Can I use miles to upgrade my ticket?
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This is one of the most common questions I get about points and miles.
Like so many things in life, the answer depends on your fare class, how you bought the ticket, and if the upgrade cost is reasonable to you.
I explain the ins and outs of this below, but here’s the TLDR answer: The only way to guarantee you’ll fly in a premium cabin is by reserving it when you book (in either points or cash). If you’re willing to take a chance, you can wait and see if there’s an opportunity to upgrade after booking.
Three ways to upgrade your ticket
First, let’s define what it means to upgrade your seat. Upgrading with miles means you use your miles to pay to move up in cabin class.
In general, there are three basic ways to upgrade a ticket.
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Airline elite status: This is when your status entitles you to automatic upgrades, pending availability. Scroll down and I’ll explain more about this later.
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Paid upgrades: This method is pretty self-explanatory. You pay more cash to move up to the front of the plane.
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Redeem points and miles to upgrade: This method is similar to a cash upgrade, but miles are the “currency” you use to upgrade. This is what we’re talking about today.
(And for any nitpickers reading, yes, you’re right: There may be additional ways to get upgrades, such as holding Million Miler status or through a corporate account, but these will not apply to most folks.)
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Tickets you cannot upgrade with miles
Before we jump into the how-to, it’s important to be aware that several types of tickets are ineligible for upgrades.
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Award seats: You cannot upgrade seats you initially booked with points and miles. If you want to change cabins, you will need to cancel your award booking and rebook in your desired cabin.
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Basic economy seats: You can’t use miles to upgrade a seat you purchased on a barebones fare.
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How to upgrade your seat with miles
Ok, you bought an eligible ticket with cash and you want to use some of your miles to upgrade. Let’s talk about how to do it. To start, you’ll want to log in to your airline account (either online or via the app) and find your upcoming reservations.
Here’s what you need to know about the major US carriers:
- ❌ Alaska Airlines: You cannot use miles to upgrade your ticket. You can redeem miles for a first-class ticket, or you can pay cash to upgrade on eligible tickets.
- ✅ American Airlines: You can upgrade one cabin level on American flights, pending availability. American publishes an upgrade mileage award chart that tells you how many miles it’ll cost you to upgrade. If your original ticket is a discount economy or discount business ticket, you will also have a cash copay in addition to the miles.
- ✅ Delta Air Lines: Delta does not publish an upgrade award chart, however, if your reservation is eligible, you’ll see the option to upgrade and select seats for miles (or cash) in the MyTrips section. Delta also reports that you can upgrade with miles during booking, though when I tested this, I did not have enough miles in my account to have this option.
- ✅ United Airlines: United calculates award upgrades based on region, fare class, and elite status. You may have a cash copay for certain fare class codes. (The copay is waived for elite status members.)
Southwest does not currently offer a premium cabin.
To learn more about if an upgrade is a good deal, check out our guide for a simple formula to use.
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Elite status
As I hinted before, airline elite status is a separate way to get a seat upgrade—and it even may be at no additional cost.
(If you’re a regular reader of mine, you know I don’t put a lot of stock into earning elite status. But even I will admit that a complimentary seat upgrade is one of the biggest perks of holding airline elite status. And, this is one of the few perks that co-branded airline credit cards currently cannot duplicate.)
The exact timing and process vary by each airline, but in general, the way this works is the higher the tier of status you hold with an airline, the earlier and higher priority you are in line for a complimentary seat upgrade on your upcoming flight.
The highest levels of elite status also often come with some form of upgrade certificate. Again, the exact name varies by the carrier, as do the amount of upgrade certificates and regional limits, but they are basically coupons that you can redeem to upgrade your seat.
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Does carrying an airline co-branded credit card help?
This one’s a little nuanced, too. At the most basic level, holding a co-branded airline credit card does not automatically entitle you to a seat upgrade.
However, an airline card could help you in some indirect ways:
- Credit card signup bonuses can help you amass the miles you’d need to pay for an upgrade.
- Many premium co-branded credit cards offer head starts toward airline status, which if you attain it, can entitle you to complimentary upgrades.
- All other things being equal, a premium credit card can give you a slight edge. If you hold the airline’s premium co-branded credit card and have elite status with the airline, you get priority over the elite status holder who doesn’t have the airline credit card.
Here are some of the best cards to help you with getting a leg up in airline elite status:
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This one lets you earn one elite status point per dollar spent with a major airline
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This one gets you a $5,000 start toward status with another popular airline
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This one gets you a $2,500 headstart with the same airline
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This one lets you earn up to 10,000 elite status points annually with a third airline
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This one lets you earn up to 6,000 elite status points annually with the same airline
One word of warning: Premium travel cards that earn transferrable points (like this one) do not help you get seat upgrades or earn elite status.
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With expert:
Kurt Adams
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Kurt is a writer with too many credit cards in his wallet. Before becoming a credit card points pro, he wrote personal finance and small business content. A graduate of Princeton, he lives in New York City.
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A disclaimer about card names:
Due to the quirks of credit card compliance, we are sometimes not allowed to use the actual names of cards or certain banks in emails. This means we have to resort to using more generic language when talking about some credit cards.
We know this can be confusing or frustrating, but we encourage you to click through to our site, where we can name and talk more candidly about the cards and their benefits. While we are bound by the rules of credit card compliance, our mission will always be to put our readers first and help you travel better for less.
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