American has launched several new routes and (just as they often do) they’re offering bonus AAdvantage miles to promote them. But this time they’ve made the offer a little sweeter.

Typically when they start new service between two cities they’ll offer double redeemable miles, but with these latest promotions they’re doing something new and offering double miles for main cabin fares, and triple miles for paid first class travel.

Earn Up To Triple Miles Between Miami And San Diego

Offer: Beginning June 12, American Airlines will offer daily nonstop service between Miami and San Diego, giving you more choices. To celebrate, you can earn triple miles for travel in First Class, or double miles for travel in the Main Cabin

Flight # 1065
Departs Miami 6:50 p.m
Arrives San Diego 8:55 p.m.

Flight # 1042
Departs San Diego 9:45 p.m
Arrives Miami 5:40 a.m. (next day)

Offer Dates: June 12, 2013, through September 15, 2013

Promotion Code: SAN3X

Register prior to travel. Here’s a link.

Round-trip travel between SAN and MIA earns 4,534 base miles, so this is probably the offer that will most tempt mileage runners.

There are some sub $400 main cabin fares available for late Summer travel, and the lowest first class fare range between $1,000 and $1,100 much of the Summer.

First Class Fares

Coach Fares

If you’re a mileage runner that’s focused purely on Elite Qualifying Miles, then this offer probably won’t appeal to you: at best you’re paying nearly 7.72 cents per EQM. But if you’re looking to earn some elite miles and also earn a lot of redeemable miles, then depending upon your status level and fare, you can earn earn almost enough miles for a round-trip domestic ticket, or bring down your cost per mile to about 2.57 cents per mile.

First Class Here’s a breakdown of the base miles, 50% class of service bonus, triple miles bonus, and elite miles (if applicable)

Coach Here’s a breakdown of the base miles, double miles bonus, and elite miles (if applicable)

Here are the other Double and Triple Bonus AAdvantage Miles Offers:

Earn Up To Triple Miles Between Chicago And Portland, Oregon

Offer: Beginning June 12, we will offer daily nonstop service between Chicago and Portland, Oregon, giving you more choices.

To celebrate, you can earn triple miles for travel in First Class, or double miles for travel in the Main Cabin.

Flight # 2027
Departs Chicago 10:10 a.m.
Arrives Portland 12:30 p.m.
Flight # 2057
Departs Chicago 3:50 p.m.
Arrives Portland 6:10 p.m.

Flight # 358
Departs Portland 7:10 a.m.
Arrives Chicago 1:05 p.m.
Flight # 2040
Departs Portland 1:15 p.m.
Arrives Chicago 7:10 p.m.

Offer Dates: June 12, 2013, through September 15, 2013

Promotion Code: PDX3X

Register prior to travel. Here’s a link.

New Route Between Los Angeles and Eugene, Oregon

Offer: Starting on June 12, you can fly nonstop between Los Angeles and Eugene, Oregon. This service will be offered twice daily on a 50-seat Bombardier CRJ aircraft (operated by SkyWest Airlines).

To celebrate, we’re offering double miles every time you fly this new route through September 15.

Offer Dates: June 12, 2013, through September 15, 2013

Promotion Code: EUG2X.

Register prior to traveling. Here’s a link.

New Nonstop Flight Between Los Angeles and Redmond, Oregon

Offer: Starting on June 12, you can also fly nonstop between Los Angeles and Redmond, Oregon. This flight will be operated once each day on a 50-seat Bombardier CRJ aircraft (operated by SkyWest Airlines).

You can earn double miles every time you fly this new route through September 15.

Offer Dates: June 12, 2013, through September 15, 2013

Promotion Code: RDM2X

Register before you travel. Here’s a link.

American Airlines will soon launch new routes between Dallas/Seoul, Dallas/Lima, and Chicago/Dusseldorf and to promote the new service they’re offering a sweepstakes:

Check out our newest routes for a chance to win a trip.

