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FAQ: Miles + Copay Upgrade / Upgrades (master thread)

Old Jul 28, 2015, 12:06 pm
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: Prospero
Mileage and copayment upgrades on American Airlines

As of May 20, 2017 upgrade prioritization is:
  1. Elite status
    1. Concierge Key
      • Executive Platinum
        • Platinum Pro
          • Platinum
            • Gold
    • Upgrade type
      1. Miles and copay award upgrades and systemwide upgrades (SWU)
        • 500 mile upgrades on purchased tickets (including EXP complimentary UDU)
          • 500 mile upgrades on upgrade eligible awards (including EXP complimentary UDU)
      • Elite qualifying dollars* in the past 12 months
        • Booking class (in order, J, D, I, W, P, Y, H, K, M, L, V, G, S, N, Q, O, T)
          • Time of request


Enjoy a higher cabin of service Link.

Use your AAdvantage miles to upgrade on flights marketed and operated by American Airlines or American Eagle for yourself or anyone you designate.

Upgrades are valid to the next cabin of service* and are valid for a single one-way trip with a maximum of three segments. Upgrades are subject to capacity controls. Excluding award tickets, the following eligible fare types can be upgraded:
  • Discount Economy with published fares booked in H,K,M,L,W,V,G,Q,N,O,S and
    • Military or Government fares booked in Y
      • Full-Fare Economy with published fares booked in Y
        • Discount Premium Economy with published fares booked in P
          • Full-Fare Premium Economy with published fares booked in W
            • Discount Business with published fares booked in I
              • Full-Fare Business with published fares booked in J, D or R
                • Basic Economy fares booked in B are not upgradable

*E.g. Economy to Business, Business to three class First. At this time Premium Economy is treated as Economy for upgrade purposes.

See the chart here for cost in miles and dollars.

NOTE: The most expensive fare classes, full fare Economy Y, full fare Premium Economy W, and full fare Business J, may be upgraded without copay and at a lower cost in miles. See here.

Taxes and carrier-imposed fees:

Co-payment is non-refundable and inclusive of U.S. excise tax where applicable.

Mileage upgrade award tickets are subject to applicable taxes and security fees and may incur additional taxes as a result of upgrading to a higher class cabin (includes higher U.K. Air Passenger Duty If Flight originates in the UK or is a connecting flight with a connection time of 24:00 or more)..)
  • Upgrading from Economy Class to Business Class or First Class may result in additional premium cabin taxes and carrier-imposed fees, including but not limited to flights originating in Great Britain and France.
    • If the ticket is priced in USD, the additional taxes and carrier-imposed fees will be converted to USD at the time of ticketing.
      • Please contact American Airlines Reservations to obtain applicable taxes and carrier-imposed fees for specific itineraries.


NOTE:

Miles and copay upgrades are to the next available cabin of service, are based on inventory being available, usable on AA marketed and operated flights (not codeshares operated by other airlines, not on other airlines' prime flights - BA and IB allow miles upgrades with AA miles but are very different and therefore not treated here).

See AA Participating Airline Upgrade Award - BA, IB, including codeshares (master thd), and note “one class of service” means Y to PE, PE to J, J to F where available on BA.

If the required inventory exists, they can be booked positively (i.e. upgraded immediately); if not, the request is wait listed. Wait list clearance is by status (EXP highest, no status lowest), and within status priority is by rolling 12 month EQD spend. Elites can have one traveling companion on the same PNR "borrow" their status for upgrade wait list purposes, until the request goes to the airport list, where you may want to assure your travel companion continues to hold your “borrowed” status for upgrade purposes.

Copays are waived for CK on all flights.
Frequently Asked Questions / FAQ:

Q. It says the upgrade fees are nonrefundable. Do I lose my miles and money if I'm not upgraded?

If your upgrade request does not go through, miles and copay are in fact refunded.

Q. If I am waitlisted, in what priority order are upgrades processed?

Upgrades are processed first by AAdvantage status tier, secondarily by type of upgrade, thirdly by the previous rolling 12 month EQD spend.

