American Deal of The Year

For less than 48 hours last week, American Airlines offered an instant systemwide upgrade offer for anyone with a systemwide upgrade available in their account. We quickly identified this offer as “too good” and an “unheard of” deal. After taking advantage of this offer, and having additional time to reflect, it is clear this was the American Airlines deal of the year. Let us explain why below.

The Offer

As outlined HERE, anyone with an American Airlines systemwide upgrade in their account was eligible for this promotion. You could purchase a premium economy ticket to almost anywhere on Earth in the month of August and be instantly upgraded to Flagship Business class. The beauty of this offer was that it did NOT require Charlie (“C”) fare space to be available. This typically allows the use of these systemwide upgrades (“SWUs”).

Additionally, systemwide upgrades expire on March 31 of the year after you select them. So the timing was ideal since lots of American Airlines loyalists had SWUs expiring within two weeks of this promotion. The fact that American Airlines offered this promo at this particular time is nothing short of mind-blowing. Rather than folks using expiring SWUs for a short domestic flight, AA gave us all the opportunity to get a business class flight almost anywhere.

American Deal of The Year

The amazing part of this deal, and why we believe it is the American Airlines deal of the year, is the lack of restrictions on this promo. Other than a limitation of flights booked for travel in the month of August, there were few other meaningful restrictions. What do you think of when talking about a flight in August? I immediately think of a European vacation during a time when award space is scarce and everyone wants to travel.

Luckily for us, Sarah & I have a trip planned in August. We're headed with a group of friends to the French Riviera. As you can expect during peak beach season, flights to Nice, France are insanely expensive. For example, the American Airlines nonstop from Philadelphia to Nice in August is just insane. The cheapest business class flight is 255,500 miles per person.

Similarly, cash fares are also stupid expensive. For the week of our trip, business class fares hover around $7,000 per person, one way (although the round-trip price is similar).

Reassessing Our Trip

Prior to this deal, we booked via Aeroplan to fly Washington, DC (IAD) to Frankfurt (FRA) and then to Nice (NCE). This included a 8h50m layover at Frankfurt, which we dreaded. This itinerary was 70,000 Aeroplan miles and $190 per person. As shown above, we had completely written off the possibly of a non-stop flight to Nice. Since American Airlines from Philadelphia (as well as other USA gateways from other carriers) were stupid expensive.

However, as soon I saw this promo announced, I pounced on the Philadelphia to Nice route. I knew it existed, knew how expensive it was, and had been monitoring every day for months for SWU availability. I had yet to see a single day open anywhere on the calendar, meaning I figured it was impossible to achieve. At the time of the promo announcement, premium economy fares were ~$1,200 per person. Yes, that is very expensive for a one way in premium economy. On the other hand, on a non-stop premium route, in the middle of prime season, that is an incredible price for business class. After reading all the terms & conditions, and knowing I had the option of a full refund if things didn't go as planned, I decided we should act quickly on this deal of the year.

Our Experience

After identifying these fares, and all the terms & conditions, I booked our flights. Our confirmation email came through at 2:33pm.

At the three (3) hour mark from booking, nothing had happened. As American Airlines indicated that three hours was the maximum timeline for successful upgrades, I began to doubt this was actually going to work out. However, shortly after the four (4) hour mark, I checked our account and saw very happy news! We'd been upgraded and our SWUs were successfully applied.

Interestingly, the SWUs did not come out of my account for over three days. When the SWUs were actually applied to the flight, and removed from my account, I received a confirmation email. This confirmation email shows a $825 “award co-payment” fee applied for each of us. Is this the internal cost of a systemwide upgrade? That is not clear, but it appears so.

American Deal of The Year: ToP Thoughts

Whether it was “too good,” “an unheard of deal” or the “American deal of the year,” or all three, this systemwide upgrade offer was incredible. And incredibly timed for American Airlines elites. Sarah and I managed to get on a non-stop, premium route to the French Riviera in prime tourist season for ~ $1,200 each and two expiring systemwide upgrades. Doing so allows us to earn ~15,000+ American Airlines miles each and save 140,000 Aeroplan miles and $380 from our existing booking. Maybe the best part of all of this? We no longer have a nine hour layover at Frankfurt airport.

Did you take advantage of this deal? Come over to our Facebook group and let us know.