it though, which is a good thing during a lockdown!
Plenty of space now but nobody should be traveling!
Hopefully restrictions start easing up in the summer.
Are there explicit domestic travel restrictions?