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
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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
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AA Partner Airline Upgrade Award - BA, IB, including codeshares (master thd)
Dec 4, 2016, 9:01 am
#511
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: BA Silver; Hilton Gold; IHG Diamond Ambassador; Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,811
In any case, what is not clear from AA's website and should really be made more explicit is that "BA W" != "AA W". When a customer goes to book a BA flight on aa.com, they are confusingly shown a fare code of "W" for premium economy and not told that this W is not the same as the BA W until wasting lots of time on the phone.
Feb 7, 2017, 10:21 pm
#512
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 532
Upgrading with AA Miles from W to J on BA Flights
https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-p...r-airlines.jsp
AA website says one can upgrade from W to J for only 12,500 miles on BA
While I was looking at flights from JFK-LON RT Mar 4-11, I found varying fares on varying sites on BA 2272 and BA 0179.
On BA and ITA MAtric I saw a fare of $979, however ITA Matrix says it is in booking class T. The BA site doesn't seem to have a place to see the fare class.
AA.com had a price of $1029 and it says its in W class.
So I can buy a $1029 RT fare and get into biz class with 12,500 miles each way? What a deal!
Am I missing any fine print here? How is priority given to those on the waitlist for an upgrade? Or can you confirm on ticketing if there is enough inventory?
What other websites show fare class? I wonder why BA doesn't. I also see that BA makes it hard to see seats until providing more information. Annoying.
AA website says one can upgrade from W to J for only 12,500 miles on BA
While I was looking at flights from JFK-LON RT Mar 4-11, I found varying fares on varying sites on BA 2272 and BA 0179.
On BA and ITA MAtric I saw a fare of $979, however ITA Matrix says it is in booking class T. The BA site doesn't seem to have a place to see the fare class.
AA.com had a price of $1029 and it says its in W class.
So I can buy a $1029 RT fare and get into biz class with 12,500 miles each way? What a deal!
Am I missing any fine print here? How is priority given to those on the waitlist for an upgrade? Or can you confirm on ticketing if there is enough inventory?
What other websites show fare class? I wonder why BA doesn't. I also see that BA makes it hard to see seats until providing more information. Annoying.
Feb 7, 2017, 10:24 pm
#513
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,605
You cannot do it
As it says, on the AA website, in order to upgrade using AA miles you need
Premium Economy with published World Traveller Plus fares booked in W on British Airways
BA offers Premium Economy using W,E and T classes. Only W class fares are eligible to be upgraded using AA miles
If you book a T class Premium Economy ticket, you cannot upgrade
The cheapest W class JFK-LHR fare on BA for those dates is the W2N0Y1C5 fare, which costs $4,430.36 inc taxes and charges
AA offers codeshares in premium economy on BA ; these all book in W class. As per the website, you need to be booked in W class on BA. To upgrade the AA booking, it will require to be rebooked onto the BA prime flight number and unless it is a full fare W class fare ( such as the $4430 fare ) it will convert to T class on the BA flight number
If it could be done, there would need to be U class available at time of requesting the upgrade; there is no waitlist for it
As it says, on the AA website, in order to upgrade using AA miles you need
Premium Economy with published World Traveller Plus fares booked in W on British Airways
BA offers Premium Economy using W,E and T classes. Only W class fares are eligible to be upgraded using AA miles
If you book a T class Premium Economy ticket, you cannot upgrade
The cheapest W class JFK-LHR fare on BA for those dates is the W2N0Y1C5 fare, which costs $4,430.36 inc taxes and charges
AA offers codeshares in premium economy on BA ; these all book in W class. As per the website, you need to be booked in W class on BA. To upgrade the AA booking, it will require to be rebooked onto the BA prime flight number and unless it is a full fare W class fare ( such as the $4430 fare ) it will convert to T class on the BA flight number
If it could be done, there would need to be U class available at time of requesting the upgrade; there is no waitlist for it
Last edited by Dave Noble; Feb 7, 2017 at 10:31 pm
Feb 7, 2017, 10:25 pm
#514
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: SNA
Programs: AA EXP, UA 1K (until it expires then never again), *wood Plat, Marriott Gold
Posts: 9,239
BA shows the fare class, if you click the flight number it will show "Selling Class".
