Earn 10,000 Bonus AAdvantage Miles On Select European Routes (US Departures Only)

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American Airlines has announced a new promotion to help advertise three of its new European routes that we’ll be seeing in 2018. There are a couple of limitation to the promotion (as you’ll see in the details below) but, if you’re looking for a vacation to Europe this year this could be a bonus.

a group of buildings with red roofs with Český Krumlov in the background

Promotion Rules

  • Travel on one of American’s three new European routes to Prague, Budapest and Iceland
  • Book by 31 March 2018
  • Travel before 31 December 2018
  • Book a flights and hotel package through American Airlines Vacations
  • Minimum stay is 5 nights
  • Hotel stay must match the length of the trip
  • Valid only for new reservations made during the promotional booking period
  • Cannot be applied to previously booked rooms; cannot be honored retroactively or applied to existing reservations.
  • Only valid for reservations booked online at aavacations.com or by phone: 800-321-2121.
  • Check out with promo code AAV10K

Ok….so there are a few limitations here.

  1. You can’t book your hotel for a shorter period than you’re traveling for (annoying if you’d prefer to use points for your hotel stay)
  2. Existing reservations are not eligible for the bonus – not a great way to treat customers.
  3. You have to stay for at least 5 nights – not terrible but it’s still a constraint I suspect most would rather not have.

a building with lights on

American Airlines’ New Routes

From summer 2018 American Airlines will serve Budapest & Prague from Philadelphia as well as starting up service between Dallas and Keflavik (Iceland).

  • All three routes are available to book right now
  • The Budapest and Prague services will run between 4 May and 27 October 2018
  • The service to Iceland will run between 7 June and 27 October 2018

Here are the planned schedules as they stand:

Philadelphia – Budapest

AA96 PHL 18:20 – 09:35+1 day BUD (Daily 767 service)
AA97 BUD 11:30 – 16:00 PHL (Daily 767 service)

Philadelphia – Prague

AA52 PHL 18:45 – 09:20+1 day PRG (Daily 767 service)
AA53 PRG 11:30 – 15:20 PHL (Daily 767 service)

Dallas Ft. Worth – Keflavik

AA232 DFW 20:20 – 09:15+1 day KEF (Daily 757 service)
AA231 KEF 11:10 – 14:50 DFW (Daily 757 service)

The Aircraft

The routes to Budapest and Prague will both be served by American Airlines’ 767 aircraft…and that’s not exactly fantastic news.

The Business Class cabin on this ageing aircraft may offer all-aisle-access seating (unquestionably a good thing) but, as I mentioned when I reviewed this aircraft on a trip between New York and Milan, the seat has a few drawbacks….notable the fact that there isn’t enough room for a passenger’s feet when in lie-flat mode.

Add to this the fact that there’s no in-built IFE in the cabin (Samsung tablets are handed out by the crew) and you start to wonder just how premium this experience is.

a seat with a table and a pillow on itAmerican Airlines 767 Business Class

Sadly the news in the Economy Class cabin isn’t good either.

The 767 offers just 31″ of legroom and a little over 17″ of seat width and, just like in the Business Class cabin, there are no personal IFE screens – passengers are expected to make do with whatever the airline chooses to serve up on overhead monitors or whatever they brought onboard themselves.

The news on the Dallas – Iceland route isn’t too much better…..especially if you’re booked into Economy Class

American is using a narrow-body 757 to offer this service and the aircraft is fitted with the recently introduced lie-flat Business Class seats:

the inside of an airplaneAmerican Airlines 757 Business Class Cabin

a seat in an airplaneAmerican Airlines 757 Business Class Cabin

These seats are very similar to those that are offered in the very good A321 transcontinental Business Class cabin except that they do not offer any IFE screens – you’re left to bring alone your own entertainment or manage with the Samsung devices that are handed out.

Also, unlike the A321 experience, the refitted 757 do not offer Wi-Fi connectivity.

It’s in Economy Class where the news gets truly bad.

Just like on the 767’s there’s no personal inflight entertainment (just overhead screens) and the seating looks horrible.a screenshot of a chart

All the seats behind Business Class offer less than 17″ of seat width (which is incredibly confining) and the seats behind the Main Cain Extra rows offer just 31″ of seat pitch…and that’s tight for any flight let alone a long-haul flight.

The Business Class cabin should be fine but the Economy Class cabin isn’t one I’d be too happy to have to fly in.

Bottom Line

If you were planing on trying out one of these routes this summer then 10,000 AAdvantage Miles is a nice bonus to get but it shouldn’t sway your decision on whether to book or not.

If you are going to try out one of these routes make sure you know what sort of cabin you’re letting yourself in for (especially if you’re booking Economy Class) and be sure to bring your own entertainment onboard as, at least in Economy Class, it’s probably going to be dire.