Here’s how to use airline miles for a first class upgrade

The most coveted perk in the frequent flyer world is an upgrade to a comfier seat with better legroom, more recline and better food and beverage. While it’s easy to envy the elite members who get “complimentary” upgrades, anyone who’s ever taken an economics class will tell you that there’s no such thing as a …

May 27, 2025 - 20:58

Here’s how to use airline miles for a first class upgrade

The most coveted perk in the frequent flyer world is an upgrade to a comfier seat with better legroom, more recline and better food and beverage. While it’s easy to envy the elite members who get “complimentary” upgrades, anyone who’s ever taken an economics class will tell you that there’s no such thing as a free ~~lunch~~ upgrade.

Elite members pay for their “complimentary” upgrades through extended periods of loyalty (and revenue generation) to a single airline and alliance. But even if you don’t have elite status, many airlines will let you upgrade eligible tickets using your miles.

Let’s unpack the mileage upgrade options on the table with most major U.S. airline programs — and whether or not the option is worth it.

Upgrading airfare with miles

American A321T business class — CHRIS DONG/THE POINTS GUY

As airlines switch to a more revenue-based model for earning and redeeming miles, they’re willing to accept miles instead of a cash payment for upgrades. Upgrading with miles sometimes presents an easy way to fly comfortably without shelling out hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars for a seat at the front of the plane.

When and how to upgrade with miles

One common misconception that people have about upgrades of all types is that if there’s an empty seat in the next cabin, you can upgrade to it if you’re willing to pay. Airlines make a large chunk of their revenue selling premium cabin seats — especially full-fare ones to last-minute business travelers. In some cases, they’d rather gamble that someone will buy that seat close to departure rather than offer it as an upgrade, even if it goes out empty.

Each airline has a revenue-management department that controls how many seats are available for upgrades, just like they control how many are available for award redemptions. This means that when upgrading with miles, your upgrade may not clear before the flight unless there’s upgrade inventory in the cabin you’re trying to upgrade to. For example, on American Airlines the “C” fare class is for upgrades from economy to business class on two- or three-cabin planes, while the “A” class is for Flagship first-class upgrades on three-cabin aircraft.

If you’re still unfamiliar with the general process of upgrading tickets, check out TPG’s guide to getting upgraded on the Big Three domestic airlines: American, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines.

You should do your best to search for upgrade inventory before trying to initiate an upgrade request. If you’re using a mileage upgrade and it doesn’t clear before departure, you’ll likely fall below all the elite flyers on the upgrade waitlist at the airport. If you intend to upgrade a ticket, you may want to search for upgrade inventory before booking your flight.

The good news is that mileage upgrades can almost always clear in advance of departure if there’s upgrade inventory, so there’s no incentive to wait until closer to the flight. If you have the miles and see the upgrade space, lock it in while it’s still available.

What types of tickets can I upgrade?

Exactly which tickets you can upgrade will vary from airline to airline. For example, American and United do not let travelers upgrade award tickets with miles. Delta, on the other hand, will let you upgrade mileage tickets with SkyMiles.

Further, most airlines don’t allow you to upgrade basic economy and other deeply discounted economy fares with miles or cash. Specific airlines might also publish excluded fare classes — so it’s essential to understand which fare class you’re booking if you intend to upgrade your flight with miles.

Usually the average traveler doesn’t have to pay too much attention to their specific fare class. After all, if you’re not chasing elite status with American Airlines, it doesn’t matter if your economy ticket falls into the Y, G, N or Q fare class beyond the ticket price. If you want to upgrade your ticket with miles, the fare class can determine whether your ticket is eligible for an upgrade and how much it will cost.

Domestic versus international

There aren’t many differences between domestic and international mileage upgrades, but international business-class seats are usually harder to come by and cost more.

Perhaps the biggest thing to be aware of is that many international planes now feature a premium economy cabin as an intermediary option. While the terms and conditions of most upgrades reference a “one cabin upgrade,” in some cases, you can still upgrade directly from economy to business class.

United's Premium Plus cabin aboard a 777-300ER — ZACH HONIG/THE POINTS GUY

How to upgrade with airline miles

Let’s examine the specifics of mileage upgrades for the Big Three major U.S. airlines. You’ll notice that Alaska Airlines is excluded from this list, as it no longer allows for mileage upgrades.

American Airlines

American Airlines offers the most straightforward chart for mileage upgrades. Note that discounted fares include a cash copay if you’re upgrading from economy to business or from business to first. Meanwhile, full-fare tickets only require additional miles to upgrade.

American Airlines mileage upgrade chart — AMERICAN AIRLINES

In TPG’s May 2025 valuations, we value American Airlines miles at 1.65 cents each. When you factor in the $350 copay, you’re looking at about ~$762 to upgrade to business class on some of American’s longest flights. This is not a bad deal, but upgrade inventory is tough to come by.

