I’ve no doubt given American a hard time lately, given their switch to a revenue based program along with their 2016 AAdvantage award chart devaluation. But I also believe in giving credit where it’s due, and American deserves some credit here.

I’ve written about the amazing amount of business class award and upgrade availability American has offered on their own flights for the past several weeks. This included flights to Asia and Europe, and even extended to first class in many instances.

There’s something a bit weird about how American releases award availability, though. For a while they didn’t have a single upgrade or award seat on any transpacific flight for all of 2016, and then suddenly they were making half of the first and business class cabins on many international flights available for awards. That seems highly irrational to me, and I figured there has to be some long term middle ground.

In the meantime, it has certainly presented some fantastic opportunities for us, where we’ve been able to book the entire family to Europe or Asia over peak periods at the saver level. That’s fantastic.