American Airlines seems to be getting increasingly aggressive about selling upgrades for cash after booking, including to elite members who are on the upgrade waitlist. In this post I wanted to go over the details of how exactly this program works, and what I’ve been noticing. The truth is that there’s a lot of variability, so everyone’s experience may be a bit different.
In this post:
American Airlines’ paid upgrade program details
There are many ways to upgrade American Airlines flights, ranging from redeeming AAdvantage miles, to taking advantage of complimentary elite upgrades, to using systemwide upgrades. Another way that you can often upgrade flights is with cash.
Understandably there are a lot of questions about this — when and how can you upgrade, how much does it cost, and is it worth it? Let’s discuss those points in a bit more detail.
When & where does American offer paid upgrades?
In many cases, American Airlines will have upgrade offers for cash anytime between when you book your ticket, up until a few hours before departure. This is not at all consistent, so in some cases you may not see an upgrade offer at all for a flight, while in other cases you may see an upgrade offer on the same itinerary for months.
There are two ways you can see the upgrade offers available to you:
- You can log into the American Airlines app and open your itinerary; refresh the itinerary and then wait about 15 seconds, and you may see an upgrade offer pop up at the top of the screen, where it will say “upgrade your flight starting from $X”
- You can log into your reservation on aa.com, and at the bottom of the screen you may see a section with upgrade offers; again, it can take a short while for an upgrade offer to populate, so you’ll want to keep the page open for a bit
Sometimes American will also email people upgrade offers, but it’s totally possible to have an upgrade offer available to you without getting an email.
Note that the initial pricing displayed is typically the lowest price for upgrading any segment of your itinerary. So if you have a multiple segment itinerary, you’ll have to click through to see the details of how much upgrading each segment would cost.
How expensive are American paid upgrades?
American Airlines’ upgrade prices with cash are all over the place. The pricing for upgrading a particular segment can vary wildly based on your elite status, the fare class you book, and when you look at the upgrade offer.
It’s possible that the upgrade cost for a particular flight will change significantly day-to-day, so don’t expect the pricing to be static. Furthermore, it’s possible that one person may see an upgrade offer for a particular flight, but another person won’t.
A few things to note:
- In some cases, the upgrade price will be the difference between the fare you paid, and the fare for the premium cabin you’re trying to upgrade to
- In other cases, the upgrade price will represent a massive discount over the fare difference between the two cabins, even if you upgrade minutes after booking your ticket
- Pricing does seem to be tied to elite status, how many seats are left for sale, and what fare classes are left for sale, so often upgrade prices will drop as more premium seats become available in lower fare buckets
- In some cases you’ll also see upgrade offers on fares that have already been upgraded; in other words, I’m talking about aircraft with a “proper” first class, where you upgrade from economy class to business class, and are then eligible for a paid upgrade to first class
Do you earn miles & Loyalty Points for American paid upgrades?
One major point of frustration with American Airlines’ paid upgrade program is that the money you spend on upgrades doesn’t earn you any bonus AAdvantage miles, and also doesn’t earn you Loyalty Points, which is American’s metric of qualifying for elite status. The only rewards you’d earn is whatever you receive for your credit card spending.
That’s a bit disappointing, since it’s money you’re spending directly on American. I suspect this is a technological limitation more than anything else, as American really should reward paid upgrades, just as any other spending on airline tickets is rewarded with the airline.
If you’re crediting your flight to a partner frequent flyer program, you can also expect that you’ll be rewarded based on your original class of service.
Are American paid upgrade offers refundable?
If you accept a paid upgrade with American, is that refundable? There are a few things to understand:
- If you cancel or change your trip, you can request a refund for the upgrade cost on aa.com, in the form of a trip credit for the value of your upgrade
- If you paid for bags or Mileage Multiplier, you can request a refund on aa.com for that
- If you paid for Main Cabin Extra or a Preferred seat on a segment you end up upgrading, you’ll automatically be refunded for that to the original form of payment
American paid upgrade offers are getting aggressive
This is purely anecdotal, but it feels to me like recently, paid upgrade offers are getting a bit more attractive in terms of pricing. This won’t be the case across the board, but between my own experiences and reports I’m seeing from others, I think American is intentionally trying to price upgrades lower.