If you’re wondering what exactly American counts as a “discount economy ticket,” here are the relevant fare codes for each category of upgrade pricing:

Discount Economy with published fares booked in H, K, M, L, V, G, Q, N, O, S and Military or Government fares booked in Y
Full-Fare Economy with published fares booked in Y
Discount Premium Economy with published fares booked in P
Full-Fare Premium Economy with published fares booked in W
Discount Business with published fares booked in I
Full-Fare Business with published fares booked in J, D or R

Note that different rules apply to upgrades on British Airways, Iberia and Qantas flights that can also be upgraded with American miles.

United Airlines

United 787-10 business class — ZACH GRIFF/THE POINTS GUY

You can estimate the number of miles you’ll need to upgrade a United flight using this calculator on the United website. This calculator will show you how many miles you need for an upgrade and what cash copay may be required, as you’re required to pay a copay for United upgrades unless you’re booked in O, Y, or B classes. (Note that cash co-pays are also waived for some United Premier elite members.)

Here’s a look at an example search from the U.S. to Europe.

United Airlines mileage upgrade calculator — UNITED AIRLINES

These rates are valid until Nov. 24, 2025. After that, United’s website states that “the cost for the upgrades will be displayed on united.com.” In other words, expect United Mileage Upgrade Awards to be priced dynamically after the end of November, similar to how Delta prices its upgrades.

You can upgrade partner flights by requesting a Star Alliance Upgrade Award. This is actually often better than upgrading United flights, as the airline doesn’t charge upgrade copays on partner flights. However, only some fare classes are upgradeable. Generally, C, D, Y and B fares are eligible across all Star Alliance carriers, plus the following:

Air Canada – O class
Air China – J and G class
Air New Zealand – E, U and O class
ANA – J, Z, E, G, M and U class
Austrian – G, E, M and U class
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 – K class
Lufthansa – J, E, G, M and U class
Shenzhen Airlines – M and H class
Singapore Airlines – S, Z, J and U class
South African Airways – M class (domestic only)
SWISS – J, M and U class

These can be a pretty great deal if you find a low-cost fare in a participating fare class. For example, this flight from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport (HND) costs $3,825 in U fare economy class with All Nippon Airways. According to United, you can upgrade this flight to business class for 50,000 miles round-trip.

ANA flights from New York to Tokyo on ITA Matrix — ITA MATRIX

The same business class flight costs $8,588 round-trip, so using your miles to upgrade would save you thousands of dollars.

ITA Matrix showing a round-trip business class flight from New York to Tokyo on ANA — ITA MATRIX

Of course, make sure your ANA flight has available award space before you upgrade, as upgrades and awards generally pull from the same inventory. You can use your favorite Star Alliance search tool to find this. If your flight has award space, it can likely be upgraded with United miles.

That said, it’s also worth noting that some specific flights are not upgradable. These include:

Intra-Japan flights with All Nippon Airways
All flights operated by Air Japan
All A350, A380 and 777-300ER aircraft flights and D class with Singapore Airlines

Delta

Delta has two upgrade options — “Upgrade with Miles” and “Mileage Upgrade Awards.”

The first allows you to buy cash upgrades at a value of roughly just over 1 cent per SkyMile. This is a lackluster redemption. Meanwhile, the latter option is the standard mileage upgrade award we’ve been discussing throughout this post. Unfortunately, these upgrades are no longer available on Delta-operated flights within the Americas and can only be used for select international markets. You can also upgrade select partner-operated flights, not just flights on Delta Metal.

Delta flights (departing from France, Ghana, or the UK): Eligible fare classes include P, A, G, Y, B, M, H, Q, K
Air France (marketed and operated): Eligible fare classes include W, S, A, Y, B, M
Delta-marketed, Air France-operated flights: Eligible fare classes include P, A, G, Y, B, M
KLM-operated flights: Eligible fare classes include Y, B, M
Delta-marketed, Virgin Atlantic-operated flights: From economy to premium economy or Upper Class, eligible classes include Y, B, M, H, Q, K; from premium economy to Upper Class, eligible classes include P, A, G
Delta-marketed, Aeromexico-operated flights (U.S. to/from Mexico only): Eligible fare classes include Y, B, M, H, Q, K, L, U, T

Delta upgrade offer for a flight from Spokane to Atlanta — DELTA

Unfortunately, the only way to use these upgrades is to call a Delta reservations agent for a quote. If you’re trying to upgrade on a Delta flight, many will tell you that the only option for upgrading with miles is to accept whatever offer appears on your My Trips page. If this happens to you, politely end the call and call back for a new agent.

Bottom line

Delta cabin — CLINT HENDERSON/THE POINTS GUY

Traveling the way you want to requires some flexibility, and it helps if you have several different tools at your disposal. These include leveraging transfer partners to book premium cabin awards at lower rates, hunting for low cash fares and learning the different types of upgrades available to you.

While the value isn’t always great, mileage upgrades are a good option to consider if you don’t have elite status with an airline but still want to score a better seat on your upcoming flight.

Additional reporting by Ethan Steinberg.

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