To avoid economy, I tried my very best to upgrade to Premium Economy but American Airlines makes it too hard – even more difficult than economy to Business Class.
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Trying My Best To Upgrade To Premium Economy
File this under weird stuff American Airlines does to avoid marginal revenue, I could not for my life upgrade to Premium Economy this week on American Airlines. I was flying a mistake fare in, yes, Basic Economy but it turns out that had nothing to do with it. Though American’s website states clearly that award bookings and Basic Economy fares are excluded, as a Platinum Aadvantage Elite member, upgrades are, in fact, allowed.
In fact, it was easier to upgrade my wife to Business Class than it was to upgrade even one of us to four open seats on a flight to Paris. And we had eVIPs upgrade us from Paris back to New York across all passengers meaning that even Basic Economy tickets are, in fact, upgradable. 13
I first tried by calling in. We could upgrade our roundtrip (not just the one-way) for a cost of $2,000 each for my family of three. Probably not. The upgrade (if cleared) all the way to Business Class was only 25,000 miles and $350. I could not envisage a world in which even the most delusional American Airlines executive would see 25,000 miles as worth anywhere approximating $1,650 and I certainly wouldn’t pay that when I could jump ahead for less.
I asked about removing our business class mileage upgrade requests and replacing them with Premium Economy requests but agents both on the phone and at the airport believed that if I had made a request for business class but couldn’t use it, they would offer me the Premium Economy option at some discount and I would be first in line.
That proved to be false.
Sell Me Premium Economy As An Upgrade
Sell it to me at the gate, I’ll buy it. I have a business partner who swears by buying a gate upgrade to Business Class and to this point (he owns properties in Europe) he has yet to miss one or pay more than $750/seat.
It’s like a twisted Dr. Suessian nightmare:
You cannot buy Premium Economy in the lounge, you cannot buy it at the gate, you cannot use miles on the phone, you can only hope and wait.
2024 Revenue Growth Will Come From Premium, Loyalty Program
In an investor call, management expected revenue growth to come from premium market segments and the loyalty program.
Sure.
Examples, like this one are why I have such significant doubts that American can even hear what they sound like when they speak. I outlined some of this last week, and I’ll remind readers that on some routes, American has defaulted to cardboard boxes for amenity kits in business class. That doesn’t seem to me like focusing on premium customers, it seems like cutting as much cost as you possibly can which is not the same thing as premium revenue growth.
Management also stated that they expect more growth to come from the loyalty program and then made it harder to earn points outside of buying American Airlines tickets through specific channels – again – cost cutting not growth.
Here’s an opportunity to grow one of two ways with Premium Economy; either sell the unsold seats at a discount moments before that inventory dies forever, or offer it with mileage. Either way, if I really want to make sure I am in Premium Economy, I am going to buy it in the first place, but if I’m not going to pay that price upfront, American needn’t lose out on the revenue entirely. If I use my Aadvantage miles to offset some or all of the cost, then I’m certainly going to see the value and utility of collecting them. I might want to replace them by signing up for a credit card and moving more purchases to partners.
But right now, I can’t do that. And if I can, American Airlines staff doesn’t know it so how would the average traveler?
Real Risk To Price Protection
There is a real risk to protecting the price and value of long-haul Premium Economy which is slightly better than domestic First Class. If I know that I can buy the cheapest of cheap tickets, in this case $225/person, and still enter the Premium Economy cabin for let’s say $250 +15,000 miles, then surely, I am never going to pay $2000 for the perk and should plan on my small slice of hell at the back of the plane.
It’s last-minute upgrades at slashed prices that prohibit my business partner from ever buying Business Class outright, though for the right deal, I think he sees the value in not leaving it to chance.
But there’s another problem here. While it wouldn’t have changed American Airlines’ statement about growing premium segments, the airline made it harder for me to pay them $1000 and 40,000 miles (suggested upgrade price: $250 + 10,000 miles) than it was to pay them $350 and 25,000 miles for an experience that I deemed worthy of the price.
The other problem is that while I won’t be buying an economy mistake fare again (how many more times will I make this proclamation and fail?) I was a customer at $250 per person, but will never be a customer at $2,000. They will never earn that business from some flyers, either those too cheap to pay more, or those to savvy to know that some Business Class fares start in the range of $2,000-3,000 anyway.
