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As part of its 2025 AAdvantage program changes, American Airlines pledge to implement longer expiration periods for systemwide upgrades. As of today, American Airlines has implemented these changes. AAdvantage elites will now have at least 13 months to redeem systemwide upgrades — instead of 12 months from selection. Even better, you can potentially have almost two years to utilize these valuable upgrades if you earn AAdvantage status early in the year.
So, what are these upgrades, and how do you earn them? And, most importantly, how can you maximize their use? Read on for our ultimate guide to AA Systemwide Upgrades.
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What's an American Airlines Systemwide Upgrade?
A Systemwide Upgrade is one of two ways to upgrade a paid economy or premium economy flight on American Airlines into long haul business class — or a paid business class flight into first class. You can confirm these upgrades before your trip as long as there's upgrade space available.
Each Systemwide Upgrade can be used on up to three segments per one-way journey. That means you'll need two certificates to upgrade yourself on a round-trip itinerary. And SWUs can be used to upgrade:
- An economy ticket to a first-class ticket on a two-cabin flight — like a domestic or short-haul international flight
- Economy or premium economy to business class on an international long-haul flight operating two or three cabins
- Business class to first class on American Airlines planes with three cabins (while American Airlines still operates planes with first class cabins)
Say you're flying one-way from Phoenix (PHX) to Milan (MXP), stopping in Chicago (ORD) and New York (JFK) on the way. As long as upgrade availability exists, you could theoretically upgrade all these flights with one Systemwide Upgrade.
Now, to use a Systemwide Upgrade, you'll need to find upgrade inventory. We'll explain the process in detail later in the post. For now, know that without Systemwide Upgrade inventory, it's not possible to actually use the upgrade. However, you can waitlist for an upgrade in case space becomes available before your flight.
Which flights are eligible for Systemwide Upgrades?
Travelers can purchase any economy or premium economy ticket and use these Systemwide Upgrades — even American Airlines basic economy. That makes Systemwide Upgrades a great perk for those who like to save!
However, not all tickets are eligible for upgrade. Award tickets, government fares, military fares, and fares that don't earn mileage credit cannot be used in conjunction with a Systemwide Upgrade. Also, you'll earn American Airlines Loyalty Points and redeemable miles based on your original fare class booked, not your upgraded cabin.
Travelers even have the option to use Systemwide Upgrades on British Airways flights; we'll explain more later in the post.
You can even use Systemwide Upgrades for yourself or others; you don't even have to be flying the flight of your lucky friend or family member to use the Systemwide Upgrades!
How To Earn Systemwide Upgrades
Systemwide Upgrades were once solely a benefit of American Airlines Executive Platinum status. Now, American Airlines has de-bundled benefits, awarding certain perks once a specific number of Loyalty Points are earned in a status year (which runs March 1st through the end of the following February) — dubbed Loyalty Point Rewards.
You can choose Systemwide Upgrades at specific thresholds as an option for your award. These levels are:
| Loyalty Point Threshold | # of rewards | # of systemwide upgrades per choice | Total SWUs possible |
|---|---|---|---|
| 175,000 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 250,000 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| 400,000 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 550,000 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 750,000 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 1,000,000 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| 3,000,000 | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| 5,000,000 | 1 | 10 | 10 |
As you can see, if you're earning a lot of Loyalty Points (at that earning level, definitely through lots of co-branded credit card spending), you can rack up a lot of Systemwide Upgrades.
You'll also earn four Systemwide Upgrades when you reach two million miles with American Airlines — and each million-mile threshold after that. Remember that American Airlines' Million Miler status is based on flown miles rather than Loyalty Points. So, it's much harder to earn.
Historically, you might have earned a Systemwide Upgrade or two if you were an Alaska Airlines MVP Gold 75K (one SWU) or 100K (two SWUs) elite member. This perk ended in April 2024. Alaska MVP elite status members no longer earn Systemwide Upgrades.
When do American Airlines Systemwide Upgrades expire?
