One-way Air still seems very expensive

[Gardyloo]

OP, do you have 20,000 AA Miles and a few bucks?

 

If you you can book AA MIA-BCN with that.

 

You can buy the miles

 

AA usually has some sort of bonus promotion for purchasing miles. Enough miles for a 1-way ticket should cost you somewhere in the $500-600 range.

At present AA has a bonus offer that will give you 4000 miles if you buy 16,000 for $440. After excise tax and a $30 transaction fee, the total cost will be right at $500. Availability for mileage redemption seats in November is seldom an issue. You can use AA, British Airways or Iberia. By the way, $1100 would get you enough for business class.

 

http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/purchasingMiles/main.jsp?from=Nav

[Globaliser]

I see no reason why the airlines couldn't make the same money selling half-priced one-way tickets.

But the airlines can see those reasons loud and clear. And, with respect, the airlines have much more experience and expertise about the industry, how it works, and how to make money in it.

 

These are the reasons why there remain today many routes and airlines that don't sell one-way tickets at half the price of cheap round-trip tickets, even on short-haul flights and sometimes even in the face of competition from low-fare airlines that do this.

 

It's all part of a game in which (to take another counter-intuitive example) an airline can make more money and profit from deliberately aiming not to sell out a flight. It's a funny business in so many ways.

I was reading up on "throwaway" tickets on Flyertalk just now, and it seems like you can buy a return ticket to Europe and throw away the return leg, if you do not make a practice of this very often. It is a breach of contract, and they can bill you for it, but chances are they won't.

There's actually plenty of discussion here about it too. Some advice sometimes given includes not buying it through a travel agent, making sure that the return sector is as long-date as possible, and some say it's better not to claim frequent flyer miles for the flying.

[UKBayern]

At present AA has a bonus offer that will give you 4000 miles if you buy 16,000 for $440. After excise tax and a $30 transaction fee, the total cost will be right at $500. Availability for mileage redemption seats in November is seldom an issue. You can use AA, British Airways or Iberia. By the way, $1100 would get you enough for business class.

 

http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/purchasingMiles/main.jsp?from=Nav

 

Wow! You learn something new on this forum every day. I have actually never heard this before. If this works, it is a great idea for all those looking for an affordable one way.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

At present AA has a bonus offer that will give you 4000 miles if you buy 16,000 for $440. After excise tax and a $30 transaction fee, the total cost will be right at $500. Availability for mileage redemption seats in November is seldom an issue. You can use AA, British Airways or Iberia. By the way, $1100 would get you enough for business class.

 

http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/purchasingMiles/main.jsp?from=Nav

 

I have zero AAdvantage miles--had some but they expired long ago.

 

So, do I understand the math? I'd buy coach ticketsshare with Iberia, although it says "operated by American" (does this mean it's an AA plane?) About $1000.

 

Then I buy coupons for an upgrade using the miles that I bought, adding up to $1100? So I'd end up with Business Class seats for $2100?

 

Hmm, I'll have to mull that for a while. I guess the risk is that I couldn't get the upgrades, and I'd be stuck with miles on an airline I rarely use.

[scottbee]

You can use your AC miles on UA, US, LH and even AC among other *A carriers that fly from SE Florida. All options will involve change of flights. Not sure if AC offers OW awards though.

 

Bit of a PITA to get to but FI (Icelandair) does operate from SFB (Orlandao Sanford) but it does not fly to BCN (just ALC down the coast, or MAD).

 

AC do offer one way rewards (including most *A partners), typically priced at 3/4 of what a RT would be. So one way Y is 45,000; one way C/J is 60,000.

 

Did a one way YVR-MAD a couple of years ago, and it was cheaper to get a RT reward on AA (using AS points) @ 40,000 and no fuel surcharge, vs a one-way on AC @ 45,000 + fuel surcharge.

 

AC & *A are pretty much useless for rewards these days based on fuel surcharges and expiration of points so I've moved my mileage earning to AS

[Wendy The Wanderer]

AC do offer one way rewards (including most *A partners), typically priced at 3/4 of what a RT would be. So one way Y is 45,000; one way C/J is 60,000.

