The most coveted privilege in the common flyer world is upgrading to more comfortable seats, better legroom, inclination and better food and drinks. While it’s easy to envy elite members who get “free” upgrades, anyone taking an economics class will tell you that there is no free lunch upgrade or something like that.
Elite members pay for their “free” upgrades through long-term loyalty (and revenue generation) for individual airlines and alliances. But even if you don’t have an elite status, many airlines will let you upgrade your tickets with mileage.
Let’s unwrap the mileage upgrade option on the desktop on the table through most major U.S. airlines plan, and whether that option is worth it.
Upgrade flights with mileage
Let’s start with the basics. Upgrading with mileage involves redeeming your frequent flyer miles to upgrade your tickets to the next service class: for example, from economic to business class or from business to first, depending on the airline you are flying with.
As airlines turn to a model of higher income and redemption miles based on income, they are willing to accept mileage rather than upgrade cash payments. Upgrading miles sometimes brings an easy way to fly comfortably without shelling hundreds of dollars, if not thousands, of dollars, seats.
When and how to upgrade with mileage
One common misconception that people have about all types of upgrades is that if there is an empty seat in the next cabin, you can upgrade it if you are willing to pay. Airlines make a big portion of their revenue, selling premium cabin seats, especially the full charges offered to last-minute business travelers. In some cases, they would rather be gambling, and someone would even buy the seat near the hairdresser rather than use it as an upgrade, even if it was empty.
Each airline has a revenue management department that controls how many seats available for upgrades, just as they control how many can be used for redemption rewards. This means that when upgrading with Miles, your upgrade may not be cleared before flight unless there is upgrade inventory in the cabin you are trying to upgrade. For example, on American Airlines, the “C” fare course is an upgrade from economics to business class on two or three wooden planes, while the “A” level is a flagship first-class upgrade on three-CABIN planes.
If you are still unfamiliar with the general process of upgrading your tickets, check out the TPG guide to upgrade three major domestic airlines: United Airlines and Delta Airlines.
Before you try to start an upgrade request, you should try your best to search for upgrade inventory. If you are using mileage upgrades and are not clear before departure, you may be under all the elite flyers on the airport upgrade waiting list. If you plan to upgrade your ticket, you may need to search for upgrade inventory before booking your flight.
Daily Newsletter
Reward your inbox with TPG Daily Newsletter
Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG experts
The good news is that if there is an upgrade inventory, mileage upgrades can almost always be cleared before leaving, so there is no power to wait until it is close to flying. If you have mileage and view upgrade space, lock it while it is still available.
What types of tickets can I upgrade?
Which tickets you can upgrade will vary by airline to airline. For example, the United States and Manchester United won’t let travelers reward tickets with mileage upgrades. Delta, on the other hand, will let you upgrade your mileage with Skymiles.
Additionally, most airlines don’t allow you to use miles or cash to upgrade your basic economy and other deep economic fares. Specific airlines may also publish excluded fare courses – so if you are planning to upgrade your flight with mileage, it is crucial to know the fare courses you are booking.
Often, the average traveler doesn’t have to pay too much attention to their specific fare courses. After all, it doesn’t matter if you’re not chasing elite status on American Airlines, it doesn’t matter whether your economy ticket is priced above the fare. If you want to upgrade your ticket with mileage, the fare course can determine whether your ticket is eligible for upgrades and the fees.
Domestic and international
There are not many differences between domestic and international mileage upgrades, but international business-grade seats are often difficult to obtain and costly.
Perhaps the biggest thing to note is that many international aircraft now use premium economy class as the middle option. While most upgrade terms and conditions reference “one cabin upgrade”, in some cases you can still upgrade directly from economic to business class.
How to use airline mileage upgrades
Let’s check out the details of mileage upgrades for the three major U.S. airlines. You will notice that Alaska Airlines no longer allows mileage upgrades.
Related: How to ensure an upgrade on your next flight
American Airlines
American Airlines provides the most direct chart of upgrades. Please note that if you are going from economics to business or from business to first, discount fares include cash payments. Meanwhile, full votes only require an extra mile to upgrade.
In TPG’s May 2025 valuation, we estimate American Airlines’ mileage to 1.65 cents. When you consider a $350 COPAY, you’re looking for about $762 to upgrade to Business Class on the longest flight in the United States. This is not a bad problem, but upgrading inventory is difficult to obtain.
If you want to know exactly what the United States counts as a “discount economy ticket”, here are the relevant fare codes for each upgrade pricing category:
- Discount economy Publication fares booked in H, K, M, L, V, G, Q, N, O, S and military or government fares
- Full voting economy Publication ticket price booked with Y
- Discount premium economy Fares booked in P
- Make every effort to achieve high-quality economy Book in W at published fares
- Discount business Fares to book in I
- Comprehensive business Publication tickets booked in J, D or R
Please note that different rules apply to upgrades on British Airways, Iberia and Qantas flights, which can also be upgraded via US mileage.
