flying first class on american airlines
yawnmoth
LHR, choosing two dates at random, and got, for a round-trip ticket,
$7,315.00.
According to [1], however, you can (if I'm understanding all this
correctly) upgrade from Most Discount Economy to Business by spending
25,000 miles and $300.00. Since [2] sells 25,000 miles for $625.00,
it seems like the most economical way to fly business class would be
to buy 50,000 miles from [2] for $1,250.00, and then buy two Most
Discount Economy tickets for $1,852.70, yielding a total of $3,702.70,
which is just slightly over half of the $7,315.00 cost.
Or maybe just buy an additional 40,000 miles from [2] for $1,000 and
use those to buy a round-trip ticket from North America to Europe
using the MileSAAver Off-peak program, per [1], bringing your total to
$2,850.00 ($1,250 + $1,000 + $600), which is even better.
Is that all correct or am I misunderstanding something about frequent
flier miles? [1] only lets you buy 40,000 miles at a time, but you
could, presumably, make multiple purchases. To get the 90,000 miles
that you'd require for the $2,850.00 price, just buy 40,000 miles
twice and 10,000 miles on your third go.
Blake S
"yawnmoth" <terr...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:89f32e98-8727-4613...@d4g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
You are assuming that just because you have miles, you WILL be upgraded.
That is not the case. You will most likely be put on a waiting list, and
only after the full-fare Business Class and frequent flyers are upgraded,
the remaining Business-Class seats will be released. There is a real chance
that you will NOT be upgraded to Business Class. Airlines charge extra for
upgradeable economy-class fares, so you could very well spend several
hundred dollars more than a restricted (cheap) economy class ticket for
basicall the same seat. It's a good idea to ask the agent if Business Class
is nearing capacity or not, and then choose flights based upon the
likelihood of you being upgraded.
Of course the best way to get upgraded economically is to fly as much as you
can with one airline. Your status will enable you to get upgraded more
often.
yawnmoth
> "yawnmoth" <terra1...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>
> news:89f32e98-8727-4613...@d4g2000prg.googlegroups.com...
>
>
>
> >I went to aa.com to see price out business class flights from ORD to
> > LHR, choosing two dates at random, and got, for a round-trip ticket,
> > $7,315.00.
>
> > According to [1], however, you can (if I'm understanding all this
> > correctly) upgrade from Most Discount Economy to Business by spending
> > 25,000 miles and $300.00. Since [2] sells 25,000 miles for $625.00,
> > it seems like the most economical way to fly business class would be
> > to buy 50,000 miles from [2] for $1,250.00, and then buy two Most
> > Discount Economy tickets for $1,852.70, yielding a total of $3,702.70,
> > which is just slightly over half of the $7,315.00 cost.
>
> > Or maybe just buy an additional 40,000 miles from [2] for $1,000 and
> > use those to buy a round-trip ticket from North America to Europe
> > using the MileSAAver Off-peak program, per [1], bringing your total to
> > $2,850.00 ($1,250 + $1,000 + $600), which is even better.
>
> > Is that all correct or am I misunderstanding something about frequent
> > flier miles? [1] only lets you buy 40,000 miles at a time, but you
> > could, presumably, make multiple purchases. To get the 90,000 miles
> > that you'd require for the $2,850.00 price, just buy 40,000 miles
> > twice and 10,000 miles on your third go.
>
> > [1]
>
> > [2]https://buy.points.com/AAdvantage/index_buy.jsp
>
> You are assuming that just because you have miles, you WILL be upgraded.
> That is not the case. You will most likely be put on a waiting list, and
> only after the full-fare Business Class and frequent flyers are upgraded,
> the remaining Business-Class seats will be released. There is a real chance
> that you will NOT be upgraded to Business Class. Airlines charge extra for
> upgradeable economy-class fares, so you could very well spend several
> hundred dollars more than a restricted (cheap) economy class ticket for
> basicall the same seat. It's a good idea to ask the agent if Business Class
> is nearing capacity or not, and then choose flights based upon the
> likelihood of you being upgraded.
I assume frequent flyers wouldn't get upgraded unless they asked to be
upgraded and then, only if they did pay the extra to have an
upgradeable seat? Looking at the first link, it seems like you lose
your frequent flier miles once you get upgraded.
> Of course the best way to get upgraded economically is to fly as much as you
> can with one airline. Your status will enable you to get upgraded more
> often.
