I'm not following. The BE points are already earned.

What is a better use of BE points then?

Assuming you value miles at 1.5c each, mileage upgrade costs $300.

that means BXP1 gets you nearly 50 cents per point in value -- which I think is the best value you can get out of BE points (compare to BXP3s, which cost 3100 points to do what an SWU or 25k+$350 -- a "$775 value" so only 25c/point -- does)

Business Extra upgrades--when do they clear?
 

I've earned enough points in my business extra account (about 1800) to qualify for a few domestic upgrades. I can't seem to find info on when these clear. Is it at booking? Does it go to the upgrade list and if so where? After other elites? The info doesn't seem readily available. I am platinum flying PHL/LAX/PHL. Would I be better using 500-mile stickers? I have about $6000 in rolling annual spend.

This is new to me and I welcome input from the circle of wisdom here. Thanks in advance.

They clear into C inventory--same as system wide upgrades or mileage upgrades, you can use ExpertFlyer to search for it. It can be anytime from booking to boarding. You need to be booked in specific fare codes based on the type of award you get, pay attention to the restrictions and don't plan to use it on a basic economy ticket or a inexpensive O fare for example.

They don't work on B, N, O, Q, or S fares, so make sure you don't have those. There is plenty of information in the Business Extra thread, you should look there. (Mods: merge?)

You will likely notice in that thread that the waitlist process for BXP1 upgrades is a little hit-or-miss -- if it doesn't go automatically and you get an ExpertFlyer alert telling you there's C availability, it can be difficult to get an agent who can push the upgrade through. (You have to do the upgrades through Business Extra / Meeting Services -- regular AAgents won't touch these). For that reason, I don't waitlist them -- I personally only use BXP1s when I can confirm them at booking, which I check by looking on ExpertFlyer before I buy my ticket.

I then use Matrix - ITA Software by Google to search airfares to look for an eligible fare (typically H, K, M, L, G, or V) -- in your case, for example, I would type the following into the "Departing From" field: PHL :: aa+ /f bc=h bc=k bc=m bc=l bc=g bc=v and then tab over to type LAX :: aa+ /f bc=h bc=k bc=m bc=l bc=g bc=v for Destination, then hit tab again. That should result in the aa+ going in the routing codes field and everything after the / going in the extension codes box. I always check matrix because you might find that the higher fare you have to pay for a non-BNOQS fare makes the BXP1 no longer worth it. You can book the fares using bookwithmatrix or by calling AA.

Thanks for this detailed guidance. That's why I love Flyer Talk!

Really dumb question, but on the Rewards that are *segment* upgrades, do you get to pick which segment?
Or must it always be the first segment of an itinerary?

Thank you

Pick whichever one you like (or is available).

Have your Points for February/March posted yet?
 

I know it takes usually until the 24th day to post the points of the previous month; but I haven't seen anything yet. Just wondered if anyone else has their points in the system....if so, then I will need to do a missing point request with BE.... (and no one wants to do that, ha!) :p

February has already posted.

Really?
 

I guess I'm gonna have to dig for ticket numbers and request points.....I hate when this happens

Has anyone else had problems getting upgraded using BXP3 when booked as Premium Economy. It seems like its an ordeal every time. I just somehow lost an upgrade because it took Business Extra 45 minutes to figure out why they couldn't take from the C inventory only to have it taken by someone using Miles+Money or SWUs. I have SWUs sitting in my account and would have used them for a HKG->DFW upgrade. It seems like this is a problem EVERYTIME i try to upgrade from PE.

Am I just an isolated case?