Where to place your bet for an upgrade from the lowest economy fare to Business Class.
The end of summer is quickly approaching, which means that business travel is going to take off, and Business Class fare promotions will dry up. Fares are going up, too.
Which means it’s time to rank U.S. carriers (American, Delta, United, and US Airways) mileage upgrade programs: Based on the number of miles and the amount of cash required to upgrade from the lowest permitted economy fare to Business Class.
[aside headline="Comparing Upgrade Availability on the Top Two Rated Programs: American and United" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]Our research data shows that these carriers are often the best mileage-upgrade bet to Europe based on FCF’s four criteria. What puts American ahead of United is upgrade inventory. We checked three routes over a six-month period and found that American often had 30% more upgrade space than United.[/aside]
Note that this ranking doesn’t tell if a particular upgrade yields the best return on miles (although, in general, you get more value for miles with an upgrade than a free Business Class seat), or which of this quartet offers the most upgrade or mileage inventory. (Usually, there are American Airlines (oneworld) / AAdvantage: B+ than free seats.)
Keep in mind, too, that Business Class upgrades usually yield a return on miles of more than three cents per mile, which is the minimum you should get; otherwise, pay cash, unless you have miles to burn.
Shortly, FCF will rank American carriers on upgrading from Business to First, foreign carriers in both categories, and other travel regions, such as Asia and South America.
Calculating the Grades
The grades are based on four objective criteria, NOT my personal preferences.
FCF has no stake in recommending one mileage program over another. To keep it simple, each criterion below accounts for 25% of the grade (feel free to look at the individual scores and construct your own rating).
- Lowest Upgradable Fares: One of the main reasons to use miles for an upgrade is to spend the least amount of money. Here, FCF compared each airline’s lowest upgradeable fare, including the co-pay, which, all but one airline (Delta) charges.
- Number of Miles Needed: We ranked the four carriers on the basis of the lowest amount charged for an upgrade.
- Ease of Getting Miles: Via credit-card-transfer partners. An airline can have very low upgradeable fares and mileage requirements, but that’s of little value if you can’t get your hands on the miles quickly and easily.
- Savings: An important point considering that one U.S. mileage program offers only a 1% savings over the published Business Class fares. Why even consider upgrading with miles?
Allows upgrades on any published fare for 50,000 miles, plus a $350 surcharge each way. This gets our top ranking, scoring an A for upgradeable economy fares and savings on Business Class fares and a B for miles needed and access to miles.
[aside headline="Sample Return-on-Miles for a Low-Season Upgrade: SFO-Frankfurt" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]
American’s lowest upgradeable economy fare starts at about $1,962 (economy fare + $700 co-pay), plus 50,000 miles, whereas the lowest advance-purchase Business Class fare is $5,123 inclusive.
If you use miles to upgrade the latter, you get a return of 6.3¢ on your miles. The math: $5,123 (Business Class fare) - $1,962 (economy fare + co-pay) = $3,161 (or a 62% savings) ÷ 50,000 (miles required) = 6.3¢.
A free mileage award ticket’s return is only 5.1¢. But you’re $1,962 less out-of-pocket. Fielder’s Choice: While your lowest economy fares will be in low seasons (generally winter or shoulder season), high-season economy fares will generally only be $400 more.
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United (Star Alliance) / Mileage Plus: B
Also allows upgrades on any published fare, but with a surcharge that varies by the fare paid (the lower the fare, the higher the surcharge). Co-pays range from $550 for the lowest fares each way, dropping to $300 for mid-range fares. 40,000 miles required on almost all published economy fares. United scored an A for having the lowest number of miles needed for an upgrade, and a B in the other categories.
US Airways (Star Alliance) / Dividend Miles: C+
Allows upgrades on any published fare for 60,000 miles and $300 each way, but only on non-stop flights. That limits you to departures from Charlotte and Philadelphia. From other U.S. departure cities, the miles required depend on the flight distance (so the program is expensive to and from the West Coast) and the number of flight segments (especially bad for those traveling from smaller airports).
On the Los Angeles-Rome route, for example, which stops in Philadelphia, the co-pay is $900 and the miles required 80,000. That is crazy considering that U.S. Airways (and its merger partner, American) charge 100,000 miles for a free Business Class ticket on this route. This is the reason why US Airways received an F for miles needed. Too bad, because it received A’s in the other categories.
Delta (SkyTeam) / SkyMiles: D
Allows upgrades on M and B fares for 50,000 miles. Although it doesn’t impose surcharges, it sets the upgradeable-fare bar very high, usually more than $3,500. There’s not much savings compared to the published Business Class fare. That’s why Delta ended up in the cellar.
Loyalty Program Ratings For Upgrading Economy to Business Class With Miles
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