Throughout 2023, American Airlines was promising that anything you wanted to do with the airline could be done digitally – with the few remaining features to be delivered by the end of the year. I kept asking, just as a glaring example of what was missing, what about upgrades?
There was no way to confirm an upgrade without calling reservations. You couldn’t use a mileage upgrade or systemwide upgrade online. The only upgrade which could be used online was Business ExtrAA – and the airline eliminated those! United Airlines, by contrast, has allowed online confirmation of MileagePlus upgrades for more than a decade.
Fortunately it looks like we have real progress here. American is beta testing confirming systemwide upgrades online. The feature is available to a subset of users. It’s unclear when it will be rolled out more broadly.
They sent out this message to selected users:
And they offer these caveats,
Applying a systemwide upgrade (to an already-ticketed reservation) online will instantly confirm it if space is available. Otherwise it will waitlist.
For long haul, American’s biggest destination is London Heathrow, and clearing an upgrade out of the U.K. involves paying a higher UK departure tax. Other destinations – which I’m told by American also include flights originating in France, India, Morocco, and Hong Kong – also do as well. These have to be upgraded through reservations, as the website isn’t set up to handle the add-collect for additiona tax.
While American Airlines systemwide upgrades can be used on British Airways flights, the online feature is for American’s own flights only. And this is not available for mileage upgrades (which, outside of ConciergeKey members, require a cash co-pay).
I’ll probably still call because when I want to use a systemwide upgrade, I want to confirm the space at time of booking. And I want to be 100% certain of the space’s availability (using external tools such as Expert Flyer only as a guide). It does seem, though, that removing frictions in requesting the upgrades will lead to greater use. And clicking a couple of buttons is certainly easier and less annoying than picking up the phone!
I was / am fine with the phone friction and having expertflyer as a gauge
the greater satisfaction to the larger pool of members is earning them and having the option if the tradeoff is online redemption = more usage of the same number of upgrade seats
I sure would have liked to be in that early test group (I’m a 3 million mile flyer). There are still problems to be reckoned with. Example, a recent LHR/LAX flight I had, put in for the upgrade and on the wait list. Didn’t get the upgrade but was still charged with the $141 USD tax and they took the systemwide upgrade. On the phone with AAdvantage custiomer service, got the upgrade back but not the tax refund, still working on that one. There’s got to be a easier way.
Meanwhile the United’s PlusPoint upgrade is useless. It will never clear. One can check 365 days a year and nothing shows available.
I use system wide upgrades all of the time (8+/year)- but I don’t think I got the beta invite. Usually it’s not a problem, unless there are system/weather delays and I feel guilty calling.
AA is my airline of choice. I’m currently on the waitlist for a system wide upgrade on a DFW OGG trip. The aircraft has been upgraded to a 777-200, many more J seats available. Lots of seats open now. I called, still on the waitlist.
But I do love the automatic status upgrades. My last RT to LGA, I was notified by email of my upgrade on all four legs. The app is very good, and functional for frequent flyers.
This online SWU feature is basically of little real value unless there is upgrade space available on AA international flights, of which there often isn’t very much.
Dear @T: You are either (a) the unluckiest person in the universe, (b) the most clueless player of the miles/points game ever [you expect PlusPoints upgrades to always be available when you check instead of just requesting them and waiting for them to clear, which usually do], or (c) biggest liar [you’ve never requested a PlusPoints upgrade n your life] because there is no universe in which “the United’s PlusPoint upgrade is useless. It will never clear. One can check 365 days a year and nothing shows available” if one plays the game with a “full deck”.
In fact, one feature of the UA MileagePlus that I regretted losing after I decided to hop off the status hamster wheel and not try to requalify for 1K because it got too expensive ($24K/year), was forgoing the 320 PlusPoints a year that one gets as a 1K.
To demonstrate both why quoted claim is utterly bogus and why I miss PlusPoints upgrades, which one could request online from the day they were introduced and, thus, make AA’s SWU seem like the anachronistic cabin upgrade instrument that it is, I reproduce below, straight from my UA account, the very long list of PlusPoints upgrades that I cleared between 2020 and 2023. Those marked with [s] were PlusPoints upgrades that I sponsored for family or friends:
@T is probably one of those folks who would go on a discussion board about hotel loyalty programs and claim to be a Hilton Honors Lifetime Diamond who has never received a suite upgrade. As you can see, PlusPoints upgrades clear aplenty, making them, by far, the single most valuable elite perk in airline loyalty (and the best kept secret too due to misinformation as exposed here; well, now you know).
