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MMMondayMemo: AA European Stopover Hack
Every Monday, MonkeyMiles sends out a Memo with a tip on how you can save time, money, and points. Many of you may already know the tips, but more and more new monkeys are flocking to this hobby every single day and knowledge is power. This Monday we are looking at what we like to call the AA European Stopover Hack. Essentially it allows a cheap stopover in Europe en route to the Middle East/ Indian Subcontinent by combining one way award tickets.
Here is the chart for AA metal to various locations. Highlighted to Europe
If you fly to Europe during off peak dates it will set you back just 22,500 AA one way. That’s a very good deal.
AA Partner US to various locations: Middle East/Indian Subcontinent highlighted
If you fly to the Middle East or Indian Subcontinent in Main Cabin it will set you back just 40,000 AA one way. That’s a good deal too.
Here is the AA partner metal chart from Europe to various locations: Middle East/Indian Subcontinent highlighted
Here’s where it can make a lot of sense to break up the trip. Now if you recall from above – during off peak travel it’s just 22,500 one way from US to Europe. Well, below you can see that it’s just 20,00 to fly from Europe to the Middle East or Indian Subcontinent. That means you can have a stopover in Europe for just a 2500 AA premium. Ordinarily AA would only allow a layover of 24 hours or less. Now, that is a great sweet spot!
To Recap
- US -> Europe = 22,500
- US -> Middle East/Indian Subcontinent = 40,000
- US – > Europe ( Stop ) then -> Middle East/Indian Subcontinent = 42,500
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.