US Airways Dividend Miles - use points for first class and coach for different legs of flight?

Newb here...go easy on me if it's been answered before, but I searched and didn't find anything.

USAirways Dividend preferred folks were no help and I couldn't figure out how to do this via the web booking site....anyone know if it's possible, and if so, how?

Traveling from SYR to LAS and return. Flights go through CLT. I don't have enough points to do all 4 legs in first class, so what I wanted to do was upgrade the longer legs CLT to LAS to CLT to first class and do the short legs coach...is that possible?

Newb here...go easy on me if it's been answered before, but I searched and didn't find anything.

USAirways Dividend preferred folks were no help and I couldn't figure out how to do this via the web booking site....anyone know if it's possible, and if so, how?

Traveling from SYR to LAS and return. Flights go through CLT. I don't have enough points to do all 4 legs in first class, so what I wanted to do was upgrade the longer legs CLT to LAS to CLT to first class and do the short legs coach...is that possible?

Welcome to FlyerTalk, fhall1!

Mileage upgrades are for one-way travel, including connections. So, for example, if you were starting out in Miami and flying through CLT to LAS, both flights would be covered in the 'cost' of a one-way upgrade. If you returned the same way (LAS-CLT-MIA), all four flights would be covered in a round-trip upgrade.

Availability of seats using miles for upgrades on all four flights might well be another matter, but those connecting flights don't cost you any more.

Edited to add: Mileage upgrades are different from the purchased upgrades you can buy the day of travel. Those are handled by segment, so you would pay for each specific flight you were upgrading on.

OK...I guess that makes sense....it's been so long since I've redeemed any miles the rules have probably changed.

Here's my exact situation, let me know what I interpreted wrong

I have slightly over 150,000 dividend miles
I'm booking the flight for 2 people (my wife and I).

According to the web site you need 50,000 for a 1st class ticket in the US
When I went online to redeem miles on a roundtrip between SYR and LAS it told me I needed 200,000 miles. I assumed it was the total after 50,000 times 4 flight "legs". So, I'm not sure what happened there....am I wrong about the 50,000 miles per 1st class ticket?

Buying the extra miles would cost too much. so I wanted to upgrade one leg of the flight (either to Vegas or coming home from Vegas) which (I think) would take 150,000 miles (total). When I tried telling the online system to book "coach" then selecting first class when the actual "choose flights" wndow showed up, it kept telling me there are no first class seats available those dates. However, if I did the search for flights by first telling it I wanted to go first class, there are first class seats available on each leg, but there's no way to tell it I want one way coach and the other first class on the "choose flights" page...the only button you have is "first class" (whereas if you first search under coach, the choose flight page shows both "first class" and "coach" buttons to choose from)

So, I ended up going coach on all four legs and using 100,000 miles...which I thought was 25,000 per "flight"

I hope that made sense...I'm reserved to the fact that I'm screwed and won't be flying first class either out or back. Is there any way to salvage my situation?

Welcome to FT! :)

According to the web site you need 50,000 for a 1st class ticket in the US
When I went online to redeem miles on a roundtrip between SYR and LAS it told me I needed 200,000 miles. I assumed it was the total after 50,000 times 4 flight "legs". So, I'm not sure what happened there....am I wrong about the 50,000 miles per 1st class ticket?

There are two different classes of award tickets (look down the lefthand column of the DM Award Build Your Own itinerary page). Domestic First Saver awards require 25K miles one-way, but are limited in availability (O inventory). Domestic First Premium awards are 50K miles one-way and if there's a seat available, you can get it (unless it's a blackout date for a non-Preferred member). It sounds like you were looking at a First Premium award, which would be 100K per person (50K one-way x 2 for round-trip). If you have some flexibility in your dates, you can search for Saver awards that may be available.

Buying the extra miles would cost too much. so I wanted to upgrade one leg of the flight (either to Vegas or coming home from Vegas) which (I think) would take 150,000 miles (total). When I tried telling the online system to book "coach" then selecting first class when the actual "choose flights" wndow showed up, it kept telling me there are no first class seats available those dates. However, if I did the search for flights by first telling it I wanted to go first class, there are first class seats available on each leg, but there's no way to tell it I want one way coach and the other first class on the "choose flights" page...the only button you have is "first class" (whereas if you first search under coach, the choose flight page shows both "first class" and "coach" buttons to choose from)

You should be able to do this (Coach award in one direction, First award in the other direction). If you want to post or PM me the details, I can check what's going on with the availability.

So, I ended up going coach on all four legs and using 100,000 miles...which I thought was 25,000 per "flight"

As with First awards, there are both Coach Premium and Coach Saver awards. Domestic Coach Premium costs 25K mi one-way while Domestic Coach Saver costs 12.5K miles one-way (yes, sometimes you'll see a First Saver for the same amount as a Coach Premium!). So, it sounds like you got a Coach Premium award at 50K per person (25K one-way x 2 for round-trip).

I hope that made sense...I'm reserved to the fact that I'm screwed and won't be flying first class either out or back. Is there any way to salvage my situation?

It'd be $100 per ticket to cancel and redeposit the miles. You do have flexibility with dates and times for Award tickets, although they may charge you the fee if you want to change the type of award to one with a different class of service or requiring less miles. I'm not sure but others here will know.

<edited to add>: Yes, they will charge you, per the Terms and Conditions at the bottom of the Purchase page:

• Award tickets booked online are eligible for redeposit into your account when they are cancelled through the Dividend Miles Service Center. A redeposit fee of $100 per passenger will apply.

• A $100 per passenger reissue fee is applied for a change in the originating or destination city, class of service or Award level. There is no fee charged to change time of departure or date of travel however changes to originating or destination city or Award level cannot be made once travel has commenced. Changes to an Online Award Reservation must be made through the Dividend Miles Service Center at 800-428-4322.

Traveling from SYR to LAS and return. Flights go through CLT. I don't have enough points to do all 4 legs in first class, so what I wanted to do was upgrade the longer legs CLT to LAS to CLT to first class and do the short legs coach...is that possible?

No, both flights in one direction have to be the same class. They charge the same # of miles no matter how many connections. If you booked 2 coach tickets @ 50,000 miles each roundtrip, those were premium coach awards. Saver awards (25,000 roundtrip) are very hard to get.

You can split classes between the outbound and inbound flights. For example, I have a trip PIT-SNA in April, going out I have first class, returning coach. That is because a saver award was available for first going out but not on the return, so I chose to save the miles and booked coach on the return.

Thanks for the helpful explanations everyone....it makes much more sense now.