Rundown on American Airlines for Canadians
American Airlines and the now former U.S. Airways took another huge step into its full integration. When two airlines of this magnitude join forces, it takes time for every aspect of the merger to go through. This past weekend, US Airways flights have ceased to exist. All the flights that were listed as US Airways or US Airways Express are now listed as American Airlines or American Eagle respectively.
American Airlines has a rewards program called AAdvantage. US Airways had a rewards program called Dividend Miles, which is now fully combined with AAdvantage. Unfortunately, for Canadians, there aren’t too many ways to earn miles.
How to Earn AAdvantage Miles as a Canadian
American Airlines is an member of the Oneworld alliance, so you can earn miles flying with any of its alliance members. WestJet Airlines also had a code-share agreement with American Airlines, so you can bank your WestJet flights to earn AAdvantage points.
When you rent a car with Alamo, Avis, Budget, Carmel – Car and Limousine Service, Dollar, Europcar, Hertz, National and Thrifty, you can earn AAdvantage miles instead of car rental points.
E-rewards dollars can be transferred to your AAdvantage account at the following conversion:
- $25 = 500 Aadvantage points
- $50 = 1,000 Aadvantage points
- $100 = 2,000 Aadvantage points
RBC Rewards / Avion points are convertable to AAdvantage miles. You will need to convert a minimum of 5,000 Avion points for 5,000 AAdvantage miles. There have been 20% transfer bonuses, but it has been a while since the last one. Hopefully we will seen another one in the future.
Instead of earning hotel points, you can directly earn AAdvantage miles instead.
What I would Like to See
With this merger, American Airlines becomes the world’s largest airline by fleet size. Being the largest, I really hoped to see more destinations between Canada and the United States being added in the near future.
I am also really hoping to see a co-branded AAdvantage credit card with one of the Canadian financial institutions.
List of Destinations
Below is an updated list of American Airlines flights that depart from Canadian airports (recent changes from last time are in brackets or struck-through):
Toronto Pearson International Airport [YYZ]
- American Airlines: Dallas/Fort Worth, Los Angeles, Miami
- American Eagle: Charlotte (previously US Airways Express) Chicago–O’Hare, New York–JFK, New York–LaGuardia, Philadelphia (previously US Airways Express), Washington-National (previously US Airways Express)
US Airways Express: Charlotte, Philadelphia, Washington-National
Vancouver International Airport [YVR]
- American Airlines: Dallas/Fort Worth, Phoenix (previously US Airways)
- American Eagle: Los Angeles, Phoenix (previously US Airways Express)
US Airways: PhoenixUS Airways Express: Phoenix
Calgary International Airport [YYC]
- American Airlines: Dallas/Fort Worth, Phoenix (previously US Airways)
- American Eagle [Seasonal]: Phoenix (previously US Airways Express)
US Airways: PhoenixUS Airways Express [Seasonal]: Phoenix
Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport [YUL]
- American Airlines: Dallas/Fort Worth, Miami,
- American Eagle: Charlotte (previously US Airways Express), Chicago–O’Hare, New York–JFK, New York–LaGuardia, Philadelphia (previously US Airways Express)
US Airways Express: Charlotte, Philadelphia
Edmonton International Airport [YEG]
- American Airlines: Dallas/Fort Worth, Phoenix (previously US Airways)
American Eagle: Los AngelesUS Airways: Phoenix
Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport [YOW]
- American Eagle: Philadelphia (previously US Airways Express)
US Airways Express: Charlotte, Philadelphia
Halifax Stanfield International Airport [YHZ]
- American Eagle: Philadelphia (previously US Airways Express)
US Airways Express: Philadelphia
Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport [YQB]
- American Eagle [Seasonal]: Philadelphia (previously US Airways Express)
US Airways Express [Seasonal]: Philadelphia
Region of Waterloo International Airport [YKF]
- American Eagle: Chicago-O’Hare
You forgot to mention a few things:
1. Avios can be used to book AA flights (Though somewhat limited it is still possible) – and RBC has/had a great offer for 50k in avios after spending 9k over 3 months
2. Though there is a limit on where you can fly to – from Miami the Caribbean is wide open – so if you don’t mind a stop over and van get the points – great way to get there without worrying about aeroplan – or mix and match
Great. Thanks for the additional information!