Is it possible to pay for a higher fare class?
 

Hi All

I am booked in Basic Economy (B) for a Montego Bay to LAX via Charlotte flight next month. I want to pay more to move to a Main Cabin fare e.g. O, Q, N Deep discount fare (so I can earn Qantas Status Credits). Does anyone know if this is at all possible and best way to do this?

Phone AA and ask the price of upfaring to a higher fare bucket.
Up to you if the cost is worth the QF sc's.

The answer is no, you can't (aside from buying an entirely new ticket): American Will No Longer Let Customers ‘Buy Up’ From Basic Economy

I think you'd have to throw away the "BE" ticket and just book an entirely new ticket. Now I don't know how it works though when AA will see you booked for the same flight(s) twice.

You can cancel the BE ticket; it just does not retain any value. This is how you "throw it away" so you can book a new one without having overlapping reservations.

If you need a specific fare class that's higher than the lowest available main cabin fare when booking on AA.com, you have 2 options. (1) just call AA reservations and make the booking with them, and tell them what fare class you need. There will be a phone booking fee, I don't know if they'll waive it. (2) Call AA web services (which is separate from reservations) and work with them. If you can put the flight on hold, then they can change the fare on the back end and then you can purchase the ticket, but you have to watch to make sure the system doesn't kick it back down to the lower fare. If a hold isn't an option, I'm not sure exactly how they'll handle it.