American Airlines is working harder to take you to more of the places you want to go, like three of our newest routes launching this Spring.

To celebrate our new routes, we’re giving you a chance to win a Business Class trip for two and take off to our newest destination of your choice.

The winner will receive 200,000 AAdvantage Miles, enough to redeem two Business Class awards to any of the three cities (though the rules state that you can use the miles however you please).

To enter, all you have to do is supply your name, email, and AAdvantage number.  You’ll earn an extra entry if you book a trip. According to the terms and conditions all entries must be received by 11:59:59 p.m. CT on May 31, 2013.

Go here for complete terms and conditions and go here to enter.

Good luck!

Speaking of winning miles….

Don’t forget that The Frugal Travel Guy’s Monday Deal of the Day is sponsored by AAdvantage.  Go here to share you favorite American Airlines or AAdvantage related tip for a chance to win 2,500 AAdvantage Miles!

oneworld member Cathay Pacific is marking the one year anniversary of their Chicago to Hong Kong service with a retro themed sweepstakes that offers a look back at their flight attendant  uniforms through the years.

Here’s a look at 66 years of Cathay Pacific history in just over 4 minutes:

Back to the sweepstakes, here are the details

Cathay Pacific is celebrating the one year anniversary of servicing Chicago with the Walking On Air fashion show. The show chronicles our flight attendant uniforms throughout the eras, modeled by our very own cabin crew.

The prizes:

Two (2) Roundtrip Economy Class tickets from any of our US Gateways (San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago) or Canadian Gateways (Toronto and Vancouver) to Hong Kong.

Five (5) nights stay at J Plus Boutique Hotel, courtesy of Tablet

A private, guided tour of our CXperience museum at Cathay City to see the fashion featured on our Walking On Air runway show.

Two (2) $150 vouchers for a dream jetsetter wardrobe for two, provided by Rent The Runway.

One month subscription to Birchbox.

According to the terms and conditions  you’re allowed up to two entries, and there are two ways to enter: pin your favorite uniform with Pintrist for one entry, and/or submit you email address for another.

The sweepstakes ends September 24.  Go here for complete details.  Good luck!

Speaking of winning stuff, one of the few good things about Mondays is that the Frugal Travel Guy’s Deal of the Day is sponsored by AAdvantage.  Share your best AA related travel tip for a chance to win 2,500 AAdvantage Miles!

Here’s a really big bonus offer for travel to Helsinki:

Earn up to 25,000 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles when you fly round-trip on American Airlines between Chicago and Helsinki, Finland.

Business Class (booked in J, D, R or I) earn 25,000 bonus miles
Full-Fare Economy (booked in Y, B or H) earn 20,000 bonus miles
Discount Economy (booked in K, L or M) earn 15,000 bonus miles

Offer Dates: June 26, 2012 through September 30, 2012

Promotion Code: AAHEL

AAdvantage bonus mileage offer is valid for round-trip travel on nonstop American Airlines operated flights between Chicago O’Hare and Helsinki, Finland from June 26, 2012 – September 30, 2012.

Includes travel on codeshare flights marketed by British Airways, Iberia or Finnair.

This promotion is only valid for AAdvantage members who purchase and fly on published fare tickets booked in J, D, I, R, Y, B, H, K, L or M.

The cheapest economy fare is about $958, but it books into O so it won’t earn you the bonus miles. The cheapest qualifying economy fare that will earn you the bonus is $1,750 (it books into H).

Business class travel (if it’s in your budget) is a better value. You can find qualifying business class fares (book into I).

You can search for fares using ITA Matrix by using these routing codes in the advance routing codes form fields:

Economy (copy and paste)
AA+ / f bc=Y|bc=B|bc=H

Business (copy and paste)
AA+ / f bc=J|bc=D|bc=R|bc=I

Registration is required before you travel. Go here for complete details.

