As I’m sure many of you did, I received an email from American today offering up to 20,000 bonus AAdvantage miles for flying Qantas-operated flights to Australia. Flights booked as American Airlines codeshares apply.

Registration is required using offer code QF20K at this link and the travel period is from April 19 through June 30, 2012. Sadly, tickets purchased prior to today’s announcement for travel during the promo period are excluded from this offer. Bonus miles accrued for roundtrip travel are as follows:

Economy fare buckets N and Q are excluded from this promotion.

American Airlines posted a pretty darn cool video on YouTube this week. It’s a part of their “Behind the Scenes” series and the new one explains and shows the de-icing process in action.

Both American and United came out with new bonus mile offers today. Well… the United one wasn’t officially announced, but the registration page is up. More on that in a moment.

American Airlines is offering double AAdvantage miles (redeemable, not elite) on a batch of select Alaska Airlines flights. Registration is required and the travel window is from today, April 16, to June 30, 2012. The promotion code is ASD12 and double miles can be accrued in the following nonstop markets:

Burbank (BUR) – Portland (PDX)

Honolulu (HNL) – Oakland (OAK)

Honolulu (HNL) – San Jose (SJC)

Kansas City (MCI) – Seattle (SEA)

Los Angeles (LAX) – Mammoth Lakes (XXX)

Oakland (OAK) – Portland (PDX)

Ontario (ONT) – Portland (PDX)

Portland (PDX) – San Francisco (SFO)

With a hat tip to Wandering Aramean, United Airlines appears to be offering bonus MileagePlus miles (both redeemable and Premier Qualifying Miles) for trips between Boston and Tokyo Narita. It’s based on the fare purchased and offers either a 25% or 50% bonus as follows:

Ticketing and travel for this promotion is from April 1 to August 31, 2012. As Seth noted, the terms are a bit tricky. As United doesn’t have a nonstop in the market, the language of the offer reads, “Itineraries with connecting flights into or out of Boston and Narita are eligible for this promotion; however the bonus award miles only apply for segments between Boston and Narita.”

The boldface is my emphasis and appears to mean that so long as you’re on some type of ticket between Boston and Narita – no matter the connection point – you’ll receive the bonus. Your mileage may vary, as always. The promo code on the United registration page is TB3M67.

Related post: New American and United bonus mile opportunities

There have been quite a few new bonus mile opportunities released by both American and United that I’m just now catching up on. Here’s a summary of some of them:

American Airlines

• BOS-NRT: In celebration of the new nonstop service on Japan Airlines between Boston and Tokyo Narita, earn double redeemable miles every time you fly the route on a new Boeing 787. This offer is valid for travel on purchased, published Business Class and select Economy Class fares from April 22, 2012 through June 30, 2012. The Business Class fares must be booked in J, R, D or I; Economy Class fares booked in Y, W, B, H, K, M, L, V or S on American Airlines marketed flights; Business Class fares booked in J, C, D, X or I; Economy Class fares booked in Y, W, B, E, H, K, M, L, V or S on Japan Airlines operated flights. Offer code is BOSTY. Register here.
• DFW-BOS: Book a roundtrip ticket and fly on American Airlines between Dallas/Fort Worth and Boston between April 3, 2012 and June 30, 2012 and you’ll earn double elite status qualifying miles. Reservations containing open jaws are eligible. Reservation must be booked on or after April 3, 2012, to be eligible. Offer code is BOSEQ. Register here.
• LifeLock Identity Theft Protection: This offer seems to come and go from time to time and the current iteration offers up to 5,500 AAdvantage miles, plus a 10% discount. For the LifeLock basic package you earn 2,500 miles for the first year (must be active with LifeLock for 31 days to get the miles) and an additional 1,250 at the beginning of year two and three of service. For the LifeLock Ultimate package, earn 3,000 miles, plus the same 1,250 at the beginning of year two and three. Register here.

United Airlines

• IAD-DUB: Earn double redeemable miles from June 7, 2012 through September 30, 2012, when you register before travel, then fly between Washington, D.C. (IAD) and Dublin, Ireland. Ticketing dates: March 26, 2012 through September 30, 2012. Registration and full terms are here.
• EWR-EZE: Earn double redeemable miles from April 9, 2012 through July 31, 2012, when you register before travel, then fly between New York/Newark and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Ticketing dates: March 20, 2012 through July 31, 2012. Registration and full terms are here.
• IAD-MAN: Earn double redeemable miles from May 1, 2012 through September 30, 2012, when you register before travel, then fly between Washington, D.C. (IAD) and Manchester, England on United. Ticketing dates: March 26, 2012 through September 30, 2012. Registration and full terms here.
• Copa Airlines or Copa Airlines Colombia: Earn a one-time bonus of 2,000 MileagePlus redeemable miles on any flight operated by Copa or Copa Columbia. Offer valid for travel between March 19 and May 19, 2012. Eligible classes of service are C, D, Y, B, M, H, Q, K, V, U, S, W, E, L, T and N. Registration and full terms here.

