Getting Around High Upgrade Fares to Asia

October 2009
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A Way to Snare First Class Upgrades for Up to 84% Of

First Class tickets to Asia can easily cost more than $20,000. When prices are that high, it’s time to use miles for an upgrade. The problem with upgrading from Business Class to First is that most airlines charge a lot for the privilege: $6,500 to $10,000. To find a way around this obstacle, we looked at the top nine airlines and their mileage programs to Asia.

Only three programs offer savings that make First Class affordable: All Nippon’s ANA Mileage Club, American Airlines via Asia Miles, and Japan Airlines’ Mileage Bank.

ANA Mileage Club: This program, based on flight-distance, allows upgrades from J, C, D, and Z fares. Business Class fares to many Asian destinations start at $3,500 from Los Angeles and $4,900 from New York. Don’t have miles in ANA’s program? Just transfer them from Amex Rewards or Starwood. Reminder: Amex lets you buy up to 500,000 points annually.

Asia Miles: American is a partner of Cathay Pacific, meaning you can use miles in this program to upgrade an American flight, even on the lowest Business Class fare (code I); something you can’t do through AAdvantage (AA requires that you purchase a D fare, which can be more than twice the cost). Points can be transferred from Starwood.

JAL Mileage Bank: Miles needed for an upgrade to First Class range from 80,000-110,000 miles. Upgrades are allowed from J, C, and D fares. Points can be transferred from Starwood.

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[["<strong>Route<\/strong>","<strong>Airline<\/strong>","<strong>Business Class Fare<\/strong>","<strong>First Class Fare<\/strong>","<strong>Miles Needed<\/strong>","<strong>Savings<\/strong>"],["Chicago - Tokyo","All Nippon","$3,500 ","$20,893 ","90,000","$17,393 \/ 83%"],["Los Angeles - Bangkok","Japan Airlines","$3,890 ","$11,000 ","110,000","$7,110 \/ 65%"],["Los Angeles - Hong Kong","All Nippon","$3,890 ","$19,022 ","80,000","$15,132 \/ 80%"],["Los Angeles - Taipei","American","$3,350 ","$17,709 ","85,000","$14,359 \/ 81%"],["New York - Hong Kong","Japan Airlines","$4,950 ","$15,740 ","90,000","$10,790 \/ 69%"],["New York - Osaka","All Nippon","$3,800 ","$22,032 ","130,000","$18,232 \/ 83%"],["New York - Tokyo","American","$3,240 ","$13,911 ","85,000","$10,671 \/ 77%"]]
<small><em> Fares do not include taxes.</em></small>