Can AAdvantage miles be used to upgrade Etihad or oneworld partner flights? How can you upgrade an Etihad economy flight with miles?
A TravelSort reader writes “We got in on the super cheap Etihad airfare today…We are flying out of DFW and making a stop in FRA. That flight is on AA then our FRA flight to AUH is on Etihad. Do you have an idea on how many miles it would be for us to upgrade to business class?”
Often Mileage Upgrades Aren't Available or Aren't Worth It
In most cases, mileage upgrades aren't available or aren't worth it. Let's take AAdvantage miles. Think they can be used to upgrade any airline that the AAdvantage program partners with? Think again: the only AAdvantage awards allowed are on American, American Eagle, British Airways and Iberia flights. So not only can you not use AAdvantage miles to upgrade an Etihad flight, you can't use AAdvantage miles to upgrade on many other oneworld partners, such as Qantas, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, air Berlin, etc.
Further, not only are upgrades using AAdvantage miles on partners only available on British Airways and Iberia; they're only available when you paid for a full fare ticket, i.e. Y or B fare classes for Economy; W fare class for full fare Premium Economy on British Airways, and C, J, D or R for full fare Business Class on British Airways. Leisure travelers almost never purchase these full fare tickets, so upgrades are really only practical when an employer is footing the bill.
Now, for American flights and American Eagle flights, it is possible to upgrade from the most discounted economy class, but these upgrades for 15,000-25,000 miles each way also come with non-refundable copays of $350 each way, for most international travel. And don't forget that the upgrade is to the next class of service; so on a flight with Premium Economy, your upgrade from Economy will just be to Premium Economy, not to Business Class.
Outright Award Tickets Offer Better Value for Business and First Class
In contrast to upgrade awards, outright award tickets offer these advantages:
- Include ALL alliance partners
- Cheaper to cancel and redeposit miles ($150 in the case of AAdvantage) vs. most cheap fares, which are non-refundable
- Often cheaper when redeeming for business or first class than booking a ticket and using miles to upgrade
Check the Issuing Carrier and Fare Class for Upgrade Eligibility
Your ability to upgrade a purchased flight depends on the airline you bought your ticket with, the airline you'll be flying, and your fare class; each airline is different when it comes to the rules.
In this reader's example, the ticket appears to have been purchased with Etihad, and Etihad only permits upgrade awards for flights on Etihad flights, while American only permits upgrade awards on tickets that are marketed as well as operated by American Airlines–so this reader won't be able to upgrade the American Airlines flight from DFW to Abu Dhabi, on this Etihad marketed ticket.
The reader could upgrade on the ~6 hour flight from Frankfurt (FRA) to Abu Dhabi (AUH), using Etihad Guest miles. To check the amount required, simply check the fare class on your ticket, go to Etihad's Mileage Calculator, plug in your origin and destination cities, and view the miles required.
I don't know the fare class of this reader's ticket, but assuming that the fare class is NOT T or X (which are ineligible for upgrades) then the cost to upgrade from Coral Economy to Pearl Business class on the FRA-AUH segment would be either 23,334 Etihad Guest miles one way, if booked in Y, B, H, K, M or Q fare classes, or 29,112 Etihad Guest miles if booked in L, U, V or E fare classes. I suspect that for these cheap fares, the ticket is U or E, which would be the 29,112 miles each way for the upgrade.
Assuming the reader doesn't already have Etihad Guest miles, his best bet will likely be transferring SPG Starpoints to Etihad in increments of 20,000, with a 25% transfer bonus (see SPG Airline Partners: Transfer Starwood Points to Miles). So to upgrade two Coral Economy tickets to Business class would be 59,000 miles roundtrip per person, or 118,000 miles for two, just for FRA-AUH-FRA, or 100,000 SPG Starpoints transferred into 125,000 Etihad Guest miles.
Bottom Line: Earlier this year, there was a 100,000 Citi Executive AAdvantage offer with $450 annual fee and $200 statement credit: effectively, 100,000 AAdvantage miles for $250. And it was possible to get this card a 2nd and even a 3rd time, in some cases. 200,000 AAdvantage miles is more than enough for an Etihad First Class roundtrip award from the U.S. to the Middle East, India, and the Maldives, so if you picked up a couple 100K Citi Executive AAdvantage offers, you could have flown first class roundtrip for ~$500.
To me, that's a much better deal than even a cheap fare glitch, if your intent is to upgrade to business class, which can't be compared quality-wise to first class (and it's not possible to use miles to do a double upgrade from economy to first). Of course if don't mind economy, then the cheap fare is great–but almost none of my Award Booking or TravelSort hotel clients want to fly economy on a 12+ hour flight.
If you bought cheap Etihad tickets, are you planning to upgrade to business class?
Related Posts
Why Award Tickets are Better Deals Than Upgrades
Etihad Business Class Review: Male to Abu Dhabi
Etihad First Class Review: Abu Dhabi to NYC
American Airline's New AAdvantage Program: Winners, Losers and FAQ
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