The only discussion I can find is
this thread from almost 10 years ago. I'd like to check on the up-to-date answer. Quoting the OP:
Originally Posted by
TomorMatt
My daughter is flying LAX-LHR and back CDG-JFK-LAX in July. She has no status on AA so I have been trying to look for C inventory so I can upgrade her with miles + co-pay. The outbound flight does not have any inventory right now, but I will put her in for the upgrade on that. My question is on the inbound flight as it does not have any inventory on the CDG-JFK leg, but does have C inventory in the JFK-LAX leg. I fly that route often and the A32 business class is a nice product (although the 777-300 business class = A32 first class) and would like to get that segment confirmed if possible.
Is it possible to upgrade just the domestic leg and if so would it be just the standard miles + copay (i.e. 15,000 + $75)? If so, can I still put in for the entire leg and just pay the difference if it clears (25,000 + $350 less the 15,000 + $75 = 10,000 + $275)? What I want to avoid is paying both miles + copay, but not sure what else to do in an effort to confirm as much as possible right now.
Response:
Originally Posted by
JJeffrey
To upgrade just JFK-LAX would be 15k + $75 as you said. But it's not possible to do that, and then just pay the difference if the CDG-JFK segment clears.
Is this (still) true? I note that
AA says (under "Changing mileage upgrade awards"):
If your plans change, you can contact Reservations to change your mileage upgrade award. There’s no fee to change your mileage upgrade award, but you may need to redeem more miles or pay the difference, depending on the new award price.
This makes it sound like, at least nowadays, OP could indeed plan on paying only an "add-collect" of 10k + $275 for CDG-JFK. Can anyone confirm? Was this an under-the-radar customer-friendly policy change?
Continuing with the response for the sake of completeness:
Originally Posted by
JJeffrey
You could technically cancel the domestic upgrade and redeposit the miles, but upgrade co-pays are non-refundable and you'd have to pay the $150 mileage redeposit fee. So total out of pocket for the return would be 25k miles + $350 (int'l co-pay) + $75 (original domestic co-pay) + $150 (redeposit fee).
I think there is no longer a redeposit fee, but the bigger issue I see with this strategy is that if you cancel the JFK-LAX upgrade, there is no reason to expect that C space will reappear on that flight to allow reconfirming as part of CDG-JFK-LAX. So I don't consider this a viable option.
Originally Posted by
JJeffrey
Your best bet is probably to just waitlist her for the 25k + $350 int'l upgrade from the start...confirm the JFK-LAX flight now, and roll the dice that CDG-JFK clears.
Is this even possible? I.e., does (or did) AA even have the ability to charge 25k + $350 when clearing only JFK-LAX, just because the pax wants to "prepay" for the waitlisted CDG-JFK?