Map to AAdvantage miles not ready for prime time

Do we really need a map to locate mileage-earning opportunities?

American thinks so, and is backing up that conviction with the release of its new

AAdvantage MileFinder Map

. Partnering with Google Maps, they've created maps of 11 major cities featuring icons showing the locations of vendors that award AAdvantage miles.

Taking the application for a test drive, I pulled up the map for my home city, Los Angeles. The initial screen shows a wide swath of L.A. County, with eight icons representing restaurants which award miles through AAdvantage dining. That's eight out of what the map indicates is a total of 791 AAdvantage locations. Not very helpful.

Using the slider bar to zoom in for a more local view, I tried focusing on my own neighborhood, where there are numerous restaurants offering AAdvantage miles. But the map only displays a single restaurant icon for the area. Useless at best, downright misleading at worst.

Ever the optimist, I think maybe a street view will show the restaurants I know to be in the AAdvantage network. But zooming in further reveals streets devoid of any restaurant icons whatsoever. Strike three.

Verdict: a mediocre idea, badly executed.

I'll be having lunch today at an AAdvantage restaurant. No thanks to the AAdvantage MileFinder Map.