ChrL

Is airpass ever worth it for leisure travel? I tend to do a lot of weekend travel which is often booked at the last minute (e.g. within 2 hrs of travel) but which always includes a Saturday night stay. It looks like airpass is about 2x the buy-on-the-day rate for these flights.

eg) AUS/LAX is pretty much always about $600 return if booked on the day of travel but looks to be 1191 if booked via airpass.

iplaybass

I wondered the same thing after adding up all of our AA ticket spend this year (almost all F/J leisure travel), despite living in an outstation (dominant carrier is WN, so no bargains at DL or UA, either), and did some quick math. Assuming that the mileage is O/D, and not routing-based, the only J value at $.40/mile would be HKG/SYD (77W coming, otherwise Australia not possible.) For all of our European leisure destinations (UK, France, Germany), a little pre-planning (15-31 days) can still get you a "cheap" J fare that beats the pants off the aairpass rate.

It could have come in handy on our J capacity-limited SXM trip; the last I fares sold out the week before we could finalize our plans, and then it would have saved us the indirect routing and overnight. Except for these two rare occasions, I don't see the bang for the buck in the leisure category. I can find better deals on AA.com unless we want to do F to LHR on the spur of the moment.

BlissWorld

For leisure travelers, AAirpass is all about Y-UP, or Coach-UP if cheaper fares qualify for planAAhead.

J/F is for business travelers or those who need last minute full fare availability. These are rarely, if ever, cheaper than the discounted premium cabin fares available in advance.

Shawn02139

BlissWorld, so one can buy H-Up fares at the lower AAirpass rate and book immediately into first?

dsgdds

The primary advantage for me is the ability to book and or change flights at the last minute without penalty. To me, that is priceless

martusd

Hello - I am looking to add about 8,000 qualifying miles to reach Exec Plat this year and have an Aairpass account.

Looking for city pairs ideas that are 1) legal routing and 2)provide a V shape routing to minimize costs.

For instance, I tried DEN-EGE (via DFW or ORD) but this did not qualify.

I can deadhead to a good starting point. I thought about AUS-IAH (via DFW), so 1000 qualifying miles x 2 (for using an instant upgrade fare) = 2,000 qualifying miles per one way. The point to point distance is 140 miles x .72 = 100.80 per trip for 2,000 or about 5 cents per qualifying mile.

I also found TPA-MCO via MIA that should only charge based on 80 miles, so could earn qualifying miles at less than 3 cents, plus 4,000 RDM per TPA-MCO trip.

Any other thoughts on useful city pairs for this?

Many thanks

Bttc

Does anyone know if you can combine the EXP coach seat guarantee with airpass?

It's hard to take advantage of the EXP seat guarantee when full Y costs are so high, but I could see the airpass paying for itself easily if you can book sold-out flights at airpass rates.

sensei

Yes, you can. I have used the benefit several times.

Bttc

Thank you so much! That's really awesome--I think you may have convinced me to take the plunge.

ACA321

Mods, please merge into an existing thread if there is one already...couldn't find one so figured I'd start by asking my question here.

I'm looking at purchasing an AirPass, as I'll be doing quite a bit of commuting between the US and Europe next year. Some travel will be able to be planned in advance and some will be more last-minute. I typically book discounted business fares, although if the price is sky high will book Y and use upgrade instruments.

I spoke with an AirPass representative the other day, and was informed that Instant Upgrade tickets are essentially economy fares that instantly book into business, based on availability. What she wasn't able to answer is which fare bucket these upgrades come out of, especially on international routes such as CLT-FRA, and how often upgrades actually happen. Are these upgrades pulled from C inventory, and if so, are they as difficult to score as a regular SWU or miles+copay? Or, is inventory created when making an Airpass booking that otherwise wouldn't be seen when making a "regular" booking (ie. a seat pulled from I or D inventory)?

If AirPass upgrades are as scarce as general C inventory and you end up sweating out battlefield upgrades like the rest of SWU holders/miles+cash upgraders, then the value to me would be low, especially if booking last minute and ending up on the bottom of the totem pole for time stamps. Can anyone comment on how well the program works for them, specifically on TATL trips, and how the upgrade priority works/how easy it is to actually upgrade on an Instant-Upgrade fare? Paying ~$4500 for a CLT-FRA fare and sitting in Y isn't particularly appealing to me if that is what would would usually happen more often than not.

Thanks for any insight!

869

AAirpass' instant upgrade fares book you directly into the upgraded cabin. There is no waiting game. However, these fares are not offered on every route. I don't see them on CLT-FRA and a quick check of a few INTL routes from DFW comes up empty too. I would NOT assume they offer them on your route or, if they do, will continue to do so long-term.

In general, AAirpass flights book into Y, J, or F with the exception of instant upgrades and plan ahead economy. On a standard 2 cabin domestic flight, IU books into A inventory. On 3 cabin transcon, IU books into D. Plan ahead Y books into H.

If an instant upgrade is offered on a given route, it is available to be booked anytime there is available inventory for sale, which can be monitored via Expert Flyer

ACA321

Thanks for the info, this is helpful. Are you only able to see upgrades if you have an Airpass account or can they be found another way as well? Curious what determines availability on a route like CLT-FRA or any other one really...seems if that benefit is there it should be applied system-wide at least to some reasonable capacity. Obviously can't offer every seat in a cabin for upgrade, but to limit them to certain markets seems silly.

869

I suppose one would not be able to see where they offer instant upgrade without having an AAirpass since the fare buckets are used for revenue fares as well.

I would press the sales folks to declare yay or nay on the specific routes you are interested in flying, though it would be no guarantee they remain offered over time. This morning, I checked a few INTL routes and did not see any. I don't know if they still offer on some or not.

Whether or not you will save any money with AAirpass would require more analysis. I really only use it when I need flexibility

ACA321

OK, I will call them for more info. Upgrade availability certainly will determine the value to both me and my company.

ACA321

I press the salesperson for more info on this matter, and the answer I got was that Instant Upgrades are pulled from D and I buckets, and not C. I specifically inquired about routes such as CLT-FRA and was told they could definitely see much availability in the near and distant future on their end.

If this is so, then TATL upgrades shouldn't be that difficult to score, since D an I fares seem to be quite plentiful on those routes...