W2WS2GBC4CAU

The Double Elite and Double AAdvantage Miles offer is back (actually, it never expired).

American is extending their offer to residents of Illinois, Texas, and California of Double Elite Qualifying Miles and Double AAdvantage Miles on flights between Chicago and San Francisco/Los Angeles, and Dallas-Ft.Worth and San Francisco/Los Angeles. This isn’t a big surprise considering that they and Virgin America are still aggressively competing on these routes.

One new twist to the offer: flights between Chicago and Orange County are included in this promotion.  Virgin American doesn’t fly between the two cities, but AA and United have both been offering some cheap fares on the route, so maybe this is related.

The bonus code remains the same, so no need to register again if you’ve already signed up for this offer.  Here are the details:

Offer Extended Through June 30, 2012. Now You Have More Time To Increase Your Mileage Balance and Qualify For AAdvantage Elite Status Faster

Award: Double Elite-Status Qualifying Miles. Double Flight Miles

Bonus Code: DEQ11

Dates: Book your trip and fly between October 27, 2011, and June 30, 2012

Offer: Reach AAdvantage elite status faster than ever with this offer and add to your mileage balance at the same time! Just book a round-trip ticket and fly on American Airlines between Chicago O’Hare and Los Angeles, Orange County* or San Francisco or between Dallas/Fort Worth and Los Angeles or San Francisco from October 27, 2011, through June 30, 2012. You’ll earn double flight miles AND double elite-qualifying miles, the miles that bring you closer to AAdvantage elite status membership – at an accelerated rate.

With so many choices, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to get to your destination and add more miles to your AAdvantage account:

Between Chicago and Los Angeles 10 nonstops each business day
Between Chicago and San Francisco 7 nonstops each business day
Between Chicago and Orange County 3 nonstops each business day
Between DFW and Los Angeles 18 nonstops each business day
Between DFW and San Francisco 11 nonstops each business day

Note: This offer is valid only for AAdvantage members with an address on file with AAdvantage Marketing programs in California, Illinois or Texas.

* Offer applies to travel booked and flown between Chicago O’Hare and Orange Country starting March 9, 2012 through June 30, 2012.

I’ve been curious about Virgin’s service and have wanted to try them just for fun, but not so curious as to give up the chance of an upgrade or the AAdvantage miles.  And with double elite miles and flight miles, there’s no chance of it happening.   Obviously, the marketing works!

Go here for complete terms and conditions.

Photo: Double
Credit: Gidzy on Flickr

I’m traveling this week and missed posting the results of Monday’s random drawing. So to start today’s post, Congratulations to worldtraveller2: you’re the winner of the new Marcus Samuelsson spiced nut mix!

Because more than 200 American Airlines pilots decided to retire during the 4th quarter of last year, American had to reduce the number of widebody 767 and 777 aircraft on their domestic schedule.

Well, it looks like they’re bringing them back. Here’s a look at the widebody flights (all 767s) that were added to the schedule:

Dallas- Ft. Worth

Date From To Flight Frequency
2/9/12 DFW LAX 2431 1234567
2/9/12 DFW LAX 2439 12345..
2/9/12 DFW SFO 1937 1234567

New York JFK

Date From To Flight Frequency
2/9/12 JFK LAX 1 1234567

Los Angeles

Date From To Flight Frequency
2/9/12 LAX BOS 222 1234567

2/9/12 LAX DFW 2414 12345..
2/9/12 LAX DFW 2416 1234567

3/11/12 LAX HNL 287 1234567

2/9/12 LAX OGG 161 1234567
2/9/12 LAX OGG 253 1234567

Kahului Airport, Maui

Date From To Flight Frequency
2/9/12 OGG LAX 14 1234567
2/9/12 OGG LAX 254 1234567

San Francisco

Date From To Flight Frequency
2/9/12 SFO DFW 414 1234567

There were also some routes that saw a reduction in widebody service: Chicago and Miami each lost two flights from one to the other.

