Good morning, and welcome to today's community discussion thread! Today's posts will appear here throughout the day, but this thread is for going off-topic. Did you love/hate something about today's coverage? Are you tracking other news I missed? Or, do you just have a general question about rewards travel? This is the place for your wandering thoughts.
Today's posts on OMAAT:
- Limited Time: Capital One Venture Card Bonus Of 75K Miles + $300 Credit
- Hilton Honors Surpass Card Review: Gold Status, Credits, & Free Nights
- Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Card Review: Platinum Status The Easy Way
- Best-Ever $50 Rakuten Bonus: How It Works, And How To Maximize It
Daily threads stay open for a week, so it's never too late to jump into a recent conversation.
Anyone know if AA is extending the MaximizeMiles promotion for AA Vacations? The promotions tab on AA.com says 5 days left which is consistent with it being previously advertised as ending 9/30. But when you go to AA Vacations and click on the MaximizeMiles promo page, while it says "ending soon" the T&Cs suggest this has been extended through the end of the year-
- To receive offer, purchase a vacation package 7/1/2026 12:00AM CST through 12/31/2026 11:59PM CST. All travel must start after 7/3/2026 12:00AM CST and finish by 11/30/2027 11:59PM CST for promotion to apply.
Just relevant as I'm considering how best to take advantage of the new $250 AA Vacations promo with the AA Executive Card. If it is not extended, I'll probably book something speculatively by 9/30.
@peter_ Wait a minute, I always thought of you as the 'expert' on AA Vacations (and Hotels)! Bah!
First, I think September 30 is still the bitter end, so... an obligatory soon-to-be 'RIP' to MaximizeMiles... *moment of silence*
For real, though, no clue on the extension (if so, that would be awesome). Regardless, I thought the packages often include flexible changes/cancellations, like on the flights and hotel selections, so probably best to speculative lock something down to get both. Plus, doing it now means you can stack the 11x max multipliers, any resort bonus miles, and a 25% LP partner bonus all at once. (Also, if I recall correctly, the highest status tier drives the multiplier, but the miles split evenly across both AAdvantage accounts? Who's got OWE, you or P2?!)
As far as ideas, as usual, it depends; is this a family trip, couples, beach, city, domestic, international; throw us a bone, sir! Domestic, I like the Langham or Kimpton in Chicago; could tie-in a visit to a new presidential library... JFK-PHX, why not take the kids to the Grand Canyon... N. America, ever been to Costa Rica? JFK-LIR is seasonal; lots of options for resorts at Papagayo Peninsula. Caribbean has been quiet this hurricane season... St. Maarten? Watch those planes land at Maho beach. Just spit-balling here.
So, we've got like four more days to lock this down! And, they likely use Central Time, so that's... T-minus... 104 hours. Go! GO!!
@1990_ Ha - I mean, before MaximizeMiles and the $250 Credit, I can't say I ever focused on AA Vacations. Looks like $50 change fees and $200 cancellation fees (yikes...) or you can pay $50 for more flexible cancellation.
It's really just an exercise in using the $250 credit and whether it's worthwhile. Thinking something cheaper and domestic for anything with AA Vacations. I mean, for example, take a weekend hotel stay at the Omni in Charlotte (shall we support our Knicks on the road this season?). AA Vacations, AA Hotels and Direct all seem around $625 for two nights. Would you-
- Book through AA Vacations and get the $250 credit (with a car it was like $750 or something, I think... have to add car or flight and not adding flights as I would only book for 1 through AA Vacations - otherwise the mileage sharing defeats the point) and get 11x miles/LP on the cost - call it ~7.5-8k miles/LP (I don't think it counts taxes?) for $750-250=$500. Obviously without Maximize Miles you're getting something more like 5x cost = 3-3.5k miles/LP which is terrible compared to AA Hotels.
- Book through AA Hotels and get 12x miles on the cost plus 6k miles/LP - so 7,500 miles + 6,000 miles/LP for $625 and then take cabs. So getting at least 13.5k miles - 5.5-6k more than through AA Vacations MaximizeMiles (so that's an extra $82.50-$90 or so at 1.5cpm plus wouldn't spend an extra $125 or whatever on a car that I'm sure a hotel would charge me for parking on... getting close to that $250 credit suddenly...). And as for LP it's 6,625LP (So figure that's 1-1.5k less LP than through Vacations).
- Book through Omni direct, enjoy the perks of Omni champion status through the AA card (maybe i'll get... an upgrade!) and earn a free night certificate at Omni for a 2 night stay (figure that's worth $250...). Don't think you have to book through the AA Card so probably would book CSR for 4x on hotels - obviously not earning AA miles/LP in that scenario.
So many options! (Obviously if you're in the 25% LP bonus, even better on the AA Vacations / AA Hotels front).
And if I wanted a car could either book through AA Cars for 12x points plus a couple hundred bonus miles (figure that's something like 1800 miles all in) or book through Avis direct ($120 credit on AA Executive Card when booking direct plus can stack with the existing SimplyMiles offer for 1395 miles/LP if you spend $250).