Related: Every American Airlines Premium Seat From Best to Worst
United Airlines
You can estimate the number of miles you need to upgrade a joint flight using this calculator on the United website. The calculator will show you how many miles you need for the upgrade and what cash you might need, because unless you book in an O, Y or B course, you will need to pay for Copay for the United upgrade. (Please note that some elite members of the United Prime Minister also waived cash co-payments.)
Here is a sample search from the United States to Europe.
These rates are valid until November 24, 2025. After that, Manchester United’s website stated that “the upgrade cost will be displayed on United.com”. In other words, the joint industry upgrade awards are expected to be priced dynamically after the end of November, similar to the way Delta upgrades.
You can upgrade your partner flights by claiming to receive the Star Alliance Upgrade Award. In fact, this is usually better than upgrading a joint flight, as the airline does not charge upgrade ratings on partner flights. However, only some ticket courses are available for upgrade. Typically, C, D, Y and B fares are eligible for all Star Alliance carriers, as well as the following:
- Air Canada – o Class
- China Airlines – J and G class
- Air New Zealand – E, U and O class
- ana – j,z,e,g,m andu class
- Austrians – G, E, M and U classes
- Copa Airlines – M, H, Q, K, V, U, S, O, W, E, L, T and A Class
- Ethiopian Airlines – G and S class
- EVA Airways – Class K
- Lufthansa – J, E, G, M and U classes
- Shenzhen Airlines – M and H Classes
- Singapore Airlines – S, Z, J and U Class
- South African Airlines – M-class (domestic only)
- Switzerland – J, M and U classes
If you find low-cost fares in participating ticket courses, this can be a big deal. For example, this flight from John Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York to Haneda Airport (HND) in Tokyo will cost $3,825 in U tickets and $3,825 for all Japanese airlines. According to the United States, you can upgrade this flight to 50,000 miles round trip business class.
The same business class flight costs $8,588 round trip, so using mileage upgrades will save you thousands of dollars.
Of course, make sure your ANA flight has available reward space before upgrading, as upgrades and rewards are usually drawn from the same inventory. You can find this feature using your favorite Star Alliance search tool. If your flight has reward space, you may be upgraded through Manchester United Myers.
Related: It’s easier than ever to upgrade your flight with Manchester United or Certificate
That is, it is also worth noting that some specific flights are no Upgradable. These include:
- All Japanese Airlines flights
- All flights operated by Japan Airlines
- All A350, A380 and 777-300ER aircraft flights as well as Singapore Airlines
delta
Delta has two upgrade options – “Upgrade with Miles” and “Milege Upgrade Award”.
First, you can buy cash upgrades for about 1 cent per Skymile. This is a kind of dull redemption. Meanwhile, the latter option is the Standard Mileage Upgrade Award that we have been discussing in this article. Unfortunately, these upgrades are no longer available for delta flights within the Americas, but only for select international markets. You can also upgrade your selected partner-operated flights, not just on Delta Metal.
- Delta flights (from France, Ghana or the United Kingdom): Qualified fare courses include P, A, G, Y, B, M, H, H, Q, K
- Air France (Sales and Operations): Qualified fare courses include W, S, A, Y, B, M
- Delta Sales, Air France flights: Qualified fare courses include P, A, G, Y, B, M
- Flights operated by KLM: Qualified fare courses include Y, B, M
- Delta Marketing, flights operated by Virgin Atlantic: From the economy to the advanced economy or the upper class, the qualified courses include Y, B, M, H, Q, K; from the advanced economy to the upper class, the qualified courses include P, A, G
- Delta Marketing, Air Mexico flights (only to and from Mexico to the United States): Qualified fare courses include Y, B, M, H, Q, K, L, U, T
Unfortunately, the only way to use these upgrades is to call the Delta Booking Agent with the quote. If you want to upgrade on a Delta flight, many people will tell you that the only option to upgrade with Miles is to accept any quotes that appear on my travel page. If this happens to you, politely end the call and call back as a new agent.
Related: The Final Guide to Delta One Suites
Bottom line
Traveling the way you want requires some flexibility, which can be helpful if you can use several different tools. These include leveraging transfer partners to book premium cabin awards at lower prices, looking for low cash fares and learning different types of upgrades available.
While value isn’t always great, if you don’t have an elite airline status and still want better seats on your upcoming flight, you might consider a mileage upgrade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5ccsxhf7sa
Other reports by Ethan Steinberg.
Related readings:
