MileValue is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

Note: Some of the offers mentioned below may have changed or are no longer be available. You can view current offers here.


American Airlines’ and El Al’s partnership ends October 31, 2014.

Screen Shot 2014-09-27 at 9.34.18 PM Screen Shot 2014-09-27 at 9.34.25 PMTo use American Airlines miles to fly to Israel on El Al, you must book by October 31, 2014. You can book American Airlines awards up to 11 months in advance, so you can travel on tickets booked October 31, 2014 until about the end of September 2015.

Once the partnership ends, you will still be able to use American Airlines miles to book US Airways flights from Philadelphia to Tel Aviv. I took a look at that award space to see how big of a loss the El Al partnership is.

  • How good is US Airways space to Israel?
  • How many American Airlines miles does it cost to book? How can you save tens of thousands of miles?

The US Airways flight has only economy and business class. I searched the next 11 months on the route on aa.com, and I only saw one Business Class seat total.

Economy award space is fairly open for solo travelers, but only until February 23.

Philadelphia to Tel Aviv

Screen Shot 2014-09-26 at 2.41.44 PM Screen Shot 2014-09-26 at 2.42.25 PM

Space completely dries up after February 22, 2015.

Tel Aviv to Philadelphia

Screen Shot 2014-09-26 at 2.43.26 PM

Screen Shot 2014-09-26 at 2.43.06 PM

Space completely dries up after February 23, 2015.

American Airlines charges 45,000 miles each way in economy between the United States and Israel.

If you plan to go to Israel between October 15 and May 15, you can save tens of thousands of miles by booking a roundtrip American Airlines award to Europe for 40,000 miles and then an Avios award from Europe to Israel. You can even build in two free stopovers in Europe. See Saving 60,000 Miles by Combining American Airlines Miles and Avios to Israel.

Better yet, if you have a US Airways® Premier World MasterCard®, you can book a roundtrip award to Europe for 30,000 miles and then use Avios to get to Israel.

We know that the US Airways® Premier World MasterCard® will no longer be offered as soon as the US Airways and American Airlines frequent flyer programs integrate, some time in early 2015. That means that the chance to earn 40,000 bonus miles after first purchase will disappear soon. Check out all the places you can go with just the sign up bonus.

Also see Fly to Europe or Israel for 12,500 Miles.