 

Did a one way YVR-MAD a couple of years ago, and it was cheaper to get a RT reward on AA (using AS points) @ 40,000 and no fuel surcharge, vs a one-way on AC @ 45,000 + fuel surcharge.

 

AC & *A are pretty much useless for rewards these days based on fuel surcharges and expiration of points so I've moved my mileage earning to AS

 

Don't have enough AC miles yet (just used up a bunch.) Also, they do not sell upgrades. You have to earn them by earning status.

 

Yes, AC does do one-way rewards. I had to book this way when I used my most recent miles: Toronto-SF, Vancouver-Toronto.

 

Aeroplan is fine with me, I don't collect very many miles (one or two trips a year.) So it's easy for me to use miles before they expire in seven years.

 

Air Canada is useless to fly from MIA to BCN. USAir or United are possibilities, as is Lufthansa, Swissair, Brussels, TAP. The big advantage of AA is they fly direct MIA-BCN.

 

(Aside: I've got two itineraries rattling around in my head right now. Planning a week in Lisbon in March, again from Florida. If I can manage this on *A, that would be good.)

 

What's "AS"?

 

Thanks for comments and help!

[6rugrats]

AS is Alaska Airlines.

[6rugrats]

 

AC & *A are pretty much useless for rewards these days based on fuel surcharges and expiration of points so I've moved my mileage earning to AS

 

I don't know about FF tickets on AC, but I certainly wouldn't say *A is "useless for awards". It's easy to keep miles from expiring (buy one song on iTunes for example), and I booked several TATLs last year on *A carriers and paid no fuel surcharges.

[Gardyloo]

I have zero AAdvantage miles--had some but they expired long ago.

 

So, do I understand the math? I'd buy coach ticketsshare with Iberia, although it says "operated by American" (does this mean it's an AA plane?) About $1000.

 

Then I buy coupons for an upgrade using the miles that I bought, adding up to $1100? So I'd end up with Business Class seats for $2100?

 

Hmm, I'll have to mull that for a while. I guess the risk is that I couldn't get the upgrades, and I'd be stuck with miles on an airline I rarely use.

No. You purchase enough miles for a one-way coach ticket (20,000 for Oct 15 -May 15, otherwise 30,000) and then turn around and redeem them. Or, you purchase 50,000 miles (around $1100-$1200 counting tax) and redeem them for a business seat. AA miles are fungible - you can use them on AA or any partner's flights, or a combination.

 

Obviously because we're talking about mileage redemption seats, the smart thing to do is make sure there's availability for your date(s) before you commit to purchasing the miles. You simply go on AA's website and look for award availability, or, since some partners' flights can't be booked online, in the worst case you phone AA and ask about availability. Once you know there's space, you quick like a bunny go buy the miles (the transactions are usually same-day, sometimes instant) then when they're in your account, go back to the award booking screens and "buy" the tickets (or phone AA and do the deal over the phone, for which there will also be a phone booking fee.) Badda bing.

[Gardyloo]

Meant to add, here's the AA/partners award chart. All mileage shown is x1000 and is for ONE WAY travel. For round trips, open jaws, or multi-point trips, just add the one-way segments up.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

So for Business fares, I'd need to buy 80K miles, and I would get the other 20K as a bonus. That would give me two 50K award tickets, if available.

 

That would cost $2200. Hmm. Sounds pretty good. I'd have to figure out how to add a TPA-MIA leg into this mix. It would be nice to fly from TPA.

[Twickenham]

I'd have to figure out how to add a TPA-MIA leg into this mix. It would be nice to fly from TPA.

 

Just book the tickets from TPA - it's the same number of miles.

[Gardyloo]

So for Business fares, I'd need to buy 80K miles, and I would get the other 20K as a bonus. That would give me two 50K award tickets, if available.

 

That would cost $2200. Hmm. Sounds pretty good. I'd have to figure out how to add a TPA-MIA leg into this mix. It would be nice to fly from TPA.

There's a limit on how many miles you can purchase for one FF account at one time and annually. For two tickets under the current promo you'd need to open a second AAdvantage account, then do two 40,000+10,000 purchases.