Q. Which has higher priority if all other preceding factors are the same? An upgraded with miles + copay, or an upgraded with SWU?

They have equal priority. A few reports state copay + upgrade have been given priority at some overseas stations.

Q. How soon will I know if my upgrade came through?

It can happen anytime inventory opens, from the time you book until the time you board. (Your request, including date and time of request, should carry over automatically to the airport list.)

Q. How soon will I know if my upgrade came through?

It can happen anytime inventory opens, from the time you book until the time you board. (Your request, including date and time of request, should carry over automatically to the airport list.)

Q. What happens to my booked seat whilst I'm waitlisted? If my upgrade doesn't come through, do I lose my reserved seat?

You normally retain your booked seat until (if) your upgrade comes through.

Q. How many flights can I upgrade with a single miles plus copay upgrade?

You may (assuming available inventory) upgrade up to three segments on the same ticketed itinerary (e.g. LHR-ORD-MIA-EZE, as long as they are on the same PNR).

Q. Can I look at AAnytime or MileSAAver award space to determine upgrade availability?

No. MileSAAver availability may be a good indication upgrade space may become available, but SAAver and upgrade inventories are separate.

Q. What fare inventory do I need to upgrade?

You need available "C" inventory to upgrade to two class domestic First and three class Business, "A" to three class First. These are not shown on aa.com, but some services (e.g. ExpertFlyer) do show them. The only way to reliably search for upgrade space on Expertflyer or other services is segment by segment. The reason for this is that by rule if C is available on the stand alone segment then the upgrade is allowed.

Q. I'm Executive Platinum. If I purchase an upgrade for someone without status, will they "borrow" my status for upgrade purposes?

They will if they are flying as your single traveling companion on the same flights. Otherwise, their status will determine their position on the upgrade wait list. This "borrowed" status was previously lost once the flight has gone to airport control; it doesn’t now, but it pays to check and see if it has been mismanaged by software - it can be restored when it has passed to airport control.

Q. Which miles earning and fare conditions will apply to my upgraded flights?

You will earn miles (award miles -- RDM -- and EQM) and EQ Dollars credit as determined by your originally purchased fare, and the applicable fare rules will also be determined by your originally purchased fare.

Older posts can be read in ARCHIVE: FAQ: Miles + Copay Upgrade / Upgrades (consolidated)





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FAQ: Miles + Copay Upgrade / Upgrades (master thread)

Old Oct 28, 2018, 1:20 pm
  #541  
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Originally Posted by beachfan
Be aware that irregardless if position in the upgrade list, if they are upgrading folks after boarding ( due to misconnect or folks who checked in but didn’t show), then they will skip over miles and copay, and only do SWUs or 500 Mile, because they don’t have time to collect the copay. Doesn’t matter that you are Ex Plat and are entitled to a free one

i escaped this fate because it happened once before and I checked with the gate manager, after being informed by the gate agent if the policy. After registering my displeasure about being #1 in the list and told no chance because this was the policy, they miraculously came on board at T-25 and took my credit card. No doubt without the escalation I’d be SOL.

They should just waive the copay and process the list in order if it’s exec Plat. Doesn’t make sense to skip over#1 on the list to give it to someone else for free further down the list.
Collect the co pay? Wouldn't it be charged on the spot if the upgrade cleared?
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Old Oct 28, 2018, 1:22 pm
  #542  
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Originally Posted by DMPHL
I've had the opposite experience. On an LAX-JFK red-eye, I was #1 on the upgrade list with Miles + Co-Pay. I'd previously asked the gate agent (as it looked like to chance of an upgrade) if she needed my credit card if it happened to clear, or if it was in the system. She said it was in the system and if there was a spot she'd clear me. Boarded and had settled into 11A, and the gate agent comes on right before departure, hands me my new boarding pass for 7D, and that was that. And the Miles were never actually deducted and the Co-Pay never charged.

