American Airlines Adopts Dynamic Pricing With New Award Chart

American Airlines has eliminated its “MileSAAver” and “AAnytime” award rates, now introducing a new, simplified award chart known as “Flight Awards.” Following the likes of other domestic carriers, American Airlines has officially transitioned to fully dynamic pricing.

While there are some changes in how awards are viewed — and booked — by and large, a majority of the program stays the same from what customers have experienced over the past few years.

Let’s get into the details.

The Old Award Chart

Previously, American Airlines had 2 basic award levels: MileSAAver and AAnytime. (There were more, but to reduce complexity, we’ll only cover these main 2.)

An AAnytime award came at the highest rates, often reserved for popular routes or last-minute availability. You’d pay a high cost but were guaranteed a seat on the plane.

At the MileSAAver level, you’d save a lot of miles, but likely needed to fly at a less-than-desirable time or less popular routes.

In sum, there were multiple levels of awards in the old award chart, but customers often sought out these lowest possible award prices.

The New “Flight Awards” Chart

Now, American Airlines has moved to a single award chart called “Flight Awards.”

Under this new program, there are no more AAnytime or MileSAAver rates. There’s a singular Flight Award rate, which you can price out either by going online or calling a phone agent. You won’t have to worry about saving miles, or whether something is 1 rate vs. another.

Here’s a look at the new dynamically priced award chart. Keep in mind that the following rates are the starting levels, with no published ceiling prices:

Analyzing These Changes

Essentially, what you see at the time of booking is what you’ll get, which may reduce confusion for inexperienced bookers. Here are some other things you need to know about the new program:

• American will continue to publish award charts, but will only list the starting prices of awards. While there may be occasional flights that price under this amount, you can expect the majority of base pricing to follow the chart. This said, there won’t be a top-end, and awards could (and likely will) increase over time.
• Partner awards won’t change, and rates will continue to follow the same partner rates as previously published on American’s website.
• American uses U inventory for the lowest-level business class and T inventory for the lowest-level economy class. These fare classes will remain, and you can book a partner award in conjunction with one of these domestic segments. However, if your connecting flight is not available at those rates, you’ll be forced to book 2 awards — one for the partner airline and one with American.
• Executive Platinum members will no longer receive expanded award availability, though in practice this was never really offered anyways.
• You won’t be able to change an award once you book it. If you do need to make changes, the award will need to be canceled and redeposited and you’ll need to start from scratch.

Hot Tip: The best deal you’ll be able to get on booking awards will involve partner carriers. Therefore, you can combine a partner airline booking to lock in better than usual rates. Learn all about the best ways to redeem your American Airlines AAdvantage miles!

Final Thoughts

Over the past few years, American has heavily promoted its “Web Special” awards, and this new Flight Awards program essentially replaces that offering altogether. Gone are the days where you could piece together an award for a desirable price.

Now, you’ll need to trust what American’s website tells you as it moves to fully dynamic award pricing.