 

AAdvantage awards (20K/30K economy, 50K business) are good from any point in North America to any point in Europe. From Tampa you might connect in Miami, or Dallas, or Chicago, or New York... many options. And you might connect in Europe at London, Madrid or anywhere else. It all depends on what flights have seats available in your chosen class of service.

 

The only "gotcha" problems with using AA miles to Europe is that AA tends to "push" partner flights on British Airways planes between the US and London, connecting there onward to other European cities (also using BA planes.) While BA is a fine airline, BA adds very high fuel surcharges on top of the usual airport and government taxes that you pay with any FF ticket (over and above the "cost" in miles.) In the case of BA, these fuel surcharges can be in the hundreds of dollars. Unfortunately AA now "passes through" these fuel surcharges when you book on BA-operated flights with AA miles.

 

So in your case for example, while BA fly nonstop from Tampa to London, taking that flight would expose you to these big fuel surcharges, which in the case of economy tickets will end up being around half of what it would cost just to buy the ticket outright. When you add that to the "cost" in miles, it's a downright lousy deal.

 

(And in addition, BA fly from Tampa to Gatwick, but only fly to Barcelona from Heathrow, so to add insult to injury, you'd need to schlep across London to make the connecting flight. In all, a rotten idea.)

 

AA doesn't add fuel surcharges to tickets where you fly on AA planes, and while Iberia does have "fuel fines" they're nowhere near as large as BA charges. So you'd definitely want to look for AA "metal" on transatlantic awards, or else phone AA and ask about space on Iberia flights (since you can't book those online with AA yet.)

 

Hope that's clear.

[FlyerTalker]

There's a limit on how many miles you can purchase for one FF account at one time and annually. For two tickets under the current promo you'd need to open a second AAdvantage account, then do two 40,000+10,000 purchases.

And that second account would be for the second person...you can't have two accounts of your own. Just to be clear.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

And that second account would be for the second person...you can't have two accounts of your own. Just to be clear.

 

Right, thanks. We already have two accounts I think.

[terryinal]

I thought that airlines were better about providing one-way flights at reasonable prices now. But that's not what I'm seeing.

 

I can't book air yet, it's for next November, but I've been poking around looking at prices for a one-way flight for a TA. Miami-Barcelona. I had hoped I could do my own flights instead of doing cruise air, but the prices are astronomical.

 

Anyone have any magic for getting a decent one-way flight withour breaking the bank? (Points is not an option.)

 

I'll probably end up doing cruise air, but just wanted to consider all options.

 

I was having the same problem as you. Someone on my TA in Nov. told me about Aer Lingus from JFK. That looks like the best for me. I don't care to leave from JFK. Someone else said Air Berlin. For me it looks like Aer Lingus

[Wendy The Wanderer]

When I search for flights on the Aerlingus website, I don't see any flights further than Dublin--tried to specify another destination country, but it didn't work.

 

As for American Airlines, what's the feeling now about their "troubles"?

 

BTW, my cruise line, Oceania, covers air, but gives a credit for non-use. That's why this decision is so tough. The non-use credit is $700 pp, which is pretty hard to beat, for economy seats. Trouble is, I'd like Premium or Business, if I can swing it.

 

But this "deal" with AA feels risky to me. I buy the miles now, spend $2200, with the hope that I can buy business seats next February, to fly next November. All kinds of pitfalls that I can see. Not sure I'll spring, although it certainly would be a good deal--basically a Biz upgrade for $400 pp (plus taxes and fuel surcharges, of course.) And I guess it's tough to predict the extra charges, since I don't know what airline I'd be flying on (BA would be great, btw, with the flat seats, but I hear you on the extras.

[Twickenham]

But this "deal" with AA feels risky to me. I buy the miles now, spend $2200, with the hope that I can buy business seats next February, to fly next November. All kinds of pitfalls that I can see. Not sure I'll spring, although it certainly would be a good deal--basically a Biz upgrade for $400 pp (plus taxes and fuel surcharges, of course.) And I guess it's tough to predict the extra charges, since I don't know what airline I'd be flying on (BA would be great, btw, with the flat seats, but I hear you on the extras.

