Questions and Answers

Have a travel related question? Post it here, and I’ll do my best to answer it as quickly as possible.

While anyone can comment on regular blog post, registration is required in order to post a question in this space. Creating your account is free, and you'll be able to see when your question is answered, as well as like comments from other users. And of course, you'll earn status points for offering helpful answers!

This space is intended to be more of a community as well, so please jump in and share tips!

Filter by:

Booking Domestic Connecting (Positioning) Flights Close in to Departure

Can you help?
0

cards

Can you help?
0

JFK –> LCA emirates

Can you help?
0

Miles and More problem

Can you help?
0

SIN-TYO with UA miles?

Can you help?
0

Struggle With Turkish Airlines Schedule Change

Can you help?
0

Partner airline PlusPoint Upgrade Site Down?

Can you help?
0

PIT to BER UA F/J redemption?

Can you help?
0

Expiring Plus Points

Can you help?
0

Booking New JAL A350 with AA miles

Can you help?
0

Ask a Question

Everyone can read and comment, but you must login to post a new comment.

Answers (3)

AA – upgrade Econ to First w/ miles

AA – upgrade Econ to First w/ miles

  1. Debo Gold

    Hi everyone,

    Question on domestic travel with American and upgrading with miles.

    Economy fare is relatively inexpensive (for this route at least) and I’ve read AA allows upgrades for Econ to First (in 2 cabin plane) for 15K miles and $75.

    I’ve read that as long as there is First available for purchase in the ‘A’ booking code, then I’ll be able to upgrade my econ fare.

    Can anyone confirm?

    Thanks.

  2. MidSouthSkier Community Ambassador

    [USER=390]@Debo[/USER] it depends on the fare class of your paid ticket:

    [LIST]
    [*]Discount Economy with published fares booked in H,K,M,L,W,V,G,Q,N,O,S and Military or Government fares booked in Y or B

    [*]Full-Fare Economy with published fares booked in Y or B

    [*]Discount Business with published fares booked in I

    [*]Full-Fare Business with published fares booked in J, D or R
    [/LIST]

    That said, upgrading is *usually* not a great use of miles on domestic flights. Lucky values AA miles at 1.8 cents each (15K = $270) so balance that plus the $75 against the cost of just buying a seat in F. With the upgraded seat you’ll only earn miles for an economy flight but if you buy an F seat you get the bonus miles that come with buying a premium cabin ticket.

  3. Debo Gold

    [QUOTE=”MidSouth Skier, post: 11450, member: 184″][USER=390]@Debo[/USER] it depends on the fare class of your paid ticket:

    [LIST]
    [*]Discount Economy with published fares booked in H,K,M,L,W,V,G,Q,N,O,S and Military or Government fares booked in Y or B

    [*]Full-Fare Economy with published fares booked in Y or B

    [*]Discount Business with published fares booked in I

    [*]Full-Fare Business with published fares booked in J, D or R
    [/LIST]

    That said, upgrading is *usually* not a great use of miles on domestic flights. Lucky values AA miles at 1.8 cents each (15K = $270) so balance that plus the $75 against the cost of just buying a seat in F. With the upgraded seat you’ll only earn miles for an economy flight but if you buy an F seat you get the bonus miles that come with buying a premium cabin ticket.[/QUOTE]

    Thanks [USER=184]@MidSouth Skier[/USER] … yeah the difference in fare (~$600) is just at the point where I think it makes sense to use miles to upgrade. I have plenty of AA miles anyway and might not actually be able to book an aspirational award before the devaluation in March… so I figured this would be a good use of a tiny chunk of miles at least!

Sign in to help answer questions.