2009-10-23

Upgrading on American Airlines Using Mileage

So you have been collecting miles looking forward to upgrading on your next flight. You know you have miles and have upgrade segments as well. You book your flight and try to upgrade only find that you do not qualify!  How can this be? Well, there are several hurdles you must jump over before you can upgrade.

So what are all these hurdles that keep you from just using those hard earned miles to upgrade? How many are there?  Well my friend there is not one, not two, but a grand total of 8! Following is a list of these hurdles, not necessarily in any order.

1. Upgrades can only be used in the 50 , Central America, and Bermuda .
2. Each flight segment requires at least one upgrade.  Because these are in 500 mile increments, if you are going 600 miles, you will have to use 2 and will effectively lose 400 miles of the second upgrade.
3. Upgrades are only valid from Economy class (Y or B) to the next level up. If you are not an elite Advantage member, you will have to by the full fare economy seat to qualify for the upgrade.
4. Upgrade inventory is subject to the airlines call.  In other words, you can only get an upgraded seat when they say so.  Fancy words like capacity and seating limitations are used.
5. You can only confirm your upgrade 24 hours before the flight.  If not available then, you can still go standby when you check in.
6. Just to make sure you are clear on when you are waiting on a standby upgrade, priority is set by the level of advantage class that you hold.  Executive Platinum’s get first choice.
7. You must have proof of your upgrade segments with you.  They will not look you up on the system.
8. And finally, American reserves the right to have the final say when and if you can upgrade. They can restrict or eliminate upgrades on certain flights without notice at anytime.

There you have it my friends.  Now I challenge you to try to upgrade on your next flight. Please let me know about your experiences.  How easy or how difficult. I wish you luck and maybe you will be able to upgrade as I have been trying for over a year now unsuccessfully.

Edward Pena is a successful network marketer that owns his own company and helps mentor people to be successful in mlm. To take advantage of his free advice, go to: MLM Success