Business Class is more luxurious than ever thanks to flat-bed seats that are now available on many long-haul international flights. American AAdvantage is one of the best mile programs for travel in Business Class thanks to its OneWorld and other partners with generous award seat availability. The award chart prices are reasonable (more so than United), as long as you avoid high fuel surcharges on British Airways, and the variety of options is outstanding. Below are photos of the Business Class seats of 18 airlines you can book with your AAdvantage miles to / from the United States.
We’ve also included what cities they serve in the U.S. and where you can look online for award seat availability, as not all of them show up on AA.com. BA.com (British Airways) and Qantas.com will let you see most options. You’ll need to open a (free) frequent flier account with them to search for awards using their websites.
Once you do, it’s easy. Just choose ‘Book with Avios’ when you log in to BA.com, or do a ‘Classic Award’ search when logged into Qantas.com. You’ll then see flights you may be able to book with your AAdvantage miles and you can do that by calling 1-800-882-8880. Qantas.com sometimes shows seats unavailable to AAdvantage members.
Don’t forget these rules on how you can travel with AAdvantage miles on long international trips…
To get to Africa you can only go directly or via Europe (going via the Middle East will price as two awards)
To get to India you can only go via the Middle East or Europe
To get to Asia and Australia / South Pacific – you must cross the Pacific – you can’t go via Europe or the Middle East
For trips that break those rules or if you want to visit multiple cities try the AAdvantage Explorer Award. Other than that, enjoy. AAdvantage miles are a great way to save up for a Business Class award. You can keep track of AAdvantage bonus offers here.
1. AirBerlin
From: Chicago, Fort Myers, Los Angeles, Miami, New York
To: Berlin, Dusseldorf
Find availability: On AA.com (BA.com can be more accurate)
Flat bed: Yes, with direct aisle access
2. Air Tahiti Nui
From: Los Angeles
To: Papeete
Find availability: On ExpertFlyer.com – award seats are spotty
Flat bed: No
3. American
From: New York, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Los Angeles
To: Dozens of destinations
Find availability: On AA.com
Flat bed: Yes on 777-300 with direct aisle access. 767 and 777-200 phasing in 2014 and beyond.
4. British Airways
From: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tampa, Washington, D.C.
To: London
Find availability: On AA.com (awards include fuel surcharges of several hundred dollars)
Flat bed: Yes, some seats face backward
5. Cathay Pacific
From: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco
To: Hong Kong
Find availability: On BA.com or Qantas.com
Flat bed: Yes, direct aisle access
6. El Al
From: New York, Los Angeles
To: Tel Aviv
Find availability: ExpertFlyer.com – award seats are spotty
Flat bed: N0
7. Ethiad Airways
From: New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Dallas
To: Abu Dhabi
Find availability: Ethiad.com – look for ‘Guest’ seats
Flat bed: Yes (this may be the most luxurious Business Class experience you can book with AAdvantage miles)
8. Fiji Airways
From: Los Angeles
To: Fiji
Find availability: AlaskaAir.com award search
Flat bed: No
9. Finnair
From: New York, Chicago, Miami
To: Helsinki
Find availability: AA.com
Flat bed: Yes – complete in 2014, most with direct aisle access
10. Iberia
From: New York, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Boston
To: Madrid, Barcelona
Find availability: Qantas.com
Flat bed: Yes, Complete by 2015 – all A330s have it, A340s being retrofitted – updates here
11. Japan Airlines
From: New York, Chicago, San Diego, Los Angeles, Dallas, Boston
To: Tokyo
Find availability: BA.com
Flat bed: Yes – only New York, Chicago, Los Angeles (this may be the most private Business Class seat you can book with AAdvantage miles – aisle seats have doors separating from the aisle)
12. Jet Airways
From: Newark
To: Delhi, Bombay via Brussels
Find availability: Call or use JetAirways.com (must have mileage in JetAirways account to view)
Flat bed: Yes
13. LAN
From: Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Orlando
To: Lima, Buenos Aires, Santiago
Find availability: Qantas.com
Flat bed: Yes
14. Malaysia Airlines
From: Los Angeles
To: Kuala Lumpur via Tokyo
Find availability: BA.com
Flat bed: No
15. Qantas
From: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas, New York
To: Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne
Find availability: AA.com
Flat bed: Yes
16. Qatar Airways
From: Chicago, Houston, New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Dallas
To: Doha
Find availability: BA.com
Flat bed: Yes
17. Royal Jordanian
From: Chicago, New York, Detroit
To: Doha
Find availability: BA.com
Flat bed: No
18. TAM
From: New York, Miami, Orlando
To: Sao Paolo Rio
Find availability: Phone
Flat bed: Yes, being phased in