Feb 9, 2014, 4:19 pm
Last edit by: Prospero
AAdvantage Miles Upgrade Awards and options on other carriers
Only allowed on specific British Airways (BA) and Iberia (IB)fares
AADVANTAGE PARTICIPATING AIRLINES UPGRADE AWARDS (See: Mileage upgrades on British Airways and Iberia)
AAdvantage members may use AAdvantage miles to upgrade on American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia flights*. Miles may be used to upgrade yourself or anyone you designate. And now, you can upgrade tickets booked by American Airlines (via Reservations or AA.com) as well as bookings made through a travel agency or other source.
Each one-way upgrade is valid up to three segments from an individual published full fare ticket per the chart below. Definitions of the eligible fare types are as follows:
Upgrade requests can be made when you make your initial reservation or after you have purchased your ticket, but must be made prior to checking in for your flight.
To request an upgrade award contact Reservations or visit an American Airlines Travel Center.Service charges may apply. If you have already purchased a ticket and you wish to use a mileage upgrade award, please have your reservation details available for our reservation agent.
*Includes travel on codeshare flights marketed by American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia and operated by any of the three carriers.
Link to aa.com page with award chart, language, etc. (IMPORTANT TO READ IN ITS ENTIRETY)
As Microwave points out, AA must have some involvement with the ticket:
See post 338 for useful information.
updated 4 Sep 2016 by JDiver
Signed in members with 90 days / 90 posts can edit this Wikipost; may be printed by using the
(lower right wiki corner)
Only allowed on specific British Airways (BA) and Iberia (IB)fares
AADVANTAGE PARTICIPATING AIRLINES UPGRADE AWARDS (See: Mileage upgrades on British Airways and Iberia)
AAdvantage members may use AAdvantage miles to upgrade on American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia flights*. Miles may be used to upgrade yourself or anyone you designate. And now, you can upgrade tickets booked by American Airlines (via Reservations or AA.com) as well as bookings made through a travel agency or other source.
Each one-way upgrade is valid up to three segments from an individual published full fare ticket per the chart below. Definitions of the eligible fare types are as follows:
- Full-Fare Economy with published fares booked in Y (excluding Military or Government fares) on American
- Full-Fare Economy with published fares booked in Y or B on British Airways or Iberia
- Premium Economy with published World Traveller Plus fares booked in W (unrestricted fares only) on British Airways. Doesn’t apply to Excursion fares.
- Full-Fare Club World Business with published fares booked in J, D or R on American and C, J, D or R on British Airways or Iberia
- British Airways flight must be coded BAxxx on the ticket (AA codeshare flights are not eligible for upgrades and must be converted / booked as BA prime flights)
- British Airways must operate the LONGEST SEGMENT on the itinerary to be eligible for an upgrade
Upgrade requests can be made when you make your initial reservation or after you have purchased your ticket, but must be made prior to checking in for your flight.
To request an upgrade award contact Reservations or visit an American Airlines Travel Center.Service charges may apply. If you have already purchased a ticket and you wish to use a mileage upgrade award, please have your reservation details available for our reservation agent.
*Includes travel on codeshare flights marketed by American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia and operated by any of the three carriers.
Link to aa.com page with award chart, language, etc. (IMPORTANT TO READ IN ITS ENTIRETY)
As Microwave points out, AA must have some involvement with the ticket:
American Airlines, British Airways or Iberia flights or codeshare flights marketed and operated by American Airlines, British Airways or Iberia are eligible. Reservations booked through a source other than American Airlines must include at least one flight with an American Airlines flight number in order to be eligible (includes codeshare flights operated by British Airways or Iberia but booked as an American Airlines flight number.)
updated 4 Sep 2016 by JDiver
Signed in members with 90 days / 90 posts can edit this Wikipost; may be printed by using the
(lower right wiki corner)
AA Partner Airline Upgrade Award - BA, IB, including codeshares (master thd)
Feb 29, 2016, 6:08 pm
#331
Moderator: Information Desk, Women Travelers, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Chicago, IL, USA
Programs: AA Gold
Posts: 15,651
I have an inquiry that I believe can only be answered via this forum. Please help.
I need to book an upgrade able flight from ORD to LOS. I would like to upgrade said flight with my AA miles. I researched and find that if I book premium economy flight in W, I can upgrade with my AA miles.