It also seems like the higher your elite status, the better the upgrade pricing is. I get the logic of that — those customers are most likely to receive complimentary upgrades, so the question is how American can get those people to buy-up and guarantee themselves premium seats, rather than gambling on an upgrade.
I’m seeing transcon upgrades for around $200, and I’m also seeing reports of long haul upgrades for around $400. Of course this won’t always be the case, as there are a lot of factors, but in many situations prices seem to be getting better.
Everyone will of course value first and business class upgrades differently. In the past I’ve written how much I value first class, and how much of a premium I’m willing to pay for it.
These paid upgrades are controversial with elites
In fairness to American, the airline has historically been much less aggressive than Delta and United when it comes to selling upgrades. However, it seems like that’s a trend that has slowly been changing over time.
As you’d expect, the whole paid upgrade concept leaves a bad taste in the mouth of many elite members. For example, many people work hard to earn AAdvantage Executive Platinum member, which is supposed to entitle you to space available upgrades starting 100 hours before departure.
Many elite members find that their upgrades aren’t clearing in advance, but instead they’re being offered cheap buy-up deals in the days prior to departure. As you’d expect, upgrades are a zero-sum game, and a particular plane only has so many premium seats.
So rather than offering elite members the space available upgrades that they hope for, airlines are instead doing what they can to get those people to buy upgrades instead. It of course makes one wonder why they should even bother being loyal, since upgrades are one of the main perks of elite status…
Bottom line
American Airlines has a paid upgrade program, whereby select customers are targeted for cash upgrades after booking. The pricing and availability of this varies significantly, but in many cases I’m noticing pricing that’s more attractive than ever before.
While being able to guarantee an upgrade could be a good deal, this is a double-edged sword, as it makes it tougher to score a complimentary upgrade.
What do you make of American’s paid upgrade program? Have you noticed a change in pricing?
When a mileage or systemwide upgrade is attached to a record (the upgrade is waitlisted and hasn't cleared), I don't receive offers to upgrade with cash. Does anyone know if that's the case across the board or if it's coincidentally happening with both records in my profile using these upgrade types?
I just wish AA brought back the upgrade stickers. They should do something similar to the preferred seat coupon as a loyalty choice award. Instead of promising free unlimited upgrades that most elite traveller's won't receive, they should give upgrade instruments that can be applied toward the value of the upgrade. Each 500 mile cert could be worth $50 toward the upgrade fee and take away the complementary upgrades. Elites won't feel their upgrades are...
I just wish AA brought back the upgrade stickers. They should do something similar to the preferred seat coupon as a loyalty choice award. Instead of promising free unlimited upgrades that most elite traveller's won't receive, they should give upgrade instruments that can be applied toward the value of the upgrade. Each 500 mile cert could be worth $50 toward the upgrade fee and take away the complementary upgrades. Elites won't feel their upgrades are sold from under them, and they will receive something tangible for elite status. The upgrades shouldn't cost AA much (forgone cash upgrades) but balances the revenue from mileage sales in the form of loyalty points with direct cash upgrades.
When I am offered attractive upgrade pricing, it usually means they have more than one or two seats open in first.
I find that I can often go into the "change" reservation option through the website and find availability for the same or similar price. Doing a change rather than the paid upgrade gets me the extra loyalty points
The free upgrade concept is a US airlines deal. It is not the case in Latin america , nor is the case in Europe.
A business cannot be profitable by giving away stuff. They will use all resources to create revenue.
My heart goes out to all the elites and those in search of free upgrades…
Heaven forbid non-elites get to sit up the pointy end.
By the way - USAir used to do this exact same thing all the way up to the day the merger took place. Source: I used this method to upgrade for around $40 per flight around 30 times to/from TPA and CLT.
Maybe 2024 is the year that cheap upgrades become the perk... Definitely helps Plat Pro and lower jump the line. How much do you value your upgrade discount!
Had a bad experience with this back at the start of COVID. Had 2 fully refundable tickets in hand, when I received a $50 upgrade offer via Email, which I accepted. COVID closures led to a cancelled trip, and instead of an expected refund, I was given travel credits (expiring in one year.) When I complained, I was told that when I accepted the upgrade offer, the tickets were reissued as new & non-refundable ("...that's...
