American Airlines is revamping its mileage upgrade system, and preliminary insights suggest this may result in a devaluation for many travelers.
Similar to United’s recent changes, American Airlines will no longer have a mileage upgrade award chart.
Instead, they are implementing instant upgrades, which are already available for many bookings and can be purchased when the itinerary is confirmed.
American Airlines has long offered cash upgrade options.
The airline stated, “AAdvantage members using miles will now know immediately whether their mileage upgrade request is confirmed prior to departure.”
Now, along with upgrade offers, a mileage price will be displayed.
According to the AA.com website, the existing award charts will still be usable for upgrades until August 11, allowing upgrades for as few as 5,000 AAdvantage miles.
American has announced that after August 12, 2025, at midnight CT, new requests using the mileage upgrade award chart will no longer be accepted.
Related: What’s the fair price for a first-class upgrade?
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While the new instant upgrades using miles are convenient, the average value stands at about a cent per mile—similar to the value of purchasing upgrades with Delta SkyMiles, which is generally around 1.07 cents per mile.
For an upcoming flight to Chicago, I can upgrade for either $291 or 27,100 AAdvantage miles, which represents a poor value for those miles.
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New upgrade offer on flight to Chicago. AA.COM
Flying Frugal’s Nick Ewen received an upgrade offer for $76 or 7,100 miles, which also reflects a low value per mile, especially given that Flying Frugal currently values American’s miles at 1.5 cents each as of June 2025.
Fortunately, these changes won’t affect systemwide upgrade awards, which can still be used to convert a paid fare into a higher class of service, or even two classes on select itineraries, for up to three segments.
Bottom line
For those aiming to maximize their AAdvantage miles for a better travel experience, this update is likely to be disappointing.
It’s particularly challenging for travelers who have previously enjoyed using American miles for cost-effective upgrades on international routes. Personally, I’ve upgraded from economy to business class on European flights using as few as 25,000 AA miles and a $350 fee, which will no longer be possible after August 11.
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