American Airlines fare sale to the Far East, and AAdvantage Gold Elite status for $721.20

American is having a sale to Beijing, Shanghai, and Tokyo.  Book by January 30, 2012, start your itinerary by March 31st, and complete it by April 30th.  Here are some sample one-way fares:

JFK-PEK (with stops) for only $376 each way

For those like me that want to get the most mileage for your buck, there are very loose routes, where you can go JFK-LAX-ORD-PEK.  In my example below, I picked the absolute cheapest fares, while trying to use the farthest connections allowed at those fares.

Outbound: JFK-MIA-ORD-PEK (8866 miles)

Inbound: PEK-ORD-MCO-JFK (8528 miles)

Total mileage = 17,394 miles.

If you take into account the DOUBLE Elite Qualifying Miles, register free here, through January 31, then you will bring you to a grand total of 26,260 Elite Qualifying miles (In my example, only the outbound would qualify for the double Elite Qualifying Miles).  Enough for AAdvantage Gold Status!  All for only spending $721.20.  AND you get to see Beijing, and probably the Great Wall.  Get in while the fares last!

JFK-PEK (with stops) for only $376 each way

30% discount on American Airlines award tickets

This year is American Airlines’s 30th Anniversary of their frequent flyer program, AAdvantage.  To celebrate, they are offering 30 different promotions, one per weekday, between April 18-May 27.

The last offer on May 27, is 30% award bookings.  Instead of paying 12,500 miles for a one-way domestic award (25,000 miles for round trip), you can book for 8,750/17,500 miles one-way/roundtrip.  Here are the terms from the promo website:

Save 30% on MileSAAver® Awards Within the Continental U.S. and Canada

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the AAdvantage® program, we are offering a special limited-time discount on Economy Class MileSAAver awards on American Airlines within the Continental U.S. and Canada. No registration is required. The mileage discount will automatically be applied to eligible reservations. That’s a savings of 3,750 miles each way or 7,500 miles round-trip. Reservations must be booked and ticketed between May 27, 2011, and June 10, 2011, for travel between September 7, 2011, and November 8, 2011.

You need a AAdvantage account to take advantage of the offer, no pun intended.  Sign up is free, and if you use the promo code ADV30, you will earn 500 bonus miles to start.  Here is the sign up page.

The 30% award discount page is HERE.