I called the Advantage line today (I am PLT) and was informed that only BA services that route and the agent was unable to book premium economy in W because BA is refusing to allow it and she informed me that if I book through the BA portal I cannot use my AA miles to upgrade to Business class.
Has anyone faced this dilemma and how did you find an upgrade able flight or got it resolved.
I appreciate any insight I can get as I have to book this by this weekend. My travel dates are for last week of April.
I need to book an upgrade able flight from ORD to LOS. I would like to upgrade said flight with my AA miles. I researched and find that if I book premium economy flight in W, I can upgrade with my AA miles.
I called the Advantage line today (I am PLT) and was informed that only BA services that route and the agent was unable to book premium economy in W because BA is refusing to allow it and she informed me that if I book through the BA portal I cannot use my AA miles to upgrade to Business class.
Has anyone faced this dilemma and how did you find an upgrade able flight or got it resolved.
I appreciate any insight I can get as I have to book this by this weekend. My travel dates are for last week of April.
Feb 29, 2016, 6:25 pm
#332
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FIND ME ON TWITTER FOR THE LATEST
Posts: 27,730
Reservations booked through a source other than American Airlines must include at least one flight with an American Airlines flight number in order to be eligible
Feb 29, 2016, 7:55 pm
#333
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Illinois
Programs: AA:PLT, Hyatt:Diamond, Hilton H: Diamond, IHG: Spire
Posts: 9
Thanks for the responses. She told me that BA just isn't releasing premium economy in W which is the upgrade able fares. They seem to only release To AA which cannot be upgraded with miles.
She checked alternate dates as well and no W in premium economy
She checked alternate dates as well and no W in premium economy
Feb 29, 2016, 8:03 pm
#335
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,600
Since W is a full fare basis, I think that AA agent is quite mistaken. Unless the flight is sold out , buying a full fare PE ticket should be easy, though BA has no flight that I am aware of between ORD and LOS. I assume that you are going via LHR?
I would phone back and speak to another agent
Be aware that a W fare ORD-LOS is likely to be expensive. Checking r/t fares, the W class BA fare is showing at $5892 plus taxes and charges , which is more expensive than the cheapest business class fare at $5389 plus taxes and charges.
Unless wanting a refundable , fully flexible fare with no advance purchase requirement, I would be looking at just purchasing business class
You could purchase an AA I class fare, and use miles and co-payment to upgrade to 1st class on the transatlantic leg one way for a similar cash outlay than booking W class and upgrading
The upgrade will also require that U class be available on BA
I would phone back and speak to another agent
Be aware that a W fare ORD-LOS is likely to be expensive. Checking r/t fares, the W class BA fare is showing at $5892 plus taxes and charges , which is more expensive than the cheapest business class fare at $5389 plus taxes and charges.
Unless wanting a refundable , fully flexible fare with no advance purchase requirement, I would be looking at just purchasing business class
You could purchase an AA I class fare, and use miles and co-payment to upgrade to 1st class on the transatlantic leg one way for a similar cash outlay than booking W class and upgrading
The upgrade will also require that U class be available on BA
Mar 1, 2016, 4:13 am
#336
Moderator: American AAdvantage, Signatures
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: London, England
Programs: UA 1K, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador, National Exec, AA EXP Emeritus
Posts: 9,765
Unfortunately AA do not codeshare on LHR-LOS; sometimes the AA-marketed BA-operated codeshare has flights that book into W but at fares that are closer to the E/T fares that BA would charge. Such an option would give you the chance to book into W and upgrade to business without paying a full W fare, which is typically quite high.
Given this specific request, I think Dave Noble's suggestion above is probably your best bet.
Given this specific request, I think Dave Noble's suggestion above is probably your best bet.
Mar 19, 2016, 1:58 pm
#338
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Orange County, CA, USA
Programs: AA (Life Plat), Marriott (Life Titanium) and every other US program
Posts: 6,411
Just tried (finally succeeded, with great persistence) to use the award to upgrade BA flight from Premium Economy to Business for 12,500 miles. Just some points, in case anyone else tries this:
1. Put the Premium Economy reservation (money ticket, not award, of course) on hold with AA.com, codeshare on BA, for round-trip from LAX-London. No fare rules available. (When I clicked the "fare rules" button I got an error message saying that my AA number was not found. Odd because: a) I was signed in; b) why would the fare rules display require a valid AA number).
