Long haul flights are even nicer than domestic flights. It's important to have a flat bed on an overnight flight to make sure you're well rested when you arrive.
If you don't redeem your miles for an award ticket, there are other ways to score a business class seat. I wanted to take a closer look at the systemwide upgrades that AAdvantage elite members can earn.
American Airlines upgrade basics.
The ability to earn systemwide upgrades is one of the most popular perks of American AAdvantage Executive Platinum and Platinum Pro status.
These are offered as part of American's loyalty choice rewards, but you aren't issued them automatically anymore. In this post, I wanted to show you everything you need to know about systemwide upgrades, including how you can redeem them, and how you can earn them.
How do you get upgraded?
The new American AAdvantage Points system allows for systemwide upgrades to be selected as Loyalty Choice rewards.
Platinum Pro members can upgrade to a systemwide upgrade after earning 125,000 Loyalty Points and flying 30 segments.
Executive Platinum members can choose up to four systemwide upgrades after earning 200,000 Loyalty Points and flying 30 segments.
Since there are other choices you could make, there is an opportunity cost to doing so.
American AAdvantage Million Miler members receive four systemwide upgrades when they reach two million miler status and every million miler threshold after that.
Business class seats on long flights can be scored with systemwide upgrades.
When are the systemwide upgrades deposited?
Within a couple of days of reaching a million mile elite threshold tier, systemwide upgrades are deposited into your account.
When do systemwide upgrades end?
One year from the date of issue, American AAdvantage systemwide upgrades are valid. There is value in not making a selection right away because there is a long window where you can select your Elite Choice rewards. You can potentially use a systemwide upgrade for a year after you pass an elite threshold.
The date by which you have to confirm the upgrade is the expiration date. If you can confirm the upgrade, you can use a systemwide upgrade for travel. It can be difficult to find confirmable upgrade space.
Which airlines can have systemwide upgrades?
Only travel on American and American Eagle can be done with systemwide upgrades. The flights need to be operated and marketed by American so a codeshare flight wouldn't be eligible. You cannot redeem systemwide upgrades on partner airlines.
Only travel on American can be upgraded.
Is it possible to gift systemwide upgrades to others?
You can. You can give systemwide upgrades to friends and family.
Which fare classes are eligible for systemwide upgrades?
You can upgrade to a systemwide upgrade.
To upgrade from economy to business class.
To upgrade from business class to first class.
You can upgrade from economy to first class on domestic flights.
Premium economy, non-award economy, and business class fare classes are eligible for upgrade usage. Basic economy tickets can be upgraded.
American's A321T first class has systemwide upgrades.
How many segments are valid?
Up to three segments can be upgraded with each systemwide upgrade.
Is it possible to use systemwide upgrades at the time of booking?
It is possible to confirm an upgrade whenever there is confirmable upgrade space. The catch is that American doesn't make upgrade seats available in advance.
How can you find the availability of the upgrade?
You can search for upgrade availability on aa.com. If there is any confirmable upgrade space, you will see it at the bottom of the flight details. If you are logging into your Executive Platinum or Platinum Pro account, this will show.
Clicking on the "Systemwide upgrades" link will show you which class the upgrade is valid for. On a plane with both business and first class, it could be that there is upgrade availability from economy to business class, but not from business class to first class.
Which fare classes are needed to confirm an upgrade?
If you want to use a systemwide upgrade, you should look for the A or C fare class.
You need the A fare class to upgrade from business to first class.
You need the "C" fare class for economy, business, and first class on domestic flights.
The inventory comes from a subset of the classes. It doesn't work for upgrades if a flight has the "C" fare class available. You will only confirm an upgrade if the above fare classes are available, but that is not a guarantee.
It makes sense to use systemwide upgrades on domestic flights.
How do you apply systemwide improvements?
The only way to upgrade the system is by phone. There are two ways to go about it.
If you book your ticket online, you can apply the systemwide upgrade once the ticket is issued, but keep in mind that the upgrade can only be applied once the ticket is issued.
The agent can apply the systemwide upgrades directly if you book by phone.
When do the systemwide upgrades clear?
You can wait if your upgrade doesn't clear at the time of booking. Up until the gate, a waitlist could clear. It could clear a day after you book, a week after you book, a month after you book, or an hour before you fly.
American is doing everything they can to sell premium seats before they upgrade people, as you might expect.
How are the systemwide upgrades prioritized?
If an upgrade doesn't clear, it will be prioritized.
First by the elite level.
Then by upgrade type, with systemwide upgrades and other confirmable upgrades getting the highest priority.
Your rolling 12-month total of Loyalty Points will be the main factor in determining the winner.
How does a systemwide upgrade priority work?
Even if you are not traveling on the same reservation, your companion can still receive your upgrade priority if they are traveling on the same flight as you. If you gift them an upgrade and they aren't traveling on the same flight as you, you won't get this higher priority.
Can systemwide upgrades be used for premium economy?
American now has premium economy on all of its Boeing planes, but you can't upgrade to premium economy with systemwide upgrades. It's a good thing that you can still upgrade from economy to business class.
Premium economy can't be used for systemwide upgrades.
Is there any fees for systemwide upgrades?
There are no fees or co-pays when you redeem American systemwide upgrades. If you travel from the United Kingdom to another country, you will be responsible for the difference in the UK Air Passenger Duty between the cabin you booked and the one you fly in.
Maximizing odds of American systemwide upgrades.
How do you maximize your chances of clearing with American? Some things have changed for the time being because of coronaviruses. International upgrades are easier now that business travel is down.
When you book, look at seat maps.
The seatmap for the cabin you are trying to upgrade to and the seatmap for the cabin you are booking are both important. If you are trying to upgrade from economy to business class on a Dallas to London flight, you can use the following example.
To get a general sense of how many seats are available to upgrade to, look at the business class seat map.
It is possible that some of these people are also elite members who are looking for an upgrade.
The better your odds are, the emptier the seatmaps are.
Don't go to Dallas.
Every airline has a hub where there is a disproportionate number of elite members and it is difficult to upgrade. For Delta, for United, and for American it is Atlanta.
It is more difficult to get an upgrade out of an airport like Dallas than it is out of an airport like Chicago or New York JFK.
It is notoriously difficult to upgrade out of Dallas.
The upgrade is more difficult when the flight is longer.
It isn't true across the board, but you can expect that upgrades are going to be the toughest on the longest flights.
It was difficult to upgrade flights like Dallas to Tokyo and Dallas to Hong Kong, since a lot of people were hoping to do so.
Chicago and New York to London are easier to upgrade to since there aren't as many hub captives.
Pick your flight times and dates carefully.
If you want to upgrade on a long haul flight, travel mid-week. Few business travelers fly between continents on Tuesday and Wednesday, so it's a great day to travel long haul.
Routes that are mostly leisure oriented also matter. An upgrade to Spain will be easier in December or January than in July or August. It will be easier to upgrade to Brazil in August or September than in December or January.
Business travel trends, seasons, and more can be considered.
The bottom line.
American Airlines Executive Platinum and Platinum Pro members can earn systemwide upgrades. I don't plan on selecting these in the future as I would rather earn miles. There isn't enough upgrade space that's confirmable in advance and I don't like waiting for upgrades. Some oneworld partners offer a better experience.
Some people get a lot of value out of these, and are happy to wait. Hopefully this is a useful rundown of how systemwide upgrades work for those who are trying to redeem them.
What was your experience with American Airlines systemwide upgrades?
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