I was hoping they’d bring back the widebody service between Chicago and Dallas, that was one of my favorite flights.

American used to fly a Boeing 777 with a 3 class configuration that was sold as a two class configured flight. It was still standard coach service in the business class cabin, but AAdvantage members with elite status were able to reserve the roomier seats.

Anyway, go here to see a copy of the complete domestic widebody schedule.

Photo: American 767 on a murky day SFO airport
Credit: Bill Abbott on Flickr

I have this thought that somewhere buried deep in the basement at American’s headquarters is a room with a door marker that reads “Promo Code Department”.

And inside that room are a couple of people that had to snicker a little when they came up with a promo code for this offer to promote the start of new service between Chicago and Sioux City, Iowa:

Airline: American Eagle
Award: Bonus Miles

Bonus Code: SUX2X

Dates: Travel between April 3, 2012, and June 30, 2012

Offer: Starting April 3, 2012, American Eagle will offer daily nonstop flights between Chicago O’Hare and Sioux City, IA. To celebrate, you can earn double miles every time you fly our new route through June 30, 2012.

To qualify for the offer, you have to register before you travel.  Go here for full details.

Maybe it just my third grade sense of humor, but when I saw the promo code I thought it was kind of funny.  SUX is the IATA airport code for Sioux City, so SUX2X is a pretty logical for a promo code.  And it’s not like the AA Promo Code Department could use 2XSUX, that’s probably reserved for double mileage offers to Houston.

Photo: Sioux City Sarsaprilla
Credit: Drew Stephens on Flickr

Congratulations to , Ralph with comment number 64, the winner of the final oneworld MegaDo Giveaway!   Friday, I asked readers whether or not they would wear the PJs that American offers to their First Class customers. Ralph said, “Of course I’d wear them…thats why they give them to you!”. Most of you felt the same way: 62% voted in favor of pajamas. We did have one exception, from Brian #28, “I’ll just wear what I usually wear when I sleep. Just my undies.”

We had a total of five random drawings last week and as soon as I hear back from Ralph, I’ll be headed to the Post Office (if they still exist) to mail off some prizes.

Thanks to everyone for participating!

Last week was an exciting week. We had the oneworld MegaDo going on, Lego Man slipped the surly bonds of Earth to become the eleventh Canadian in space, and American offered a preview of the interior of the new 777-300ER that they’ll be receiving later this year.

After all that, you’re probably wondering what could be more exciting. How about this: Double AAdvantage Miles between Chicago and Waterloo, Iowa!

Airline: American Eagle

Award: Bonus Miles

Bonus Code: ALO2X

Dates: Travel between April 3, 2012, and June 30, 2012

Offer: Starting April 3, 2012, American Eagle will offer daily nonstop flights between Chicago O’Hare and Waterloo, IA. To celebrate, you can earn double miles every time you fly our new route through June 30, 2012.

Registration is required before you travel using bonus code ALO2X (that’s the letter “o” rather than a zero). Go here for complete details.

Photo: Two!
Credit: Nicolas Vigier on Flickr

American and Virgin America have been battling it out in California, Texas and Illinois.  I’ve seen fares from my home airport (DFW) to Los Angeles and San Francisco drop to about half what they were a year ago, and both airlines have been offering big fare sales on the routes that they both serve.  

A couple of times this year, American has offered Double Elite Qualifying Miles and Double AAdvantage Miles in these markets.  The last such offer exired a few weeks ago, but starting today, they’re bringing them back:

Chicago or DFW – Los Angeles or San Francisco. Reach Elite Status Faster. Double Miles

Increase Your Mileage Balance and Qualify For AAdvantage Elite Status Faster Than Ever

Airline: American Airlines

Award: Double Elite-Status Qualifying Miles. Double Flight Miles

Bonus Code: DEQ11

Dates: Book your trip and fly between October 27, 2011, and March 31, 2012

Offer: Reach AAdvantage elite status faster than ever with this offer and add to your mileage balance at the same time! Just book a round-trip ticket and fly on American Airlines between Chicago O’Hare or DFW and Los Angeles or San Francisco from October 27, 2011, through March 31, 2012. You’ll earn double flight miles AND double elite-qualifying miles, the miles that bring you closer to AAdvantage elite status membership – at an accelerated rate.

