Which of the three different loyalty program options offers the best value on American and British Airways?
Mileage upgrades—especially from special EasyUp Business Class fares—are frequently the best way to get to Europe in First Class. That’s because fares on many routes are very high, which make the potential savings and return-on-miles high.
[aside headline="Upgrade Award Availability Award" alignment="alignright" width="default" headline_size="default"]“Availability” has not been included in the grades, as it is too difficult to measure accurately. That said, it is very important to note that American offers significantly more upgrade award seats than free award seats. In other words, if you are searching online for American free seat availability and don’t find it, don’t do like most people and give up. Call AA directly and ask about the availability of using miles to upgrade—as it can be 1,000% better. British Airways’ availability for free seats and upgrades is the same. (See Feb. 2014 report for more on this topic.)[/aside]
How Anyone Can Get These Upgrade Currencies Fast and Easy
American is a credit-card transfer partner with Starwood. The airline also allows AA members to purchase 80,000 miles annually at a cost of 2.9¢ per mile (about 2.3¢ when on sale).
British Airways is a credit-card transfer partner with Amex Rewards, Chase Rewards, and Starwood. You can purchase 27,000 miles directly from the airline annually at 2.8¢ each.
Cathay Pacific is a points transfer partner with Amex Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Starwood. The airline will let you purchase up to 30% of the miles needed for an award at a cost of 3¢ each.
Calculating the Grades
The grades are based on three objective criteria, not my personal preferences. FCF has no stake in recommending one mileage program over another. Each criterion accounts for 33% of the grade, to keep it simple. Note that, in the past, we had a fourth criterion, Ease of Getting the Miles; but now we’re grading airlines on this separately. (FCF’s first report on that topic is coming soon.)
- Lowest Upgradeable Fares: One of the main reasons to use miles for an upgrade is to spend less cash. Here, FCF compared each airline’s lowest upgradeable Business Class fare including the co-pay (which only American charges), on many representative routes that are good proxies for each airline’s route network.
- Number of Miles Needed: Ranking based on least number of miles charged.
- Savings: An important point considering that, on some airlines, using an upgrade award offers very little savings. So why bother?
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This is the latest in our series that ranks loyalty program mileage upgrade opportunities.
We focused on upgrades from Economy to Business Class on U.S. carriers to Europe in August, and Asia in September, and oneworld carriers to Asia in October. On deck is coverage to South America and the South Pacific, as well as intra-alliance and international airline loyalty program upgrades from Business to First Class. Stay tuned.
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Note that this ranking doesn’t indicate if an upgrade yields the best return on miles; in general, upgrades are superior in this regard to free awards. Free awards are also usually useless for die-hard elite status travelers.
American Airlines / AAdvantage: B-
AA got good marks for allowing upgrades on deeply discounted Business Class fares. Even with the $550 surcharge each way, “I” fares can still be a good deal, especially when AA offers an EasyUp fare on the route. It also excels in miles required (only 25,000 each way). But it received a C+ in the savings category because its First Class fares can often be heavily discounted that the savings on many routes are very low. The best time to upgrade on AA is when the route offers a Business Class EasyUp fare, and the First Class fare is high.
British Airways / Executive Club: A
BA’s grade stems from the fact that upgradeable Business Class fares are relatively low— especially when BA joins other airlines in offering EasyUp fares. The airline doesn’t charge a co-pay, and the miles required are lower—20,000 to 25,000 each way from the U.S. to London, for example. Plus, the savings often amount to more than 50% because BA’s First Class fares are high.
Cathay Pacific / Asia Miles: B
The airline is an Amex points transfer partner and allows upgrades to Europe on partner airlines AA and BA; NYC-London flying AA and using Cathay miles requires 30,000 each way, which is 5,000 more miles each way than when using AA miles; but Cathay does not charge a co-pay. (AA charges $550 each way.) Upgrades are allowed on “I” fares, same as AA. Bottom line: Less cash out of pocket ($1,100), but more miles spent (10,000 to 35,000).
Rating Oneworld Loyalty Program Upgrades From Business to First Class¹
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