Had a bad experience with this back at the start of COVID. Had 2 fully refundable tickets in hand, when I received a $50 upgrade offer via Email, which I accepted. COVID closures led to a cancelled trip, and instead of an expected refund, I was given travel credits (expiring in one year.) When I complained, I was told that when I accepted the upgrade offer, the tickets were reissued as new & non-refundable ("...that's our standard process...") WTF?
"...Just because the Email didn't mention it, you should have checked page 17, paragraph 4 of our T & C's..."
The FAA & FTC disagreed, and AA eventually issued a refund, but it has made me very cautious ever since...
Not entirely accurate regarding credit to partner programs. I'm an Alaska elite and when I fly AA, I do a paid upgrade frequently (SFO-JFK). This books into a high fare code (usually J) and it credits as such to Alaska. It makes for some pretty lucrative earnings as an Alaska 100K.
I guess from this and the BA example earlier, the message is if you get one of these cash upgrades, credit it to another OW programme. Not that it would make all that much sense if you had to open a new account to do so, unless you decide to commit to the other airline!
I took a different approach for an upcoming LAS-AUS RT flight -- checked online months after booking and the business class fare had dropped to where it was only slightly higher than my economy fare. Called AA and they changed my ticket to business class for $132 RT, and I was able to use an existing flight credit for $116 of it. $16 to fly business over economy AND I get the additional credit for...
I took a different approach for an upcoming LAS-AUS RT flight -- checked online months after booking and the business class fare had dropped to where it was only slightly higher than my economy fare. Called AA and they changed my ticket to business class for $132 RT, and I was able to use an existing flight credit for $116 of it. $16 to fly business over economy AND I get the additional credit for it? A no brainer!
FWIW, I am only Platinum Pro, but have had surprisingly good luck with comp upgrades on that route.
It's not $16 - it us $132!! Don't ignore the fact you still paid for flight credit.
In the past few days, I've seen a $350 offer for a Y to J upgrade JFK-DEL (for a family member). Needless to say I strongly urged them to jump at it, which they did, and did not regret :).
On my own upcoming BOS-JFK-DEL trip, we originally ticketed in Y from BOS-JFK and J from JFK-DEL. Since buying the ticket, I've seen upgrade offers for domestic F on the BOS-JFK leg ranging from $500(!!)...
In the past few days, I've seen a $350 offer for a Y to J upgrade JFK-DEL (for a family member). Needless to say I strongly urged them to jump at it, which they did, and did not regret :).
On my own upcoming BOS-JFK-DEL trip, we originally ticketed in Y from BOS-JFK and J from JFK-DEL. Since buying the ticket, I've seen upgrade offers for domestic F on the BOS-JFK leg ranging from $500(!!) a couple weeks ago to $50 yesterday, when I pulled the trigger. So the offers are a bit all over the map in my opinion. Apparently, $50 on a 1-hour flight is worth it to me, which I did not know before.
This- only in my case I got offered $350 for an upcoming early Nov JFK to BCN and again $350 for the return leg. Not elite, either; my company paid $740 for the coach roundtrip.
Miss the old days of flying the then-new AA 77Ws and 772s in J from JFK to LHR and occasionally getting upgraded to F (Flagship Suite with the swivel chair) seat 1A; as a CK these were often comped at the gate if unsold, but I was always prompted at check-in the opportunity to upgrade to F for only $499 each way, even then.
Looking back that was quite the deal! But seldom needed to with 8 annual SWUs with my CK membership every year.
I’m seeing a lot of these. I’m flying LAX-DCA in two weeks. I bought the ticket back in June. I’ve seen the upgrade offer price vary from $1110 to $900 to $600 to $900 etc…. Two days ago it dipped to $240 and I bought it.
Don’t book a ticket with American too far out. If One schedule change occurs then that itinerary will no longer receive upgrade offers. Even if your departure time changes by 6 minutes then you will no longer receive upgrades.
In terms of LP earnings American should meet elites somewhere in the middle. How about 2X or 3X LPs per dollar ?
