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American Airlines is releasing a ton of flat bed Business Class award space from New York to Buenos Aires for two people for May through December 2016, which is Fall, Winter, and Spring there. There are great connections in the United States to New York and in Buenos Aires to the rest of Argentina.
Act Now to Save Miles
Right now the awards cost 50,000 miles per person per direction in Business Class. Business Class awards go up in price to 57,500 American Airlines miles one way on March 22, 2016. But you can lock in your 2016 vacation now at the current price. United and Delta charge 55,000 to 62,500 miles for a Business Class award to Southern South America.
Some credit card offers in this post have expired, but they might come back. If they do they will appear –> Click here for the top current credit card sign up bonuses.
Until Monday (five more days), the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® MasterCard® and CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World MasterCard® are each offering 50,000 bonus American Airlines miles after $3,000 in purchases made with your card in the first 3 months the account is open. Both cards have no annual fee the first year and $95 thereafter.
Get both cards and meet the $6,000 total spending requirement in the first month to have over 106,000 American Airlines miles. That’s enough for a roundtrip in Business Class to anywhere in South America on a flat bed at current prices.
Product
New York to Buenos Aires is served by a refurbished 777 with flat bed Business Class in a 1-2-1 configuration.
I flew the product in December from Buenos Aires to New York and got great sleep.
Unfortunately the only camera I had was on my laptop, so I didn’t get enough pictures for a full trip report.
Award Space
All the calendars below show award space for two people on direct American Airlines flights. There are no fuel surcharges and the roundtrip taxes are $99 per person.
New York to Buenos Aires
Award space is very spotty until June.
Starting in June, award space gets very good.
For much of the summer, award space for two people in flat beds is available every day.
That goes down to a predictable five days a week and then four days a week throughout the fall.
Buenos Aires to New York
The return flight shows a similar pattern.
Connections
If you don’t live in New York, you can still take advantage of this space. You can tack Economy, Business, or First Class MileSAAver award space onto these international flights for zero extra miles. Here’s where American flies to/from New York-JFK.
You can also fly into Newark or LaGuardia on a single award. That would be inconvenient for a short connection but very manageable if you decide to see New York on a 23 hour layover.
LAN Argentina has few viable connections from Buenos Aires (EZE) where the flight lands. It has many more from Buenos Aires (AEP), which is, again, not convenient for short connections, but reasonable for 23 layovers. Here’s where LAN flies from AEP.
Booking the Award
If you just book to Buenos Aires, you can book your award right on aa.com. Pay the taxes and surcharges with your Citi Prestige® Card.
The Citi Prestige® Card offers a $250 Air Travel Credit each calendar year that offsets your first $250 in spending on airlines with the card. Taxes on an award ticket definitely count.
The card also comes with 40,000 bonus ThankYou Points after spending $4,000 in the first three months, which can be transferred to 12 types of airline miles or used like cash toward the purchase of any ticket.
If you want to tack on a LAN Argentina flight, search the space on ba.com and call American Airlines to book your whole award. The phone fee will be waived since LAN flights are not bookable on aa.com.
Getting the Miles
Some credit card offers in this post have expired, but they might come back. If they do they will appear –> Click here for the top current credit card sign up bonuses.
For a limited time, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® MasterCard® and CitiBusiness® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World MasterCard® are each offering 50,000 bonus American Airlines miles after $3,000 in purchases made with your card in the first 3 months the account is open. Both cards have no annual fee the first 12 months, and then $95.
Get both cards and meet the $6,000 total spending requirement to have over 106,000 American Airlines miles.
Bottom Line
Book your 2016 trip to Buenos Aires, my favorite city in the world, today with American Airlines miles.
Americans still need to pay a $160 reciprocity fee (good for 10 years) before arriving, though I am hopeful that that will change some time this year with a friendlier government in place down here.
The peso is now floating, so there is no longer a black market for dollars, and you can use ATMs.
For more Argentina information, see:
- My Buenos Aires City Guide
- Five Best Restaurants in Buenos Aires
- Buenos Aires Every Night of the Week
- Bariloche Trip Report Part 1 and Part 2
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.
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This really blows. I got declined for the Citi Business AA Card. I have 800+ Fico’s and never late on a bill. The reconsideration line said I had too many applications in the last 60 days. In the last 60 days I have only applied for a Citi Premium TY and just got the Citi Prestige. Late last year I got the IHG card and that has been it.
This blows.
Just to clarify in my slow brain – tacking on a connection on AA metal into JFK on MileSaaver dates has no additional mileage charges.
Similarly, adding a LAN itinerary from Buenos Aires to the airports listed from AEP also has no additional miles. Did I get this right?
Yes