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The travel industry is slowly coming back and if you’re itching to visit your dream destination this year, consider booking American Airlines Vacation packages! AA vacations is a travel portal owned by American Airlines and they offer many flights, car rental, and hotel travel deals in various destinations around the world.
The portal also offers bundled deals for those who don’t have the time to plan their own trips, although you’d be better off searching and comparing individual prices on the website to find better deals.
Read More: American Airlines A319 Business Class – Flight Review (Pleasantly Surprised)
(Image courtesy of Envato Elements)
Are American Airlines Vacation Packages Worth It?
In terms of pricing, many travel portals can probably offer cheaper deals but what’s great about American Airlines Vacations is they offer special discounts and flexible payment packages. Additionally, American Airlines loyalists can earn bonus AAdvantage miles if they book vacation packages.
However, there are a few things that you need to consider before you start booking:
- AA vacatiions have limited travel partners so you may want to consider booking these separately if you prefer a specific hotel or car rental company.
- Some hotels require you to book with them directly to earn points or elite status points so you might miss out on these benefits if you book with AA vacations.
- You can book AA packages using your AAdvantage miles but it’s also worth checking the mileage prices on other loyalty programs that you’re a member of.
While it may have certain restrictions and limited travel partners, AA vacations offer a wide selection of deals if you’re diligent enough to plan your trips.
Benefits Of American Airlines Vacation Packages
Prices are always the first thing that most travelers look at, and that’s normal, but take note that AA packages also offer a couple of benefits that have hundreds of dollars in value.
Earn Bonus Miles On AA Packages
All bookings made on Americal Airlines Vacations automatically earn 1,000 AAdvantage miles which are valued at $12.9 since AAdvantage miles are worth 1.29 cents apiece.
But aside from that, American Airlines vacation packages can offer more bonus miles on featured hotels. For example, the website is currently offering 20,000 AAdvantage miles if you book one of their vacation packages in the AMR collection by February 2, 2022.
(Image courtesy of American Airlines Vacations)
AMResorts has one of the best collections of luxury resorts around the world. They offer all-inclusive packages in premium destinations in the Americas.
Travel Now, Pay Later
American Airlines vacation packages have its own flexible payment plans for travelers. Getting approved is fairly easy and you can pay in fixed monthly installments (inclusive of interest) without having to worry about late fees.
Book With Miles
You can use your AAdvantage miles or a combination of miles+cash to pay for your bookings. However, this isn’t the best way to use your American AAdvantage miles because you can find more travel deals on the AAdvantage travel portal.
Special Deals And Discounts
You can often find special deals and discounts on various American Airlines vacation packages. The offers vary from one hotel partner to another but they usually save you hundreds of dollars per booking.
(Image courtesy of American Airlines Vacations)
What’s great about booking American Airlines vacation packages is that you’ll get booking and support for your trips. And if you want to feel secure, you can also purchase the different travel protection packages that they offer.
Drawbacks Of American Airlines Vacation Packages
Every travel program will always have some disadvantages and AA vacations aren’t an exception. Pricing isn’t the main issue for AA packages but it’s earning points and flexibility.
Some hotel loyalty programs require you to book directly with them to earn points and elite status points. Additionally, hotel loyalty programs also don’t acknowledge elite status if the booking was made with a third party, including AA vacations.
Flexibility is also another issue because bundling travel deals give you a less-curated travel experience. Booking a trip with American Airlines vacation packages all boils down to two things – preference and convenience. All AA packages can give you convenience so the key is to find those that you really want.
How To Book A Trip On AA Vacations
Booking American Airlines vacation packages is fairly easy:
On the top part of the AA vacations portal, you’ll see a search bar that allows you to pick the type of travel bundle you want: flight, hotel, or car. You have the option of picking two or more services. After choosing your preferred bundle, pick the date, destination, and number of travelers that you want and hit “Search.”
You’ll be redirected to the selection page where you can customize your trips such as picking the hotels you want and pick-up time for your car rental service.
Once you’re finished building your trip, you’ll be redirected to the checkout page and fill out your payment details.
Here, you will have the option to pay with miles, a combination of miles + cash, or even pay in monthly cash installments.
Great Credit Cards For American Airlines Vacation Packages
While there’s an advantage of using co-branded American Airlines credit cards in terms of earning miles, you can use any credit card you want, preferably those issued by Chase or Amex.
The benefit of having Chase and Amex cards is that they let you earn points on travel which are transferrable to other airlines and hotel programs.
If you use your Chase Sapphire Reserve Card or American Express Platinum Card on AA vacations, you get to earn AAdvantage Miles for booking on the platform while also earning Ultimate Rewards points or Membership Rewards points.
Not to mention, new cardholders will also earn bonus points on the Chase Sapphire and Amex Platinum.
- Chase Sapphire Reserve Card – Earn 50,000 bonus points (worth $750 when redeemed at Chase Ultimate Rewards) after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
- Platinum Card from American Express – Earn a welcome bonus of 100,000 Membership Rewards Points after spending $6,000 within the first 6 months of card membership.
Read More: American Express Gold Card Review – 60K Bonus + 4X On Groceries & Dining
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Ongoing promotions
- Pay with miles
- Earn bonus miles through your booking
- Flexible payment terms
- Booking support
Cons
Bottomline
American Airlines Vacation packages makes it easy for travelers to plan their trips. While it may not have the cheapest prices, it does offer a lot of ongoing travel deals and discounts that are worth hundreds of dollars. The key is to always compare prices within the platform and also against other platforms.
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