AA Upgrades

btbane

Level 2 Member
I'm travelling to Europe with my girlfriend in the near future. She has had some back problems recently, so I was planning on trying to upgrade her ticket to business (at a minimum on the outbound flight so she can lie flat and not be in too much pain while on the trip).

I see that you can use 25,000 AA miles and pay $350 to upgrade, but was curious if there were any better ways to upgrade that I was unaware of. I don't have any status (other than Alaska MVP) with American, so no SWUs or anything like that available.

My tickets were booked cash through AA and hers were points through BA. I am just hoping to upgrade at least one of the seats.
 

dukerau

Level 2 Member
Upgrades are subject to availability, so being willing to shell out 25k AA + $350 doesn't guarantee anything. Check the fare class you have booked to confirm that your ticket is indeed upgradeable - only H,K,M,L,V,G,Q,N,O, and S are upgradeable. Her ticket is not upgradeable at the 25k + $350 rate as she's on an award ticket. If an award seat is available in business class, she should be able to change her existing ticket (fee: $55) and pay the additional Avios to redeem at the business class rate.
 

milesfortravel

Level 2 Member
I just flew CLT-CDG RT earlier this month on AA and upgrades ended up being available both ways (I saw as many as 4 available at once on our return flight!) It seems like a good time for upgrade availability now as the busy travel season is tapering off (and I wonder if just fewer Americans are going to Europe recently. Our flights were eerily empty.)
 
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