In case you haven’t already read about the new Citi Platinum Select / AAdvantage Visa Signature card from other bloggers, here’s the scoop. This card has now become more competitive in terms of ancillary benefits compared to previous iterations and those cards of competing airlines, such as the Chase United Airlines Explorer card.

Here are the details:

• Earn 30,000 American Airlines AAdvantage bonus miles after $1,000 in purchases within the first three months of membership.
• Free first checked bag for you and up to four traveling companions.
• Priority Boarding privileges and 25% off in-flight food, beverages and headsets.
• Earn a $100 American Airlines flight discount every year if you spend $30,000 or more each year on your card.
• Receive double AAdvantage miles on eligible American Airlines purchases.
• Earn 10% of your redeemed AAdvantage miles back, up to 10,000 miles per year.
• There’s no mileage cap on the amount of miles earned when using the card.

The standard variable APR for this card is 15.24%, similar to the previous Citi/AAdvantage Visa Signature card, and the annual fee is $95/year after the first year of free membership.

Fellow blogger AAdvantage Geek reached out to his contacts at American and found out current Citi AAdvantage cardholders will qualify for these new perks effective today – except the 30,000 mileage bonus as an existing cardholder – if they hold the following cards:

While the 30K mileage bonus isn’t as phenomenal as previous offers, the other new benefits are generous if you meet the criteria.

You can read the full fine print and sign up for this card here.

I receive a small commission if you get approved for a card by using the links in this post. I remain grateful for any who do and can confirm that I myself have a Citi AAdvantage Platinum Select Visa Signature card. I’m quite pleased with it and the bonus miles I received helped me redeem miles for a First Class trip to Hong Kong.

In other airline, hotel and travel industry news last week…

• Southwest Airlines acquired AirTran in May last year and received a single operating certificate from the FAA last month, but each carrier remains an independent operation for the time being meaning AirTran’s baggage and other fees will remain intact. Unlike the relatively faster integration between Delta & Northwest and United & Continental, Southwest says it will take, “several years to fully transition AirTran into Southwest Airlines to become one airline.” The fees will continue through at least the end of 2013 and possibly into 2014.
• US Airways is expanding its Gogo Wi-Fi service across their entire Airbus fleet and Embraer 190 aircraft, eventually bringing onboard internet capabilities to 90 percent of its domestic mainline fleet. Regional carrier Republic Airlines will also add the service to its Express Embrarer 170 and 175 aircraft. Gogo Vision will be included where passengers have the option to download movies, TV shows and other content directly to their Wi-Fi enabled devices.
• Lufthansa announced their new Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental aircraft will be deployed on the Frankfurt to Washington Dulles route shortly after deliveries begin April 23. It will replace the existing 747-400 flights, LH 418 and LH 419. All of Lufthansa’s 747-8 aircraft will feature the new business and first class product, as well as 787-style overhead bins and LED lighting. I look forward to burning some miles to fly this bird in a premium cabin later this year.
• Japan Airlines took delivery of its first two Boeing 787-8s this past week making it the second airline to receive the long-delayed Dreamliner. The airline is expected to begin 787 flights to Boston this month and to San Diego later this year. I may have to start building up my American AAdvantage miles for a future redemption.
• Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel predicts Chicago O’Hare’s newest runway will be built and in use by 2015. The city will rely on financial help from both American and United to get it built and predicts once in use, it will reduce delays by 80 percent and allow for 300,000 more passengers annually.
• My “air traveling idiot of the week” award goes to a woman onboard US Airways flight 1697 from Charlotte to Fort Myers who, in an allegedly intoxicated state, kicked, scratched and spit on flight attendants, even knocking one to the ground. Unlike other recent incidents, the flight didn’t divert and continued to Fort Myers after she was restrained with the help of an off-duty sheriff’s deputy.

