TheOnlyWayTo Fly

I did a search of the forum on this topic but could not find any recent relevant answers so forgive me if I missed it... My 6'5" son is on AA996 (EZE to DFW) in a couple of weeks travelling on the lowest of the low company bought fare. He has no AA status. I'm thinking I would like to treat him and move him into Premium Economy as he does not fit into AA's Y seats. I called in to Reservations but the wait was 3 hours and I didn't have the time to hold that long. So my question for the resident experts here is; Before I fork out the $$, is it possible for me to upgrade him using my BA Avios miles? Any pearls of wisdom would be appreciated. Cheers. And PS; if I have to pay, is there a way to upgrade him to PE with cash online rather than calling in? Thanks.

Mwenenzi

As about use of BA avios more of question for the BA forum
AA-BA-IB have a cross airline upgrade scheme,but subject to onerous t&c's, Requires high base fare booking class (expensive)

AA forum--->AA Partner Airline Upgrade Award - BA, IB, including codeshares (master thd)
AA forum--->Ways to upgrade my AA flight (ticketed through BA) (locked)
BA forum--> Avios upgrade on a codeshare flight?
BA forum-->Can I upgrade my AA flight with Avios?

guv1976

Would a Main Cabin Extra (extra-leg-room) seat suffice for your son? Probably cheaper than Premium Economy.

Geordie405

I don't think this is going to be possible. I think you'd only be able to upgrade the flight using Avios if it was booked via BA and was on a 125- ticket. However, BA won't sell you a ticket for just EZE - DFW. You could look on ba.com to see if there's any Avios availability for flights EZE - DFW and then book a new ticket using Avios in the desired cabin, and cancel the AA ticket for a credit to be used at a later date.

If you son is 6'5 then I really think he's going to be in for a pretty uncomfortable flight in coach unfortunately, especially if he's also broad-shouldered. I am assuming the flight will be operated by a 787 aircraft and the coach seats are somewhat lacking in terms of space. MCE would give him additional legroom but it wouldn't address the width aspect. Premium Economy would certainly be a better option.

If you go to aa.com and bring up his reservation using his record locator there should be a "Change Flight" option so you might be able to process the change there, online. Just be sure to select the same day of travel and it should give you the available options. If PE doesn't show up then you'd need to call AA.

Mwenenzi

But "travelling on the lowest of the low company bought fare" . With company fares may have to deal via the company TA and/or company travel policy.
Just paying cash for MCE seat may be the best/only option

SeattleDavid

Here is the thread that is most helpful. Quoting its main points ...



Given your son's route I doubt that it purchasable from BA directly and so it wouldn't be upgradable with AVIOS.

TheOnlyWayTo Fly

Thanks Everyone! It seems the rules and regs prevent me from using my Avios points and agreed that a Main Cabin Extra seat would help and would be cheaper than a leap to PE. I'll check the price differential if I can reach anyone in Res and take it from there. The son makes this return trip for work every year and is subject to the cheapest seat his company can find. It usually takes him 24 hours to walk normally again after his flight (!) as he has to transfer in DFW for another flight up to YVR on a Max with even less space! Thanks again to all for your endless wisdom and your willingness to help.

Antarius

AA also offers LBFUs at the gate. So you can potentially buy up if there is space.

Also, there is miles + copay. 25k miles and 350 USD will get you a seat in business if available (otherwise you waitlist and don't pay if it doesn't clear). The 25k miles are AA miles not Avios though.

TheOnlyWayTo Fly

So the story ended with me buying the son a Main Cabin Extra seat from EZE to DFW with 13k of his AA miles and forking out $72US for an exit row on the 738 from DFW to YVR. The kid is delighted to be spared the torture (his word) of 11+hrs plus 4+ hours on his way home in AA Y. I did speak to Res after 4 hours(!) to a delightful young lady who could not even find out if the fare was upgradeable - probably due to it being made by a third party. Thanks again to all who inputted - most appreciate your time and thoughts. Cheers.

guv1976

Do you happen to recall what the cash cost of that MCE seat from EZE to DFW was? I've been trying to get a handle on how much value one gets from using AA miles instead of cash to select an MCE seat.

Antarius

Seems to be $129 to $165 when I did a dummy search (for a couple of weeks from now). Interestingly, the upgrade popup showed PE for 112 GBP, which is less than the price of a window MCE seat

TheOnlyWayTo Fly

To move the kid from Main Cabin to a MCE seat (I think it was 14J) cost either $168US or 13.4k miles. I imagine the price quoted on the seat map may have something to do with what your original ticket costs. For us (him!) it was a nobrainer to use his miles as his annual travel on AA is limited and rarely enough for him to gain any meaningful status. YMMV - naturally!
And just as an aside, on his outbound flight, his pre-selected aisle seat in Main Cabin was changed prior to checkin and he had to endure a middle seat at the back of the plane for the whole trip down to EZE. He did not want to repeat that and so the cost was justified. And finally the sector from DFW to YVR cost $72US or 8.4k AA Miles for an exit row (14J). He was short miles so it was paid for by cash. Buying miles was expensive compared to spending cash.

guv1976

Interesting. On the EZE-DFW leg, you got ~ 1.25�/mile for the MCE seat, but on the DFW-YVR leg, AA offered a value of less than 0.9�/mile.
​​​​​​
Thanks!

TheOnlyWayTo Fly

Well the story did not have a happy ending. The kid tested positive and did not make his flights home and is now isolating in USH. Canada won't let him in until 11 days from the initial test has passed. SO, my next task is to see if a) those main cabin extra seats will be carried over to the new booking automatically and b) if No is the answer, can I get the 13.4k AA Miles and the $72US that was paid to book extra legroom seats from EZE-DFW and DFW - YVR. Then as soon as there is a new booking I'll try and snag seats again for him , in the meantime, if anyone has any pearls of wisdom to share, feel free to share please!

guv1976

Very sorry to hear about your son; hope that he recovers quickly, and without getting too ill.

Unfortunately, AA's policy is that paid seats are non-refundable if the passenger cancels or misses the flights:

https://www.aa.com/i18n/fragments/me...ExtraTerms.jsp

(Whether AA will make an exception for positive COVID tests is something I do not know.)