At one point does price preservation give way to closed sales? That is to say, can you so closely guard your price that you walk away from willing customers? They had four customers willing to pay. But the relative difficulty vs the ease and luck of a Business Class upgrade (along with the value for money) kept us out of that section of the plane.
Conclusion
As American Airlines focuses more on premium revenue and loyalty markets for growth, it needs to consider how hard their own process and systems make it to achieve those goals. For a customer willing to pay for the upgrade, money in hand, the airline should find the right way to take that money especially as an equal amount of seats go out empty.
What do you think?
That is crazy but makes some sense. Ever since they first came out with PE seating it’s been hard to do awards or other bookings but sometimes you accidentally end up there, like choosing MCE seating, etc.
Your post inspired me to consult Dr. Seuss Poems AI with an American Airlines Poem so here is what they gave me, enjoy:
In the land of the bright blue sky,
American Airlines soars up high.
Their planes are sleek, their service grand,
Come along, let’s tour this wondrous land.
Hop aboard the Flap-a-Doodle-Doo,
With seats so comfy, just for you.
The flight attendants, so full of glee,
Serve drinks and snacks with jubilee.
Zooming over the Wobble-Dee-Way,
Passengers grin and shout “Hooray!”
But oh no, a storm is near,
Thunder roars and lightning sears.
The pilot yells, “Bippity-Boo-Boo!”,
Buckles up and flies us through.
The raindrops dance, the wind does blow,
But American Airlines won’t be slow.
Finally, we reach our happy end,
As the sun comes out around the bend.
American Airlines, you’re the best,
Flying with you, a joyful quest.
So remember, whether near or far,
Choose American Airlines, you’ll be a star!
With Flap-a-Doodle-Doo and Bippity-Boo-Boo,
Your journey will be jolly, through and through!
“Serve drinks and snacks with jubilee”
LOLOLOLOLOL
You should have written a book on the matter.
Platinum, is the second lowest tier of status on American, and marginally higher than Gold (entry level). It is easier to score upgrades to P/E on AA at Platinum Pro and higher. On a Basic Economy Ticket, you’re not getting upgraded, dude.
While I’d really like to be mistaken I believe that for flights to Europe there’s no upgrade for elites of any level.
It’s a hidden benefit of PP and EP that you can be upgraded to P/E at check in. I’ve had it happen on both BA and AA across the pond.
@Lavanderialarry – As mentioned, a few times throughout, we were able to clear upgrades past Premium Economy on Basic Economy tickets. So that’s factually inaccurate unless you’re saying for free, in which case, that may be true but would also be true (at least in the case of Business) for any ticket other than business even with elite status.
But the point of this piece, is that if you’re willing to sell upgrades to Business Class from Basic Economy, which we were able to do for two of the four adults in our party – why make Premium Economy impossible? They went out with four seats empty and at least two customers willing to pay something to secure them.
This is a example of why AA is my airline of last resort, behind even ULCCs. It seems to be a point of pride with American to make the traveler feel that their business is not wanted.
You took a gamble buying basic economy on an international flight. You gambled and lost. American is not my favorite but I don’t blame them for leaving basic economy buyers in basic economy. Too many people gaming the system.
Except for the part where we cleared upgrades past Premium Economy to business class for a roundtrip in the case of my wife (no status) and one way for me (Platinum) and a one way for my daughter (no status.) Also my mother-in-law, Gold, also cleared an upgrade to Business Class.
I actually bought an AA PE ticket to London, flying last week. Premium Economy was over-stuffed and, frankly, pretty claustrophobic and uncomfortable. I was jealous of the passengers in MC Extra, many of whom had entire rows to themselves. I hardly slept on the flight and woke up with my legs aching because the barriers between seats prevented me from changing position. I’m a pretty big guy, 6″ plus, 230, but not huge, and found it disappointingly uncomfortable.
Do you know which aircraft you were flying on with the uncomfortable seats in PE? Were looking to book tickets from Rome to NY in PR and my husband seems to be the same size as you… his main concern is the seats with unmovable arms which prevent you from getting into a more comfortable position.