As of February 20, 2025, American Airlines Systemwide Upgrades expire at the end of the elite status year — which is March 31st of the year after your status year. That means systemwide upgrades earned during the 2024 status qualification year (between March 1, 2024 and February 28, 2025) are now valid through March 31, 2026.
This change was made as part of 2025 AAdvantage program changes. Previously, systemwide upgrades expired one year after being selected. That set up the incentive to wait until the last possible day to make a Loyalty Point Rewards election.
This change is great news, as it eliminates the gamesmanship required currently in waiting to add Systemwide Upgrades to your account until you've found the space you need or before the deadline you need to make your election.
Systemwide Upgrades must be redeemed by their expiration date. The actual date of travel can be after the expiration date. If you apply a systemwide to a flight occurring after the expiration date, be very careful with any changes or cancellations to avoid losing the upgrade. Generally, you can leave an upgrade attached to an open ticket if you cancel your flight. But be sure to discuss this with a phone agent to keep from losing a precious upgrade.
How To Find AA Systemwide Upgrade Space
To use your Systemwide Upgrade, American Airlines needs to release a specific type of upgrade availability for your flight. Unfortunately, you can't upgrade using a Systemwide Upgrade on any flight.
Folks looking to upgrade their original ticket from economy or premium economy to domestic first class, domestic business class, or international business class need to find “C” inventory. To upgrade from business class to first class on a 3-cabin aircraft, you'll need to find “A” fare class inventory. Note that these are the same upgrade buckets you'll need to use AAdvantage miles to upgrade.
Here are a few tricks to finding this specific upgrade space.
Perform a search on AA.com
If you have a valid Systemwide Upgrade certificate in your account, you can search for a revenue fare on AA.com to see if there's upgrade inventory available on a specific route.
I've found this search quite clunky, as you'll need to search specific dates and routes to find the inventory you're looking for — if it is even available. If there is Systemwide Upgrade space available on at least one flight, you'll see “Systemwide Upgrades” appear next to seats on the search results for the flight.
Before you get too excited about your find, be sure to click “Systemwide Upgrades” to see what flights on the itinerary have the upgrade inventory. On connecting itineraries, many times, only some of the flights are available to be upgraded at the time of search. In a pop-up box, AA will tell you what upgrades are available based on what cabin you're planning to book. You can always waitlist for an upgrade on the other flights in the booking.
Use a service for your search
One great option for American flyers looking for this type of upgrade inventory is to use a paid service, like ExpertFlyer or Seats.aero. These “pro” tools allow you to search for inventory on multiple days, set alerts when space becomes available, and save lots of time over the AA.com search we detailed above.
Note that Seats.aero doesn't specifically share AA Systemwide Upgrade space — at least not yet. However, you can use Seats.aero to find flights with business or first class saver award availability on various dates and routes. If there's saver award availability, AA has likely released Systemwide Upgrade space.
How To Use American Airlines Systemwide Upgrades
Now, let's dig into how to actually use these Systemwide Upgrades in practice.
Where to find AA Systemwide Upgrades in your account
After logging into your American Airlines account, click on your name in the upper right-hand corner of the homepage and go to your personal account. Under “Rewards hub,” click “Rewards,” where you'll see your Systemwide Upgrades (and other upgrade instruments if you have them).
Click “View details” to see when the expiration date of the Systemwide Upgrades is.
How to apply an AA Systemwide Upgrade to your flight
After finding the upgrade space for your Systemwide Upgrade, you can book your itinerary online. Then, you can call the American elite line to confirm the upgrade. Alternatively, you can hold a flight online and then call the elite line. That way you can confirm upgrade availability before paying for the flight. Then the agent can apply the upgrade after ticketing your trip.
Alternatively, you can now apply SWUs online yourself. American added the ability to apply Systemwide Upgrades online in 2024. Now, you can perform all activities for confirming your upgrade online — no call needed.
Using Systemwide Upgrades on British Airways
In 2022, American Airlines added the ability to use a Systemwide Upgrade on British Airways flights. This was an amazing development. However, it comes with some complexities if you want to use your upgrades with this method.
