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
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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)
Jan 18, 2018, 2:49 pm
#661
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: MEL CHC
Posts: 21,016
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...aster-thd.html
UK has the APD on departures only based of fare class & distance. A few minor airports are exempt, so you pay APD for LHR departures
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Passenger_Duty
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Passenger_Duty
Jan 18, 2018, 4:51 pm
#662
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Jamison, PA
Programs: AA Platinum Pro
Posts: 288
[QUOTE=davidgrahammd;29309902]If you book through the AA website, you can pull up flights with a BA flight #. It will usually be listed lower down the list than the same flight with the AA codeshare #. If you want to look for upgrade capacity, you can try and book through the BA website and see if any availability comes up. Be aware that they will release upgrade seats at just about anytime. They do not keep an upgrade list. If no seats are available, they just say nothing is available. Once something comes up, then you call AA and ask to do the upgrade. It'll probably take an hour or more on the phone getting it done (spoken from personal experience)[/QUOTE
I thought I was going to be able to upgrade from Prem Econ on the A.A. site to Club World on BA. Turns out it was a P fare and I couldn’t go into the Club World. Now, I have to look for W fares...
I thought I was going to be able to upgrade from Prem Econ on the A.A. site to Club World on BA. Turns out it was a P fare and I couldn’t go into the Club World. Now, I have to look for W fares...
Jan 18, 2018, 8:15 pm
#663
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 75
I had the same thing (opposite direction, though), but even though I was in W on AA, it mapped to a non-W PE code on BA. The AA phone folks were able to look up what the "prime" (i.e., W) BA fare was...would have been $5,500 to upgrade to that, then the 12.5K miles to upgrade to CW! (On a $2,500 ticket where I could have gotten r/t J for $3,400.)
Jan 19, 2018, 1:52 am
#664
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Kyiv, Ukraine
Programs: Mucci, BA Gold, TK Elite, HHonors Lifetime Diamond
Posts: 7,691
I am not sure if AA can process an upgrade on a BA ticket stock, so I would book a BA flight number directly with AA. But again, booking business class at a discounted fare often works out much cheaper.
Jan 19, 2018, 5:10 am
#665
Join Date: Jan 2000
Programs: Free agent
Posts: 1,296
I booked a D fare ticket through AmEx travel, BA operated AA codeshare from LHR-YYZ. Was able to upgrade using 35,000 AA miles and no copay. Sucks because it would have only been 16,000 Avios if it was a BA flight number, and I'd have earned more miles. Now I'm trying to decide if it's worth it on a 7.5 flight on a 787. I've never flown BA F so I might give it a shot.
Be careful if you book using Chase or AARP discount, technically those cannot be upgraded with Avios without unwinding the discount. Some have been able to but most can't, seems agent dependent.
From what BA told me it does come down to the stock it's on as well.
Be careful if you book using Chase or AARP discount, technically those cannot be upgraded with Avios without unwinding the discount. Some have been able to but most can't, seems agent dependent.
From what BA told me it does come down to the stock it's on as well.
Last edited by jmail1; Jan 19, 2018 at 5:20 am
Jan 19, 2018, 5:57 am
#666
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 214
Why don't you just fly AA metal from PHL to LHR and use miles + copay (or SWU) to upgrade the TATL flight? Since intra-Europe business class isn't really a business class seat you're not missing out on anything by flying coach from LHR to GLA on BA.
Jan 19, 2018, 6:22 am
#667
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: DEN
Programs: DL PM, Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Gold
Posts: 396
I booked a D fare ticket through AmEx travel, BA operated AA codeshare from LHR-YYZ. Was able to upgrade using 35,000 AA miles and no copay. Sucks because it would have only been 16,000 Avios if it was a BA flight number, and I'd have earned more miles. Now I'm trying to decide if it's worth it on a 7.5 flight on a 787. I've never flown BA F so I might give it a shot.
Be careful if you book using Chase or AARP discount, technically those cannot be upgraded with Avios without unwinding the discount. Some have been able to but most can't, seems agent dependent.
From what BA told me it does come down to the stock it's on as well.
Be careful if you book using Chase or AARP discount, technically those cannot be upgraded with Avios without unwinding the discount. Some have been able to but most can't, seems agent dependent.
From what BA told me it does come down to the stock it's on as well.
