Mileage upgrades from economy are frequently the best way to get Business Class when:
- Fares are high
- You do not have a lot miles
- You don’t have much flexibility
- You need to earn elite qualifying credit
- Someone else is paying for your ticket.
[aside headline="Primary Game-Changing Benefit" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]The odds of getting a free Business Class award ticket on American are not the same as an upgrade award because American releases many more Business Class upgrade awards than it does free awards. In other words, for every one free-award-ticket available on a given date in a month, there are up to 21 dates with upgrades available during the same month. [/aside]
Upgrade awards are what the airline’s best and highest paying customers want when they are pressed to maintain elite status.
Consider Using Mileage Upgrades If You Are:
An Elite Status Seeker: Someone who needs to earn elite credit. If you are an American elite, Upgrade Awards are the only way to go because free awards do not earn elite credit.
A Business Traveler: When company or clients are paying for the base fare in economy, use American miles to upgrade.
Short on Miles: Costing roughly half the miles of a free award, upgrades stretch your mileage bank. The economy ticket also earns miles, lessening the mileage cost of the upgrade.
Better Odds: Mileage upgrades offer more access to non-stops because American offers more upgrade inventory. American Partner Awards theoretically open up space with other airlines, but the space is much more tightly controlled than AA’s own upgrades.
High-Fare Routes: Such as most flights to Asia, Australia, and even many to Europe.
Short Notice Travel: Dallas-Hong Kong is often sky-high in Business Class for a no-advance purchase ticket ($7,000+). The short-notice economy fare is much less, about $1,900. So the savings and return-on-miles are even greater when booking an upgrade for short-notice travel.
No Minimum-Stay Requirement: Los Angeles-Frankfurt’s lowest Business Class fare is $5,379 and requires a minimum-stay of 10 days. Stay even a day less and the price increases to $9,639. The economy ticket with no minimum-stay is only $3,434, so the savings is even greater when using miles for an upgrade.
Save Up to 66% When Using Miles for an Upgrade on International Travel
Sample Savings Using American Miles for an Upgrade to Business Class
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[aside headline="Why Even Collect American Miles for Free Tickets?" alignment="aligncenter" width="big" headline_size="default"]
FCF thinks you shouldn't. You should invest in airline currencies with which you can get American flights for fewer miles than American requires (on Alaska, British Airways, and Japan Airlines, among others). In other words, an American credit card makes little sense.
See these previously published reports for more.