Actually, I think we’re going to use my AA miles to upgrade to Business just to avoid the seat issue
“AAdvantage® upgrades into Premium Economy aren’t available now, but will be at a later date.”
“I had the option in the app and at the counter to buy into PE at $107.”
“Just came back from an international flight, and there was a business, PE, and standby waitlist on the AA mobile app.”
It’s coming, and NOT in a good way. American is getting ready to launch the new A321XLR which will be used for both narrow European flights and the New York City Boston to San Francisco Los Angeles type routes. There will be 12 PE seats on each aircraft.
I believe once this product launches you’re going to start seeing American selling the premium economy product cross-country. It’s quite complex for them to have upgrades and sales on a product that is kind of unknown in the United States. But as United and Delta start charging domestically for premium economy you’re going to start paying for premium economy at some point on the wide bodies to go from like Los Angeles to Miami etcetera. It’s all coming. Just give it a little time.
I don’t know why any one flies American Airlines and absolutely don’t get why one would be loyal to them. I don’t think that I’ve ever read anything good about American Airlines on these forums. They keep getting worse.
Doesn’t you status give you access to Main Cabin Extra seats? Much better than Basic Economy.
I just booked Chicago to Heathrow London in economy. I called back later to ask if there were any upgrades. The agent, no matter what I said kept trying to put me in premium economy rather than business, which is what I wanted for that long flight. They obviously don’t take a consideration that I’m not only a senior, but I required a wheelchair to board the plane and that if I have walking issues I should be able to get business class. my fair was $817 in economy which is a good fair but that was the fair for all the economy seats. By the time he offered me premium economy the price went to $2300 and 25,000 miles each way which I told him was unacceptable. I already had booked the round-trip using air miles only for only 47,000 miles round-trip, which is darn good but that also put me in economy. So I was told I could not request an upgrade if I had already purchased using miles so I understood that and I told him that I would decline his offer. I would cancel my mileage flight which Miles go back into my account, and then I would Rebook and pay for the fair which I did. Then later a few days later, I called and asked about upgrades, but prior to that I went back on the site and rebooked paying for business class because I was curious to see how many seats were available. I didn’t actually pay. I just went through the motions of the reservation until I got all the way to the seating . And I found that both flights with the exception of two seats on the return. Business class was completely empty so I figured it wouldn’t be difficult to get an upgrade. So then I called and spoke to the agent and the best he said he could do was put me on a waitlist even though I have gold status, which automatically gives me an upgrade without me asking . So I told him to go ahead and put me on the waitlist and he suggested that I periodically call and see if it’s available however if it is they will automatically upgrade me and charge my card which would be $350 each way +25,000 miles each way. so now I’m going to see what happens to see if I actually get that upgrade. But in past flights especially my last one for the exact same week the end of August into the first week of September I was told I could get business going down, but there was nothing available returning, however, they did come through And last minute when I checked in, I noticed I had seat number one on my return which meant I had scored the business class. It’s really sad when you have to play games with a ticket and wait and hang on the edge of your seat until the last minute to see if you get what you are willing to pay for. So we’ll see what happens , and I’m seriously considering using up all the rest of my miles and dropping American and going with a different carrier. I’m sure they’re all gonna go that route, but it really irritates me when I’ve been flying with them for so many years.
I am in the same boat. Trying to figure out how to upgrade without being put on a waitlist for a flight in April 2025. How did your turn out? I am Gold status as well so low on the food chain but willing to pay cash for Premium economy and upgrade with miles & cash. They want you to pay up front and get on the wish list, cross your fingers & pray,
An eVIP upgrade? Is this article really from 2014?
LOL, I thought the same thing. Didn’t know they stl existed.
AA wanted $3500 in Premium Economy (wide open seating too) 3 weeks from now from DFW to Frankfurt non-stop. Yet, it only earns the same amount of Loyalty Points as Main Cabin does??? They need to fix the LP earning on flights as well. Why on earth would someone wanting to earn and be loyal do that? Not even a slight bonus? This goes for “discounted PE” as well as fully refundable AND full fare Premium Economy. All 3 booking codes get 75-100% of earnings, yet ZERO bonus.
If AA attempts to give me a cardboard box, they will hear about it too. They think members got upset when they took away our member cards AND luggage tags. Get ready.