Business

American Airlines To Stop Complimentary Upgrades for Elites

Loyalty Devaluation
By Noah Weidner
Airplane Business Class Seat

Those banking on upgrades for their next flight might need to shell out to get that comfy seat at the front of the aircraft. Airline status holders have already been facing increased competition on domestic routes, as airlines like Delta and United drop prices on pricier premium seats to extract greater revenue. But elites on American Airlines are about to face an even more dramatic move: they won’t be eligible at all on some routes.

Want to buy a lottery ticket? American is making changes to upgrades on various domestic transcontinental routes — like JFK to LAX, BOS to SFO, and Hawaii routes — as it rolls out a new narrowbody business class featuring first class suites. Starting Aug. 25, a coach ticket won’t be enough to make you eligible for a business class upgrade. Instead, to make the upgrade list for its transcontinental and Hawaii routes, you need to shell out for a premium economy ticket. And still, there’s no guarantee you’re getting moved up.

  • Going forward, a Main Cabin ticket will only make you eligible for an upgrade into Premium Economy, rather than eligible to ‘skip’ all the way up to Business.
  • As a result, elites will have to pay up for Premium Economy seats in order to acquire the lottery ticket that is a business class upgrade, marking a material devaluation.

It’s All Downhill…

This change affects just three domestic routes and several more Hawaii routes, but it could be the foreshadowing of more changes ahead at American, which has already made a number of dicey changes in recent months. The moves have devalued AAdvantage status:

  • Basic Economy tickets are no longer eligible for AAdvantage Miles or Loyalty points, and Elites would not be eligible for upgrades on these fares.
  • They took away Loyalty Point Rewards such as the 30% Loyalty Point bonus and removed reward choices with less valuable alternatives.

It’s all inventory for sale: American is hardly alone in this industry-wide push to make its premium inventory into an asset to sell, even if it shortchanges its mainstay customers. It stands to further diminish the value of airline status across the industry. It begs the question: Why chase status when you could just pay for an upgrade? You might be treated better anyway.

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