2. Went to the airport and purchased the W ticket (because I was using some paper vouchers).
3. Called AA to book the upgrade to Business for 12, 500 miles. Over the next 36 hours I was told the following (in approx this order):
- There isn't any such award. (HUAC)
- Yes, let me work with fare desk. 30 minutes on hold. "No inventory available." I say I was told it was available the day before. 45 minutes on hold. "I think we have it worked out." 30 minutes on hold. "Okay, it is on the queue for ticketing."
- Next morning. "I see it on the queue, should be done in an hour."
- 8 hours later. "There seems to be a problem, let me talk to fare desk." 30 minutes on hold. "It appears that it was set up wrong because it is a code share and those don't qualify." I act confused (well, I am confused) and ask that they keep looking. 30 minutes on hold. "We think we figured out how to do it, please hold." 15 minutes on hold. "Okay, we pushed it through and it has been ticketed."
Result: They did push it, it shows on AA and on BA, as a Platinum I can book free seats on BA (without paying about $250 for seat reservations), and about 10% of the seats are currently reserved, so I get what I want (a window)).
Conclusion: Seems like it shouldn't have taken so many calls and about 4 hours on hold. But, for 25,000 miles total (no fees at all), upgrade from Prem Economy to Bus, on the A380 for 2 10+ hour flights seems like a good deal to me.
1. Put the Premium Economy reservation (money ticket, not award, of course) on hold with AA.com, codeshare on BA, for round-trip from LAX-London. No fare rules available. (When I clicked the "fare rules" button I got an error message saying that my AA number was not found. Odd because: a) I was signed in; b) why would the fare rules display require a valid AA number).
2. Went to the airport and purchased the W ticket (because I was using some paper vouchers).
3. Called AA to book the upgrade to Business for 12, 500 miles. Over the next 36 hours I was told the following (in approx this order):
- There isn't any such award. (HUAC)
- Yes, let me work with fare desk. 30 minutes on hold. "No inventory available." I say I was told it was available the day before. 45 minutes on hold. "I think we have it worked out." 30 minutes on hold. "Okay, it is on the queue for ticketing."
- Next morning. "I see it on the queue, should be done in an hour."
- 8 hours later. "There seems to be a problem, let me talk to fare desk." 30 minutes on hold. "It appears that it was set up wrong because it is a code share and those don't qualify." I act confused (well, I am confused) and ask that they keep looking. 30 minutes on hold. "We think we figured out how to do it, please hold." 15 minutes on hold. "Okay, we pushed it through and it has been ticketed."
Result: They did push it, it shows on AA and on BA, as a Platinum I can book free seats on BA (without paying about $250 for seat reservations), and about 10% of the seats are currently reserved, so I get what I want (a window)).
Conclusion: Seems like it shouldn't have taken so many calls and about 4 hours on hold. But, for 25,000 miles total (no fees at all), upgrade from Prem Economy to Bus, on the A380 for 2 10+ hour flights seems like a good deal to me.
Mar 19, 2016, 2:25 pm
#339
Moderator: American AAdvantage
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2000
Location: NorCal - SMF area
Programs: AA LT Plat; HH LT Diamond, Maître-plongeur des Muccis
Posts: 62,948
Just tried (finally succeeded, with great persistence) to use the award to upgrade BA flight from Premium Economy to Business for 12,500 miles. Just some points, in case anyone else tries this:
<snip>
Conclusion: Seems like it shouldn't have taken so many calls and about 4 hours on hold. But, for 25,000 miles total (no fees at all), upgrade from Prem Economy to Bus, on the A380 for 2 10+ hour flights seems like a good deal to me.
<snip>
Conclusion: Seems like it shouldn't have taken so many calls and about 4 hours on hold. But, for 25,000 miles total (no fees at all), upgrade from Prem Economy to Bus, on the A380 for 2 10+ hour flights seems like a good deal to me.
The level of knowledge of many agents is Marianas Trench level abysmal. I can't imagine they don't have a help system or supervisory support available to deal with complex issues. (OTOH, that's at least one reason why FlyerTalk thrives...)