Does the airline keep track of your activity by looking at factors
other then just the number of frequent flyer miles you have with them?
Blake S
Frequent Flyers will ask to be upgraded, especially on long haul flights.
That is one of, if not the main reason why they enroll in the mileage
program. Frequent flyers will either be upgraded at no charge, or buy an
upgradable economy class ticket that normally costs a few hundred dollars
more than the lowest-priced restricted economy class ticket. Frequent
flyers do not normally pay for the upgrade portion of the ticket.
>
>> Of course the best way to get upgraded economically is to fly as much as
>> you
>> can with one airline. Your status will enable you to get upgraded more
>> often.
>
> Does the airline keep track of your activity by looking at factors
> other then just the number of frequent flyer miles you have with them?
Yes. There are a myriad of factors. Among them are the restrictions
associated with the ticket, paper upgrades (the ones given when one
volunteers a seat to take a later flight), electronic upgrades, unrestricted
upgrade vouchers, status with other airlines in the same alliance, and other
factors. It can get very complex.
Mr. Travel
> I went to aa.com to see price out business class flights from ORD to
> LHR, choosing two dates at random, and got, for a round-trip ticket,
> $7,315.00.
Where you looking at full business? If so, why?
Restricted business is quite a bit less, and FF upgrades are pretty
restricted.
Oct 15 Flight 90, Nov 4, Flight 91. Total $3768.90
These are in the price and schedule search at aa.com.
I looked in the column under "Business Special"
Michael
Aug 20 Flight 90, Aug 30 Fligh 91 Total fare $2809.90
Mr. Travel
> yawnmoth wrote:
>
>> I went to aa.com to see price out business class flights from ORD to
>> LHR, choosing two dates at random, and got, for a round-trip ticket,
>> $7,315.00.
>
>
> Where you looking at full business? If so, why?
> Restricted business is quite a bit less, and FF upgrades are pretty
> restricted.
>
> Oct 15 Flight 90, Nov 4, Flight 91. Total $3768.90
>
> These are in the price and schedule search at aa.com.
> I looked in the column under "Business Special"
>
> Michael
>
> Aug 20 Flight 90, Aug 30 Fligh 91 Total fare $2809.90
>
Also, at least on AA, you are limited to buying 40K miles per year.
Additionally, I don't belleve your calculation for mileage purchased
included the $30 fee per transanction
Harry
>
> - Show quoted text -
These days though, even top-tier frequent flyers do not get
complimentary upgrades often. I am a platinum frequent flyer with
Qantas. I hardly ever get upgraded for free, even with flexible
economy fares. What happens instead is that the top FF's will request
upgrades with points (as you have mentioned) and be allocated these
over lower tier FF's. For example, lets say you buy a discount economy
ticket 6 months in advance and also request an upgrade with points 6
months in advance. The top tier FF's will either receive a confirmed
upgarde then and there or at a later date before the flight. If the
top tier FF doesn't receive an upgrade confirmation pre-flight then
they will be put on the top of the allocations list. The lower tier
you are the less chance of receiving an upgrade.
Richard
to buy the miles because I already had them. One suggestion is that you call
AA Reservation office and make sure if an upgrade is available for the
flight you want . Then book online and call them back for the upgrade
immediately. It worked fine for me.
"Harry" <harry.mi...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:d29d7cbf-cb8d-4cec...@e23g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
yawnmoth
> <snip>
What about for buying the tickets directly with frequent flier miles,
then? Buy 25,000 miles for $655.00 from [2] (that includes the $30.00
Mr. Travel mentioned) and get a trip from, say, JFK to LAX under the
MileSAAver program, per [1].
Selecting AA Flight 1, departing on Mar 17, and AA Flight 180,
departing Mar 23, for the return flight, and you'll get a price of
$1,672.00.
Seems, at that point, that you'd be best off buying the ticket with
frequent flier miles you purchased as opposed to buying the ticket,
itself.
Is that analysis correct or am I missing something here, as well?
Also, thanks for the comments, thus far!
TMOliver
"yawnmoth" <terr...@yahoo.com> wrote ...
Missing a big boulder in your path....
"Award seats", especially the "cheaper" MilesAAvers variety are limited to a
few seats and by no means all flights. The odds against finding "cheap"
award seats on the date and flights you specifically want are high, a bad
bet, plus, IIRC, AA has a 21 day advance redemption of miles for MilesAAvers
(without a cash "co-payment"?).
TMO