FirstClassFlyer

You can’t use miles for free tickets because there are barely any around, and we have you covered with the best published airfares. So what about mileage upgrades?

While the lockdown initially created harvest time for free award travelers — see our reports here, here and here — it has now largely dried up, as you can sadly see here.

“So what!” American and United elites say because no elite credit can be earned on non-paid fares anyway. Then isn’t it time to look at upgrade opportunities, instead? Delta travelers are left out of these juicy upgrade options due to inflated coach fares they face in order to have the “privilege” of upgrading with their miles. That makes it pointless to do because you end up not saving anything.

But, the question remains, what’s upgrade availability like with American and United? Before the lockdown (you remember those days, right?) American and United were notoriously stingy with actual availability.

So, most elites would just get on the waitlist — and sweat bullets — waiting to get that upgrade to process. And usually wind up in coach (sweating even more bullets) because the waitlist for those upgrades generally exceeded the number of seats available. That is, after their preferred airline sold those Business Class seats at f lash-sale pricing. Sheesh.

So What’s an Elite to Do?

It seems like every week there is an article in a major publication on, “What’s the Best Time to Book a Flight?” You know the story: Fridays, Mondays, X days before a flight’s departure, the first day of the month, last day of the tax-year quarter’s end, when a black dog howls after midnight, et al. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

No!

The best time to book flights is when fares are relatively very low. C’mon! So now you know something very few do, in practice, anyway. And, you’re about to know something even fewer do:

The time to book your favorite ticket type is now, Mr. or Ms. Elite.

Yeah, I told many of you to book free awards several times earlier this year, and many of you did. Thank goodness for that. And there are still some deals to be had, but they’ve dried up compared to before.

Book Now, Decide Later

The two arguments I hear most often: 1) “I’m not going to fly until there is a vaccine,” and 2) “I’d never take a vaccine for something I had a 99% chance of surviving.” Take your pick, both are fine with me.

But neither one should stop you from booking now and enjoying the many pleasures of having something to look forward to. I’m not talking about looking forward to elite credit. Rather, I’m talking about booking a trip for that special event, anniversary, sporting event, a big birthday, or a school reunion, now. As we’ve reported before, research shows that people who have a trip booked are happier than those who don’t. And why wouldn’t they?

When Are Elites Happiest?

I’ve pretty much given this one away:

When they have a trip booked
+
it’s on a confirmed mileage upgrade!

I don’t mind if you saw that one coming.

Here’s the big takeaway that my analysts have spotted recently, which is a trend that will be gone before long.

American Airlines Unprecedented
Mileage Upgrade Availability

American Airlines first (they start with an “A”), United up next. And yes, I do love words that start with “U.”

American Upgrade Headlines:

Upgrades are wide open from many U.S. cities to London through July 2021 with the exception of Phoenix, which has both directions in December and January only, and Charlotte, which still has plenty of availability through May for four travelers in both directions.
Upgrades to Paris for four travelers both directions from New York, December through May, from Miami in April, and from Dallas in December.
Upgrades to Rome for four travelers both directions from New York and Chicago in April.
For those traveling from Philadelphia, the best upgrade option is to London, as availability is slim to none to Manchester, Paris, Rome, and Venice. Availability is also scarce from New York to Milan.
See our cheat sheet below for details.

AAdvantage Elites, Here’s the Drill:

Upgrades from the U.S. to Europe cost 50,000 miles + $700 round-trip.
Upgrades can be used one-way at half the miles plus a surcharge; not a bad play if you’re on a budget. You can upgrade the overnight flight and fly Premium Economy on the day flight home.

United Airlines Unprecedented
Mileage Upgrade Availability

There are no more sweating bullets for MileagePlus opportunists (at least for now), as our research shows:

MileagePlus Upgrade Headlines:

Upgrades are wide open from many U.S. cities including Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, and Washington, DC, to London through July 2021 with the exception of San Francisco, which still has lots of availability through April for four travelers in both directions.
If traveling from the West Coast, opt for San Francisco to London, which has much more availability than San Francisco to Paris through April.
Newark and Washington, DC, to Paris have plenty of availability for four travelers through May 2021.
Newark to Rome has minimal availability outbound, so think about Milan instead, which has heaps of availability for four travelers through July 2021.
A Newark-to-Venice-and-Naples service begins May 27, 2021, but no upgrade seats have been found from May through July.
See our cheat sheet below for details.

MileagePlus Elites Drill Down:

Upgrades from the U.S. to Europe go for 20,000 miles + $550 each way with W/S/T/L/G/K fares; $475 each way with V fares; $425 each way with H/Q fares; and $300 each way with M/E/U fares.
Upgrades can be used one-way at half the miles plus the surcharge. Again, it’s a reasonable budgeting idea – upgrading the overnight flight and flying Premium Economy on the day flight home.

American Airlines Economy to Business Class Upgrade Availability

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United Economy to Business Class Upgrade Availability

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Relish Related Readings

The Mixed-Cabin Seesaw Strategy: Business Class One Way to Europe, Premium Economy the Other

Ten Reasons Why I’m the Biggest Fan of Mileage Upgrade Awards—and Why You Should Be Too

Bargain Basement. How to Choose Between a Flash Low-Cash Fare and a Discount Mileage Deal?

Troubleshooting Lucrative United Upgrade Opportunities with Connecting Flights

Don’t See Your Origin and/or Destination in an FCF Headline? This Report Was Made For You.

