[Expired] Aruba, Bonaire & Curaçao Round-trip for 20k American AAdvantage Miles

Update:The offer mentioned below has expired and is no longer available.

American Airlines is offering some fantastic one-way and round-trip flight prices to the ABC islands — Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao — from 10,000 miles one-way or 20,000 miles round-trip. Normally, these would price out about 5,000 miles more round-trip, so it’s a nice deal, especially if you’re traveling with multiple people.

AAdvantage Web Special Awards to ABC Islands

For this deal, you’ll find the availability between November 2022 and February 2023, which is actually a great time to travel to the Caribbean considering the cold weather in much of the U.S.

This sale appears to be from multiple cities to Aruba (AUA), Bonaire (BON), and Curaçao (CUR), and you’ll want to check your home airports to see if you’re eligible. Luckily the pricing appears to work from most major airports, including popular ones like Boston (BOS), Charlotte (CLT),  Chicago (ORD), Los Angeles (LAX), Washington, D.C. (DCA), and others. It’s more likely than not that you’ll be able to find discounted flights from your city, or a major city nearby, though you may need to be flexible with dates.

Hot Tip: While most of the availability looks like it’s in the December timeframe, your best bet in finding award availability is to use the award calendar on American’s website.

Keep in mind that while taxes are low on the flight down to the Caribbean, the taxes can be higher on the return, so you can expect to pay about $80 to $90 or so in fees when all is said and done if you’re doing a round-trip. This sale works for one-way travel, too, so if you find a nice cash fare on the return, you may want to consider booking an award flight down and then a paid flight on the return, or vice versa.

For those that prefer to travel in the premium cabin, awards look like they are pricing out at about 20,000 miles one-way in first class, so for about a 10,000-mile premium one-way, you can sit in the front of the plane. While all elite passengers are eligible for upgrades on routes to the ABC islands, it’s worth noting that Caribbean destinations can actually be particularly tough for upgrades, especially during the winter months in the U.S., so paying for first class is usually a must if you want to sit up front.

Final Thoughts

This is a very appropriately-timed Web Special offer since it allows U.S. travelers to visit somewhere warm over the colder months of the year. With American’s risk-free cancellation policy, you can get your miles back if you decide to cancel, so you should book these flights sooner than later in order to hold them, and then you can cancel them later if necessary.