American Airlines systemwide upgrades — one of my favorite elite status benefits — let you upgrade your reservation by one cabin when space is available. Most notably, you can use it to move from economy to business class. If you book a business class fare and are traveling on an aircraft with a first class cabin, you can apply an upgrade to move up to Flagship First, too.
The number of upgrades you can choose is based upon how many Loyalty Points you earn. These upgrades are also a perk of achieving Million Miler status with American.
You can use systemwide upgrades on American flights as well as transatlantic and intra-European British Airways flights. The only requirement is that at least one segment on your itinerary is booked on an American-marketed flight.
How to redeem American systemwide upgrades
On American Airlines, the upgrades you can get depend on your aircraft. According to American:
-
In a two-cabin aircraft, you can upgrade from economy to first for domestic flights, or from economy to business for short-haul international flights.
It is easy to check whether space is available for a systemwide upgrade by logging in to American’s website. If you are an elite status member with these upgrades in your account, you will see a message indicating if an upgrade is available on your flight under any eligible segment.
If you don’t see “systemwide upgrades” under the flight, that means space isn’t currently available. It is possible to waitlist for a flight by contacting American’s reservation channels (either via phone, social media or the app-based chat feature). You will then see within your American app that you have been waitlisted for the flights. If it clears, the systemwide upgrade will be deducted from your account.
You could also confirm or request to be added to the waitlist for the upgrade on American’s website or app.
Take note that the message will appear as long as there is upgrade space on at least one segment of the itinerary. This can be misleading since there is often more upgrade space on shorter domestic segments than on longer international flights. In the example above, the short flight from Greensboro/High Point, NC (GSO) to Charlotte (CLT) has upgrade space available, but the flight from Charlotte to London Heathrow does not.
When to use a systemwide upgrade
When contacting American to redeem a systemwide upgrade for a multisegment trip, I prefer to let the agent know that I only want to use my upgrade if the longer segment clears. This prevents me from wasting it on just shorter domestic segments.
For example, in the above itinerary from Greensboro to London, I would add myself to the waitlist for the Charlotte to London flight, and if it clears before my departure time, I would apply the upgrade for the short segment, too (if still available). It’s a slight risk, but better than wasting an upgrade for a short domestic segment.
Upgrades can clear from the moment you book your ticket all the way up to boarding time. It just depends on when American releases upgrade space. If the upgrade hasn’t cleared before you check in, you will be added to the airport upgrade list.
The hierarchy is based upon your elite status tier and rolling Loyalty Points balance. It is also important to remember to use them before they expire. Using a systemwide upgrade certificate gives you priority over an elite status member relying on a complimentary upgrade on an eligible flight.
Be sure to search for flights on a segment-by-segment basis when using Expert Flyer’s tool for the most reliable space availability. The example above shows availability for using a systemwide upgrade although you will also want to confirm this space is showing on American’s own website, too.
Important caveats to note
There are some key considerations to keep in mind when applying a systemwide upgrade on American or British Airways flight.
Which flights are eligible for a systemwide upgrade?
You can use a systemwide upgrade on as many as three segments in each direction of travel on any flight with a business or first class cabin. The best value is using them on long-haul flights where the cost differential between cabins is greatest. If you so choose, you could also use it on a domestic flight.
Are there any additional fees?
Some airports, like London Heathrow (mostly in the United Kingdom), charge an “air passenger duty” tax that tacks on additional fees for passengers departing in a premium cabin. This means that if you are originally booked in economy, but then are cleared to use a systemwide upgrade to depart from one of these airports in a premium cabin, you will have to pay the difference in surcharges.
Personally, I get around this by using systemwide upgrades to fly into airports like London Heathrow, but choose to use them when flying out of airports that do not have these fees to avoid additional expense.
Most airports do not require any additional fees when redeeming a systemwide upgrade, which only adds to their strong value proposition.
It is also important to understand that these are not eligible to use on award flights.
Another key consideration is that you only earn miles and Loyalty points based on the cabin you originally purchased and not the upgraded cabin. This means that if you book an economy class flight and use a SWU to upgrade to business, you would only earn miles based upon the economy class fare you paid.
Yes, they expire at the end of the next year following the year of your status membership in which you earned them. Be sure to redeem them before the expiration date although the flight can take place after that date.
🤓 Nerdy Tip
Another nice feature of American’s systemwide upgrades: You can use them for other people. So even if you don’t have plans to take an American flight before your upgrade expires, you can share it with someone who does. You would just have to call and apply it on their behalf.
AA systemwide upgrades can be valuable
Other airlines offer their own equivalents of systemwide upgrades, but they are not as valuable as American’s.
The opportunity for value here with American is incredible. You can potentially purchase a basic economy fare that costs less than $1,000 for a long-haul American flight to cities like Doha, Frankfurt or Sydney and then take advantage of an upgrade to business class that could be worth upwards of $5,000 or more. That’s a perk worth using!
If you want to maximize your chances of getting an upgrade, consider flights with larger business class cabins. For example, the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner cabin only has 20 seats in business class, while the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft has 52 seats (with more coming after the planned retrofit).