Bottom line for me is... I still really like AA Hotels (no surprise there) - hate package deals and the flexibility is much better for refunds. For AA Vacations, without MaximizeMiles it's borderline useless even with the $250 credit and wouldn't even bother, so I think they kind of need to make that a permanent feature if they actually want people to use it. And the cancellation is terrible if you don't pay the $50 fee to upgrade to better cancellation policies - if you're on standard cancellation policy, it's a $200 fee and you get the balance back as a trip credit. That's much worse than AA Hotels where it's just refunded to your card.
Some good ideas there! Did Pendry in Chicago last year and used an Edit credit I think (great pillows, sadly missed the library opening by a few weeks). Did Grand Canyon a few years ago with the family and was great, planning to head to that part of the world next year as well through Grand Junction. It's been 15 years since we've done Costa Rica - but awesome place to go - pura vida and all that. I've never been to Maho beach... on the list! So many places to go! Where are you off to?
@peter_ Brilliant idea! Tickets probably more affordable than MSG this season, too. I say, CLT’s a winner (except their Admirals Clubs notoriously need some TLC, and an overhaul.) At least they’ve got rocking chairs!
As for AA Vacations, those fees really are ‘yikes’… this is where sometimes ‘the juice ain’t worth the squeeze’ with some of these time sensitive promos, or just have to be rigid with what works and go for it (lower expectations).
Glad you’ve made it to nearly all those classics! SXM is cool, but wouldn’t need more than a long weekend to explore the island. Grand Junction and the various national parks nearby (Colorado, Arches, Moab, Bryce, Zion, Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, Monument Valley, etc.) are each fantastic and worthwhile. Someday would hope to get the permits to go see the Wave, but it’s notoriously difficult to secure.
Next big one for me is down under. Finally trying QF’s JFK-AKL-SYD route (usually had routed via LAX). Would loved to try the Project Sunrise 35K nonstop to SYD, but looks like waiting at least until 2028 for that. Should earn ample LPs, nearly re-qualifying for Sapphire on that RT alone. Of course, T8, Soho or Greenwich for outbound lounge (eh, not Chelsea, but not bad.)
@1990_ Definitely. Will be our third national park trip in recent years - just so much to explore. Beautiful part of the country. May do Arches/Canyonlands -> Bryce so may throw our hat in the ring for the Wave, but, yeah, not expecting that will be successful.
Also for AA Vacations if you want to change/cancel I think you have to call... eh, whole thing just feels very restrictive. Never opposed to using a credit and saving some money of course. We will see. Meanwhile, no question MSG is looking expensive!
Will you credit to AA? Earning chart with Qantas so much worse than JAL. I guess you'll see if you prefer that routing to LAX - folks seem to have strong preferences.
Soho continues to be a lovely, refined space, as you know. Enjoyed my time there earlier this month. But the table service meal options are quite limited. In some ways I like Greenwich better - especially if you can grab one of the lounge chairs with the ottomans by the window - between that and the 20-30 bottles of Piper H laying around... not a bad way to spend some time.
@peter_ Those are phenomenal memories to share, exploring those parks, with family (and friends). I'm excited for you!
(Yeah, even if you're one of the lucky 48 people/day, via either the 4-months or 2-days in-advance lottery, that 4-6 hour, 6+ mile roundtrip hike in Coyote Buttes may be more trouble than it's worth; plus, it's truly remote and also unmarked. I wouldn't even think about it during summer; El Nino may create more rain, too, which is a problem in and of itself; would want a decent GPS, regardless. All said, The Wave still remains on my long-running travel goals list.)
On QF, I'm crediting to AA (as opposed to AS) because I'm already OWE (Platinum Pro) as opposed to Ruby with AS (thanks to the BILT Atmos Summit rent-spend towards 100K Global certificate). Will make more of a difference on the return, when the OWE will get me into QF First at SYD for the return; was hoping QF First at LAX would be opened by then, but not looking like it (I should mention, full routing is JFK-AKL-SYD; SYD-LAX-JFK, QF a380 on SYD-LAX, thankfully!)
Oh yes, still very much a fan of the 'elevated' lounges at T8. It's still funny that Chelsea is windowless (but they do have Ruinart occasionally, which I'd prefer over Piper). For non-Greenwich/Soho trips, I wish the Admirals Club after the tunnel had better food options; like, LGA's AC is doing far better (at least they usually have a chicken cacciatore that gets the job done.)
@1990_ If I won the Wave lottery, would 100% be hiring a guide, who can come without a lottery ticket is my understanding. But yeah, may get more bang for your buck with the plethora of other parks around (there's an AA Hotels vs. AA Vacations metaphor in there somewhere? Eh, maybe not.)
Matt's Planet just did a nice LAX lounge hop review - and hopefully AA's LAX flagship dining will be open by the time you go. Makes sense with the crediting, just lame cabin bonuses in discounted business when crediting QF to AA. I'm always amazed how generally accurate lpcalculator.com is.
