Originally Posted by Samsolotravel

I fly to London every year and always took advantage of upgrading with points and cash. This has been taken away and now ( well its now dynamic) I am looking at paying a huge cash price if I want to fly business from US to LHR and back.

As premium economy is half the price, if they offer upgrades to business class, is it generally at a better price then if you just purchase it straight out?

For Example, if I fly Ord to LHR in new flagship suites and LHR nonstop back to PHX all in Business class, it will cost me around $6200. Is it smarter to book in premium economy at $3700 for the trip and hope the cash upgrade is less than $2500?

Also the ideal flight home would be a BA flight nonstop to PHX and I am assuming AA doesn't offer upgrades for those flights and I would need to book the earlier AA flight?

I will pay the cash price if need be, but just want to make sure I get some advice before I book!