Anyone can upgrade. That’s right, there are lots of ways to do it.
Let’s first define what an upgrade is, to FCF anyway…
A Rose By Any Other Name
Upgrade (noun): A tangible mechanism which enables the quality of a situation to improve; could be status in a loyalty program, a reward, or something as simple as a piece of intel you weren’t otherwise aware of.
The quality of a situation.
Knowing that a certain route has lie-flat seats, while another, which costs the same, doesn’t—that’s improving the quality of a situation. That’s an upgrade.
Discovering a way to fly to London in Business Class for just 10,000 miles more than coach, when the cost is normally much higher—that’s improving the quality of a situation. That’s a low-cost upgrade.
Adding a second destination to lower your airfare by 50%—that’s improving the quality of a situation. That’s a trip upgrade.
FEEL-GOOD UPGRADES
Anyone can upgrade the quality of their seats—for no additional cost—if they know the domestic routes or flights with seats that offer a much better experience: at last count, 138 ways.
Explain it: Airlines invest much more in the quality of seats on long-haul, international routes, usually operated with wide-body aircraft, because fares are often $5,000 to $15,000, if not $30,000—so they get a return on investment there. For various reasons, these aircraft show up in airline schedules on domestic flights from time to time, even though there’s little revenue in domestic First these days. If you know the routes using these aircraft, you can upgrade your seat quality for no extra cost.
Prove it: If you’re flying from Los Angeles to Honolulu on United, the UA1158 flight has a B777-200—with a lie-flat Business Class seat—while the UA1431 flight offers a meagre B757 with a standard domestic premium seat.
It’s a HUGE difference, yet the cost is the same. At the same time, use this strategy if you’re connecting onward. For example, from most cities in the U.S. you must make a connection to reach Maui, so why not book United via Chicago instead of via Los Angeles or San Francisco to get the international Business Class seat? That’s a free in-class upgrade.
Here are flights where anyone can upgrade:
- 82 flights on American (10 flights to/from Hawaii, 14 flights to/from the Caribbean, 58 domestic flights)
- 24 flights on Delta (16 domestic flights, 8 flights to/from Hawaii)
- 32 flights on United (2 flights to/from the Caribbean, 30 flights to/from Hawaii)
Anyone can upgrade if they buy miles/points strategically—especially when they’re on sale—instead of paying big fare differences between one class of service and another. This works with dozens of airlines on 700+ flights.
Explain it: Airlines have gone ape selling everything but the kitchen sink, including priority boarding, checked bags, exit-row seating—and even their loyalty program miles. If you buy miles when they’re on sale, you can easily fly First Class for the price of Business or for even much less.
Prove it: The published First Class fare on Cathay Pacific for New York-Hong Kong runs $30,273. However, you could have bought American miles through a recent sale that offered miles as low as 1.72¢ each, and redeem them on Cathay Pacific, its Asian partner, to ultimately pay $4,380 round-trip (including $64 in taxes), a savings of $25,893 (85%).
Considering Business Class typically runs $7,803, you can get two First Class tickets for just $950 more than the cost of one Business Class ticket. If you were to call this deal almost a 2-for-1—plus a free upgrade—you’d be right.
A few recent deals based on buying miles:
Countless flights with American Airlines and partners including British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, and Qantas.
Countless flights with Alaska Airlines partner opportunities including Air France, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, and Emirates.
Countless flights with United and partner opportunities including Air Canada, All Nippon, and Singapore.
Countless flights with LifeMiles and partners including All Nippon, Asiana, Lufthansa, and Singapore.
Countless flights with Amex Membership Rewards partners including Air Canada, All Nippon, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, and Virgin Atlantic
Countless flights with Starwood partners including American, All Nippon, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Etihad, Singapore, and Qantas.
Dive Deeper: FCF’s Beginner’s Guide to Buying Miles Strategically to save 90%+. When to buy miles/points instead of purchasing a normal published fare.
Anyone can upgrade if they choose destinations with extraordinarily low premium fares, or as the airlines call them, tactical fares.
Explain it: Pricing of airfares can be a mystery. Often, it’s simply demand, such as a heavy business-travel route versus a light-demand leisure route. Sometimes it’s seasonality. Or sometimes it’s based on projected flight loads or because airlines just want to poach competitors’ customers by slashing fares in those hub markets.
Knowing destinations that are priced low in First or Business Class can net you a much more luxurious vacation—one that starts when you board the plane.
Prove it: Los Angeles to Honolulu in Business Class often costs $1,000+ round-trip, or $400 to $700 in coach. But if you choose a vacation destination like Los Cabos, Mexico, or San Jose, Costa Rica, you can often buy Business Class for $450 to $700 round-trip—so, Business Class might only be $50 to $100 more than coach, or virtually a 2-for-1. That’s a tropical upgrade.
While these fares come and go at the airline’s whim—you can keep up with FCF’s latest finds here and our latest search tool in beta mode here. Six examples of recent destinations with extraordinarily low premium fares…
- 10 low fares to Asia
- 7 hidden fares to South America
- 5 hidden fares to South Africa
- 10 hidden fares to India and the Maldives
- 9 Caribbean Business Class fares that cost what coach does to Hawaii
- 9 Mexico Business Class fares that cost what coach does to Hawaii
Dive Deeper: If you can be an opportunity traveler, the world opens up like an oyster. An insider’s look at major airlines’ tactical fares.
