Tips to Radically Improve Mileage Upgrade Availability Odds

July 2012
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For American and US Airways Mileage Collectors—and often anyone else

One of the major complaints that many airlines are facing from mileage members is the lack of upgrade inventory.

So how can you improve the odds of getting your next upgrade confirmed when using miles?

In this article we are going to tell you how you can improve upgrade mileage odds when using your miles with American Airlines and US Airways. Both airlines offer more upgrade inventory for domestic travel: American has a larger upgrade inventory bucket with any published economy fare, and US Airways when paying a higher economy fare.

Why It’s Good to Know Better

The advantage of knowing which U.S. airlines offer more upgrade inventory—and when—is just another factor in deciding to whom you should give your elite status loyalty and/or in deciding to whom to transfer your miles.

For example, one U.S. airline’s mileage upgrade inventory for domestic flights comes from the same inventory bucket as First Class tickets. That means you have a very good chance of upgrading on many domestic flights because the inventory is higher than with airlines that have two separate inventory buckets; one for selling seats and one for upgrades.

So what airline offers the best mileage upgrade inventory scheme for you? Here is a report on the top two:

American: AA offers better availability for mileage upgrades from any discounted economy fare for domestic travel because its upgrade inventory is in the same booking bucket as its discounted domestic First Class fares, booking code A. In most cases, if AA has one discounted First Class seat open for sale on two-cabin domestic service (not valid for the three cabin transcon service), it also has that same seat available for a mileage upgrade.

Savings example: New York-Honolulu upgradeable economy ticket is about $670, plus a co-pay of $350, plus 30,000 miles with a replacement value of about $825; a total mileage upgrade ticket cost is $1,845. A First Class ticket is $2,750, so the mileage upgrade saves you $905.

How to get miles: Transfer credit card points from the Starwood card (25,000 only, with the transfer bonus you have 30,000) and/or buy AA miles (up to 40,000 per year).

Timing American Airlines Domestic Upgrade Mileage Program

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US Airways: US Airways offers more mileage upgrade inventory for domestic travel, including travel to Mexico and the Caribbean, if you pay a higher economy fare (B-fares).

Savings example: New York-Los Angeles upgradeable B-fare economy ticket is about $975 (no co-pay), plus 20,000 miles, which have a replacement value of about $700, giving you a total mileage upgrade ticket cost of about $1,675. A First Class ticket on US Airways is about $3,000, so the mileage upgrade saves you $1,325.

How to get miles: You can transfer 20,000 credit card points from the Starwood card and/or you can buy the miles needed for $700 from the airline directly; so stock up on miles when US Airways has a 100% bonus buying promo (one just ended June 30).

Timing US Airways Domestic Upgrade Mileage Program

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[["When TO Use AA's Upgrades","When NOT TO Use AA's Upgrade"],["On routes when domestic First Class fares are still high.","On routes when domestic First Class fares are low."],["If you want or need better access to mileage upgrades for domestic travel.","#rowspan#"],["If you have a lot of miles or credit card points, which can be used for mileage upgrades.","#rowspan#"],["If you want better access to mileage upgrades for North America travel, including the Caribbean and Mexico.","#rowspan#"]]