Systemwide upgrades

About systemwide upgrades

Enjoy a confirmed upgrade from most Business fares to First and most Economy or Premium Economy fares to the next class of service (Business or domestic First) anywhere American flies.

• Systemwide upgrades can be used for one-way travel for up to three segments on American and American Eagle marketed and operated flights.
• Platinum Pro and Executive Platinum members receive a choice of rewards, including the option to select systemwide upgrades, when qualifying or re-qualifying. Executive Platinum members can also choose to receive additional systemwide upgrades as a reward upon reaching 150,000, 200,000 and 250,000 Elite Qualifying Miles (EQMs). For 2021, we’ve lowered the thresholds to 120,000, 160,000 and 200,000 EQMs.
• Million Miler members get 4 systemwide upgrades when you reach 2 Million Miles and for every Million Mile level after.
• Systemwide upgrades are credited to your account within 48 hours of being earned.
• Upgrades will expire 1 year from the date deposited. Systemwide upgrades can be used for travel beyond the expiration date – the upgrade just needs to be confirmed before the upgrade expires.
• You can share your upgrades with anyone you choose, whether you are traveling with them or not. Call your elite service desk in advance to request the upgrade.
• If you cancel your trip prior to travel, call your elite service desk to reinstate your upgrade(s) for future use.

Systemwide upgrades aren’t available when you’ve booked:

• Codeshare flights, including flights marketed by American and operated by other airlines
• Government or military fares
• Fares ineligible for mileage credit (like award tickets)

Find upgrade availability

1. Log in to aa.com.
2. When booking your flight on aa.com, look for the Systemwide upgrades link to find flights with upgrade seats available.
3. “Systemwide upgrades” will be displayed if there are enough upgrades available on the flight for the number of passengers you are requesting, and you have the appropriate number of upgrades in your account.

Request an upgrade

1. Log in to aa.com and make sure you have systemwide upgrades available in your AAdvantage^® account.
2. When booking your flight on aa.com, look for the Systemwide upgrades link to find flights with upgrade seats available.
3. Call your elite service desk to confirm your upgrade. If available, the required number of upgrades will be deducted from your balance.*
4. If an upgrade isn’t available at the time of booking, we'll waitlist your request. Waitlisted requests will be confirmed in this order:

• Elite status level
• Upgrade type
• 12-month Rolling EQDs

If the upgrade type and 12-month Rolling EQD value are the same we’ll look at the booking code then date/time of the request to determine prioritization.

If your upgrade hasn’t been confirmed by the time you check in, we’ll automatically add you to the airport upgrade standby list if you have the appropriate number of upgrades in your account 48 hours before departure.

Once your upgrade is confirmed, our app will automatically update your mobile boarding pass.

If you want to use a systemwide upgrade for an existing reservation, call your elite service desk to check upgrade availability for your flight(s).

Track your upgrade balance

Keep track of your upgrade balance in your AAdvantage^® account wallet.

In your wallet you’ll find:

• Available systemwide upgrades
• Deposit and expiration dates
• Upgrades you’ve used or plan to use

Summary details will only display if you have systemwide upgrades with an expiration date in the current or future year.