How do I upgrade to first class on American Airlines online?

People can move ahead with American airline's upgrade online by selecting the flight upgrade option on the main website www.aa.com. You must have system-wide upgrades available in your account to proceed with flight upgrades or your AA flight bookings.  Here are some steps that one can take in order to upgrade on an American flight booking: 

  • First and foremost, people need to navigate to the official American airline's website www.aa.com in order to access flight upgrade options for their booking. 

  • Next, look for the systemwide upgrades available for your flight reservation and select the system-wide upgrade link. 

  • Find the flights with upgrade options and then finally call your AAdvantage status service desk to confirm your upgrade. 

Note: your upgrade request will be added to the waiting list if upgrades are not available at the moment. Here is the order of confirmation for waitlisted upgrades on American airlines; 

  • Status level

  • Upgrade type 

  • 12-month rolling loyalty points 

How do I check for an upgrade on American Airlines? 

One can check for upgrades online on the official AA website by visiting the following address www.aa.com./upgrades. You can find an upgrade availability by following the below-mentioned steps that are as follows: 

  • First and foremost, people need to visit the official website www.aa.com. 

  • Next, select the system-wide upgrade option on your screen. 

  • All the system-wide upgrades will get displayed if available for your flight reservation at American airlines. 

What is American airline's upgrade policy?

One must go through the American airlines upgrade policy in order to have a smooth experience as far as flight upgrades are concerned. People are able to get in touch with the customer support executives at AA for updates and upgrade-related issues and complications. You can simply talk to someone from the customer support team using the customer support hotline number for effective assistance and help as far as your flight bookings are concerned. 

The key pointers of the American airline's upgrade policy are as follows: 

  • Passengers are able to use systemwide upgrades for one-way flight bookings marketed and operated by American airlines. Traveling up to three segments is permissible. 

  • Systemwide upgrades are available for passengers having an Executive Platinum or Platinum Pro status. 

  • All systemwide upgrades take about 48 hours to get into your account. And the upgrades will expire within 365 days from the date of issue. 

  • One can share their upgrades with others by talking to someone at the AAdvantage status service desk to initiate the request. 

  • Systemwide upgrades are not applicable on flight reservations of codeshare flights, government or military fares, basic economic fares (exception is AAdvantage status members), and award tickets or fares ineligible for mileage credit. 

What are the ways to upgrade seats on American airlines? 

Here are the four most common ways to go about American airlines upgrade for an AA flight booking: 

  • 500-mile upgrades. 

This kind of upgrade is only available for American Airlines AAdvantage program elite members on North American flights only. If you happen to have an elite status of gold or higher, you will be able to receive unlimited upgrades on flights of 500 miles or less. 

  • Systemwide upgrades. 

Special upgrades or more commonly referred to as system-wide upgrades are available to passengers with a one-way flight booking and can be used to upgrade to the next class of services on an American airline flight. People are able to transfer these upgrades (systemwide upgrades) even if they aren’t traveling themselves on the flight. Systemwide upgrades offer confirmed upgrades and hence are quite popular among the masses. Also, systemwide upgrades get top priority and there is no route restriction on this upgrade category at American Airlines. The only downside of systemwide upgrades is that people need to have Executive Platinum or Platinum Pro status in order to become eligible for systemwide upgrades. 

  • Miles upgrades. 

Miles upgrade is one of the least preferred methods of an upgrade for an AA flight reservation as people are unable to upgrade award tickets in most cases. Also, multiple discounted fare classes are not eligible for upgrading using Miles. 

  • Business extra upgrades. 

Business owners can join the Business Extra program at American Airlines to earn free points that can further be used for AA flight upgrades. Business points are also useful for free flights, AAdvantage Gold status, Admirals club passes, etc. 

Can I pay for an upgrade on American Airlines? 

Yes, passengers are able to upgrade their AA flight reservation using cash and/or miles. If you are an elite member and would like to upgrade your flight booking but do not have the 500-mile upgrade option available for your status, you can simply purchase an upgrade at American Airlines via cash. 

Non-elite members at American airlines can also purchase upgrades for cash; however, the exact cash amount will depend on your flying route on an AA flight booking. 

How much does American Airlines charge to upgrade? 

Passengers need to pay American airlines to upgrade costs in order to upgrade their flight fare using cash and one upgrade at American Airlines can cost around USD 40 for one upgrade similarly if you are upgrading using Miles, you need to spend a total of 40,000 miles for a flight. 

Is American Airlines upgrade to first class free? 

Complimentary upgrade options are available to AAdvantage status members. In this upgrade, people will get an upgrade for the next class like the Main cabin or Premium economy to the next class of service Business class, or domestic First. The travel route should be North America for complimentary upgrades. 

Get in touch with the AAdvantage status service desk online to get instant solutions for your online upgrades. People can communicate with the customer support team at AA for any help and assistance as far as flight upgrades are concerned. Dial the customer service hotline and one can communicate with the support executive on American Airlines for help and support. 

Can you upgrade to first class on American Airlines after purchase? 

Travelers are able to upgrade their flight tickets on American airlines to first class after purchase using the AA official website or the mobile application. Passengers must stick to the systemwide upgrades for such upgrades on their American airline flight reservations. A 500-miles upgrade is not applicable on such upgrade segments for AA flight reservations. 

Is it worth upgrading to first class on American Airlines? 

First class offers the best in class amenities to passengers wherein they are able to have an exquisite experience as far as travel, dining, entertainment is concerned. So, It is worth to upgrade to a First class reservation if you have a long flight to ensure proper comfort for yourself on American Airlines flight booking. 

One can upgrade to First class on an American Airlines flight by using 15,000 AAdvantage miles along with cash somewhere around USD 75 to get the first class upgrade for your flight booking. 

Can you upgrade to first class on the American App? 

Yes, travelers are able to upgrade to First class using the mobile application released and managed by American Airlines. One can communicate with the support representatives at American Airlines if faced with any complication or error while upgrading your flight booking on the app. 

Can you upgrade from economy to first class on American Airlines? 

  • Passengers can typically upgrade from an economy class fare to the next fare class on an American Airlines booking. 

  • One can buy a First class upgrade on American Airlines and can upgrade from economy to First class fare category on their booking. 

  • Last-minute upgrade options work best in this case as premium cabin fares tend to lower as the scheduled departure date nears. 

  • One can also go for first-class upgrades immediately after their flight bookings are made online at www.aa.com. 

  • Complementary First class upgrades are also available for American airline flight bookings to AAdvantage status members.