Upgrading from Premium Economy to Business Class can save 69%, whether you have BA miles or not.
Elites: Mileage upgrades are made for oneworld members (American, British Airways, and Iberia) looking to maintain elite status, but who can’t book 150 days out to get the cheapest Business Class fare.They're also built for anyone looking to buy low-cost upgrades, whether or not you have any BA miles.
To London: The lowest advance-purchase (usually 150 days) Business Class fare from New York is often $3,200 and from Los Angeles $3,935. Miss the deadline and the price rises to $4,000 from New York (50-day advance-purchase) and $4,750 from Los Angeles. After that, the sky's the limit. So consider…
Taking Advantage of BA’s Upgradable Premium Economy Fares
Short advance-purchase requirement: Only 28 days for NY-London ($1,150) and LA-London ($1,275). See alert on March 22 for more BA Premium Economy sale-fare examples.Sample savings for New York-London: The published, 28-day advance-purchase Business Class fare is $6,072. The upgradeable Premium Economy fare is $1,150, plus $706 in taxes (see below for more), for a total of $1,856, a savings of $4,216 (69%).
Mileage Cost to Upgrade
BA charges 30,000 miles (off-peak) and 25,000 (peak) one-way from Los Angeles, and 24,000 (off-peak) and 20,000 (peak) from New York. It costs even fewer miles if you figure in the miles earned on the trip.No Co-Pay, But Taxes
BA does not charge a co-pay, per se, for upgrades—it costs $700 on American and $1,100 on United—but BA does impose the “tax difference” between Premium Economy and Business Class taxes, which runs about $700 per ticket, depending on the route.Upgrades to Business Class are based on travel to London, BA’s hub. Other destinations in Europe require more miles, ranging from 17,000 (Paris) to 28,000 (Athens) round-trip, but are often not worth it, as it is the transatlantic flight in Business Class that you want most.