I don't think this is true, at least not 100% of the time. I've received upgrade offers on itineraries that have been subject to multiple schedule changes.
The accountants strike again! It's actually genius as extra profit for them to charge for an upgrade. I (EXP) regularly fly round trip once a month from LAX to DCA. I purchase economy and usually far enough in advance to get emergency exit row which is all I really need. But if I want to work on the plane and need extra room, I watch the upgrade prices because NEVER have I been upgraded given...
The accountants strike again! It's actually genius as extra profit for them to charge for an upgrade. I (EXP) regularly fly round trip once a month from LAX to DCA. I purchase economy and usually far enough in advance to get emergency exit row which is all I really need. But if I want to work on the plane and need extra room, I watch the upgrade prices because NEVER have I been upgraded given the demand on that route. I used to purchase the upgrades when they were ~$500 one way and that was usually the average pricing for 2023. Then in Oct I started seeing those same upgrades go for $1,200 - $1,350. That's twice as much as I paid for the economy ticket - hard pass! Now on a trip in Nov - I'm seeing $200 which I jumped on both ways ($480 after taxes). From a company perspective I purchase an economy ticket and personally I buy the upgrades. It is the only way to truly get upgraded these days with certainty. Good business move for AA but terrible deal for EXPs and other elites given there is zero value in purchasing the upgrades. At least if people are spending hard earned $s on a highly profitable revenue stream for AA, you'd think they would at least give you loyalty points for that upgrade. I mean the cost of that to them might be $5 - $10 max? Anyway, let's see how long this 'upgrade' feature lasts.
Are these paid upgrades on AA ever offered on award tickets (as is the case with DL and UA) or only revenue tickets?
Huh? Why would they do that? I've never been offered a paid upgrade offer on an award ticket in my years flying with AA, or any other airline.
Paid upgrades on award tickets are not that strange. I upgraded to La Premiere for 1K$ from Dubai to Paris on a 25K promo reward J Flyingblue ticket.
@BenjaminGuttery, DL offers paid upgrades on award tickets and lets you pay with miles or dollars. Why not? Revenue is revenue. Oh, and they earn MQMs and MQDs. Hence... as a matter of principle, I won't buy an AA upgrade until the offer LPs. And that's fine.
I missed only my second (or was it first?) upgrade of the year DCA to MCO on Sunday, ending up #1 at the gate. Someone who works...
@BenjaminGuttery, DL offers paid upgrades on award tickets and lets you pay with miles or dollars. Why not? Revenue is revenue. Oh, and they earn MQMs and MQDs. Hence... as a matter of principle, I won't buy an AA upgrade until the offer LPs. And that's fine.
I missed only my second (or was it first?) upgrade of the year DCA to MCO on Sunday, ending up #1 at the gate. Someone who works for me had paid $90. He's gold. He was completely embarrassed, but I was perfectly fine with the exit row aisle and an excuse not to work.
I chase EXP status with my AA Mastercard. I used to get upgrades 100 hours before flight time. On my last half dozen flights, they never cleared until at the gate as they were boarding or slightly before. While I have only once not gotten the upgrade, this seems to be the norm and the 100 hours is total BS. I have seen 8 seats in first still available at 100 hours and still did...
I chase EXP status with my AA Mastercard. I used to get upgrades 100 hours before flight time. On my last half dozen flights, they never cleared until at the gate as they were boarding or slightly before. While I have only once not gotten the upgrade, this seems to be the norm and the 100 hours is total BS. I have seen 8 seats in first still available at 100 hours and still did not get upgraded until at the gate. This looks like it is no longer a perk and the only reason to keep spending on the AA card is to hopefully use the points for international fares, if they do not keep raising the number of points you need.
As an extreme AA Loyalist and a current EXP I have two thoughts:
1: AA really needs to start rewarding AAdvantage members who PAY UP to upgrade with additional LP's AND class of services bonuses. It's absolutely LUDICROUS that paying an airline more money counts for NOTHING.
2: They also REALLY need to add more premium seating to ALL PLANES. A minimum of 2 new full rows of Business Class on 737/A320 and...