Also there is no waitilist for BA - upgrade buckets are the same as award seats so check on BA.com for an award seat.
Also there is no waitilist for BA - upgrade buckets are the same as award seats so check on BA.com for an award seat.
Feb 7, 2017, 10:31 pm
#515
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
https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-p...r-airlines.jsp <snip>
Am I missing any fine print here? How is priority given to those on the waitlist for an upgrade? Or can you confirm on ticketing if there is enough inventory?
What other websites show fare class? I wonder why BA doesn't. I also see that BA makes it hard to see seats until providing more information. Annoying.
Am I missing any fine print here? How is priority given to those on the waitlist for an upgrade? Or can you confirm on ticketing if there is enough inventory?
What other websites show fare class? I wonder why BA doesn't. I also see that BA makes it hard to see seats until providing more information. Annoying.
/Moderator
Feb 7, 2017, 10:31 pm
#516
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 532
Feb 7, 2017, 10:35 pm
#517
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 532
You cannot do it
As it says, on the AA website, in order to upgrade using AA miles you need
Premium Economy with published World Traveller Plus fares booked in W on British Airways
BA offers Premium Economy using W,E and T classes. Only W class fares are eligible to be upgraded using AA miles
If you book a T class Premium Economy ticket, you cannot upgrade
The cheapest W class JFK-LHR fare on BA for those dates is the W2N0Y1C5 fare, which costs $4,430.36 inc taxes and charges
AA offers codeshares in premium economy on BA ; these all book in W class. As per the website, you need to be booked in W class on BA. To upgrade the AA booking, it will require to be rebooked onto the BA prime flight number and unless it is a full fare W class fare ( such as the $4430 fare ) it will convert to T class on the BA flight number
If it could be done, there would need to be U class available at time of requesting the upgrade; there is no waitlist for it
As it says, on the AA website, in order to upgrade using AA miles you need
Premium Economy with published World Traveller Plus fares booked in W on British Airways
BA offers Premium Economy using W,E and T classes. Only W class fares are eligible to be upgraded using AA miles
If you book a T class Premium Economy ticket, you cannot upgrade
The cheapest W class JFK-LHR fare on BA for those dates is the W2N0Y1C5 fare, which costs $4,430.36 inc taxes and charges
AA offers codeshares in premium economy on BA ; these all book in W class. As per the website, you need to be booked in W class on BA. To upgrade the AA booking, it will require to be rebooked onto the BA prime flight number and unless it is a full fare W class fare ( such as the $4430 fare ) it will convert to T class on the BA flight number
If it could be done, there would need to be U class available at time of requesting the upgrade; there is no waitlist for it
Feb 7, 2017, 10:36 pm
#518
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,605
Feb 7, 2017, 10:37 pm
#519
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,605
Indeed. Book a $979 fare in Premium Economy and that will not map to W class when rebooked onto BA
If you have access to tools such as Expert Flyer, you can see AA's fares matching exactly to BA's T class fares and they convert as such
Only Full fare tickets can be upgraded
Feb 7, 2017, 10:43 pm
#520
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 532
How is it misleading? The website indicates that only BA W class can be upgraded
Indeed. Book a $979 fare in Premium Economy and that will not map to W class when rebooked onto BA
If you have access to tools such as Expert Flyer, you can see AA's fares matching exactly to BA's T class fares and they convert as such
Only Full fare tickets can be upgraded
Indeed. Book a $979 fare in Premium Economy and that will not map to W class when rebooked onto BA
If you have access to tools such as Expert Flyer, you can see AA's fares matching exactly to BA's T class fares and they convert as such
Only Full fare tickets can be upgraded
"Premium Economy with published World Traveller Plus fares booked in W on British Airways"
and then book a flight on AA.com on BA equipment in the W fare class and think that you were flying on a W fare and eligible to upgrade. I had no idea that fare classes did not translate equally from one carrier to the next. If I bought a Y class fare on United and part of my itinerary was on Lufthansa, I would assume I was flying on a Y class ticket on Lufthansa. I learned something new.
Feb 7, 2017, 10:47 pm
#521
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,605
If you read the details, you would see that you need to be booked on BA and not AA, so the transfer between classes would not matter
There are lots of situations where booking classes can vary between carriers.
