There are numerous methods to improve your American Airways flight. For instance, you possibly can redeem American miles for an improve or settle for a paid improve provide. And when touring on eligible flights in North America, American Airways AAdvantage elite members can hope for a complimentary improve.
However vacationers with high-tier American Airways elite standing and AAdvantage Million Miler members even have the chance to earn systemwide upgrades. Here is what you might want to learn about American Airways systemwide upgrades.
What are American Airways systemwide upgrades?
You should utilize an American Airways systemwide improve to vary a paid fare to the following class of service one-way for as much as three segments. So long as your journey has no less than one American-marketed flight, you need to use an American Airways systemwide improve for the next:
- American Airways-marketed and -operated flights
- British Airways-marketed and -operated transatlantic flights
- British Airways-operated transatlantic flights marketed by American
On American Airways flights, you need to use a systemwide improve to go from:
- Enterprise to first-class
- Economic system or premium financial system to enterprise on a three-cabin plane
- Economic system to first for home flights on a two-cabin plane
- Economic system to enterprise for short-haul worldwide flights on a two-cabin plane
In the meantime, on transatlantic British Airways flights, you need to use a systemwide improve to go from:
- Enterprise to first-class
- Premium financial system to enterprise
- Economic system to premium financial system
You possibly can solely use a systemwide improve on particular person revealed fare tickets. You possibly can’t use systemwide upgrades to improve AAdvantage award tickets, free tickets, navy or different authorities fares, opaque fares, toddler tickets or further seats you have bought.
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How you can earn systemwide upgrades
- 175,000 Loyalty Factors: You get one reward selection at this milestone; one choice is 2 systemwide upgrades.
- 250,000 Loyalty Factors: You get two reward selections at this milestone; one choice is 2 systemwide upgrades.
- 400,000 Loyalty Factors: You get two reward selections at this milestone; one choice is one systemwide improve.
- 550,000 Loyalty Factors: You get two reward selections at this milestone; one choice is one systemwide improve.
- 750,000 Loyalty Factors: You get two reward selections at this milestone; one choice is one systemwide improve.
- 1 million Loyalty Factors: You get one reward selection at this milestone; one choice is 4 systemwide upgrades.
- 3 million Loyalty Factors: You get one reward selection at this milestone; one choice is six systemwide upgrades.
- 5 million Loyalty Factors: You get one reward selection at this milestone; one choice is 10 systemwide upgrades.
As a reminder, Platinum Professional standing requires 125,000 Loyalty Factors every qualification interval, and Government Platinum standing requires 200,000 Loyalty Factors. So you will not have the ability to select any systemwide upgrades if you happen to earn Platinum Professional standing with 125,000 Loyalty Factors throughout this qualification interval. You may solely get the chance to pick out at most two systemwide upgrades if you happen to earn Government Platinum standing with 200,000 Loyalty Factors throughout this qualification interval.
AAdvantage members with American Airways Million Miler standing may earn systemwide upgrades once they attain particular milestones. You may get 4 systemwide upgrades once you attain 2 million miles towards AAdvantage Million Miler standing. Then, for every subsequent 1 million miles you earn towards Million Miler standing, you may get 4 extra systemwide upgrades.
Associated: How American Airways sucked me again into AAdvantage with Loyalty Factors
When do American Airways systemwide upgrades expire?
Systemwide upgrades presently expire one 12 months after they’re deposited in your account. Nevertheless, AAdvantage not too long ago introduced that beginning March 1, 2025, they are going to be legitimate via the standing membership 12 months.
So, if you happen to earn 175,000 Loyalty Factors through the qualification 12 months that ends Feb. 28, 2025, and choose two systemwide upgrades as your 175,000-point Loyalty Level Rewards selection, these systemwide upgrades might be legitimate via March 31, 2026. AAdvantage can be extending the expiration date of systemwide upgrades you earned between March 1, 2024, and Feb. 28, 2025, via March 31, 2026.
Though it’s essential to use the systemwide improve to substantiate an improve earlier than its expiration date, journey can happen after the expiration date.
Associated: Finest bank cards for American Airways flyers
How you can use American Airways systemwide upgrades
Vacationers have a tendency to make use of American Airways systemwide upgrades in one in every of 3 ways:
- To guide a flight with systemwide availability and instantly apply the improve
- To arrange award alerts for flights they’ve already booked that do not presently have systemwide availability and apply the improve as quickly as availability seems
- To waitlist for upgrades on long-haul flights they’ve already booked
Since 2016, my husband and I’ve used 64 systemwide upgrades on long-haul flights of seven or extra hours utilizing the primary two methods. So, let’s discover find out how to use American Airways systemwide upgrades.
How you can discover systemwide availability
Discovering systemwide availability is maybe probably the most troublesome a part of utilizing systemwide upgrades. American Airways encourages its members with systemwide upgrades to log into their accounts on the American Airways web site after which search for flights with a “Systemwide upgrades” hyperlink on the outcomes web page.
