For good reason we get very suspicious when airlines update the look of their websites, especially when it comes to the section about redeem miles (or in the case of some airlines, when they eliminate award charts altogether). The assumption is always that these updates come as a result of impending changes.
Someone from American corporate communications sent me an email this morning to let me know that American is refreshing the look of their award & upgrade charts today, though no changes are being made to the content of them.
American has been refreshing their site quite a bit lately to be more in line with the feel of the “new American,” and that includes their award charts.
Their old award and upgrade charts, while incredibly practical, do look straight out of the 90s:


Here’s what the new charts will look like:


In terms of functionality I do prefer the old award chart, since you could see a single global award chart on one page. Though for the average traveler, the new chart is less overwhelming, since each region has a different page.
But most importantly, American isn’t changing their award or upgrade charts as part of this refresh.
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