[["Route","Outbound","#colspan#","#colspan#","Return","#colspan#","#colspan#"],["#rowspan#","4 to 8 Days Per Month","9 to 12 Days Per Month","13+ Days Per Month","4 to 8 Days Per Month","9 to 12 Days Per Month","13+ Days Per Month"],["Miami to London","","April, May<\/span>","Dec. to March, June, July<\/span>","","May, June<\/span>","Dec. to April, July<\/span>"],["Los Angles to London","","Feb.<\/span>","Dec., Jan., March to July<\/span>","","","Dec. to July<\/span>"],["Charlotte to London","","Dec., Feb.<\/span>","Jan., March to May<\/span>","","April<\/span>","Dec. to March, May<\/span>"],["New York to Milan","April,<\/span> May, June, July<\/span>","","","May, June,<\/span> July<\/span>","","April<\/span>"],["New York to Paris","March, May,<\/span> June","Feb.<\/span>","Dec., Jan., April<\/span>","May<\/span>","Feb.<\/span>","Dec., Jan., March, April<\/span>"],["New York to London","","","Dec. to July<\/span>","","","Dec. to July<\/span>"],["New York to Rome","May<\/span>","","April<\/span>","May<\/span>","","April<\/span>"],["Dallas to Paris","Feb.<\/span>","Dec.<\/span>","","Jan.,<\/span> Feb.","Dec.<\/span>",""],["Dallas to London","","","Dec. to July<\/span>","July<\/span>","","Dec. to June<\/span>"],["Dallas to Rome","","","April<\/span>","April<\/span>","",""],["Raleigh to London","","Feb.<\/span>","Dec., Jan., March, <\/span>April to June<\/span>","","Feb.<\/span>","Dec., Jan., March, <\/span>April to June<\/span>"],["Phoenix to London","Feb., March,<\/span> April to June","","Dec., Jan.<\/span>","May<\/span>","April<\/span>","Dec. to March, <\/span>June<\/span>"],["Philadelphia to Manchester","April, May,<\/span> June<\/span>","July<\/span>","","May<\/span>","","April, June, July<\/span>"],["Philadelphia to Venice","June","","","","",""],["Philadelphia to Paris","","","","","","April<\/span>"],["Philadelphia to London","Feb.<\/span>","","Dec., Jan., March to July<\/span>","","Feb.,<\/span>","Dec., Jan.,<\/span> March, April,<\/span> May,<\/span> June, July<\/span>"],["Philadelphia to Rome","","","","June","","April<\/span>"],["Chicago to London","","","Dec. to July<\/span>","","","Dec. to March,<\/span> April,<\/span> May,<\/span> June, July<\/span>"],["Chicago to Rome","","","April<\/span>","","April<\/span>",""],["Miami to Paris","","","April<\/span>","","","April<\/span>"]]

Months in black at least one seat available; in blue at least two seats; in green at least four seats.

[["Route","Outbound","#colspan#","#colspan#","Return","#colspan#","#colspan#"],["#rowspan#","4 to 8 Days Per Month","9 to 12 Days Per Month","13+ Days Per Month","4 to 8 Days Per Month","9 to 12 Days Per Month","13+ Days Per Month"],["Newark to Rome","Dec. to Feb.<\/span>","","","May, Aug.<\/span>","","Nov. to April<\/span>"],["Newark to Milan","","May, June, Aug.<\/span>","Nov. to April, July<\/span>","","June,<\/span> July<\/span>","Nov. to May, Aug.<\/span>"],["Washington, DC to Paris","June, Aug.<\/span>","May<\/span>","Nov. to April, July<\/span>","July, Aug.<\/span>","Nov.<\/span>","Dec. to June.<\/span>"],["San Francisco to Paris","Nov., March to June, Aug.<\/span>","Dec. to Feb.,<\/span> March,<\/span> May, July<\/span>","","Dec. to Feb.,<\/span> March,<\/span> April, May<\/span>","May","June<\/span>"],["Newark to Paris","June to Aug.<\/span>","July<\/span>","Nov. to May<\/span>","July, <\/span>Aug.<\/span.","","Nov. to June<\/span>"],["Chicago to Paris","Dec., Feb. to May, July<\/span>","Dec., Jan.,<\/span> Feb., April<\/span>","","July,<\/span> Aug.<\/span>","Jan., May,<\/span> June<\/span>","Nov., Dec.,<\/span> Jan.,<\/span> Feb. to April<\/span>"],["Denver to London","Nov. to May, July<\/span>","June<\/span>","","","July<\/span>","Nov. to June, July<\/span>"],["Newark to London","","Aug.<\/span>","Nov. to July<\/span>","","","Nov. to Aug.<\/span>"],["Houston to London","Aug.<\/span>","","Nov. to July<\/span>","","July<\/span>","Nov. to July<\/span>"],["Los Angles to London","","","Nov. to July<\/span>","Aug.<\/span>","Nov., Jan., June, July<\/span>","Dec., Feb. to May<\/span>"],["Washington, DC to London","Aug.<\/span>","","Nov. to July<\/span>","Aug.<\/span>","","Nov. to July<\/span>"],["San Francisco to London","May, July<\/span>","","Nov. to April<\/span>","June, July<\/span>","","Nov. to May<\/span>"]]

Calling All American and United Elites Thinking About Europe in 2021