When you discover a flight choice with this hyperlink, you possibly can click on the hyperlink to see what courses presently have systemwide improve availability. Should you’re taking a look at a multisegment choice, you possibly can see which segments have systemwide improve availability.
Utilizing the American Airways web site can assist you discover systemwide improve availability, particularly if you happen to are likely to guide last-minute paid flights.
However most vacationers will discover it simpler to join a paid membership with ExpertFlyer (owned by TPG’s mum or dad firm, Pink Ventures). This lets you seek for improve availability and even set alerts for particular person flights. You may want to search out availability within the following fare buckets to make use of a systemwide improve:
- Enterprise to first on three-cabin American Airways flights: A
- Different upgrades on American Airways flights: C
- Enterprise to first on British Airways flights: Z
- Premium financial system to enterprise on British Airways flights: U
- Economic system to premium financial system on British Airways flights: P
Utilizing ExpertFlyer, you possibly can seek for A and C improve availability on American Airways flights utilizing the “Awards & Upgrades” part. You may get probably the most correct outcomes via ExpertFlyer once you seek for systemwide improve availability phase by phase. So, I like to recommend utilizing the “Connection Desire” drop-down to pick out solely direct flights.
On the outcomes display screen, the “Seats” column signifies what number of seats are seemingly bookable with systemwide upgrades. To obtain an improve alert for a particular flight that does not presently have improve availability, click on the exclamation mark subsequent to the outcome.
I extremely advocate organising improve alerts phase by phase for any flights to which you hope to use systemwide upgrades. That is higher than waitlisting for a systemwide improve on these flights since it might allow you to apply your improve earlier than AAdvantage processes waitlisted improve requests.
How you can request a systemwide improve
To see what number of unused systemwide upgrades you’ve gotten and the expiration dates on these upgrades, log into your American Airways account and click on “Rewards” below “Rewards Hub” on the left-hand aspect of the webpage. Underneath “Seat coupons, upgrades and passes,” you may see a tile labeled “Systemwide improve.”
Click on on this tile to see extra details about your systemwide upgrades, together with when systemwide upgrades have been deposited in your account and which systemwide upgrades you have redeemed.
Now you possibly can redeem systemwide improve certificates on-line. To request a systemwide improve on-line, click on the “Use systemwide upgrades” button after which enter your final identify and affirmation code on the web page that masses.
An informative web page will load discussing find out how to apply systemwide upgrades on-line.
Then you possibly can choose a flight for which you’d wish to request a systemwide improve. On this case, the request can be waitlisted as a substitute of confirmed since there is not presently any systemwide availability on that flight.
Beforehand, you needed to name the reservations line to use systemwide upgrades, which was typically time-consuming. Sadly, you may nonetheless have to name to use a systemwide improve to some journeys, together with once you depart from an airport requiring fee of premium taxes, fly on a British Airways transatlantic flight or have three or extra passengers in your reservation.
If there’s no improve area in your flight(s), you possibly can waitlist your request for flights operated by American Airways. Waitlisted requests will clear so as primarily based on the next precedence:
- Standing degree
- Improve sort
- 12-month rolling Loyalty Factors
- Reserving code
- Date and time of the waitlist request
Should you’ve waitlisted your request however have not cleared the waitlist by the point you test in, AAdvantage will add you to the airport improve standby record. In case your improve clears from the airport improve standby record, AAdvantage will deduct a systemwide improve out of your account.
Lastly, if you happen to’ve cleared a systemwide improve however have to cancel your journey earlier than you depart, name AAdvantage and ask to reinstate your systemwide improve(s).
Associated: Final-minute methods for incomes American AAdvantage elite standing
How do you earn miles once you use a systemwide improve?
Sadly, you may nonetheless earn American Airways miles and Loyalty Factors primarily based on the fare class and cabin you initially booked.
Can another person use my systemwide improve?
You should utilize your systemwide upgrades for anybody you select, even if you happen to’re not touring with them. Nevertheless, the phrases and circumstances for systemwide upgrades state: “Upgrades are void if offered or marketed on the market for money or different issues.” So, though you possibly can reward your systemwide upgrades to pals, members of the family or fortunate strangers, you should not obtain something in return.
Backside line
When you possibly can clear American Airways systemwide upgrades on long-haul worldwide flights, they’re extraordinarily helpful, and it seems like an enormous win. It is definitely potential to clear systemwide upgrades simply days earlier than your flight (and even on the airport), however it’s additionally potential to take action months prematurely.
You may typically have the most effective probabilities at clearing systemwide upgrades on high-frequency routes providing a number of flights operated by American Airways day by day. Touring off-peak days and seasons may assist.
If you wish to use your systemwide upgrades on long-haul worldwide itineraries, I like to recommend first taking a look at improve availability in your longest phase. Ideally, you may discover and guide an itinerary with improve availability on the longest phase, as then you need to use a systemwide improve to clear into the next class of service shortly after reserving. In any other case, arrange improve alerts or add your self to the waitlist to hopefully use your systemwide improve as your flight nears.
