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Getting to Rome with AA miles
Hey all,
Trying to help my mom get to Rome in the first week of October with AA miles. Coming from Chicago. What is the best business class/first class I can use to get there? Can I book on any One World partner airline? Ideally there would only be 1 stop. Thanks for the help!
Hi there, welcome! You can use your American Airlines miles to book with any one world partner but booking on British Airways will cost you a significant amount of cash in addition to the mileage costs because of the surcharges that British Airways applies. Have you taken a look online to see what availability looks like on the American Airlines website?
American flies there from PHL. They also fly there seasonally from ORD, CLT, DFW and JFK though award space on any of these routes will be tough to come by.
BA will probably have space but they charge high fees. You may get lucky finding space on Iberia thru Madrid or Finnair thru Helsinki.
Of all those airlines, only BA would have first class from US-Europe. AA has First class on select routes, but FCO isnt one of them.
If you’re AA miles rich, you could potentially book two awards and fly on Qatar Airways thru Doha
Thanks for the help all. There is a nonstop from ORD to FCO which is great, but it only has business class… it’s an 787 800, and it is 192K miles roundtrip. There are some British Airways flights and IB flights but it seems that not all of the flights show up on AA award search. I didn’t see any Finnair either.
[QUOTE=”Gaurav, post: 63872, member: 79″]Hi there, welcome! You can use your American Airlines miles to book with any one world partner but booking on British Airways will cost you a significant amount of cash in addition to the mileage costs because of the surcharges that British Airways applies. Have you taken a look online to see what availability looks like on the American Airlines website?[/QUOTE]
Thanks David. Will all BA flights show up on American award search, or only some of them? Which planes have the better seat?
[QUOTE=”David W, post: 63873, member: 29″]American flies there from PHL. They also fly there seasonally from ORD, CLT, DFW and JFK though award space on any of these routes will be tough to come by.
BA will probably have space but they charge high fees. You may get lucky finding space on Iberia thru Madrid or Finnair thru Helsinki.
Of all those airlines, only BA would have first class from US-Europe. AA has First class on select routes, but FCO isnt one of them.[/QUOTE]
I think the only time I’ve seen Finnair show up was when it was phantom space and I’m often looking in October as that’s when I like to travel.
Award seats on AA metal can be hard to come by but, like David said, if you can find the space that’s your best bet. Other than that I’d look for Iberia space. While it wasn’t anything special, at least you avoid the horrendous taxes & surcharges that go along with a BA flight via LHR.
There is a nonstop from ORD on a 787 800 and another flight with a 787 900 with one stop. Is the seat on the 787 900 better enough to warrant adding a stop? This is for an older woman.
I’d put her in AA business class before BA First just because BA F isn’t that much better and you’d have to pay fuel surcharges and the UK departure fee which will run into the hundreds of dollars. But looking at the AA award calendar I don’t see any space on the non-stop in either direction in early October (or maybe you’ve already put that award seat on hold).
[QUOTE=”the maximizer, post: 63881, member: 2243″]There is a nonstop from ORD on a 787 800 and another flight with a 787 900 with one stop. Is the seat on the 787 900 better enough to warrant adding a stop? This is for an older woman.[/QUOTE]
I think the 789 has the better business class layout, i.e. all reverse herringbone as opposed to the 788 with the “paired” seats that move when the person in front or behind moves (though I never experienced it on two 788 trips). I would choose the 789 purely because it has more biz seats and a better likelihood of an award seat opening up. Especially if it is a 788 to which PE has been added already (I think there are a few?). Where is the one stop?
[QUOTE=”David W, post: 63874, member: 29″]If you’re AA miles rich, you could potentially book two awards and fly on Qatar Airways thru Doha[/QUOTE]
And Qsuites will (allegedly) be on the PHL-DOH leg come September.
[EDIT: though of course if you were going to fly Qatar Airways to Rome, why go through PHL? Wasn’t thinking clearly. 😉 ]
If the nonstop on the 788 has award space, I’d take that. I fly these AA planes 8 times a year to Europe in Business Class and IMO there isn’t enough difference in the seats to trade off a nonstop all other things, i.e., award price, being equal.
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