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This is a question that came up on one of my last flights
Amex Travel provides several unique earning opportunities, a few of them: 5x earning with Amex Business Platinum, 35-50% refund on redeemed points, and the ability to earn EQD differently than a flight booked directly with the airline. If you’re unfamiliar with the latter point, you can see the chart whereby AA lays out earning made with consolidators and bulk fares here. I used Amex points, redeemed through Amex Travel, to fly to Japan earlier this month, and wanted to upgrade those tickets with System Wide Upgrades ( a guaranteed one class upgrade on a one way flight). The tickets were purchased with 60k Amex points and booked into discount economy. I couldn’t find much information online about the process so I thought I’d share my experience.
I saw SWUs available at the time of booking.
Can you use an SWU on an Amex Travel booking?
The short answer is Yes.
The following is strictly enforced.
- The flight has be OPERATED and MARKETED as AA
- This means if you see an AA flight that is sold by Cathay, BA, JAL, etc – you can not apply an SWU to it.
- Basic Econ fares aren’t eligible
- Militar/Government fares are ineligible.
I had no trouble using System Wide Upgrades on our reservations, at all. I made the booking. Received confirmation, ticketing information, and then proceeded to call AA to apply the SWUs.
A quick hint. Expedite ticketing so you don’t lose your biz class seat.
If you see that an SWU is available at the time of booking. Call into Amex and request that the ticket is issued. AA can only apply your SWU after the consolidator ( Amex ) has issued the ticket. There is a delay between booking and ticketing, and you don’t want to miss out.
I also credited my flight to Alaska. So I booked on Amex Travel. Applied the SWU. AND credited to a partner.
Alaska will give me credit for the flight based on my original fare class. You can see below it says Business (c). This signifies that the business class fare bucket is upgraded.
Amex Travel ( especially those w/ the grandfathered 50%) is a great way to use some Amex points and double dip.
You’ll not only get $0.02 per point, but Amex Travel often has better rates with partners ( like AA and Delta ) than you’ll see otherwise. You won’t just get a good value for your Membership Rewards, but you’ll also earn Airline Redeemable Miles, Elite Miles, and Elite Dollars if the airline records those.
You can also apply upgrades if the fare class you’ve booked into allows it. Like I did with an SWU.
I have to say…the new retro fit AA 772 cabin is gorgeous. An outstanding use of an SWU.
If you’d like to read more about SWUs including the order in which they clear, go to AA’s official site.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.