Anyone correct me if I am wrong, but this assumes you are upgrading to Business Class with the award bucket fare letter ‘O’.

if you are a FB Elite and you are booked in Premium Economy fare class ‘W’, you can upgrade to Business Class with the fare class ‘Z’, which adds availability. The upgrade cost, however, would be 22,500 miles.

I do that all the times when on flying JFK-CDG on my corporate/business trips. Our policy guidelines is no more than $3,000 R/T on AF. Sadly, that means no business class.

I ask the travel agency to book everything in ‘W’ both ways, and pay for the upgrades in miles (total 45,000 miles – decent).

If both ways in ‘W’ result in a pricing above $3,000, I ask the travel agency to to combine one leg in ‘W’ with the other on ‘S’ or ‘A’, whichever is below $3,000, then, once the ticket is issued, I ask the travel agent to upgrade to ‘W’ with my own money on the relevant leg. Average cost is $400.

Award ‘Z’ has usually very good availability, and the net cost of the upgrade on both legs is ~18,000 miles:
- roughly 2,700€ x 8 = 21,600 miles earned on flights
- 2,500€ x 2 = 5,000 miles earned via Amex AF Plat
- minus 22,500 miles x 2 = 45,000 miles
- NET COST = 18,400 miles + $400 out of pocket

Some might not find this a good deal, but it works for me and I am willing to pay that and secure my J seats in advance rather than waiting for the random offers at H-56.

Cheers,
-vinnyc