Jan 19, 2018, 8:51 am
#668
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Gatwick, UK
Programs: UA *G, BA Silver
Posts: 1,673
As far as I can work out the only affordable way to upgrade BA WTP to CW is with BA Avios (you can transfer into Avios from SPG and others) since you can then upgrade even the cheapest WTP fares to CW. I flew back yesterday on the BA A380 upper deck in CW after upgrading a $1300 fare with 30000 Avios and $328 (which is a lot, but a lot less than trying to use AA miles). There are an awful lot of complex rules about upgrading with Avios - booking on BA's website directly removes most of them.
Jan 19, 2018, 11:58 am
#669
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Jamison, PA
Programs: AA Platinum Pro
Posts: 288
I had the same thing (opposite direction, though), but even though I was in W on AA, it mapped to a non-W PE code on BA. The AA phone folks were able to look up what the "prime" (i.e., W) BA fare was...would have been $5,500 to upgrade to that, then the 12.5K miles to upgrade to CW! (On a $2,500 ticket where I could have gotten r/t J for $3,400.)
Jan 19, 2018, 12:00 pm
#670
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Jamison, PA
Programs: AA Platinum Pro
Posts: 288
As far as I can work out the only affordable way to upgrade BA WTP to CW is with BA Avios (you can transfer into Avios from SPG and others) since you can then upgrade even the cheapest WTP fares to CW. I flew back yesterday on the BA A380 upper deck in CW after upgrading a $1300 fare with 30000 Avios and $328 (which is a lot, but a lot less than trying to use AA miles). There are an awful lot of complex rules about upgrading with Avios - booking on BA's website directly removes most of them.
Jan 21, 2018, 6:35 am
#671
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Jamison, PA
Programs: AA Platinum Pro
Posts: 288
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...aster-thd.html
UK has the APD on departures only based of fare class & distance. A few minor airports are exempt, so you pay APD for LHR departures
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Passenger_Duty
UK has the APD on departures only based of fare class & distance. A few minor airports are exempt, so you pay APD for LHR departures
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Passenger_Duty
Thanks!
Jan 21, 2018, 1:03 pm
#672
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,584
You will also be liable for the business class carrier surcharge too
Are you sure that you have found a fare that books on a BA flight number in W class that is of good value?
It has to be on a BA flight number and not a codeshare
Jan 21, 2018, 5:12 pm
#673
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Gatwick, UK
Programs: UA *G, BA Silver
Posts: 1,673
Air Passenger Duty applies out of Glasgow
You will also be liable for the business class carrier surcharge too
Are you sure that you have found a fare that books on a BA flight number in W class that is of good value?
It has to be on a BA flight number and not a codeshare
You will also be liable for the business class carrier surcharge too
Are you sure that you have found a fare that books on a BA flight number in W class that is of good value?
It has to be on a BA flight number and not a codeshare
As Dave says, there will however be extra BA surcharges, which can run up as high as $325.
Jan 23, 2018, 7:04 am
#674
Join Date: Jan 2000
Programs: Free agent
Posts: 1,296
Just called AA, fortunately got a very senior knowledgeable agent who knew all the rules. She did have to put me on hold for about 20 minutes.
Mar 3, 2018, 9:06 am
#675
Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: US/HK
Programs: AA Plat Pro 3mm, IHG Spire,
Posts: 3
Using AA miles to upgrade BA flights
Hi All,
Sorry if if this is a tiresome post.
I can’t seem to find anywhere the rules for upgrading BA flights using AA miles. I have looked on both sites.
I am told you can use them but cannot waitlist?
I am unsure if they must be booked using an AA flight number or the fight be booked on AA or by AA?
Do existing BA flights still qualify?
Just wanted to understand it completely before making a fool of myself on the phone.
Also anyone know if you can upgrade on CX in the same way?
Many thanks,
Chris
Sorry if if this is a tiresome post.
I can’t seem to find anywhere the rules for upgrading BA flights using AA miles. I have looked on both sites.
I am told you can use them but cannot waitlist?
I am unsure if they must be booked using an AA flight number or the fight be booked on AA or by AA?
Do existing BA flights still qualify?
Just wanted to understand it completely before making a fool of myself on the phone.
Also anyone know if you can upgrade on CX in the same way?
Many thanks,
Chris