Earlier this month I wanted to book two flights for myself and a family member to visit Japan using my American Airlines miles.

Unfortunately, there weren't any great options searching reward travel on aa.com (American Airline's website) for the route I wanted on my travel dates, despite the fact that I was searching 9 months in advance of travel.

I knew that American Airlines was in alliance with Japan Airlines, so I was frustrated that there were such limited award flights available to Japan considering I was searching well in advance of the trip.

I started researching the best ways to utilize AA award travel and discovered the way to use American Airlines miles to book award travel through AA’s partner airlines, such as Japan Airlines.

The trick is so easy!

You simply need to search for the award travel flights on a partner airline website (such as Alaska Airlines or British Airways), and then call American Airlines AAdvantage at 1-800-882-8880 to book over the phone.

It really is that simple, and but below is a more detailed guide on booking this way, and my personal experience with this travel hack.