Tag Archives for upgrade.
All of the bank currencies transfer miles to Air France. A reader redeemed miles to fly San Francisco – Paris – Lyon, and was offered the option to buy up to first class. He wound up earning nearly 20,000 miles.
In a surprising move – because they’re being more generous with members – American Airlines has changed the rules for expiring systemwide upgrades.
Fifteen years ago most of domestic first class cabins were filled with upgrades. On average about 10% of domestic first class seats were sold for cash. That’s changed.
Upgrades are far tougher than they used to be. American Airlines monetizes about half their domestic first class cabin. But how are the upgrades that still exist obtained? Here’s data that shows how people really get up there.
Three years ago I wrote about the problem of gate agents skipping over people for upgrades if they weren’t waiting at the gate. American has just sent out a memo addressing this problem.
This change has been consistent in reports whether confirming a same day change to an itinerary, or swapping flights during irregular operations using the American Airlines app. Presumably because American sees you in R and is simply rebooking you into R, and R is now far more available since it’s been given a dual use as the second highest first class fare class.
Years later when I started traveling for work midweek transcons in coach were nearly $2000 round trip The idea of paying for first was beyond my comprehension.
The cost of coach trips has come down, and in percentage terms the cost of flying first has come down even more. Part of that is a change in airline pricing philosophy, and part is a change in technology. Instead of just having full fare first class and possibly a discount fare bucket, airlines can price first as a specific upcharge to the prevailing coach rate.
That’s helped them sell more seats up front — Delta sells about 60% of its first class seats, American is closer to 50%. It used to be more like one in ten.
The Hagerstown, Maryland airport currently serves an average of fewer than 45 passengers a day. So it may be no surprise that the airport is currently slated to lose commercial service on April 30. But they’re spending $60 million to upgrade the runways for bigger planes starting in April anyway. And bizarrely enough, the fact that they’re losing all service is seen as bolstering the decision to invest in support for larger aircraft.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
