upgrades

Tag Archives for upgrades.

American Airlines Plans Executive Platinum Upgrades On British Airways, Japan Airlines, Qantas And More

by Gary Leff on September 9, 2020

Sep 09 2020

Senior Vice President Vasu Raja told an investor conference that since American is shrinking he “envision[s] a more seamless experience across partners” both with new partners Alaska and JetBlue and with “longstanding” partners IAG (British Airways, Iberia and others), Japan Airlines, and Qantas.

He notes that while American will “be a smaller airline” the networks of partners are “strong in major business travel markets,” and so it makes sense to offer a “seamless benefit for Executive Platinums [in the form of] upgrades across the global network.”

How Airlines Choose To Make Upgrades Available, And Why One Airline Can Do Better

by Gary Leff on September 6, 2020

Sep 06 2020

Here’s how airlines decide to make confirmable upgrade space available. They project how many first class seats they may sell in the cabin, and leave a buffer.

Seats that they know won’t be sold for cash might be given away as upgrades – but they also want to make sure that frequent flyers don’t confirm upgrades instead of paying cash so they’ll limit upgrades even still (often to when first class seats are available inexpensively – then the revenue tradeoff isn’t great, and the temptation not to pay cash is small).

American Airlines Surveying Whether To Replace Some Systemwide Upgrades With Other Benefits

by Gary Leff on September 4, 2020

Sep 04 2020

American Airlines is surveying some top elites on how they might reorganize systemwide upgrades, the upgrades American’s top elites and million milers receive that can be used to secure a seat in a higher cabin than what you purchase any time after booking. They’re looking at how they might replace at least one of these upgrades with other rewards. Here’s what they seem to be testing, according to reports I’ve seen:

Expect More Hyatt Free Night And Upgrade Expiration Extensions

by Gary Leff on August 30, 2020

Aug 30 2020

World of Hyatt extended current elite status so that members who qualified last year are able to use the benefits that they earned through 2021. However there’s a hole in Hyatt’s approach: confirmed suite upgrades and free nights for those members – set to expire February 2021 – were not extended. Hyatt says expect to hear something in weeks.

American Airlines Will Now Show Your Flight’s Upgrade List 12 Hours In Advance

by Gary Leff on July 16, 2020

Jul 16 2020

Frequent flyers know the feeling of waiting for a ‘battlefield promotion’ at the gate. We have our elite status and upgrade requested, and we’re hovering waiting to see what our chances are.

Now you don’t have to wait until four hours prior to flight to begin refreshing the upgrade list obsessively in the American Airlines mobile app because it now shows your flight’s upgrade list 12 hours prior to departure.

American Airlines Extends Expiration of Systemwide Upgrades (But Some Upgrades Will Be Lost)

by Gary Leff on April 16, 2020

Apr 16 2020

Along with extending elite status by a year American Airlines is also extending systemwide upgrade certificates. Any systemwide upgrade expiring by January 31, 2021 will be extended to July 31, 2021.

But what about getting new upgrades when status is extended? And what about upgrades from last year that have been applied to 2020 travel?

Hyatt Extending Elite Status, Free Nights And Upgrades Through Next Year

by Gary Leff on April 3, 2020

Apr 03 2020

Hyatt has already extended reservations flexibility through June 30, including refunds for prepaid hotel reservations for those who need or want to cancel.

They’ve also now worked through how to handle elite status, upgrade certificates, and free night awards. And they’re also announcing a further pause to expiration of points.

If You Have To Fly Now, You Should Turn Down The Upgrade

by Gary Leff on March 27, 2020

Mar 27 2020

In coach you can have a tray for the drink you brought on board yourself, a tray for the sandwich, and a tray for your laptop or tablet. You can stay as far away from other passengers and cabin crew as you wish, more or less. In first class you’re packed in next to people.

Why on earth are people accepting upgrades now?

Air Canada Launches Mileage Sales And Bidding For Upgrades At An Unusual Time

by Gary Leff on March 24, 2020

Mar 24 2020

There’s not a lot of use bidding for upgrades today for most folks, though remaining Air Canada flights if you’re traveling may have seats available. In the future this will be a more useful feature.

Selling miles makes a ton of sense and it’s really strange that it wasn’t something Aeroplan had done. It doesn’t make any sense buying at regular price. What Air Canada – and every other airline – should be doing now is offering miles for sale at a deep discount.

Starting Today United Will Hold Back More First Class Seats To Sell At Check-In

by Gary Leff on March 13, 2020

Mar 13 2020

Effective today United Airlines plans to stop offering some seats that used to be available for upgrade to members of their MileagePlus program, holding those back to sell to infrequent customers at check-in instead. This helps the airline generate extra short term cash now as they prepare for a drop in revenue of as much as 70%.