 

Only buy the FF miles when you're ready to book, and you've confirmed the seats are available. I've seen better mile purchase bonuses with AA, so I wouldn't be in a rush to take advantage of this one. And you can do a dummy-booking up to the point you can see what flights you'll be on and what taxes you'll pay.

Personally, I think this holds a lot less risk than going with Cruise Air.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Only buy the FF miles when you're ready to book, and you've confirmed the seats are available. I've seen better mile purchase bonuses with AA, so I wouldn't be in a rush to take advantage of this one. And you can do a dummy-booking up to the point you can see what flights you'll be on and what taxes you'll pay.

Personally, I think this holds a lot less risk than going with Cruise Air.

 

Thanks, that pretty precludes this AA deal, so I'll find a way of watching for new deals over the winter.

 

As for Cruise Air, Oceania has a good reputation for coming up with sensible routings, as does their sister line, Regent. So I'm not too worried about that--if I take their air, I'll be deviating anyways, which gives me the chance to pick flights to some extent.

[Gardyloo]

AA has purchased mileage bonus deals maybe 2-3 times a year. The current bonus offering (up to 25%) is at the low end of their typical range; I've seen it go to 40% on occasion.

 

US Airways also has bonus mileage sales from time to time, occasionally up to 100%. US's "base" price (over 3c per mile) is lousy; however a 2-4-1 deal that takes them below 2c net is an excellent value. For example, at 1.75c/mi buying 100K miles costs under $2000, good for a round trip in business class between North America and Europe that would cost upwards of $3000. And because US Airways is a Star Alliance member, you can redeem the miles on United, Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, Turkish, Singapore, SAS, Air Canada, or TAP as well as US, making seat availability quite a lot easier.

[zoncom]

Just for comparison heres my Nov 29 situation with Celebrity Choice Air. I selected my flites then called them. Never did it before but all other fares very pricey. I now live in Aspen, a really tough ticket. Didnt know if they would go for Aspen, but they did.Aspen-Heathrow. Return MIA-Aspen(2 days layover in MIA too!). UA to Denver/Miami, rest Lufthansa. $810 total.If X can do it so can O.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Just for comparison heres my Nov 29 situation with Celebrity Choice Air. I selected my flites then called them. Never did it before but all other fares very pricey. I now live in Aspen, a really tough ticket. Didnt know if they would go for Aspen, but they did.Aspen-Heathrow. Return MIA-Aspen(2 days layover in MIA too!). UA to Denver/Miami, rest Lufthansa. $810 total.If X can do it so can O.

 

Exactly! Good for you, good price.

 

Is Celebrity Choice Air decent in general? I sometimes ponder an Azamara cruise.

[terryinal]

AA has purchased mileage bonus deals maybe 2-3 times a year. The current bonus offering (up to 25%) is at the low end of their typical range; I've seen it go to 40% on occasion.

 

US Airways also has bonus mileage sales from time to time, occasionally up to 100%. US's "base" price (over 3c per mile) is lousy; however a 2-4-1 deal that takes them below 2c net is an excellent value. For example, at 1.75c/mi buying 100K miles costs under $2000, good for a round trip in business class between North America and Europe that would cost upwards of $3000. And because US Airways is a Star Alliance member, you can redeem the miles on United, Lufthansa, Swiss, Austrian, Turkish, Singapore, SAS, Air Canada, or TAP as well as US, making seat availability quite a lot easier.

 

Glad I seen your post. I went to AA site and my trip to BCN is 30,000 air miles for oneway from BHM. I will wait to get a better deal since I have time.

[Valley Girl of VA]

Another option would be to sign up for a credit card that would give you miles after a spend, usually around 1K. Each of you could sign up for the card.

[zoncom]

Wendy, Forgot about current offer expiring like Oct 14 as I recall. Deposit 25K/50K/100K in new or existing act; get 15/25/50,000 United/Star Alliance miles. Takes awhile but a generous offer for NEW money to Fidelity. Previous post about Choice Air my only experience. I have received my chosen line/routes before on Oceania. Let us know what you do.