Mar 19, 2016, 2:36 pm
#340
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,600
Just tried (finally succeeded, with great persistence) to use the award to upgrade BA flight from Premium Economy to Business for 12,500 miles. Just some points, in case anyone else tries this:
1. Put the Premium Economy reservation (money ticket, not award, of course) on hold with AA.com, codeshare on BA, for round-trip from LAX-London. No fare rules available. (When I clicked the "fare rules" button I got an error message saying that my AA number was not found. Odd because: a) I was signed in; b) why would the fare rules display require a valid AA number).
2. Went to the airport and purchased the W ticket (because I was using some paper vouchers).
3. Called AA to book the upgrade to Business for 12, 500 miles. Over the next 36 hours I was told the following (in approx this order):
- There isn't any such award. (HUAC)
- Yes, let me work with fare desk. 30 minutes on hold. "No inventory available." I say I was told it was available the day before. 45 minutes on hold. "I think we have it worked out." 30 minutes on hold. "Okay, it is on the queue for ticketing."
- Next morning. "I see it on the queue, should be done in an hour."
- 8 hours later. "There seems to be a problem, let me talk to fare desk." 30 minutes on hold. "It appears that it was set up wrong because it is a code share and those don't qualify." I act confused (well, I am confused) and ask that they keep looking. 30 minutes on hold. "We think we figured out how to do it, please hold." 15 minutes on hold. "Okay, we pushed it through and it has been ticketed."
Result: They did push it, it shows on AA and on BA, as a Platinum I can book free seats on BA (without paying about $250 for seat reservations), and about 10% of the seats are currently reserved, so I get what I want (a window)).
Conclusion: Seems like it shouldn't have taken so many calls and about 4 hours on hold. But, for 25,000 miles total (no fees at all), upgrade from Prem Economy to Bus, on the A380 for 2 10+ hour flights seems like a good deal to me.
1. Put the Premium Economy reservation (money ticket, not award, of course) on hold with AA.com, codeshare on BA, for round-trip from LAX-London. No fare rules available. (When I clicked the "fare rules" button I got an error message saying that my AA number was not found. Odd because: a) I was signed in; b) why would the fare rules display require a valid AA number).
2. Went to the airport and purchased the W ticket (because I was using some paper vouchers).
3. Called AA to book the upgrade to Business for 12, 500 miles. Over the next 36 hours I was told the following (in approx this order):
- There isn't any such award. (HUAC)
- Yes, let me work with fare desk. 30 minutes on hold. "No inventory available." I say I was told it was available the day before. 45 minutes on hold. "I think we have it worked out." 30 minutes on hold. "Okay, it is on the queue for ticketing."
- Next morning. "I see it on the queue, should be done in an hour."
- 8 hours later. "There seems to be a problem, let me talk to fare desk." 30 minutes on hold. "It appears that it was set up wrong because it is a code share and those don't qualify." I act confused (well, I am confused) and ask that they keep looking. 30 minutes on hold. "We think we figured out how to do it, please hold." 15 minutes on hold. "Okay, we pushed it through and it has been ticketed."
Result: They did push it, it shows on AA and on BA, as a Platinum I can book free seats on BA (without paying about $250 for seat reservations), and about 10% of the seats are currently reserved, so I get what I want (a window)).
Conclusion: Seems like it shouldn't have taken so many calls and about 4 hours on hold. But, for 25,000 miles total (no fees at all), upgrade from Prem Economy to Bus, on the A380 for 2 10+ hour flights seems like a good deal to me.
If so, was the fare booked a full fare AA PE fare or a discounted one?
If it was a full fare ticket, it should have been easy for the agent to rebook onto W class on BA and process the upgrade
If the latter, the reason it was hard is due to the rebookiing trying to be forced incorrectly onto the wrong booking class. AA uses W for all PE fares, however these fares do not all match to W class on BA - the discounted ones match to E or T ( which are non upgradeable )
If you managed to get an agent incorrectly rebook a discounted AA W fare into W rather than E/T , you were lucky
I have, in the few upgrades on BA I have done, where booked on a full fare ticket found the upgrade process v straightforward
Mar 19, 2016, 2:47 pm
#341
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: FIND ME ON TWITTER FOR THE LATEST
Posts: 27,730
American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia Airlines
Upgrades are allowed on Codeshare flights (AA*, BA* and IB*) as long as the operating carrier is AA, BA or IB:
• BA - BA* flights operated by Comair, Sun Air, Cityflier, and BA Limited. They do not need to be converted.
