Reward Travel Academy: How to Book Free Stopovers on American Airlines with AAdvantage Miles

Last week I wrote a post abut flying to South America for only 15,000 AAdvantage miles more than a MileSAAver economy reward flight costs. That is possible because of the power of American Airlines flex one-way stopover rule aka the North American Gateway City rule.

This rule is widely known across the reward travel community as the rule of North American Gateway City. It is often used as a way to crank up the value on your AAdvantage miles reward flights for international trips.

The exact rule is as follows:

You only get a free stopover on international itineraries and the free flight has to be to/from the airport you leave North America from on said international trip. When you fly from New York to Lima with a connecting flight from Miami to Lima then Miami is your North American gateway city that you have to route to/from on your free flight.

Think of it as the gatekeeper for international travel, your first point of entry in North America becomes the gateway city. Your last point of exit from North America to one of the international destinations listed above becomes the gateway city.

(Side note: The sole exception to the above stated rules applies when a flight continues to a second North American airport without changing the flight number.)

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You Can Book Reward Flights to South America for 15,000 Miles Roundtrip

So I am trying to get my girlfriend to New York from Buenos during her spring break but I can’t spend the $1,500+ on a nonstop economy flight costs right now.

What do I do? I go straight to my frequent flyer miles stash!

Since only American Airlines flies direct from Buenos Aires to New York City I start my search there.

Straight Away I can tell this is a good deal and that I should put a five day hold on the award so I don’t lose my chances of getting MileSAAver off-peak in both directions:

I have both flights of the roundtrip award for a low all in price of 40,000 AAdvantage miles plus some taxes/fees.

But I know I can find a way to tease out some miles savings out of this trip.

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Aanalyzing an Offer: 50,000 Membership Rewards for Premier Rewards Gold Card, 45,000 Delta SkyMiles Credit Card & Blue Cash Cards

American Express is running a bunch of great targeted offers through their partners at creditcards.com and luckily they are not as difficult to get as they used to be (see evidence in photo above).

It has always been the trend that American Express saves their best signup bonus offers for their targeted offers. American Express is willing to pay more for the consumers they think are the most valuable but that leaves their public offers coming up a bit short.

You have just seen some of the reward flight aspirations you can book using your Membership Rewards and now American Express is targeting 50,000 points to approved consumers who can spend $1,000 in 3 months with the annual fee waived the first year – usually $175.

That is one of the better signup bonus offers and low spend requirements currently available.

You will have to navigate to the Card Match tool and fill out the entire form except do not give them your Social Security Number. It is not required to get targeted offers and I would not feel comfortable sharing that myself.

[Zach's Note: None of these links are sponsors of my site and in no way do they help me keep this blog running.]

After you fill out the entire form you will be taken another landing page that displays the “exclusive” offers that you might have qualified for. If you are lucky, like I was, you will see several different targeted offers displayed like this:
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The 8 Most Awesome Reward Flights for Your American Express Membership Rewards

American Express Membership Rewards Program has gone through some lean times recently but I am here to say that there are still amazing opportunities for all those Membership Rewards you have been hoarding for a rainy day.

Keep in mind that AMEX does run special promotional transfer rates to certain airlines throughout the course of the year. While it may be hard to time it exactly with when you want to book your trip they do happen about 3 times a year. If you can manipulate your schedule in such a way that would allow you to cash in on the promotional bonuses that can reach as high as 50% I would suggest you do it.

Racking up Membership Reward Points Awesomeness

AMEX is continually refreshing their bonus offers and targeting new consumers with enticing signup promotions I have curated a list of some of the cards you should be watching. Again I am not guaranteeing these are the best current offers or will be so in the future but they are the cards you will want to apply for to earn Membership Reward points. [These are my links that help me keep this site alive. Whenever you use one of the links and are approved for a card it helps me pay my bills and I appreciate your support]

The Platinum Card® from American Express – 25K Membership Rewards® points after you spend $2,000 during your first three months of Card membership. In addition to the bonus points this card gets you all the perks that are associated with the title of “Platinum” before it was diluted by imitators. You get complimentary access to Delta, American, US Airways and Priority Pass airport lounges on your flights but that comes at a cost of a $450 annual fee that is not waived. But they also add on more value to the cardholder by offering up a $200 annual airline fee credit that will be given on your statement to cover all types of fees that airlines can think up. It’s signup bonus offer can have large swings over the course of a year so you should watch it for changes when you are getting ready to apply for it. Also not great with bonus points on certain category of spending that help improve the point earning power of your everyday purchases.

American Express® Premier Rewards Gold Card – This is the best AMEX for earning bonus points with triple points on airfare, double points on gasoline at U.S. stand-alone gas stations, double points at U.S. stand-alone supermarkets and single points on other purchases. You should use this card whenever you buy your own airfare or fill up your car with gas. The $175 annual fee is waived for the first year and you earn 25K Membership Rewards points after you spend $2K during your first three months of Card membership.

The Business Platinum Card® from American Express OPEN - The business card currently has a Limted Time Offer of 25,000 Membership Rewards® points after you spend $5,000 in the first three months of Card membership.  It’s signup bonus offer does go away during the course of a year so you should watch it for changes when you are getting ready to apply for it. You get the same complimentary access to over 600 airport lounges, $200 annual airline fee credit and reimbursement of enrollment in Global Entry service just like the consumer card. It also comes decked out with a Business Platinum Concierge is like your own assistant, ready to help you with just about anything personal or professional, 24 hours a day.

The Business Gold Rewards Card® from American Express OPEN - This card has no signup bonus right but it does earn you bonus points with triple points on airfare, double points advertising in select media, gasoline at U.S. stand-alone gas stations, and shipping and single points on other purchases. It is not as good as the current Platinum Business card offer but the signup bonus offers do change so keep checking to see if it gets one soon.

You have two clear choices of a card that waives the first year fee and gives you bonus points on spending categories or the card that has a big annual fee but it gives you access to lounges and a $200 annual credit to airline fees. You can make the decision on which features compliment your style and financial situation the best. You can even get both cards because they each have such distinct benefits to their cardholders. Read more

7 Days in Paraguay: Stellar Food and Cover Bands

As you may already know I live in Buenos Aires for a good part of my year and 2012 was no different, I spent a total of 5.5 months, and while I am there I don’t do too much traveling.

Well this past November it was decided that we would go to Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay, to visit Fernanda’s grandmother.

This trip had been in the works for a long time but I ended up overpaying for it anyway because we could not get any definitive dates of travel because Fernanda was waiting to hear the schedule of her Engineering exams for the semester. By the time we knew our travel dates the 2 hr flight between Buenos Aires and Asuncion had skyrocketed in price to a ludicrous $530 per person round-trip.

The fact that only two airlines fly from Buenos Aires to Asuncion – Aerolineas Argentinas and TAM Paraguay – and that I waited until the last minute to book did not help my cause.

But the fact that I had no frequent flyer miles to leverage into a nearly free reward flight was the equivalent of a walk of shame for me. With my tail tucked between my legs I booked the pricey flight out of Ezeiza and started planning the hotels.

For all the pain of booking a flight, the hotel search was an absolute nightmare that ultimately lead to me posting this gem on how Hotels.com hijacked my credit card.

But once I got to Asuncion I had a great time.

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