And Where to Find Free “In-Class Seat Upgrades” through American’s Little-Known Service Anomalies
[aside]
Connections
Keep the flight numbers and routes mentioned in the chart at left in mind when connecting for more seat comfort: When flying San Diego-Miami for example, connect in Los Angeles to catch AA208; or when flying Miami-Shanghai, route via Los Angeles to catch AA277.[/aside]
In the First Class scheme of things, domestic is the poor relation of international and a big come down in comfort and amenities—but not in price.
This month we will look at what domestic routes American Airlines uses its international aircraft. Analysis of other domestic airlines is coming soon.
American sometimes uses B777s and B767-300s aircraft on domestic routes with international First and Business Class seats. The B777 offers AA’s “Flagship” suite, which has a 30-inch-wide seat (with the armrest dropped) and converts into a 78-inch-long flat bed. Business Class seats recline 171-degrees, are 20 to 23.5 inches wide, and have 54 to 61 inches of pitch.
Why pay top dollar for an inferior seat if you can get a better one just by knowing where to find it?
The chart below shows the current American routes and flight numbers with these aircraft; and we will also highlight “fare tactics” to get the seat at the best price. Dallas and Miami tend to monopolize these aircraft, with Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco accounting for the rest.
Where to Find American’s International First and Business Class Seat on Domestic Routes
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When to Pay Cash for an International Seat on a Domestic Route
Save 74% on transcon Business Class and get a free seat upgrade
American offers four non-stop flights between San Fran-cisco and JFK. Three of the flights offer three-cabin service, for which AA charges dearly: $3,393 round-trip in Busi-ness Class and $6,557 in First Class. On one B767 flight, however, AA offers an international Business Class seat for $874, a savings of $2,520 (74%, or the cost of three more tickets). That’s a free in-seat upgrade, considering that AA’s international Business Class seat is much better than its First Class seat on this route.
Promotional domestic First Class fares are often valid for B767 Business Class seats: First Class ticket pricing has changed enormously over the past year on many flights within the continental U.S., making an upgrade or free mile-age award not always the way to go. (See full report in the June and July FCF issues.)
A good example is Los Angeles-Miami, a route which American offers both the B777 and B767. On the former, it doesn’t pay to use miles, because American often allows promotional First Class to be booked on B767 aircrafts. Whereas on the latter it is the only way to go because American often does not offer pro-motional domestic First Class fares on an international B777 seat. If you book American flight 208, a B767 (as of Oct. 28), with an international Business Class seat, your domestic First Class ticket will be $775 round-trip. That makes an award ticket or upgrade pointless, given the return on miles of 1.5¢ or less
However, using miles is the way to go on AA252 and AA1520, both B777 flights with higher fares in both Busi-ness and First Class.
[aside]
Best Way to Get on B777 Domestic Flights Business and First Class
Mileage Upgrade:
From economy to Business Class: AA charges $1,680 for Business Class on the B777 Los Angeles-Miami route, while an upgradeable fare including the co-pay ($150) starts at $510 plus 30,000 miles, making the return about 3.9¢ per mile. Transfer 25,000 Starwood points and you’ll see a 4.7¢ return because of the transfer bonus.
Mileage Upgrade:
From Business Class to First Class: Get an even higher return here. American’s published First Class LAX-Miami fare is $4,296, while the upgradeable Business Class fare, including co-pay, starts at $2,030 plus 30,000 miles, yielding a 7.5¢ return on miles. Other reasons for wanting to use mileage up-grades instead of free awards are that they earn Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs), and miles on the paid ticket, which off-sets the miles you’ve spent for the upgrade. On the LAX- Miami upgrade from economy to Business Class, you earn 4,678 miles, reducing the net cost in miles to 25,322.[/aside]
When to Pay with Miles for an International Seat on a Domestic Route
Mileage Upgrade: Cost-Per-Flight-Hour: Spending 30,000 miles to upgrade an eight-hour, round-trip flight to get one of these seats is usually a good value. For a 16-hour, round-trip flight, say to Hawaii, it’s a no-brainer: Even with the $350 surcharge, the cost per flight hour to upgrade to First Class ranges from only $22 to $79.
Sample math on a Dallas-Maui route: You need 30,000 miles to upgrade this flight. The cost to buy 30,000 miles is $917. With the $350 co-pay, the total is $1,267 or a cost-per-flight-hour of about $79 ($1,267 divided by 16 hours), and only $22 if you already have the AA miles or can transfer them from a credit card, such as Starwood.
Mileage Upgrade: Return-on-Miles-Math: The sample math for an upgrade on the Dallas-Maui route: Subtract the published First Class ticket cost ($3,392) from the upgradeable economy ticket, including co-pay ($975), and then divide the savings by the cost of miles (30,000): $3,392 minus $975 is $2,417, divided by 30,000, gives you a return of 8¢ per mile.
Mileage Upgrade: Better Mileage Inventory: AA’s upgrade inventory comes from the same “availability bucket” it uses for discounted First Class tickets. That means you are much more likely to get a confirmed upgrade than a free mile-age award ticket, and the return on your miles is better (8¢ versus 4.5¢ per mile).