It really depends what you are after. Quite often Y is half empty and you can have a whole row to yourself. My g/f got to enjoy this last year and she wasn't too dissatisfied from her experience. She might even post her comments on this here. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I personally prefer to upgrade only on flights which are long enough for a decent sleep. IMO, JFK-LHR may not necessarily be worth an upgrade while LAX-FRA is definitely worth it.

I'm fairly small for a guy (5'8", skinny) so I fit into an economy seat pretty well, especially so since I usually fly AA with the extra legroom. Still, I will always upgrade. Aside from the better seat, the entire experience is more pleasant.

If the back is empty, the transatlantic in a 2-5-2 configuration is great. Did a DTW to CDG on NW recently and had the 5 middle seats for 2 of us both ways. Using the seat pinpointer on NW, I put us in the end seats of the 5 middle seats. These were V fares, however, for $296 rt, so I couldn't have upgraded anyway.

While my partner slept, I sat up and had several free Heinekins and read. Then I actually slept lying across the 4 seats. Even when I go BOS-TPE up top in first on a 747, I rarely sleep for the entire 22 hour trip. Something about lying on my back doesn't let me.

I did upgrade in October with miles on a red eye from SEA-EWR, slept not a wink, and cruised coach looking for three seats to lay down in while my wife peacefully slept away on her back in first. Red eyes always seem to make so much sense until you actually have to ride one and payback the time over the next few days. So in that case the CO first was not worth the miles. I just had to keep accepting the mice red wine the FA kept offering since I couldn't sleep.

I couldn't agree more with you!! I have probs sleeping on my back too. I usually end up with a sore throat as a result of the a/c. It's a real pity that AA didn't introduce beds in biz like BA did.

personally, i don't upgrade my transatlantic flights for a couple reasons:

1. CO makes it next to impossible.

2. It's not worth the extra cost based on the flight length. i can live for 6-7 hours from east coast to europe. 12+ hours to asia, i'm upgrading as well.

Did 4 transatlantic flights on UA sofar this year.
The 3 (TUE, TUE, WE) flights all had very light loads in coach, with plenty of empty seats, mostly in the middle section - a chance tosave your miles for upgrades in times of higher load factors.

Looking back at opver 20 years of NorthAtlantic travel, midweek flights in November & February on U.S. carriers feature most empty seats.

Yes, actually. The only fares which can be upgraded for 10K miles each direction are only available on J, C, Y or B fares, which tend to be very expensive. If you want to fly on cheaper fares (M, H, K or Q) you'll need to pony up 20K each way.

So it isn't as "cheap" as it may appear.

For someone starting on the west coast- a 50K upgrade from Y to J is not that expensive mileage wise if you have mid to upper tier status.

For every ta trip I take I usually get 11.5 to 12K without bizarre routing. I also get a 100% bonus, so without any promos, I'm only out 24-26K per trip. With double mileage, bonuses, upgrade conversions (RIP) and online booking, I was coming out even.

I would much rather use my miles for an upgrade than for a free ticket and when you start in Seattle, its definitely worth it.

lala

Just to echo other comments, upgrading really depends on the day of week and what you will be doing upon arrival. Going for pleasure means I can crash at the hotel on arrival for a nap.

On 2/7 ORD-LHR on a UA 777 was 100% full in coach (I assume up front was as well.) However, the return on 2/11 was no more than 25% full (and business also light.) An FA said that the late week flights are running heavy but early week flights are light. Also Feb being a low volume month to begin with makes the variations great.

Final item is also watch the planes on UA. Outbound had E+, return did not. (I had thought that the ORD routes all had been converted to E+, but not this one.)

Upgrade, Upgrade, Upgrade- your miles will be well spent on the ground and in the air.
Enjoy...
BT

It wasn't clear whether you were asking if you should upgrade for the transatlantic portion, or for internal european flights.

For transatlantic, almost DEFINITELY! You'll sleep, have plenty of room, and definitely get the video system. Even if biz is full, you have alot of personal space. I'm not sure what fare class you purchased, but if you need to use 20K miles, you might just upgrade the return to the US, which takes much longer than the flight to Europe. It depends on how much miles you have. If you only need to use 10K miles, go for it both ways!!

For internal flights in Europe, don't bother if you have to use miles. You get a better meal, and will probably have less people in business. The seats are the same as coach though, they do not have US first class style seats. Also, the flights tend to be very short in Europe and it is a "requirement" that you get a meal and free drinks. I took an 18 mile flight from Baul (?) to Zurich on Cross Air. They served drinks and handed out chocolates. (Contrast that to the almost 4 hour flights in the US where you get a soft drink and a bag of pretzels...)