Soho I think was serving Pommery the other week - which is a small distinguishing step up as well. The JFK AC is just not that great, I'd rather just sit at the new Eataly wine bar which is right next to it. Curious what the JFK Provisions will be like. LGA AC is really pretty decent and some nice secluded seating areas as well, although Chase is still my favorite lounge at LGA. C1 one day, perhaps, although it's not really a lounge - family has a great time at Chase LGA lounge - the whole area with the photo booth and the arcade room... it's just fun.
@peter_ Cool! Hadn't seen Matt's Planet yet (ooh lala, he's a Finnair Platinum! Their non-Schengen Platinum Wing lounge at HEL has a sauna! I've been as a OWE. It's a little gimmicky. Their regular J lounge is fine, too.) Naturally, at LAX, his favorite appears to be QF. Yes, hoping their new dining will be up and running when I go through. Have long griped that they kept it closed since the pandemic... Yeah, QF's mere 25% cabin bonus for AA earning is weak, but still lucrative, because of the (usually) vast distances. Even with entry-level I fare class, still pulling in over 40K points/LPs. (As for LGA, 100% Chase is currently my go-to, and if not available, a quick 10-20 minutes wait at Air Canada's Maple Leaf before getting text to come back is a good way to handle overflow; if C1 would ever approve me for VX, I'd finally try the Landing.)
@1990_ definitely on the unsung aviation youtubers list. Also very much enjoy Flight Formula. The Flip Flop Traveler is good too.
I've been meaning to try out the Finnair A350 - perhaps a trip... to HEL! is in order for next summer. A small sauna is a gimmick I am sure, although it's more than Air France is offering these days...
40k LPs are nothing to sneeze at - really makes Plat Pro / OWE quite achievable.
@peter_ Adding these all to my watch-list!
On AY, I'm 50/50, I'm a fan of their redemptions in J when available; I'm less a fan of their 'special' seats (all-or-nothing); I did like that specific lounge; but, they got me really bad on IROPS once. You don't want to get stuck in HEL... *ba dum tss*
Speaking of IROPS, how is everyone still mostly operating this weekend during the nor'easter. Like, really windy yesterday, heavy rain today, and other than a conga line at JFK on Friday evening, not as much delay or cancellation compared to what I was expecting. Like, a single bolt of lighting in 100 miles radius of NYC in August... shuts everything down for a weekend. Now, it's 'eh, no worries, mate.' Wild.
@1990_ Certainly some delays and cancellations (LGA/BOS more than JFK...) but felt like there were pockets of OK enough weather - worst stuff seemed to be overnight.
@peter_ Yeah, for the most part, the city has not shut down. Speaking of, gotta hand it to the Tunnel to Towers folks; they were out Downtown this morning. Reports of over 40,000 participated in the walk/run in spite of the conditions. Dedication.
@1990_ May have to run the math again with the new AS partner chart? Not sure if it changes much, but assuming you booked through QF and select the fare method, you'd get the partner chart? And if you're in the global local community 260 vs 250%? So if it's ~20k miles you'd get something like 52k status points. And if you're already at AS Silver...
Beats me, but worth double checking!
@peter_ That's a good point! I'll re-consider it. I did just 'join' the AS Global community option, today.
Even with additional earnings, I may value the extra time with AA (through Feb), possibly booking another trip that'd get me to Platinum Pro/OWE, again (as opposed to settling on mere Platinum for Sapphire with them.)
@1990_ The allure of LGA TB is strong! Also realized the new chart is only as of 1/1/27, so depends when your travel is.
AA continues to have a very compelling program. And it's nice to see them making the upgrades to the planes - new flagship suites are nice, and thrilled that the 777s are getting overhauled as well. Wish the network was bigger, but the product once you're on their network is getting good - the new seats are nice, the food is pretty good these days, the bedding is nice... i'll take all of that over a "I'm premium!" moniker any day of the week.
@peter_ I'm a fan of the upgrades at AA (and all these recent announcements at AS). OW is looking good. Premium, in general, is making its comeback, across the board.
As Shane Tackett (President and CFO of Alaska) said on first live taping of the The Air Show podcast, even when there's an economic downturn, people still want to sit up-front.
As I was saying elsewhere, I'm not necessarily brand-loyal, having second-to-top-tier with each of the Big 3 (Platinum Pro, Platinum Medallion, Premier Platinum), but honestly, I could let that slip down to Platinum, Gold, and Gold, still make out just fine on any given flight for next year. We'll see!
@1990_ It's hard to get that excited about status, I agree. OWE lounges though are very nice. End of the day - best product for the best price.
@peter_ Mhm!
Best overall value for the price (cash or points) is what matters most, usually. Rarely is it the alliance, or even particular program. Beyond price, to me, it's usually schedule (if reliable... which is why I go-off on EU261 all the time), routing (prefer nonstop if possible), aircraft type/age, comfort/seats (suites, lie-flat, etc.), and ground experience factors (lounges, etc.) It's constantly changing, case-by-case, year-by-year, though.
And yet, all said, I still tend to think OW is the best of the three major alliances. It's that extra level, OWE, with the premium lounge benefits. SkyTeam and Star Alliance just don't do that.