In January 2024, American Airlines announced some positive changes to the AAdvantage program. The change that I’m most excited about has just been implemented.
American cash upgrades are now more rewarding
American Airlines is aggressive about selling upgrades for cash. Once you ticket a reservation, it’s common to see an offer whereby you can pay cash to upgrade to first or business class. The value of this can vary significantly, and the upgrade cost will change over time, based on a variety of factors.
Up until now, the major catch has been that these upgrade offers haven’t been eligible to earn AAdvantage miles or Loyalty Points. That has finally changed — as of August 14, 2024, cash upgrades on American are eligible to earn miles and Loyalty Points.
You earn rewards at exactly the same rate that you do directly for your flights. That means for cash upgrades, you earn the following number of AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent:
- AAdvantage non-elite members earn 5x AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent
- AAdvantage Gold status earn 7x AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent
- AAdvantage Platinum status earn 8x AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent
- AAdvantage Platinum Pro status earn 9x AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent
- AAdvantage Executive Platinum status earn 11x AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent
In the interest of being thorough, I should mention that the cash co-pay for AAdvantage mileage upgrades isn’t eligible for earning miles or Loyalty Points. This is specifically for upgrades exclusively with cash.
This AAdvantage change is long overdue
I’m very happy to see that American Airlines is finally rewarding cash upgrades the same way as tickets. Major US airlines have done a much better job monetizing premium cabins in recent years, as they try to decrease the percentage of passengers sitting in first class via complimentary upgrades.
Nowadays airline business models are so dependent on ancillaries and upsell opportunities, so airlines generally want to incentivize that kind of behavior. This is an area where American was behind the curve. For example, with Delta SkyMiles, paid upgrades have long earned Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQDs), while with United MileagePlus, paid upgrades have also long earned Premier Qualifying Points (PQPs).
With American, it’s my understanding that this was only implemented now due to a technology limitation, rather than it otherwise being a deliberate policy.
For those of us who value sitting in first class at a reasonable cost, this change is positive. It makes it easier to buy upgrades while still getting credit toward requalifying for elite status. For that matter, the bonus miles can help a bit with the math on upgrades. For example, I value AAdvantage miles at 1.5 cents each, so to me, this is like a 7.5-16.5% incremental return on upgrades.
I imagine that this will make cash upgrades even more popular for many AAdvantage members, and in turn, could make upgrades more difficult as well.
Bottom line
American Airlines is now awarding AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points for cash upgrades that you purchase after booking. These upgrades can often represent a good deal, so I’m happy to see this change.
For those who frequently take advantage of cash upgrades, this can make a material change in terms of elite qualification and mileage accrual. Meanwhile for others, it might make upgrade odds even worse.
What do you make of American now rewarding cash upgrades?
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