Questions and Answers

So I recently attempted to burn AA miles… I was going to fly two of us to Portugal from the US for 120K miles. All seemed cool until I got to the checkout. AA wanted ~$340 per person in booking fees. That is not counting the various airport taxes. All in all the tickets would cost close to $1000 in fees. This seems a bit odd. Is it normal for AA to slap a $340 AA fee on miles travel?

Thanks,
Pete

Hi [USER=2539]@PeterH[/USER], and welcome! Were the flights you found on British Airways? If so, that would explain it.

Taxes can also be high from European airports, which is why we generally recommend redeeming miles for business class instead of economy, as it’s the better value proposition.

Are you traveling on British Airways or Iberia for any of the legs? They will pass along fuel surcharges. If BA/IB is not involved, let us know your routing.

Also, if you’re booking within 21 days of departure AA will charge a $75 booking fee unless you have status with them.

Thanks for the quick replies. I was directly on the AA website. No BA involved 🙁 Taxes — I get them. The airline cant avoid them. The $340 fee per person was an AA fee — taxes were itemized outside that :(.
In short a trip from the US to Portugal came to 120K miles + ~$950 in taxes and fees.

[USER=2539]@PeterH[/USER], can you provide exact dates and flight numbers so we can take a look?

Thanks Gaurav — I found a great fare on AirFrance last night and ended up booking that — saving my AA miles for a more reasonable time…

Here is what AA offered –>
Minneapolis to Lisbon. May 30th — June 7th == 120K Miles and $964.32 (Carrier-Imposed Fees == $640).

I think you have BA segments in there – AA doesnt fly to Lisbon. There is a LON-LIS segment, which is what’s creating the fees. I priced it out with the overwater segment on AA and it wanted ~$230 in fees. Repricing it where the overwater is on BA ups the fees to ~$740

You could have search for Iberia space on BA and then call to book. Fees are lower there than on BA and you’d connect in Madrid.

Thanks David — I failed to mention that the trip I priced was for 2 persons. Still a high fee IMHO.
Can AA miles be redeemed on Iberia?

Even if it was priced for 2 persons, those fees would just be doubled. Overall fees arent lower because there are more pax.

AA miles can be redeem for travel in Iberia, provided you call AA to book. There still are fees though usually less than BAs fees.

This might help too — there are lots of options other than on BA: [URL]http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.com/2015/04/12/how-to-redeem-american-aadvantage-miles/[/URL]