Editor’s note: The team at The Points Guy loves to travel, but now is not the time for unnecessary trips. Health officials note that the fastest way to return to normalcy is to stop coming in contact with others. That includes ceasing travel. We are publishing travel deals because we should all use this time to think about and plan our next adventures. TPG doesn’t advise booking trips for travel until later into 2020 – and even then be mindful of cancellation policies.
While the team at TPG is sheltered-in-place, many of us have our heads up in the clouds thinking about that next trip. While American still publishes an award chart, many of the best (and worst) mileage rates have been off-the-charts — literally. American’s Web Special awards have been particularly lucrative opportunities to maximize your AAdvantage miles.
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The latest American deal opens the door to incredible opportunities to visit South America this winter. Eager to experience Carnival in Rio? What about a trip to Santiago and an adventure onwards to Patagonia?
And since we’re talking about destinations in the Southern Hemisphere, you’ll experience the summer peak period when days are long and the air is warm.
In This Post
The deal to South America
To get the best mileage rates to South America, book for travel in early 2021. We’re talking about destinations such as Santiago, Buenos Aires, São Paolo and Rio de Janeiro.
- Airline: American Airlines
- Where: Various U.S. cities to major South American cities where American operates
- When: Early 2021 including during Carnival
- How much: From 30,000 AAdvantage miles roundtrip in economy and from ~80,000 AAdvantage miles round-trip in business class. Save up to half the normal “MileSAAver” rate on these flights for the peak travel season to destinations throughout South America
Sample itineraries
New York-area airports to Rio de Janeiro (GIG) in Feb. 2021 during Carnival: 30,000 miles round-trip in economy
New York-area airports to Rio de Janeiro (GIG) in Feb. 2021 during Carnival: 82,000 miles round-trip in business class
New York-area airports to Santiago (SCL) in Jan. 2021: 30,000 miles round-trip in economy
Los Angeles (LAX) to São Paolo (GRU) in Feb. 2021during Carnival: 30,000 miles round-trip in economy
How to book
The easiest way to book is directly through American’s website. American has a newer award booking tool that, while a bit slow, has a handy calendar view option that can be sorted by class of service and number of connections.
Remember, Web Special fares with American cannot be changed but you can redeposit miles for a fee (unless you are an Executive Platinum which has the fee waived).
Related Reading: How to avoid change and cancellation fees
Note that there may be other cities with even lower fares, so you can also use American’s handy Award Map tool. Enter your home airport, dates, number of passengers and total miles you want to use. You can even specify premium cabins only. From there, the map will display which destinations are available within those parameters.
Earning extra American miles
In the coming weeks and months, there are bound to be more mileage deals that come our way. There are a handful of ways to earn extra American miles to be ready for when that happens. This includes transferring points from Marriott Bonvoy, dining at a participating restaurant in the AAdvantage Dining Rewards program or shopping through the AAdvantage eShopping portal.
Related Reading: Maximizing online shopping portals
However, one of the quickest ways to earn a healthy stash of American miles is by adding a new credit card to your wallet, and a few of American’s cobranded cards are currently offering lucrative sign-up bonuses:
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite Mastercard®: Earn 60,000 bonus miles after spending $2,500 within the first three months of account opening.
- Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard®: Earn 50,000 bonus miles after spending $5,000 within the first three months of account opening.
- CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Mastercard®: Earn 70,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 in purchases within the first four months of account opening.
Bottom line
While the travel industry is hurting now in the current realities, airlines are looking to lure deal seekers in with great cash and mileage deals. This is a prime opportunity to visit South America in 2021 using American miles. Play around with your home airports and additional destinations to see if you can jump on one of these offers.
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Featured photo by Emir Terovic/Getty Images