As an extreme AA Loyalist and a current EXP I have two thoughts:
1: AA really needs to start rewarding AAdvantage members who PAY UP to upgrade with additional LP's AND class of services bonuses. It's absolutely LUDICROUS that paying an airline more money counts for NOTHING.
2: They also REALLY need to add more premium seating to ALL PLANES. A minimum of 2 new full rows of Business Class on 737/A320 and more on Wide bodies.
Americans are bigger and taller in 2023 and many are willing to pay for some version of more comfort. Also, upgrades are non-existant and AA severely risks hurting their AAdvantage Cash Cow if members start to see no value.
Yes sir, we’ll get right on it. If anymore demands come to mind do be sure to let us know.
The answer to Americans are bigger in 2023 shouldn’t be to increase the size of the seats. It should be for Americans to reduce their size.
Totally depends on the route and price and HOW MANY SEATS ARE LEFT which you can see on Expert flyer. If there are a bunch left I’ll let it ride for a free one. If only a couple buying could be a good deal.
AA elite nothing mean anything. I have done tests and you get the same upgrade offer and price even if you book Basic Economy without any status. Im tired of AA playing these games.
All airlines are doing it. Delta sells a higher percentage of their premium seats than AA
2 years ago I had an upgrade offer to first on YUL-LGA that was cheaper than checking a bag... No-brainer!
I saw an offer for $150 from dallas to dc.. I am rolling the dice and see if my Plat. Status works…. But it’s total BS that AA is doing this.. I should have been already assigned an upgrade.. quite greedy.
I agree that AA has found a reasonable hook to even get Elites to pay. I fly on AA as an Alaska MVP Gold lately, which is nice to get free access to the premium economy seats at booking. Upgrades are ehh...
But like on an upcoming CLT-MCO flight, on a Friday, I just got an offer to upgrade for $65. On that segment that's full of families and usually a full boat? Absolutely!...
I agree that AA has found a reasonable hook to even get Elites to pay. I fly on AA as an Alaska MVP Gold lately, which is nice to get free access to the premium economy seats at booking. Upgrades are ehh...
But like on an upcoming CLT-MCO flight, on a Friday, I just got an offer to upgrade for $65. On that segment that's full of families and usually a full boat? Absolutely! MIA-SAV for $50? Sure, especially when the ticket was only $90 for coach. Yeah, I wish they earned loyalty points, but still a good deal. It reminds me a lot of the AirTran Elite program where Business Class was available if open at start of boarding. But upgrades were very reasonable ($120 for ATL to the west coast, $40-49 for short haul) and Elites bought half of them anyway to get a guaranteed seat. I was always rushing to check in at the 24 hour mark to buy the upgrade.
I definitely agree. I recently got a fantastic deal to upgrade for only $40 to domestic first class on a flight from DCA-MIA. None of the first class seats had been sold, and I got the offer about a week before departure. I was traveling with a family member on a separate reservation, and she was offered the same upgrade for $180. We paid the same amount for our tickets, but I’m OneWorld Sapphire. I...
I definitely agree. I recently got a fantastic deal to upgrade for only $40 to domestic first class on a flight from DCA-MIA. None of the first class seats had been sold, and I got the offer about a week before departure. I was traveling with a family member on a separate reservation, and she was offered the same upgrade for $180. We paid the same amount for our tickets, but I’m OneWorld Sapphire. I credited the flight to BA, and it was counted as J class. I ended up with over 2500 avios, mostly from the upgrade.
As an AA Gold, these upgrades have been my strategy for the last couple years or so to sit in the pointy end of the plane. Oftentimes they do represent significant discounts compared to buying First outright which as someone else mentioned, I believe is the reasoning behind not awarding LPs for that class of service.
For example, I did MIA-JFK on a 777 back in July. I bought a Main Cabin fare for...
As an AA Gold, these upgrades have been my strategy for the last couple years or so to sit in the pointy end of the plane. Oftentimes they do represent significant discounts compared to buying First outright which as someone else mentioned, I believe is the reasoning behind not awarding LPs for that class of service.
For example, I did MIA-JFK on a 777 back in July. I bought a Main Cabin fare for $108 (instead of F for *$720*), immediately refreshed the app, and then the upgrade offer appeared for only $149 which I bought, representing a nearly $500 discount.