First, you must purchase the itinerary from American Airlines, not British Airways. All fares — even basic economy — can be upgraded using an AA Systemwide Upgrade.
Every itinerary must have at least one segment operated by American Airlines and be to or from the United States. So, direct flights to London from JFK on British Airways don't count, but an itinerary from Chicago O'Hare (ORD) to London Heathrow (LHR) via New York (JFK) would be eligible.
Differing from the use of Systemwide Upgrades on American flights, your SWUs are only able to be used to upgrade to the next class of service. That means:
- Economy (World Traveler) upgrades to premium Economy (World Traveler Plus)
- Premium economy (World Traveler Plus) upgrades to business (Club World)
- Business (Club World) upgrades to First
- On two-cabin aircraft, economy upgrades to business (Club Europe)
Each cabin will need upgrade space available to use the Systemwide Upgrade. Premium economy is “P” class, business is “U” class, and first is “Z” class. You're not able to waitlist for an award on British Airways.
Keep in mind that if you're using a Systemwide Upgrade departing from the United Kingdom, you will be subject to additional air passenger duties. Currently, those duties are £194/~$245 — and set to increase to £216/~$273 on April 1st, 2025. You can avoid this charge by starting your itinerary in a different country and connecting in the U.K. Keep in mind that this duty doesn't apply to flights to the United Kingdom, only flights departing from the U.K.
Best Practices for Using AA Systemwide Upgrades
I prefer to use my Systemwide Upgrades to upgrade my family from economy to long-haul business class — as I've done several times in the past. However, upgrade space can be hard to come by, especially for popular routes. So, flexibility is key.
Even if a lie-flat bed isn't available on my flight, I've used a Systemwide Upgrade to confirm myself into domestic first class, like longer flights from my home airport of Phoenix to Maui. While it's not “maximizing” the upgrade as I'd love to do in a perfect world, the reality of my current travel preferences wins out.
If you're looking to find that unicorn upgrade space on American Airlines, here are some routes that you might keep an eye on:
- Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to Brisbane, Australia (BNE) — launched in October 2024
- DFW to Auckland, New Zealand (AKL) — launched in October 2024
- New York (JFK) to Buenos Aires, Argentina (EZE)
- Los Angeles (LAX) to London, England (LHR)
Waitlisting rules
If you find upgrade availability on your preferred long haul route but maybe have to waitlist on the shorter domestic segments, here's how your upgrade will clear:
- By status
- By type of upgrade
- By rolling spend on American and Oneworld partners in the last 12 months
That means that an Executive Platinum would clear before a Platinum Pro for an upgrade if they were both trying to use their Systemwide Upgrades. The good news is if you were the same status as another traveler vying for an upgrade, SWUs clear before other types of upgrades, like complimentary upgrades.
Flight changes
If you need to cancel your flight, your Systemwide Upgrades are returned to you with their original expiration date. However, if you book a flight with a Systemwide Upgrade after its expiration date — as you're allowed to do — and you decide to cancel your flight, you may lose the SWU. We recommend calling an American Airlines agent to see if you can keep an “open ticket” with the systemwide upgrade applied that you can use on a future booking.
American does protect upgrades for those who upgraded using Systemwide Upgrades in case there are irregular operations. For instance, if your direct flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to London-Heathrow (LHR) was canceled and you used a Systemwide Upgrade to upgrade to business class, your seat on your new flight would still be in business class.
The same goes for if you need to take a connecting itinerary instead of the direct flight due to flight issues; you'll be booked in first or business class on the flights that get you to your final destination.
Final Thoughts
Systemwide Upgrades can be a powerful tool for American Airlines elites to fly in a forward cabin. While their complexity can be daunting for some to learn, we hope this guide can be used as a reference the next time you plan on using one for your travels. Coupled with the ability to use them on British Airways flights, longer validity in 2025, and the introduction of online redemptions in 2024, I'm excited for my future redemptions of Systemwide Upgrades as an American Airlines loyalist.
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