Originally Posted by
AAerSTL
Welcome to the AAdvantage forum. Which service fee are you referring to? A non-status pax requesting an upgrade for NRT-DFW will be charged the following fees:
a) mileage co-pay itself (25,000 miles + $350)
b) close-in award fee ($50-$100)
c) telephone reservation fee ($25)
As a PLT you would get (b) waive but still be subject to (a) and (c). AA is a business and the fees and policies associated with mileage upgrades are clearly documented on
AA.com. With all due respect, I seriously doubt AA would grant a waiver on the copay or the telephone reservation fee. Why should you get a waiver? If you clearly have the financial means to fly 50K+ annual miles on AA and are on your way to 100K++ the upgrade co-pay should not be cost prohibitive. Everyone would like the opportunity to fly in Business class. I'm sure if I walked down the aisle I'd here many different stories of people-sprained ankle and Y seats don't have sufficient legroom, bad knees, overweight, injured, ill, etc.
I hope you both have a safe, comfortable trip and wish your friend the very best.
You are correct regarding A and B above, but not C. The phone reservation charge does not apply to upgrading reservations already ticketed. If you are PLT and using your miles for your friend, the only charge you'll be subject to is the $350 co-pay (assuming upgrade is available).
That also assumes you are not on a Y or B inventory ticket, in which case there is no co-pay either. Have you checked on availability yet? I seem to recall this being one of the more consistently available int'l upgrades, but that's just from anecdotes on this board.
What's your date? I just randomly checked next Thursday and while it appears NRT-DFW is zeroed out for upgrades there are still some business class seats for sale. On that date, though, both ORD and LAX flights had availability, but if that were the case on your date you'd have to pay a lot for the change fees.
My advice, if you are miles-rich, is to find a flight, any flight, with F/J award availability, plunk down for a one-way award in J (50k) or F (6.5k) and just throw away the second half of her ticket. With any luck they won't fill her seat on your flight and you'll have an empty next to you.