• IB - IB* flights operated by Air Nostrum, Iberia Express, Iberia LAE (in the LHR to MAD market).
• APA Upgrades are not offered/valid on flights operated by OpenSkies (EC) for British Airways.
The segment must be converted from a codeshare to a prime flight.
If BA and/or IB segments are not available to be upgraded or do not exist in the PNR, use wholly AA upgrade award(s).
If BA or IB segments become available later, then the AA award can be reinstated and the APA award claimed.
Upgrades are allowed on Codeshare flights (AA*, BA* and IB*) as long as the operating carrier is AA, BA or IB:
• BA - BA* flights operated by Comair, Sun Air, Cityflier, and BA Limited. They do not need to be converted.
• IB - IB* flights operated by Air Nostrum, Iberia Express, Iberia LAE (in the LHR to MAD market).
• APA Upgrades are not offered/valid on flights operated by OpenSkies (EC) for British Airways.
The segment must be converted from a codeshare to a prime flight.
If BA and/or IB segments are not available to be upgraded or do not exist in the PNR, use wholly AA upgrade award(s).
If BA or IB segments become available later, then the AA award can be reinstated and the APA award claimed.
Mar 19, 2016, 2:54 pm
#342
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,600
The segment must be converted from a codeshare to a prime flight.
requirement. On the prime flight number of BA only W class is upgradeable
Unlike other fares with AA/BA, AA is using W for everything in Premium Economy however the booking class requirement for the prime flight number is only W for full fare tickets. Quite correctly, agents have difficulty (and shouldn't be able to) rebooking a discount AA fare into a full fare BA inventory
Mar 19, 2016, 11:52 pm
#343
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Orange County, CA, USA
Programs: AA (Life Plat), Marriott (Life Titanium) and every other US program
Posts: 6,411
In order to upgrade, did AA rebook onto the BA flight number? ( unless things have changed recently, there is no award business availability on AA codeshares )
If so, was the fare booked a full fare AA PE fare or a discounted one?
If it was a full fare ticket, it should have been easy for the agent to rebook onto W class on BA and process the upgrade
If the latter, the reason it was hard is due to the rebookiing trying to be forced incorrectly onto the wrong booking class. AA uses W for all PE fares, however these fares do not all match to W class on BA - the discounted ones match to E or T ( which are non upgradeable )
If you managed to get an agent incorrectly rebook a discounted AA W fare into W rather than E/T , you were lucky
I have, in the few upgrades on BA I have done, where booked on a full fare ticket found the upgrade process v straightforward
If so, was the fare booked a full fare AA PE fare or a discounted one?
If it was a full fare ticket, it should have been easy for the agent to rebook onto W class on BA and process the upgrade
If the latter, the reason it was hard is due to the rebookiing trying to be forced incorrectly onto the wrong booking class. AA uses W for all PE fares, however these fares do not all match to W class on BA - the discounted ones match to E or T ( which are non upgradeable )
If you managed to get an agent incorrectly rebook a discounted AA W fare into W rather than E/T , you were lucky
I have, in the few upgrades on BA I have done, where booked on a full fare ticket found the upgrade process v straightforward
1. "Full-fare" applies to Economy to PE, and also to Bus to First. But for PE to Bus it only needs to be a published W fare. The actual quote is "the following eligibe fare types can be upgraded: . . Premium Economy with published World Traveler Plus fares booked in W on British Airways."
2. It does apply to codeshares. The single asterisk footnote says "Includes travel on codeshare flights marketed by American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia and operated by any of the three carriers."
Mar 20, 2016, 3:06 am
#344
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,600
Except that to upgrade, the passenger needs to be rebooked on the prime number
W class on AA codeshare only changes to W on BA when a full fare
It is only recently ( compared to the award wording ) that AA has started offering discounted W class codeshare on BA
W class on AA codeshare only changes to W on BA when a full fare
It is only recently ( compared to the award wording ) that AA has started offering discounted W class codeshare on BA
Mar 20, 2016, 1:27 pm
#345
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,234
It seems to me this is the key. Sounds like Not all W fare on AA (codeshares) map to W fares "on British Airways" (i.e., when they're converted). Whether there's an easy way to know is one question (and sounds like there may not be).