G’day.
@DCS: Let me be clear – I want to use 40 United PlusPoints for Asia routes. EWR – NRT/HND, or SFO/LAX – HKG. Years ago, United would have few business seats available to claim immediately. It is kind like an instance upgrade. These days, it is always “wait listed”. You must be the luckiest person in the planet if you fly those routes and United clears for you.
Based on your writing even I don’t read the whole thing your wrote (it’s way too long), you seem to love and are loyal to United, and that’s perfectly fine. But calm down, DCS This is a forum and people are entitled to their opinions. Last but not least, if you can show me any PZ class on your ticket on the routes I mentioned, then I am convinced.
@T- Yes, everyone is entitled to their opinion but not to their facts. You gave us your opinion, which my facts have exposed to be just bunk.
Last but not least, if you can show me any PZ class on your ticket on the routes I mentioned, then I am convinced.
Does not have to be your very routes to be convincing. All upgrades I list below were ‘PZ’ class and the randomness of the routes indicates not only that my strategy works, but that it can be generalized. Rather than expecting to see upgrades any you wish to request them and bitching if you find none, what you need to do is to just waitlist what you want and forget about it, and you will pleasantly surprised to see most clear closer to departure. All of the following are ‘PZ’ class upgrades:
09/03/2022 PlusPoints Upgrade Redemption (BRU – EWR) -40 points
08/05/2022 PlusPoints Upgrade Redemption (EWR – GVA) -30 points
05/13/2022 PlusPoints Upgrade Redemption (LHR – EWR) -30 points
05/05/2022 PlusPoints Upgrade Redemption (EWR – LHR) -30 points
12/08/2021 PlusPoints Upgrade Redemption (EZE –EWR) -40 points
11/05/2021 PlusPoints Upgrade Redemption (EWR – BOM) -40 points [s]
11/05/2021 PlusPoints Upgrade Redemption (PDX – BOM) -40 points [s]
01/11/2020 PlusPoints Upgrade Redemption (NRT – LGA) -40 points
I will take you at your word and consider you convinced. BTW, you should read other people’s comments fully if you wish to be able to make coherent arguments.
G’day.
Preceding comment cleaned up:
@T- Yes, everyone is entitled to their opinion but not to their facts. You gave us your opinion, which my facts have exposed to be just bunk.
Does not have to be your very routes to be convincing. All upgrades I list below were ‘PZ’ class and the randomness of the routes indicates not only that my strategy works, but that it can be generalized. Rather than expecting to see upgrades any time you wish to request them and bitching if you find none, what you need to do is to just waitlist what you want and forget about it, and you will be pleasantly surprised to see most clear closer to departure. All of the following are ‘PZ’ class upgrades:
09/03/2022 PlusPoints Upgrade Redemption (BRU – EWR) -40 points
08/05/2022 PlusPoints Upgrade Redemption (EWR – GVA) -30 points
05/13/2022 PlusPoints Upgrade Redemption (LHR – EWR) -30 points
05/05/2022 PlusPoints Upgrade Redemption (EWR – LHR) -30 points
12/08/2021 PlusPoints Upgrade Redemption (EZE –EWR) -40 points
11/05/2021 PlusPoints Upgrade Redemption (EWR – BOM) -40 points [s]
11/05/2021 PlusPoints Upgrade Redemption (PDX – BOM) -40 points [s]
01/11/2020 PlusPoints Upgrade Redemption (NRT – LGA) -40 points
I will take you at your word and consider you convinced. BTW, you should read other people’s comments fully if you wish to be able to make coherent arguments.
G’day.
@DCS, good for you. And try the decaf..sheesh. I couldn’t make through your postings either. I’ve had a similar experience as @T with routes to Asia, instantly up-gradable, in the last few years although I haven’t checked lately. Routes between Europe and the US are a different story. I’ve done pretty well, enough that I’ve decide to finish off 1K for this year.
The mental laziness of not bothering to get through informative comments is why you are not making the most of the miles/points game.
Well, that is why you should read others’ comments fully. Had you read mine, you would have learned what I did to clear most of my PlusPoints upgrades and why you aren’t clearing any. It’s called patience because no program, hotel or airline, is happy confirming upgrades months ahead of time, so they usually do not. To expect to find instantly up-gradable seats that you can snatch with PlusPoints is thus silly, a pipe dream. Instead, I will just repeat the lesson that you did not learn because you were too lazy to read my whole my comment:
That is how I was able to clear an average of 7-8 PlusPoints upgrades a year between 2020 and 2023, many of them ‘PZ’…