There are lots of situations where booking classes can vary between carriers.
Feb 7, 2017, 11:20 pm
#522
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 532
Nowhere does it indicate you have to book your flight directly with British Airways unless you interpret "booked in W on British Airways" as booking directly with British Airways. I read it as, booking in W fare class on a British Airways flight.
Guidance provided by AA.com on buying a W fare on British Airways to upgrade to Business class is:
"Excluding award tickets, the following eligible fare types can be upgraded:
Premium Economy with published World Traveller Plus fares booked in W on British Airways"
"Includes travel on codeshare flights marketed by American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia and operated by any of the three carriers."
"Mileage upgrade awards on British Airways and Iberia are valid on individual published-fare tickets on flights marketed or operated by American Airlines, British Airways or Iberia on eligible published fares only for fare classes J, C, D, R, W, Y, B."
It would be pretty easy to read AA.com instructions above that you can buy a W fare on BA and it can be a codeshare flight marketed by AA, and then make the assumption that you can buy a BA codeshare flight from AA in the W fare class and think that you had an upgradeable fare.
Feb 8, 2017, 12:10 am
#523
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,605
Guidance provided by AA.com on buying a W fare on British Airways to upgrade to Business class is:
"Excluding award tickets, the following eligible fare types can be upgraded:
Premium Economy with published World Traveller Plus fares booked in W on British Airways"
"Includes travel on codeshare flights marketed by American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia and operated by any of the three carriers."
"Excluding award tickets, the following eligible fare types can be upgraded:
Premium Economy with published World Traveller Plus fares booked in W on British Airways"
"Includes travel on codeshare flights marketed by American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia and operated by any of the three carriers."
The statement of what is eligible for upgrade from PE to Business seems to be pretty clear these days. Once AA has PE upgrade awards, these may have lower fare requirements to upgrade
Feb 8, 2017, 4:08 pm
#524
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,237
I did read the details, including the terms and conditions, on the AA page about upgrades on British Airways (https://www.aa.com/i18n/aadvantage-p...r-airlines.jsp).
Nowhere does it indicate you have to book your flight directly with British Airways unless you interpret "booked in W on British Airways" as booking directly with British Airways. I read it as, booking in W fare class on a British Airways flight.
Guidance provided by AA.com on buying a W fare on British Airways to upgrade to Business class is:
"Excluding award tickets, the following eligible fare types can be upgraded:
Premium Economy with published World Traveller Plus fares booked in W on British Airways"
"Includes travel on codeshare flights marketed by American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia and operated by any of the three carriers."
"Mileage upgrade awards on British Airways and Iberia are valid on individual published-fare tickets on flights marketed or operated by American Airlines, British Airways or Iberia on eligible published fares only for fare classes J, C, D, R, W, Y, B."
It would be pretty easy to read AA.com instructions above that you can buy a W fare on BA and it can be a codeshare flight marketed by AA, and then make the assumption that you can buy a BA codeshare flight from AA in the W fare class and think that you had an upgradeable fare.
Nowhere does it indicate you have to book your flight directly with British Airways unless you interpret "booked in W on British Airways" as booking directly with British Airways. I read it as, booking in W fare class on a British Airways flight.
Guidance provided by AA.com on buying a W fare on British Airways to upgrade to Business class is:
"Excluding award tickets, the following eligible fare types can be upgraded:
Premium Economy with published World Traveller Plus fares booked in W on British Airways"
"Includes travel on codeshare flights marketed by American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia and operated by any of the three carriers."
"Mileage upgrade awards on British Airways and Iberia are valid on individual published-fare tickets on flights marketed or operated by American Airlines, British Airways or Iberia on eligible published fares only for fare classes J, C, D, R, W, Y, B."
It would be pretty easy to read AA.com instructions above that you can buy a W fare on BA and it can be a codeshare flight marketed by AA, and then make the assumption that you can buy a BA codeshare flight from AA in the W fare class and think that you had an upgradeable fare.
Feb 8, 2017, 4:15 pm
#525
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
We have attempted to clarify the policy and added information based on members' experiences in the Wikipost.