Originally Posted by
linseahoward
Hi all,
I'm looking to redeem AAdvantage miles for the first time for our honeymoon in April 2017, and wanted a few tips from the experts!
My fiancee and I are looking to fly from Tulsa, OK to Athens in April, we'd like to fly Business if possible but Economy isn't out of the question.
As of now, we have 120k miles combined. It would take 120k to fly Economy, and 230k to fly Business. My question is, can I book an Economy Award ticket, and then upgrade later to Business (provided we earn the points)? Will there be a fee involved, or just the difference in points? Also, can you use points to upgrade the fare class of a ticket purchased with money?
Thanks all!
Welcome to FlyerTalk.
Your best bet - if there's availability - is American Airlines' nonstop between Philadelphia / PHL and Athens / ATH, of course. This way you're in Business class the entire way (most European short haul "business" isn't more than two coach seats with the middle seat blocked, a C seat pitch is short - thirty inches with BA) and if not in Business ag least it's nonstop.
You have the miles for Econony now, but for Business in addition to the award seat availability you need to have the miles.
There's a very useful thread to read - we will eventually merge your query into it - and I suggest you read it (particularly the Wikipost at the top of the page).
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...stance-26.html
The alternative is to purchase economy fares and waitlist for a miles (AA do not use points) for an upgrade. The difficulty here is you need availability as well, and if there is space available to upgrade the upgrades are currently prioritized by AAdvantage status first, then by date of request.
(One can't upgrade to Award seats with miles and cozy, merely "upgrade" to J or F by securing higher class cabin award Sears.)