American Airlines is eliminating their mileage upgrade award chart August 12th. They’re replacing it with ‘instant upgrades’ using cash or miles. You’ll be charged a variable amount for upgrades, and you pay either the asking amount in money or the ‘equivalent’ in miles which will mean a low value per mile (almost certainly something around 1 cent per mile or a little higher or lower). This copies Delta Air Lines, and represents a significant hit to the value of miles for upgrades.

Here’s an offer on an upcoming domestic itinerary that I have:

American’s Tech Isn’t Ready To Support This New Feature

Currently ‘Instant Upgrade’ is available on the American Airlines website, but not yet their app. Unlike mileage upgrade awards, there are no wait lists. It’s either available at the prevailing price which is variable, rather than fixed the way it is today, or space isn’t available at all. No more mileage upgrade awards at a fixed price means no more ‘saver inventory’ for upgrades, either.

Unfortunately, when clicking through on the website it’s clear this product isn’t quite ready for prime time. Here’s an offer I have to upgrade a 190-mile flight between Dallas and Austin.

However when you click through, mileage payment is not actually an option. It reverts only cash. And I tested going further into the purchase funnel – miles as payment does not come back on the checkout screen, either.

Upgrades From Coach Are Now To Premium Economy On Long Haul Aircraft

Another change represented by sunsetting mileage upgrades is that the upgrade program allows moves from coach to premium economy, and not just business. Mileage upgrades didn’t give you the opportunity to upgrade to premium economy, but on the other hand they skipped over premium economy to put you in business class.

Sadly, Upgrades Were Just About To Get Good Again!

Occasionally there will be modestly cheap upgrades (likely better paid in cash than miles) that wouldn’t have otherwise been available. But mostly this will almost certainly represent a devaluation of the AAdvantage program.

And it’s happening at the worst possible time. There’s likely been lower demand for premium cabin international travel, especially after the summer, and American Airlines is adding premium seats to planes – with their new Boeing 787-9P premium configuration (51 business class seats) and planned retrofits of their Boeing 777-300ER to be even more premium-heavy. There are about to be more premium seats to upgrade into. We were going to have a value opportunity with mileage upgrades that won’t be there any longer.

By the way, this doesn’t just apply to long haul international upgrades. It’s part of the upgrade buy up program for domestic flights, too. So no more 15,000 mile plus $75 upgrades domestically. And right as the airline has a program to add premium seats to its Airbus A319 and A320 single aisle aircraft.

ConciergeKey Members Are Hurt Most

With the disappearance of fixed mileage upgrades, that means there are no more cash co-pays (the price is just the price). It also means a diminishment of value for the airline’s most important ConciergeKey customers, because they had those co-pays waived. They got to pay points but not the cash. The award chart was better for them than for other members, so the hit to them is greater than it is to the rest of us.

American Says This Is Good For You… It Usually Isn’t

Just look at these very happy and diverse people getting hosed over the value of their AAdvantage miles:

You have until 11:59 p.m. Pacific time on August 11 to request mileage upgrades, and even waitlisted upgrades will still be processed if inventory becomes available. No changes to fixed mileage awards can be made starting August 12. This does not change systemwide upgrades earned by status members as choice benefits, however.

But there’s one devaluation that’s immediate. Instead of being able to request upgrades today or before August 12 through the end of the airline’s schedule, fixed mileage upgrade awards that you request now can only be made for travel through December 31, 2025. That cuts off upgrade awards immediately for travel January through June 2026.