Originally Posted by
MoreMilesPlease
If you reach Executive Platinum on American you get 8 VIP's which are good for upgrading any class ticket to anywhere they fly (AA metalonly). They are capacity controled with a three segment maximum and some fine print, but overall probably the best deal. They also have the ability to upgrade with mile +a copay on any class ticket.
I tried to do this last month. I could buy a US$1500 SYD----MVD flight in economy, but if I wanted to buy an economy ticket with flights where upgrades were available, the cost was around US$3500. I ended up paying US$3800 on Aerolineas Argentinas for a discounted business class seat instead. And the flight time was around 18hours faster also. So sometimes it is a false economy trying to upgrade.