Finally, here are some other noteworthy items deserving of a click-through:

• A revealing Q&A with American Airlines CEO Thomas Horton.
• Alaska Airlines dedicates it’s new Terminal 6 location at LAX.
• New York-area airports may fine and prosecute disruptive passengers.
• Airlines for America ends its lawsuit over the EU ETS “tax” scheme.
• New Marriott properties will pop up in 2014 at L.A. Live in Los Angeles.

Last week I posted a pre-deregulation seat map of an American Airlines Boeing 727-100 and I thought it would be interesting to compare it against a version flying the skies eight years later for this installment of Vintage Airline Seat Maps.

American pulled out one row of First Class, removed the coat compartment and bar from coach and likely tightened the seat pitch to offer 115 seats in this version versus the 100-seater I posted last week. First Class lost only four seats and economy gained 19 in the reconfiguration.

You’d find me sitting in 5A or 5F in First Class or in the first few rows of coach forward of the mid-cabin galley.

Where would you sit?

I’m sticking with a narrowbody again for this week’s Vintage Airline Seat Map and bring you the American Airlines Boeing 727-100 from 1977 appearing below. Seating a total of 100 passengers, this pre-deregulation configuration offered 14 first class seats and room for 86 in coach, which probably had nearly equivalent seat pitch as that found in first class.

A couple of interesting things to note are the carryon luggage racks, a coat compartment in coach and the bar across from the mid-cabin galley. Smoking was likely allowed plane-wide, so without that information, you’d find me in 3A in first class and 5A in coach if there was more legroom at that bulkhead, otherwise 6A.

Where would you sit?

If I weren’t totally committed to reaching million-miler status with United Airlines this year and spending every dollar with them, I’d be particularly keen on jumping on the bandwagon Mommy Points discovered today.

American Airlines extended their double elite qualifying mile promotion for residents of California, Illinois and Texas today offering those AAdvantage members double redeemable miles and EQM for trips from ORD/DFW to LAX/SFO and SNA.

Travel must now be completed by June 30, 2012, and registration is still required here using the DEQ11 code.

(Should I just go for EXP this year, too?)

The agony.

This morning I received an email – as I’m sure many of you did – announcing the return of American’s AAdvantage Elite Rewards for 2012. As it was in the past, it’s based on your elite qualifying point total on December 31, 2012, so those who purchase lower-bucket fares will have a significantly more difficult time hitting the required target within their status level.

As a reminder, here’s a list of what each class of service ticketed earns in terms of elite qualifying points.

This program is particularly great if you already accrue more points than required to re-qualify for your status level each year and are just shy of the next level. As it’s based on your status at the end of the 2012, if you just roll over to the next level during the year, it will certainly be difficult to hit the next status’ threshold.

Registration is required using promo code ELTA2 prior to December 15, 2012 and members who successfully achieve the stated goal will receive an email in January 2013 with a link to select the reward(s).

In other airline industry news last week…

• United Airlines will launch daily nonstop service from Chicago to Sarasota beginning November 4, 2012 using Boeing 737-800 aircraft. This marks the ninth city United is slated to serve in the Sunshine State and a company spokesperson was particularly keen on mentioning the route’s ability to open up United’s global network from Chicago for Sarasota-originating passengers. Separately, flight attendants represented by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) ratified a new labor contract. A total Continental-United combined contract has yet to be realized, but United is optimistic that joint negotiations will go well.
• American Airlines again hemorrhaged money this past January posting a net loss of $234 million. Fuel was the carrier’s largest expense at $704 million for the month, followed by labor costs of $601 million. In better news, American will re-launch service between Chicago and Dublin beginning April 4 with a daily two-class 767-300 nonstop, and add an additional daily nonstop from Miami to Kingston, Jamaica for the busy summer season.
• Full-time employees working for Delta Air Lines at Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport are concerned over the carrier’s use of Ready Reserve temporary workers at the airport. After acquiring Northwest in 2008, Delta put a vote out and employees decided to oust union representation at MSP. As full-timers retire, other long-term staff are concerned the airline will simply increase the amount of Ready Reserve staff who earn significantly less than their airline-hired counterparts, thereby jeopardizing their jobs and pay.
• The recent FAA Reauthorization Bill passed into law opened up long-awaited slots for airlines to fly transcontinental flights out of Washington’s (Reagan) National Airport. United will begin a daily DCA-SFO nonstop, Delta a DCA-SLC trip and American DCA-LAX in the coming months. US Airways also has the right to add a flight, but has yet to name a destination. Additional slots are to be opened up to new entrant carriers who must file applications by March 12, 2012 for approval consideration.