I try to get out of the country a couple of times a year, and I have some flexibility to do MRs, though I would need a double or triple mile promo to reach top tier status.

I go to EZE lots, but now I am wanting to go to the Pacific Rim countries as well, I did my first trip to China this year and I want to go back there (many times), as well as to the Phillipines, Indonesia and Thailand.

When my MR (MSP-DFW-EZE) this weekend posts, I will be an AAdvantage PLT, but I will be 35K miles short of EXP with my projected travel through the end of this year. I won't make EXP next year, either, unless there is another AADER or DEQM promo again.

I love flying, but I would love flying even more if I did not have to fly coach. And, I can't afford full fare coach which would get me into J as a PLT (for that matter, miles + copay is $600 cheaper to EZE, but the $700 sticks in my craw).

I see that CO, NW/DL and UA both go the places I want to go on their own metal, with prices roughly a couple hundred dollars of each other, so between AA, CO, NW/DL and UA, what is my best option for getting free upgrades into F or J? Or is this wishful thinking, and I should just get the cheapest fares on whichever airlines I can?

I am a little confused by your post.. (not hard to confuse me!!)

......but I suspect you are thinking that there ARE free (routine) International upgrades given to status members like the free domestic upgrades some programs offer...

AFAIK no airline offers such a thing... upgrades on international flights generally need to be supported by miles/certificates/points etc

..with status there is always the chance I suppose of an op-up....

I guess then Lufthansa M&M is not your program ;-)

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...rades-why.html

I'd be more than happy to pay for upgrades with miles. But a copay sticks in my craw.

Dont know if that helps you since you dont live in europe, and I guess you are not taking many intra-european or europe to middle est flights, but if you will ever take one, become a BD gold member (they do status match).

After becoming BD gold member you will get 4 vouchers for upgrades from economy to business (2 class flights, excluding Saudi Arab) or from economy to premium (3 lass flights to Tel Aviv or Cairo).

The first thing that comes to mind is that at least AA and UA give systemwide upgrades to top tier elites on most fares (contrasted with, say, DL, that requires double or more the cost of many fares to be eligible to use an upgrade cert). So what airlines besides AA and UA give these out to top tier elites? I'm thinking 4 upgraded intl flights a year (round trip) isn't a bad perk....

8 one way's for AA

only 6 one way's for UA.

AA has a copay for mileage upgrades but most fares can be upgraded this way. Other airlines may not charge a copay, but you must buy a more , sometimes much more, expensive fare to even be eligible for upgrades. So it's a trade off of sorts.

It sound like your best best is to find which airline flies where you want to go and see what their award tickets are like. Then earn the miles for an award tickets on that airline or partner airline. This means maybe having to plan award flights as much as 330 days out but may be the way to go.

TransPac (PVG, BKK, MNL, etc) and South America (EZE, GRU) are where I am interested in going to. So that would be all the majors: AA, CO, DL/NW and UA.

Looks like I should just stick with AA, and do MRs to get the extra 34K miles I would need to go EXP later this year. At $0.04 per EQM, I could do it for less than $1,400. That just looks like the least expensive option for me, since upgrading with copay+miles or paying full-fare coach would cost a minimum of $2,800.

Who can speak to how much more it costs to buy upgradeable fare classes on UA? And what about CO?

If you only want a few trips a year save the money you're blowing on mileage runs and just wait for premium cabin sales. Also, focus on free and cheap offers for miles (e.g., Pile on the Miles from DL/NW, NW 10,000 mile shopping bonus, 40,000 mile Grand Slam bonus from US), eventually you'll build your accounts up to get free biz/first awards, it may take a few years, but that's alright, you may be surprised what comes along by being active in all the programs, but you should be able to earn enough to get a free biz/first class ticket every year or two on various programs that way.

^

As for upgrades on paid international flights it's pretty much only UA and AA for most practical purposes. UA had better Asia coverage.