With so many choices, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to get to your destination and add more miles to your AAdvantage account:

Between Chicago and Los Angeles 10 nonstops each business day
Between Chicago and San Francisco 6 nonstops each business day
Between DFW and Los Angeles 16 nonstops each business day
Between DFW and San Francisco 10 nonstops each business day

I have a few trips to Los Angeles lined up already, so I read through the fine print to see if this new offer applied to travel after October 27, but purchased earlier.  Unfortunately (for me), it does not. To qualify for this offer you’ll have to purchase your ticket on or after today. (Boo hiss, Boo hiss!)

You must be a resident of Illinois, Texas or California to qualify for this offer and registration is required in advance using pomo code DEQ11.  Go here to read the full terms and conditions and to sign up.

(Dan Webb has an interesting interview with Virgin America CEO over at Things in the Sky.)

The new Radisson Blu hotel in Chicago’s 86 story Aqua skyscraper is set to open on November 1, and to mark the occasion, Radisson is offering triple AAdvantage Miles when you stay at any of their hotels through December 15:

Earn Triple American Airlines AAdvantage Miles
When You Book A Stay At Any Radisson Hotel Worldwide

Celebrate the North American debut of Radisson Blu with the opening of the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel, Chicago and earn triple AAdvantage miles on your next eligible stay at any Radisson hotel worldwide from October 15, 2011 through December 15, 2011.

A stay at Radisson will normally earn you 500 AAdvantage Miles, so with this offer you’ll earn 1,500 miles with each stay.  From the terms of this offer:

American Airlines AAdvantage members who provide their member number at the time of check-in can earn a total of 1,500 AAdvantage miles for each Eligible Stay during the Promotional Period. There is no maximum on the number of Eligible Stays that can qualify for the bonus during the Promotional Period.

No double-dipping, it’s either Club Carlson points or AAdvantage Miles (not both), and to qualify for the miles you have to make your reservation through Radisson.  You can go here for the full details of their Triple AAdvantage Miles offer.

If you’re not familiar with Radisson Blu, it’s Radisson’s upmarket brand, with 158 hotels in Europe, Africa, and Asia. The new Chicago location is the first Radisson Blu hotel in the United States, and the building they selected, the Aqua, is one of the more interesting looking skyscrapers in a city that really takes its architecture seriously.  You can see a photo tour of the hotel here.

Also to celebrate the opening of their new hotel, Radisson parent, Carlson Hotels is offering a sweepstakes promotion with weekly winners receiving a Chicago weekend getaway, and one grand prize winner receiving an upscale vacation at any Carlson hotel worldwide:

Club Carlson Ultimate Getaway Giveaway Sweepstakes
Every week through December 16, the Club Carlson Ultimate Getaway Giveaway Sweepstakes is giving away exciting vacation packages, including airfare and hotel accommodations.

GRAND PRIZE
Business Class airfare for two, a five-night stay at any Carlson hotel worldwide and $10,000 cash for shopping.

WEEKLY PRIZES
Coach Class airfare for two, a two-night stay at the new, upscale Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel, Chicago and $2,500 cash for shopping.

To enter, you have to be a member of their Club Carlson loyalty program, if you’re not already a member you can sign up for free.  Go here to enter the sweepstakes or to read the full terms and conditions.

Photo credit: Aqua Tower 1 by Jeanne Gang on Flickr.  Check out her whole set of Chicago photos for more of the Aqua building as well as some other very nicely photographed downtown sights.