American Paid Upgrades Now Earn Miles, Loyalty Points

Is it retro for upgrades we have already bought? Or is AA screwing us on that?

Lucky, do you know if the ticket with then also get the 50% class of fare mileage bonus, too?

@ GV -- Are you talking about if crediting to another frequent flyer program?

@ Tom -- It's my understanding that the change is based on the purchase date, so it wouldn't work for tickets already purchased, even if travel is in the future. Sorry!

As someone who usually gets upgraded at the 100 hour mark... not a fan. However, I completely agree that it's the right thing for them to do.

I almost always buy the cash upgrade other than when I'm in PE (sold as coach) or maybe row 11 on the 321ceo. You need to continually check because often they start very high but do become reasonable. This is where upgrades are going. Very happy to hear they will now count towards LPs. Last night got MIA/ORD for $146.

Any word if this would apply too to the cash part up milage + copay upgrades?

@ Jeff -- Unfortunately not, just "pure" cash upgrades. I updated the post to specifically address that, so thanks for bringing it up.

What does it do to the fare class? Lately I’ve had several significant weather and maintenance delays, and I’ve been pleasantly surprised that post-upgrade (100 hour), I’m rebooked into business, and AA offers me J inventory when voluntarily rebooking.

I mean the cabin bonus (50%-100% based on fare type). In the past tickets haven’t changed fare class after a paid upgrade so you didn’t earn the bonus like you would if you had initially bought the ticket in business or first.

https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-program/miles/earn/special-fares.jsp

If a ticket is purchased with miles (and award ticket) then upgrades with cash, does this still apply?

Lucky, it looks like they might retroactively get credit if flown on or after 8/14 based on View from the Wing and xJonNYC. That said, I wish AA would give more clarity on their website to make everyone's lives easier.

@GV
For crediting AA flights to AAdvantage, the 'cabin bonus' went away when the program changed from earning based on distance flown to based on dollars paid.
The cabin bonus is "implied" ... if you bought a premium cabin then you most likely paid more for your ticket than the passengers in coach, so you do get more points.

The link you provided is for "Special fares" and specifically calls out consolidator and bulk fares. IE: A consolidator bought a lot of seats and paid AA a set price for them and then re-sold the seats. The price paid to AA is unknown to the passenger so they still earn the 'old' way based on distance ... and therefore with cabin bonus.

I purchased my upgrade on August 7th for a flight on August 21st and just got the loyalty points for it. So it does award them for any flight after August 14th regardless of purchase date.