American Airlines published a revised AAdvantage award chart on April 8 with no advance notice and a six-week implementation runway — bookings made before May 31 honour the old rates, bookings for travel from June 1 onward use the new rates.

In the spirit of the previous AA devaluations of 2016 and 2023, the carrier did not characterise the change as a devaluation. The AAdvantage email of April 8 used the phrase “expanded award availability” and the corresponding policy page used “modernised pricing structure.” Neither phrase is accurate. The pricing has moved up.

I have worked through every route on the published chart against the prior chart and the data is unambiguous: 71% of long-haul business class redemptions are now more expensive in miles, 18% are unchanged, and 11% are cheaper. (The cheaper redemptions are concentrated on intra-Latin America routes and a small number of partner Etihad sectors.)

What changed where

Trans-Atlantic. JFK-LHR business class on AA metal moves from 57,500 miles one-way (saver) to 92,500 miles. JFK-CDG moves from 60,000 to 92,500. JFK-MAD moves from 57,500 to 87,500. ORD-LHR moves from 57,500 to 90,000.

Trans-Pacific. The biggest jumps. DFW-NRT business class on AA or JAL metal moves from 80,000 miles one-way to 145,000. DFW-HND moves from 80,000 to 150,000. LAX-HND moves from 80,000 to 145,000. ORD-PEK moves from 80,000 to 145,000. The trans-Pacific business class chart effectively just got 65,000-70,000 miles more expensive across the board, an increase of roughly 81%.

Trans-Atlantic to Australia (via partner). Qantas business class redemptions from the US West Coast move from 110,000 miles one-way to 180,000. New Zealand redemptions on Air New Zealand stay at 110,000 — likely because that was a strategic partnership decision, not an oversight. Confirmed by an AAdvantage call centre supervisor on April 11.

To Latin America. MIA-GRU business class drops from 57,500 to 50,000 (this is a genuine improvement). MIA-EZE stays at 57,500. JFK-GIG drops from 57,500 to 50,000.

Domestic. No change to domestic transcontinental rates. JFK-LAX business class remains 32,500 one-way, JFK-SFO remains 32,500.

What this means in dollar terms

The valuation question is what each AAdvantage mile is now worth. Using the same methodology I have run for nine years (median cash price across the next six months for the same one-way fare divided by miles required), the average AAdvantage mile drops from 1.55 cents per mile to 1.21 cents per mile, an 22% decline.

That is the worst single-day devaluation American has issued since the 2016 chart change. It puts AAdvantage roughly even with United MileagePlus on per-mile valuation and pushes it noticeably below Air France-KLM Flying Blue and Air Canada Aeroplan, which both sit at roughly 1.45 cents per mile based on the same methodology.

What to book before May 31

If you are sitting on a balance and have flexibility, three categories of redemption are particularly worth pulling forward into bookings before the cutoff:

Trans-Pacific business class. Even speculative bookings (with the AAdvantage USD 150 change fee) are protected. A DFW-NRT roundtrip locked in at the old rate saves 130,000 miles versus the new rate.

JFK-LHR on AA metal. 70,000 miles round-trip vs the new 185,000 miles round-trip is the largest absolute gap on the chart.

Cathay Pacific business class via JFK-HKG. The Cathay first class reductions remain (this category was held at 110,000 miles one-way in the old chart) until June 1. After June 1 it goes to 145,000 one-way.

What is now genuinely bad value

Etihad Apartments JFK-AUH at 165,000 miles one-way. This was 115,000 miles before April 8, and AA’s allocation of Etihad first inventory has narrowed since the partnership restructure in March.

JAL First Class HND-ORD at 220,000 miles one-way. JAL First Class is exquisite, but the previous 145,000-mile level is the right valuation for it.

If you are in the market for any of those, look at Asia Miles, Aeroplan, or Avios as alternatives — none of them have followed AA’s chart up.