Elites, non-elites, business, and leisure travelers can now save big on First Class Transcon routes—up to 31% off.
This is a Spring gift from FCF for anyone who can’t find a low First Class Transcon fare on AA. They also work for those who don’t even have American miles.
FLYING “CATCH ME IF YOU CAN-STYLE”
American’s glamour aircraft for domestic travel is the A321 flying between Los Angeles and San Francisco and New York/JFK, and a few other transcontinental routes, including Los Angeles to Boston and Miami. It’s as special as flying in America on American gets. So how do you get it?
AMERICAN’S UPGRADE PROGRAM
For domestic flights, American requires 15,000 miles plus a $175 co-pay each way on discounted Business Class fares (I class) to First Class.
Availability is significantly better for these upgrades than with First Class free award tickets, which is another reason to consider this approach.
SAVES 31% WHEN BOOKING IN ADVANCE
The Los Angeles to New York/JFK average advance purchase Business Class fare is currently $1,767 round-trip, while the average First Class fare is $3,067. So even with the $350 co-pay you can save $950 (31%) off the published fare by using 30,000 miles to upgrade. (See our chart below for a survey of upgrade-award availability.)
SAVES 25% WHEN BOOKING LAST MINUTE
The Los Angeles to New York/JFK 7-day advance Business Class fare is currently $2,977 round-trip, while the 7-day advance First Class fare starts at $4,467. So even with the $350 co-pay you can save $1,140 (26%) off the published fare by using 30,000 miles to upgrade.
WHEN NOT TO USE MILES FOR AN UPGRADE
Don’t use miles when booking special weekend/time restricted fares. In this case, the lowest Los Angeles to New York/JFK First Class fares start as low as $1,717 round-trip, while Business Class starts at $1,117. Add in the $350 co-pay and you’re looking at $1,467 plus 30,000 miles to upgrade. This gives you a savings of only $250 and a return on your miles of less than 1 cent. Not worth the trouble.
HOW TO BOOK MILEAGE UPGRADES WITH AMERICAN
With American, upgrades cannot be booked online, so you’ll have to call. Before buying your Business Class ticket, call American at 1-800-433-7300 to find out if the specific flights or dates you want are available for a mileage upgrade and to book.
Sweet Redeem Survey: American First Class Upgrades
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HOW ANYONE CAN PLAY THIS UPGRADE GAME—AND WHEN TO BUY MILES
Don’t have enough American miles and need to top off your account? Easy. Just buy AA miles when they go on sale (here’s a recent one).
Don’t have any American miles but do have Starwood/Marriott points? Then transfer those Starwood/Marriott points.
Need to know when you should buy miles? See FCF’s article on When to Buy Miles Instead of Purchasing a Normal Published Fare.
OTHER RECENT UPGRADE REPORTS
We’ve recently published 11 special reports of similar finds for oneworld (American) and Star Alliance (United) members looking to use miles to achieve or maintain elite status, or anyone who wants to save big:
December 2017: American to Europe
January 2018: American to Asia
February 2018: American to South America
March 2018: Upgrades on American’s Transcon
April 2018: American to Hawaii
May 2018: United to Asia
June 2018: United to South America
July 2018: United to Europe
August 2018: United to the South Pacific
November 2018: American to the Caribbean and United to Peru