Originally Posted by
othermaster
Thanks Zen100,
I once had a cash ticket in premium economy that I upgraded to Club with miles, then paid cash to upgrade at the airport to first. The agent at check-in assured me that I would get the tier points and Avios for first, but I only got them based on the original purchase of premium economy, so I am always very sceptical of airport upgrades.
I really want to do any cash upgrades with BA if possible, because my fear is if AA do it, the flight numbers will become AA and I will not get the double-tier points on those flights.
The situation you describe above is exactly how it would happen. If you have a cash ticket which you then upgrade using Avios and then further upgrade at the airport (an AUP in FT parlance) then you will only get TPs and Avios based on the initial cash booking. If you have a cash ticket which you AUP to a higher cabin then you will receive the TPs and Avios based on the upgraded class of service. I would assume - but I don't know for certain - that this would be eligible for the double points promotion.
As others have said above I think the only way you will be able to pay for an on-the-day upgrade to your JFK - LAX flight is to do it at JFK but, even then, that assumes that AA are offering upgrades. The fact that they are showing miles availability on aa.com does not mean that they'll be offering a cash upgrade. The only way to guarantee being in F on those flights would be to call BA and have them re-price your itinerary so that the transcon flights are in F and not in J. The other option might be to see what it would cost to upgrade your LHR - JFK flight from Club World to First as that would get you into the Chelsea lounge based on a same-day arrival in First.