Anyone can upgrade—very cheaply and sometimes free—if they collect points in the most lucrative programs that net Business Class for almost the same price as coach, or First Class for the same price or less than Business.
Explain it: If you earn points with a multi-currency credit card, like in American Express’ Membership Rewards program, and book via a partner airline that charges a lot fewer miles, as opposed to earning miles via traditional airline co-branded credit cards, you can get free and low-cost upgrades.
Prove it: When you earn miles with a United credit card to book flights to Southern South America, it costs 60,000 miles for coach. But you can use an American Express earning card that nets points transferable to United’s partner Asiana Airlines and pay 70,000 miles for Business Class for the same United flight—only 10,000 more miles.
Or, through the Amex Membership Rewards program, you can transfer 88,000 points to Star Alliance member All Nippon and book a ticket on Lufthansa to Europe in Business Class, instead of using United miles to book Lufthansa in coach for 70,000 miles—meaning you fly the Lufthansa flight in Business Class for only 18,000 more miles. That’s a low-cost upgrade.
Also, forget about being in bondage to American, Delta, and United, and earn points with their partners and you can fly the big three U.S. airlines for much less.
Here are 400+ examples of ways you can fly Business and First for the same cost as, or not much more than, coach or Business:
Business Class for as little as 3,000 more miles than coach for travel to Europe, on 14+ Flights
Get Business Class to Europe on Delta for only 20,000 more miles than coach, on 150+ Flights
Get Business Class to South America on American for only 5,000 more miles than coach, on 5+ Flights
Anyone can upgrade—for free or less—if they tack on a side trip to high-cost Transcontinental U.S. routes.
Explain it: Sometimes you can get two destinations for the price of one with stopover rules, the deep weeds of the airline business. The key is to find a low-fare route that allows a free stopover. On the transcontinental route, if you’re flying less than 14 days out you might as well get a free side trip.
Prove it: American’s New York-Los Angeles round-trip Business Class fare runs $2,877+ on short notice, while New York-San Jose del Cabo runs just $1,423 and allows a stop in New York (which would be your transcon flight JFK-LAX). So, you can do business in Los Angeles, vacation for a few days in San Jose del Cabo, and then fly home. That’s massive savings and a trip upgrade!
Here are a few more examples:
Outflanking Sky-High Transcon Short-Notice and Saturday-Night-Stay Fares
The Scenic Route: How to Get Europe Free When Flying to Asia—Or Asia Free When Flying to Europe
How to utilize a strategy to get three destinations for “half the price of one.”
Anyone can upgrade short-haul (domestic or international) flights—if they use airline mileage programs that charge by distance.
Explain it: Award charts come in two forms: zone and flight-distance. The former divides the world into regions (the 48 contiguous states and Canada is one zone, for example), and every destination within that region costs the same number of miles. A flight-distance chart simply charges fares based on the distance flown. Opportunity knocks when one airline’s alliance partner uses a zone chart and another partner uses a flight-distance chart because the two can be played against each other.
Prove it: Fly American on the Miami-Aruba route, for example, and you could pay 50,000 miles in Business Class or 30,000 miles in coach with American Airlines miles (a zone-chart program). Or, use British Airways miles (easy to get with Amex Rewards, Chase, and Starwood/Marriott points transfers) because that airline utilizes a flight-distance chart program, and pay only 30,000 miles round-trip in Business Class for flights on its partner American. That’s 20,000 (40%) fewer miles than American charges in Business Class or a free upgrade from coach.
Dive Deeper:
Get Business Class to Canada on American—for Less Than the Price of Coach (or Just a Bit More)
Domestic U.S. Steal: Get Business Class on American Airlines for 20,000 fewer miles
Anyone can upgrade if they pick routes with unusually high availability of low-cost mileage awards instead of locking into high-cost dates and/or destinations.
Explain it: Fly the exact date/airline/route that you want and 99 times out of 100, airlines will give you inflated “anytime award” pricing. Book when seats are available at low-cost mileage levels and fly Business Class for the price of coach or First Class for the price of Business or less.
Prove it: Delta usually charges 350,000 miles for an anytime award to Europe in Business Class and up to 134,000 miles in coach. Book when seats are available at low-cost mileage levels, such as 140,000 miles to fly Business Class, which is little more than the price of coach.
To South America, United typically charges 310,000 miles for an anytime/everyday award in Business Class and 140,000 in coach. Buy when seats are available at low-cost mileage levels, such as 120,000 miles to fly Business Class, for less than the price of coach.
Most people see these rates and give up. On the search at hand, and many give up on ever being able to spend their miles.
If this is you or someone you know, be encouraged with 247+ months offering ready-baked / upgraded trips on routes with low-cost mileage rates we’ve covered over the last few months.
A Few Bonus Upgrades
So there you have it: 1,001+ “other” ways to upgrade. Of the countless more ways, here are a few of Mr. Upgrade’s favorites:
Cash Deal:
FCF’s Surefire Way to Outfox Delta and its SkyTeam Partners to Europe and South America
Miles Deals:
Fly around the world for 55,000 fewer miles than Delta and others charges to Asia in Business Class
