Tag Archives for upgrades.
American Airlines now upgrades deadheading pilots into first class ahead of the customers who actually earn those seats. Ten high-value flyers watched a pilot get the only available upgrade on their flight, a moment that captured how far the airline has drifted from its own loyalty promises.
American Airlines now sells first class upgrades for as little as $40 — but if you cancel your trip, that money’s gone. The airline even tried to fix the problem, then botched the rollout and rolled it back, leaving travelers stuck paying for upgrades they never took.
Delta is now selling first class from just $26 more than coach. Only 12% of premium seats still go to upgrades—a number that shows how little airline loyalty is worth today.
The end of status? Airlines that once promised loyal flyers free first class upgrades now sell those seats for as little as $40, leaving even their best customers stuck in coach.
Marriott revealed several weeks ago that they were turning elite member upgrades over to artificial intelligence. This was designed to reduce the time hotels spend on the task, to save salary costs.
Starting July 14 an AI will decide which rooms get assigned to guests at Marriott hotels – and who gets upgraded.
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.
Now Marriott Bonvoy even promises less to its members for what rooms they’ll get as an upgrade, based on a change to the program’s terms and conditions. Although honestly the rules change simply reflects what I’d understood to always be the case.
Marriott promises that if an upgraded room is available for the length of your stay when you check in, then it is yours free if you’re a Platinum member or above. But that’s not actually how Marriott upgrades work.
A customer tried to use their American Airlines systemwide upgrades 40 minutes to midnight on the day they expired – except the airline doesn’t specify in their terms and conditions what time zone midnight is. The upgrades, which were available for the customer to confirm, could not be used – because they’d already expired 80 minutes earlier.
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 »
