American Airlines Aadvantage miles are the hardest to earn airline miles. The airline plans to be just a transfer partner for transferable credit card issuer Citi Thankyou Rewards.
But while American Airlines is not a direct transfer partner for most issuers, especially the chase ultimate reward, this should not stop you from redeeming your hard-earned chase points for U.S. flights.
Let’s explore the various ways to ride American metal using chase points.
Transfer chase points to airline partners booking American Airlines flights
Americans are part of the OneWorld Alliance, with several OneWorld Airlines being the transfer partners of Chase Ultimate Rewards. This means you can transfer the Chase points to one of these airlines at a 1:1 ratio and use them to book a U.S. partner flight.
For example, this American Airlines flight from Hutsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) to Queen Beatrix International Airport (AUA) is available for booking via British Airways, with 30,000 Avios plus $16 in economic taxes and fees.
Alternatively, you can book a direct flight from Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT) to Frankfurt Airport (FRA), which is operated by Americans via Qatar Airways for taxes and fees of 25,750 Avios and $240.
There are five airline loyalty programs that you can book US flights through Chase Points: Aer Lingus Aerclub, British Airways Club and Iberia Club. Although Finnair Plus and Qatar Airways Privileges are not direct chase transfer partners, you can easily transfer Avios between five programs in a 1:1 ratio.
All of the above-mentioned airlines use Avios as their loyalty currency. However, you may see different reward rates or availability on each airline’s website.
For example, Charlotte to Frankfurt, which I found on Katar Airways, can also offer taxes and fees of 25,750 Avios and $233 through British Airways. The cost of Avios is the same, but the taxes and fees are slightly different. On the other hand, there are no Atlanta to Aruba flights on Qatar’s website. It’s worth checking out every partner airline in case you find a better price or availability.
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Don’t forget to check the current transfer bonus list for TPG before transferring rewards. Chase occasionally offers promotions that allow you to earn bonuses or miles when transferring points to help you further stretch your points when booking a U.S. flight.
Transferring your chase points to a partner to book a U.S. flight can help you save money, but this may not be The best A way to maximize perspective. Based on our July 2025 valuation, the final reward point for TPG values is 2.05 cents per point, so you want to shoot a similar value when redeeming points. Make sure to compare the cash rate for U.S. flights with the reward price.
Related: How to decide when to use cash or miles to buy a ticket
Book American Airlines flights through Chase Travel Portal
Another way to book a U.S. flight by chasing points is through ChaseTravel℠, the issuer’s travel booking platform, where you can redeemed points instead of cash to pay for your travel expenses.
If you can’t find a US flight you’re looking for through a partner airline, or if the partner’s redemption rate is not a good value, try this option. Chase Travel offers a variety of travel bookings, including American Airlines flights. However, American is not one of the selected airlines that meet Chase points promotion (for now), which means you won’t be able to maximize the value of your points on your U.S. flights.
Chase SapphireReserve® (See rates and fees) and Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business- (See Interest Rates and Fees) Cardholders applying by June 23, 2025 can redeem points at a fixed rate of 1.5 cents on U.S. flights (points earned by October 26, 2025 and redeemed until October 26, 2027, and then at the latter 1%). Similarly, Chase Sapphire Priority® Card (See rates and fees) and Ink Business First Choice® Credit Card (See Interest Rates and Fees) Cardholders applying before June 23rd are worth 1.25 cents per point in the same time frame.
Meanwhile, those who apply for any of the above cards after June 23 will only receive a value of 1% per point when redeeming a U.S. flight.
Depending on the flight, redemption chase points through the portal may not be the best option. Let’s take a look at the sample flight from Charlotte to Frankfurt. The flight’s chase trip costs $494 and my Chase Sapphire preferred is 39,520 points, as I can currently redeem them for 1.25 cents. I’d better transfer 26,000 points to British Airways Club and then transfer those points to Qatar Airways Privileges Club and book a reward flight of 25,750 Avios – saving nearly 14,000 points.
But that’s not always the case. Sometimes, when the reward rate is high or the availability of partner airlines is limited, the best option is to redeem chase points by chasing travel.
Usually, you can usually get more value when you transfer your chase points to your partner, but you can still sneeze for 1.25 or 1.5 cents. Unfortunately, all cardholders will end up being on par with other issuers’ travel portals such as American Express Travel, Capital One Travel, and Citi Travel.
However, if Chase adds American Airlines to its list of qualified airlines, Chase Sapphire Reseres and Sapphire Reserves can be redeemed for merchant cardholders, up to 2 cents can be redeemed on U.S. flights, while Chase Sapphire Preferred and Ink Business Ressubred Carddolders can be redeemed for up to 1.75 Cents Loints.
Related: Why Chase’s Perspective Raising Is an Excellent (A Surprisingly) New Way to Book Points Hotels
Bottom line
Even if you can’t transfer your chase points directly to Aadvantage, there are a variety of other ways to book a US Airlines flight in the chase points.
If you want to win more chase points Chase Sapphire Reserve and Commercial sapphire reserves It’s a great card. Currently, new applicants approved by Chase Sapphire Reserve can earn 100,000 bonus points, plus $500 in Chase Travel Credit*, after buying $5,000 from account opening in the previous three months, the best offer we’ve seen on this card. With Sapphire Reserves, you can earn 200,000 bonus points after spending $30,000 in the first six months of opening an account.
*Promotional credit is only available for one-time use. If you apply it to a transaction less than $500, the remaining balance will be forfeited.
According to the previous example, if you transfer points to British Airways Avios and then to Qatar Airways Avios, 100,000 points are almost enough to ride two people from Charlotte to Frankfurt.
