30% off American Airlines Admirals Club lounge membership

UPDATE: Unfortunately, oneWorld (the airline alliance Qantas and American Airlines belong to) has advised us: "Under the oneworld agreement, “paid for” frequent flyer cards do not entitle the holder to gain access to lounges offered by other oneworld partners.  To gain access, those folks who have “bought” their FFP membership cards, rather than qualified through travelling, need to be flying on a Business Class ticket (or above) of the airline offer the lounge."

If you've been wondering whether it's worth joining Qantas Club for lounge access even if you're not a gold Frequent Flyer, would half price membership sway you? (See update at top of article). 

American Airlines is offering 30% off membership to its Admirals Club for 30% off the normal price of US$500.

The discounted price works out to US$350, which in turn converts to AUD$331.14, because of the strong Australian dollar at present.

There's also a US$50 joining fee, which converts to AUD$47.30. So, the total comes out to $378.44.

"But wait..." you might be thinking, "the headline says Qantas Club membership". Because American Airlines and Qantas are both members of the oneworld alliance, the Admirals Club card gets you in the door of the Qantas Club too. (See update at top of article). 

The only catch is that you can only use the Qantas lounge when flying on a Qantas-operated flight -- but that's not much of a downside for people based in Australia! (See update at top of article). 

To get the deal, you first have to be an AAdvantage (American Airlines frequent flyer program) member. If you're not already one, you can join free and get 500 miles just for signing up by using the promo code ADV30.

Then, you have to sign up for Admirals Club at AA's website and enter the code AADV30 in the promo field on the second page of the signup, then click "recalculate" before going ahead with the purchase.

Was US$500...

Put in the magic code...

Yours for the low, low price of US$350.

The offer is available until June 14th Australian time, so you've got a few weeks to think about it, but don't wait too long!

Tip of the hat to Ben at the excellent One Mile at a Time blog for spotting this deal.

Australian Business Traveller regularly drills into frequent flyer point earning tips and strategies, the best ways to burn them once earned, and how to extract the most value from frequent flyer memberships.

Are you a point maven? Do you do mileage runs in your sleep? Are you merely a Woolworths grocery shopper who has discovered a particularly good points earner? Send your earning and burning tip-offs to [email protected].

danwarne