I can definitely understand the frustration from the higher elites and know I'm contributing to that problem but you have to credit AA for doing a much better job at selling First.
I've definitely have been taking these upgrades offers when they're reasonable. I get the seat I want, can pre order meals and (increasingly even as an EXP) don't have to show up to the gate at T-45 to wait to be upgraded-when seats are available and I'm at the top of list. The exception might be when I'm in row 11 on the 321ceo.
I suspect another reason AA won't award LPs is that it...
I've definitely have been taking these upgrades offers when they're reasonable. I get the seat I want, can pre order meals and (increasingly even as an EXP) don't have to show up to the gate at T-45 to wait to be upgraded-when seats are available and I'm at the top of list. The exception might be when I'm in row 11 on the 321ceo.
I suspect another reason AA won't award LPs is that it might discourage passengers from buying first outright, usually more expensive than upgrade offers, and instead waiting to see if the offer appears. Even at that I often see only modest differences between coach and first (domestic) when booking.
Even with EXP status, I will pay for a confirmed F seat if the pricing is reasonable (e.g. under $350 for a over 2 hour flight and the F fare is much higher. Don't want to chance it.
I'm a BA Executive Club member and have earned the upgraded fare class (J) Avios and Tier Points for these cash upgrades on AA. I suspect it's because there's a new ticket number associated with the upgrade.
Yeah this happened to me in reverse. I bought an upgrade, IRROPS occured, and I got rebooked onto BA. Ended up earning LP as if I had paid full J
I was recently on an AA itinerary BOS-CLT-LAX-SYD, booked using BA Avios. Booked in Y; was hoping desperately for cash upgrade offers to come along. None did and none were available at counters. I'm Oneworld Emerald.
I bought a Renault Twingo, desperately waiting to be upgraded into a Mercedes Benz. It did not happen…
How terrible that you weren’t upgraded even after being such a loyal Renault customer. You should definitely be all over the internet complaining about being treated this way.
I book a ton of Avios flight on AA, and some not. I dont remember ever getting an AA cash upgrade offer on an Avios flight but I get them all the time if I book on AA cash or even a travel partner like Amex (using the Biz Plat point discount which is technically a cash fare). It seems like the diff is cash fare or not- -im EXP as well.. Would love DP to show not the case so I can hold out hope!
Fools paying for what was once free. If all you elites would stop buying FC seats you'd start getting them free as upgrades again.
@Frigal - your name says it all. Sorry dude I’m buying it and glad to reduce the number of seats people like you may get. Longtime EP but now retired and falling back on lifetime Platinum w 3 million miles. As a Platinum I never get upgraded so jump on any offer to buy a seat at a reasonable price.
BTW what AA (and others) is good business. Maximizing revenue- why give away something people will pay for?
I’ve been surprised to see how these work.
I’m EP and I’ve had times when I buy my ticket separate from a friend on the same flight. That friend, numerous times, has received an upgrade offer while I never get one.
I’ve honestly wondered if they specifically weren’t offering the upgrades to EPs but your article makes it look like maybe not?
I think I'm one of those who doesn't mind the increased opportunity to pay for upgrades at a reasonable price, even at the expense of my elite benefits. The reality is that - like seeking elite status - we all weigh the costs and benefits and make a decision on the tradeoffs vs perceived value. If I am on a two hour flight and am offered a $99 upgrade, but can take the shot at...
I think I'm one of those who doesn't mind the increased opportunity to pay for upgrades at a reasonable price, even at the expense of my elite benefits. The reality is that - like seeking elite status - we all weigh the costs and benefits and make a decision on the tradeoffs vs perceived value. If I am on a two hour flight and am offered a $99 upgrade, but can take the shot at getting it for free, I am still in control of making that choice. The idea that by paying for it I am a "spoiler" by those who DON'T want to pay for it seems a bit weird in capitalist America.
Think there is an app that is looking to do exactly that. They are looking to offer an auction right before boarding to get people to bid for upgrade. Think could be interesting but looks like its at very early stage... tryjumpseat.com is the one I'm looking at.