Use American Airlines and US Airways Miles for a Trip to the Grand Canyon
Last weekend, I booked my flight from Orange County, CA (SNA) to Flagstaff, AZ (FLG) to visit the Grand Canyon. That was before the American Airlines and US Airways frequent flyer programs “merged.”
There is an airport literally 5 miles from the Grand Canyon National Park aptly named the Grand Canyon National Park (GCN) airport. Unfortunately no major airlines fly into that airport. The next closest airport is Grand Canyon Pulliam Airport (FLG) in Flagstaff, AZ. The distance from Flagstaff to the Grand Canyon National Park is approximately 85 miles, so you will probably need to rent a car to get to the Grand Canyon (which is what I am doing).
Luckily for us, US Airways flies from Phoenix to Flagstaff a few times a day. Now that you can use American Airline miles on US Airways operated flights, you can use American Airline miles to get to Flagstaff.
Since the distance between Phoenix and Flagstaff is very short, the best way would be to use British Airways Avios. Unfortunately, US Airways flights cannot be booked with British Airways Avios until they join the OneWorld Alliance, which is expected to happen on March 31, 2014. But for now, you can use American Airline miles.
Since I live so close to Arizona, I would probably prefer to use British Airways Avios for both segments, but if you live farther from Arizona, using American Airline miles might be cheaper, since there are no direct flights to Flagstaff. If you don’t mind road trips, you could probably use British Airways Avios to fly to Phoenix and rent a car and drive north approximately 230 miles to the Grand Canyon.
If Phoenix is not you cup of tea, you could drive 269 miles east from Las Vegas.
Or 393 miles west from Albuquerque.
Here is the itinerary I would do. Both flights are really short, so I would probably wait for US Airways to be in the OneWorld Alliance and use British Airways Avios.
However, if you are on the East Coast (like New York), you would be better off booking with American Airlines miles since it would only cost 12,500 American Airlines miles each way (11,250 American Airlines miles each way if you have a Citi American Airlines credit card, since you get 10% of your miles back).
If booked with British Airways Avios, it would cost 12,500 + 4,500 = 17,000 British Airways Avios each way.
Best of all, you can get access to the Grand Canyon free on the following holidays (link):
If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.
Which time of year are you going? What activities are you planning to do in the Grand Canyon? If I were to go, I would want to visit the less busy North Rim, and definitely visit the canyon floor. I would also want to do a lot of hiking there.
I’m going with my brother and he is the outdoor guy, so he will do all the planning (and dragging me along). I’m going over President’s Day weekend, February 15-17
I’m interested to hear how the drive is from Flagstaff to the South rim. If possible, comment on how many lane, whether the road is winding , and whether it increases in elevation as you drive.
Also, tell us if the driving is similar from Fresno to Yosemite.
Remind me about that on Feb 15. I’ve never been to Yosemite or Fresno, so I can’t comment on those drives.
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