dstan

FAQ:

• What can I do with 500-mile upgrade / stickers I cannot use?

Ross0

Can anyone please confirm what the latest rule is re: stickers used when a PLT upgrades as a companion to an EXP. I'm EXP and flying with a PLT member and have linked the reservations. If my companion gets upgraded will the stickers get deducted from my account or his account? I've been told conflicting info from the EXP desk and I haven't done this in years, so my experience is outdated.

TIA

dstan

Stickers get deducted separately now (so, from the PLT account):

• How many 500-mile electronic upgrades / stickers do I need?

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Post now moved to a more appropriate thread. /Moderator

RogerD408

Yes, the 500-mile upgrades are suppose to be pulled from the elite's account (i.e. Plat) presumming you have enough. HOWEVER, if you get a GA or AC agent that doesn't know that, they may cause the upgrades to be pulled from the EXP's account. I've travelled quite a bit as a companion of an EXP and about 20% of the time the upgrades get pulled from the wrong account. Usually a phone call or eMail to AAdvantage Customer Service gets it corrected.

malcolmkettering

I looked at wikis, stickies, glossary and AA.com. I must be missing something so I apologize in advance.

1. For 500-mile upgrade stickers earned by GLD and PLT members, what constitutes the "base miles" in the wording "for every 10,000 qualifying base miles flown"? Only AA-metal flights? or also AA codeshares? or also OW qualifying flights, etc.? I am about to book a TATL with IB-metal/IB-flt# in "O" and am wondering if it will count towards my 10,000 'base miles'.

2. For SWUs, are they available for use in upgrading an Economy-class AAdvantage award flight or only paid tickets? I think I know the answer to this one but couldn't find a definitive piece of info (everything I found just referred to 'eligible fares').

Thanks!

brp

How odd, I found this in the FAQ thread (the one that says "Please check here first"). Not sure where you were looking.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...l#post15556947

Cheers.

mvoight

1. AA operated flights
2. On paid tickets
Both of these are documented on AA.com and on FT>

Fly2Where

Actually, it's not necessarily AA operated flights. Any flight that earn EQM will qualifies.

Q: How do I earn upgrades?
A: AAdvantage Gold and AAdvantage Platinum members earn 4 electronic upgrades for every 10,000 qualifying actual miles flown on a elite qualifying carrier.

Note: IB TATL other than spain, will only earn less, just like your EQM

malcolmkettering

well thank you. i did look in wikis, stickies, glossary and aa.com (and google), but missed the faq!

now on the other question (#1), seems like there isn't a clear answer yet, would I or would I not earn miles towards my 10,000 mile upgrades on IB flights to/from ORD<->MAD? IB metal and IB flt#. Who's right? Fly2Where or mvoight?

tenmoc

You should earn full miles towards upgrades on that flight. You will earn 100% eqm because it is US-Spain. This should count toward upgrade qualifying miles as well. Or at least in my recent experience, it does.

dstan

Say it ain't so

Bottom line, any EQM you earn will also count equally toward your MTEU counter. The only exception is on double/triple EQM promotions, in which the additional bonus EQM do not also increment the MTEU counter.

bniu

and the EQM reset on Jan 1, while the MTEU resets on Mar 1


hmm, a simple intuitive way that AA could add to their web services:

Add a field: [e500s required, say 12 on a transcon for two people]
Another field: [e500s contributed from 1st account]
Another field: [e500s contributed from 2nd account]

the system can add a condition line to check for eligible fares if companion is not an elite member.

This way, members can specify from where and how many the e500s will be pulled from. If on non-Y/B fares, then the system will force all of the upgrades to come from the elite's account...

Time traveller

Regarding destinations you can use 500 miles stickers for, AA.com states:

•Upgrades may be used on American Airlines, American Eagle or AmericanConnection marketed and operated flights offering a First or Business Class cabin within and between the 50 United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, The Bahamas, Bermuda, as well as between the United States and Central America (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua or Panama).

Within the definition of Caribbean, I thought Curacao and Aruba were included, but apparently not as per phone CSR (regular desk as I think EXP desk was closed when I called). Are they classified as South American then? Has anyone had any experience with using 500 mile stickers on these routes? Do you have to use miles+copay or eVIP to upgrade flights to CUR and/or AUA, although I can't imagine anyone using a eVIP on these routes...

brp

The CSR was wrong. We have used stickers to Aruba several times. I would assume that Curacao is the same. Unless AA have changed their view of geography yet again, that is.

Of course, it's very easy to find out. Simply start a booking to there and see if it has a place to request upgrades. No need to call anyone or inquire here, even.

Cheers.

Time traveller

Thanks for your reply. Upon booking the flight, the boxes for 500 mile upgrade appear, however after clicking on them and submit, it returns an error. So I called the EXP desk only to get a regular CSR, who gave me the info that 500 mile stickers weren't available for the MIA-CUR segment. I will have to try calling during regular business hours to talk to a "real" EXP desk CSR.