Questions and Answers

I am going to buy an around-the-world ticket on the Oneworld alliance. I am Exec Plat on American and want to get the most qualifying miles for my buck. I have heard that it makes a difference whether booking on AA or another Oneworld partner (dollars vs actual miles).

Any advice on how and where to buy this ticket? And does it make a diff whether I fly AA on the trans-oceanic legs? (I’d like to use my systemwide uogrades).

Thanks.

It might be better to search and book each leg of the journey separately, on oneworld carriers.

If you book tickets directly from American, either on American metal or on a codesare flight with an AA flight number, you earn based on the ticket cost and this chart [URL]https://www.aa.com/i18n/travel-info/partner-airlines/american-airlines.jsp[/URL]

If you booked directly with another airline, earnings are based on the fare class and distance flown. You can find earnings for each of AA’s airline partners here [URL]https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-program/miles/partners/partner-airlines.jsp[/URL]

AA systemwide upgrades can only be used if the ticket is issued by American Airlines and the flight is operated by American. If searching for tickets on American’s website while logged into AAdvantage, flights where you can use a SWU will have a small note next to it, I think. Otherwise, you can use ExpertFlyer or call AA to find flights. However, I think AA is still stingy with offering upgrades in advance.