Further, as of January 2021, you can use 500-mile upgrades on basic economy tickets. One important restriction to keep in mind:
You must be a current elite member to use 500-mile upgrades
. If you've lost status and still have a few upgrades in your account, you must regain status to be able to use them.
Can I use my 500 mile upgrades for someone else?
All AAdvantage elite members can upgrade a companion traveling with them using 500-mile upgrades
. The companion can either be booked in the same reservation as the elite member or can be in a separate record that is linked by an American reservations agent.
Can I use AA systemwide upgrade on an award ticket?
Any tax liability is the responsibility of the user. Upgrades are only valid on individual published-fare tickets.
Upgrades are not applicable to AAdvantage
®
travel awards
; any free ticket; military or other government fares; opaque fares; infant tickets (including INF50 fares) or purchased extra seats.
Do 500-mile upgrades expire American Airlines?
You must be a current AAdvantage elite member to use the 500-mile upgrades you earned as an elite. If you lose AAdvantage elite status, you won't lose your 500-mile upgrades. But,
you won't be able to use them until you regain elite status
.
How many miles do you need to upgrade on American Airlines?
Upgrades on American. When booking your flight on aa.com, you'll see your upgrade is complimentary and requested. If you're traveling with a companion, you'll see the required number of
500-mile
upgrades to upgrade your companion and have the option to request it.
What does 500 mile upgrade mean?
All elites receive complimentary upgrades on flights less than 500 miles. Golds and Platinums, though, must use 500 mile upgrade certificates for
upgrades on longer flights that they request to have processed during their upgrade window
.
How do I get American EQDs?
Fortunately, you can earn more EQDs by
meeting qualifying spending requirements on select co-branded AA credit cards
. You can EQDs for spending on the following AA credit cards. AAdvantage
®
Aviator
®
Silver Mastercard
®
— Earn 3,000 EQDs after spending $50,000 in a calendar year.
How do I get gold status on American Airlines?
To requalify for Gold status, you need to
fly at least 30 qualifying segments or earn 25,000 qualifying miles or points during the calendar year
. It takes 60 qualifying segments or 50,000 qualifying miles or points during the calendar year to reach AAdvantage Platinum membership.
Can I use SWU on award tickets?
Which fare classes are eligible for an SWU? A huge advantage of SWUs is that all published fare classes are eligible.
A few exceptions include award tickets
, military and government fares, charters, companion tickets, infant tickets, employee fares and now basic economy tickets.
How can I get a free upgrade to first class?
- Dress the part. …
- Ask for an upgrade. …
- Be early. …
- Travel solo. …
- Travel during peak times. …
- Sit next to the baby or take the middle seat. …
- Give up your spot. …
- Check your seat.
Do American Airlines Systemwide Upgrades expire?
Systemwide upgrades on American Airlines do expire, traditionally 1 year after the date they're issued
. However, you are able to use an upgrade for a flight after this date, so long as you can confirm the upgrade before the certificate expires.
How many miles do you need to upgrade to business class?
If you want to use points, going from most economy fares booked into in M, H or W booking classes to premium will require 47,000 points each way. If you want to go all the way to business, figure upon
90,000 miles
for a one-way upgrade between the USA and Asia.
How do I get Platinum status on American Airlines?
When you reach 2 million miles flown on American Airlines
, you'll earn lifetime Platinum status and 4 one-way system upgrades. After that, you'll earn an additional 4 one-way system upgrades for each additional million miles flown.
How do you become Executive Platinum?
To earn American Airlines Executive Platinum status, you need to
earn 200,000 Loyalty Points
. These Loyalty Points do not include taxes and fees — only base fares.
Can you pay to upgrade to first class on American Airlines?
There is no single price option for upgrading to first class on an American Airlines flight as the price in cash or miles is based on the route you are flying and the fare class of the ticket you wish to upgrade. Upgrades are also subject to availability.
You can now redeem AAdvantage
®
miles for award travel in Premium Economy
. AAdvantage
®
upgrades into Premium Economy aren't available now, but will be at a later date. For now, you can upgrade from Main Cabin or Premium Economy to First or Business using your AAdvantage
®
miles or systemwide upgrades.
Can I use United miles to upgrade seats?
MileagePlus Upgrade Awards
On most paid tickets for flights operated by United and United Express,
you can use your miles to upgrade your seat
. Request an upgrade as you purchase your ticket or after.
Can you upgrade to first class with miles?
No matter how long your flight is,
it will cost exactly 15,000 miles to upgrade to first class
, worth $270 based on TPG's valuations. You can only upgrade cash tickets booked into one of the five most expensive economy fare classes Y, S, B, M or H, and you need “U” inventory for your upgrade to clear.
Do AA miles expire?
Per the AAdvantage program terms and conditions,
American Airlines miles expire after 24 months of no activity
. For the occasional flyer, that might not seem like a lot of time. But there are plenty of ways to keep your miles active beyond simply hopping on an American Airlines flight.
Can you buy AA Eqd?
Finally,
elite members can buy bonus EQMs for $495
. The amount of EQM that you'll receive from this purchase is based on your elite status as of May 25, 2021. 2,500 bonus EQM for Gold elites. 5,000 bonus EQM for Platinum elites.
What are elite qualifying credits?
Elite qualifying miles, or EQMs, are
the actual miles you fly every year aboard American and its Oneworld partners
. They're calculated by taking the mileage of the flight and multiplying it by the fare class: Full-fare first or business class: EQM = miles flown x 3.
Which airline is easiest to get status?
If you're looking for the easiest way to spend toward airline elite status,
American Airlines
comes out on top.
