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Starting today, American Airlines AAdvantage® members will earn miles and Loyalty Points when paying for an upgrade to a premium cabin. This is a development that American Airlines first teased was coming in January 2024. Now, this enhancement is (finally) live.
This is welcome news for travelers, whether you're splurging for an upgrade on a special trip or upgrading an economy flight booked through work. Previously, these paid upgrades didn't earn any miles — outside what you earned from your credit card purchase.
Here's how you'll earn AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points on paid upgrades — plus other ways of getting an upgrade on American Airlines besides paying for it.
AAdvantage Mileage Earnings on Paid Upgrades
AAdvantage members will earn miles and Loyalty Points on paid upgrades just like they would on any other American Airlines ticket: a base of 5 AAdvantage miles and Loyalty Points per dollar spent.
Elite status holders earn an elite status bonus on top of this base earnings:
- Gold: 40% bonus = 7x miles and Loyalty Points
- Platinum: 60% bonus = 8x miles and Loyalty Points
- Platinum Pro: 80% bonus = 9x miles and Loyalty Points
- Executive Platinum: 120% bonus = 11x miles and Loyalty Points
When calculating how many miles you'll earn from an American Airlines flight, you need to subtract the taxes and government/airport fees on the ticket. Thankfully, the math is easier on paid upgrades. Since all of the payment is going to the airline, you should earn miles and Loyalty Points on the entire purchase.
Say that American Airlines offers an upgrade to first class for $200. Here's how you'd earn miles and Loyalty Points if you took advantage of this offer:
- Member: 1,000
- Gold: 1,400
- Platinum: 1,600
- Platinum Pro: 1,800
- Executive Platinum: 2,200
As with flight purchases, your mileage and Loyalty Points earnings will be deposited into your AAdvantage account after completion of the flight.
Other Ways to Get an Upgrade on American Airlines
Outside of paying for an upgrade, travelers have three ways to get an upgrade on American Airlines:
- Complimentary upgrades for travelers with AAdvantage elite status or Alaska Mileage Plan elite status
- Using an American Airlines Systemwide Upgrade
- Using an American Airlines mileage upgrade
Each of these requires that American Airlines opens some sort of upgrade availability. Systemwide upgrades and mileage upgrades require special fare class availability (“C” for business class and “A” for first class). You can find and set alerts for these fare classes on ExpertFlyer.
Complimentary elite upgrades seem to be increasingly offered only when American Airlines revenue management can't convince another passenger to pay for an upgrade. But they're a nice perk when you can get one.
Final Thoughts
Today, American Airlines delivered on a pledge it made in January 2024 to add mileage earnings on paid upgrades. This is a welcome development for travelers who take advantage of these offers, as it will get them that much closer to their next award flight and AAdvantage elite status.
Hopefully, this is just one of many improvements that American Airlines is working on to earn back the trust of travelers after threatening to remove mileage earnings from certain tickets and increasing bag fees earlier this year.
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