As American Airlines moves toward dynamic pricing for mileage awards, it’s getting harder to find really good award deals… especially on highly desirable routes like US to Europe in business class.
If you’re having trouble finding business-class awards on American or other OneWorld airlines, know that there are some routes that have more availability than others. As we recently did with United Airlines’ business-class awards, we’re here to help by providing a list of routes. In fact, it might even make sense to take a positioning flight to one of the cities below — at a great AAdvantage award price — to get a great trip.
Pro tip: Here are some of our favorite tools for finding reward availability on your own.
If you want to find better-than-average American Airlines and Oneworld business-class availability (source with data to back it up), below are some ways to search. Awayz by Odynn) that you can book with AAdvantage miles.
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Note: I had the best luck when I searched for one-way flights. When you search for a round trip, in most cases, you will be put on partner airlines with additional stops that may incur a lot of taxes and fees.
Business-class availability in London by August 2025
If you are John F. of New York City. Starting your trip at Kennedy International Airport (JFK), you can get a Unicorn redemption of 54,000-57,500 miles for a one-way business-class flight to London Heathrow Airport (LHR). We got scattered dates towards the end of the schedule.
Those dates include 3, 5, 6, 9, 11, 13, 19 and 20, 2025. The following example is from August 6.
If you search for a round trip, American Airlines will show you flights on British Airways. Flying British Airways on this round-trip route (or a similar route) using American miles can add $1,800 in taxes and fees, so you’ll want to avoid such flights to Paris on British Airways.
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If you fly from London to the US in business class. Returning, you will incur huge taxes and fees on top of the award. It might make sense to spend a few days in another European gateway and fly back from there instead.
Related: How to Avoid or Minimize Air Passenger Duty Fees
Business-class availability in Milan and Rome by August 2025
Although more limited, there are some well-priced business-class availability to both Milan Malpensa Airport (MXP) and Rome Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport (FCO) for 111,500 AA Advantage miles and $71.90 round-trip. I found round-trip Rome deals from JFK for August 4-21, 2025 and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) for August 3-21, 2025. Other dates were also available.
I’ve found similar deals to and from Milan from both JFK and DFW, so it’s definitely worth looking into. Note that some of these round-trip flights include connections in Chicago, Charlotte, or Philadelphia.
Related: American Airlines Chasing Elite Status? Here are the ways to earn loyalty points
Business-class availability to Madrid
TPG also got 62,000 American Airlines AAdvantage miles plus a few business-class seats for $5.60 from JFK to Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD). January offers the highest availability, but there are some flights available at that rate on sporadic dates towards the end of the schedule.
I also found a flight from Dallas to Madrid for 80,500 miles and $5.60 — not great, but not bad either.
Related: Your Ultimate Guide to American Airlines AAdvantage
Business-class availability to Barcelona
We also found wide availability from DFW to Frankfurt Airport (FRA) in November 2024 and January 2025 for just $5.60 plus 62,500-85,000 miles.
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American Airlines Award. American Airlines
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The bottom line
While this availability is there, it is not widespread by any stretch of the imagination. You will need to be extremely flexible to find the best prices. If you don’t live near one of these hub airports, or if you want to fly to a different destination in Europe, it may still make sense to lock in one of these routes and add positioning flights later.
And for goodness sake, if you find a deal, you should jump on it. When you book with a program like American Airlines AAdvantage, it is Award flights are easy to change or redeposit if you change your mind.
While it’s certainly harder than it used to be to get great returns for your miles on international business-class flights, you can still find great deals with patience and flexibility, even as the programs are dynamic with prices. Use this list of routes as a good starting point. Good luck, and I’ll see you in the forward cabin.
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