So it seems the options, at the last minute when the flight is nearing departure, are skip over Miles + Co-Pay or just upgrade and don't worry about deducting.
This is what I though, since all information is in the system I'm sure it's the same amount of key strokes to process Miles/Copay as an elite upgrade
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Old Oct 28, 2018, 4:24 pm
  #543  
 
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Originally Posted by FlightNurse
This is what I though, since all information is in the system I'm sure it's the same amount of key strokes to process Miles/Copay as an elite upgrade
They need the physical card to process the copay at the gate. Verified by a gate supervisor after I escalated it.
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Old Oct 28, 2018, 4:44 pm
  #544  
 
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Originally Posted by beachfan
They need the physical card to process the copay at the gate. Verified by a gate supervisor after I escalated it.
They didn't with me at LHR on 14 October. Didn't even mention it... just cleared me to J.

Then again, I haven't been charged or had my miles deducted yet...
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Old Oct 29, 2018, 12:18 am
  #545  
 
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Originally Posted by econometrics
They didn't with me at LHR on 14 October. Didn't even mention it... just cleared me to J.

Then again, I haven't been charged or had my miles deducted yet...
SWU or miles and copay?
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Old Oct 29, 2018, 6:50 am
  #546  
 
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Originally Posted by beachfan
SWU or miles and copay?
Miles+Copay
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Old Oct 29, 2018, 2:49 pm
  #547  
 
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Originally Posted by beachfan
They need the physical card to process the copay at the gate. Verified by a gate supervisor after I escalated it.
I think the point is that, based on the experience of some, while they may absolutely need the credit card to process the Miles + CoPay, they may just be clearing the upgrades and, in order to not waste time, not actually processing the Miles + CoPay.

While that might be difficult on a TATL flight given there is no specific inventory for complimentary upgrades, on a domestic flight, they might just see you're first on the list, open R inventory and clear you at the last minute as a complimentary upgrade rather than spend time collecting your credit card.

Not sure what is possible for them and what isn't, but I would imagine gate agents, once the flight is under their control, can do lots of things that the system wouldn't allow an agent to do at T-24 or farther out.
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Old Oct 29, 2018, 4:34 pm
  #548  
 
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I’m sure it takes a little extra to process the upgrade list with a different instrument than the one tied to the list. But I agree, if you are giving it away and not collecting copays , you should still follow list priority. Gate manager swore that was against AAs specific instructions. Who knows if that’s true.

Last edited by beachfan; Nov 12, 2018 at 10:23 am
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Old Nov 12, 2018, 9:35 am
  #549  
 
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What happens if I clear the upgrade ahead of the flight but the day of departure I stand by for an earlier flight?
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Old Nov 12, 2018, 10:12 am
  #550  
 
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Originally Posted by saltytheseagull
What happens if I clear the upgrade ahead of the flight but the day of departure I stand by for an earlier flight?
With voluntary changes, you’ll have to clear into your originally booked cabin and then be put on the upgrade list.
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Old Nov 12, 2018, 10:21 am
  #551  
 
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Duplicate
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Old Nov 12, 2018, 10:23 am
  #552  
 
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Originally Posted by flyingeph12


With voluntary changes, you’ll have to clear into your originally booked cabin and then be put on the upgrade list.
Would I be refunded if the upgrade doesn't clear?
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Old Nov 12, 2018, 10:32 am
  #553  
 
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Originally Posted by saltytheseagull
Would I be refunded if the upgrade doesn't clear?
Not sure, tbh. My gut tells me no, since you’ve gotten what you paid for and you voluntarily instituted the change.
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Old Nov 12, 2018, 12:10 pm
  #554  
 
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Originally Posted by flyingeph12


Not sure, tbh. My gut tells me no, since you’ve gotten what you paid for and you voluntarily instituted the change.
That's what I figured, but thought I would ask to question to see what happens in practice.
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Old Nov 23, 2018, 12:29 pm
  #555  
 
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I learned about a new "enhancement" today. I get the pleasure of paying another $75 if my upgrade clears because of the BS "close-in fee". AA continues to go for great...
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