Whenever people ask me why I strive to earn American Airlines Executive Platinum status each year my answer is always the same. The reason I try to earn EP status is because of the 4 Systemwide Upgrades (SWUs) I receive each time I qualify.
What Are Systemwide Upgrades?
Systemwide Upgrades (SWU) are electronic certificates passengers can use, when traveling with American, to upgrade to the next highest cabin. For example, you can use SWUs to move from Economy class to Business class or from Business class to First class. Additionally, these certificates are valid on both domestic and international itineraries.
The one key thing to remember about Systemwide Upgrades is that they are only valid for travel with American Airlines. That means in order to use a SWU you must be traveling on an American Airlines aircraft. SWUs will not work when trying to upgrade on flights operated by OneWorld Partners.
Additionally, Systemwide Upgrades only work in one direction of an itinerary. For example, if you book a round trip flight from Dallas to Hong Kong one SWU will only upgrade you on one direction of the itinerary. If you wanted to upgrade both the outbound and inbound flights you would be required to use two SWUs.
Furthermore, SWUs, if confirmed, will upgrade up to three flights per leg of a trip. So, expanding on the above example. If you flew from Indianapolis to Chicago to Dallas to Hong Kong you could use a single SWU to upgrade all three of those flights.
How Do You Earn American Airlines Systemwide Upgrades?
Only American’s most loyal customers earn SWUs each year. American Airlines Executive Platinum elite customers earn 4 Systemwide Upgrades each year when they eventually qualify top-tier status. AAdvantage Executive Platinum members can earn 2 additional SWUs per 50,000 EQM earned over the 100,000 EQM required to qualify. So, if you earn Executive Platinum and end up earning 200,000 EQM you would earn a total of 8 Systemwide Upgrades.
American Airlines also doles out SWUs to their Million Miler customers. The Million Miler program is slightly different from qualifying for annual elite status. Million Miler is a lifetime elite status program in which AAdvantage customers accrue miles over the lifetime of their account. When a customer passes 2 million miles they earn a total of 4 Systemwide Upgrades. American award 4 more SWUs per each million miles flown thereafter.
The one thing that’s important to remember about SWUs is that they do expire. In general, SWUs expire approximately 1 year after earning them. However, SWUs earned when qualifying for EP status expire on Jan 31 of the year following your status benefits year. For example, SWUs earned in 2018 expire on Jan 31, 2020. With that in mind, you’ll want to make sure to use any and all SWUs prior to their expiration date.
How Do You Use American Airlines Systemwide Upgrades?
Using American Airlines Systemwide upgrades is a fairly straightforward process. Essentially, there are two ways to use Systemwide Upgrades. The first, and best, way to use SWUs is to apply them to a trip where confirmable upgrade space is available at the time of booking. By using SWUs this way you will receive a confirmed upgrade at the time of booking.
Confirmable upgrade space on international routes is hard to find, but you’ll do so by first searching for a desired flight.
On the flight search results page you’ll see a Systemwide Upgrade hyperlink on itineraries eligible to use SWUs. When you click the hyperlink you’ll find the following page pop up on your screen:
This page shows you if there is confirmable upgrade space available on a given itinerary. In the above example, there is confirmable upgrade space from Business to First on both segments of the trip, but no confirmable space from the Main Cabin to Business.
At this point, if you are hoping to upgrade from the Main Cabin to Business or from Business to First the steps are the same. You MUST call American Airlines and have a customer service agent apply a SWU to your itinerary. There is currently no way to do this online. It’s important to do this shortly after booking as the timing of your request will have an effect on upgrade priority. If space is available when you call you will see the upgrade process shortly after hanging up. If not, you have to wait. Let me tell you, it ends up being the longest wait of your life.
Tips On Using A Systemwide Upgrade
As you can see from the above example, using SWUs to upgrade from the Main Cabin to Business class can be a gamble. It’s often quite hard to find confirmable upgrade space at the time of booking, but there are ways of helping your chances of an upgrade clearing in the future.
For starters, when trying to use a SWU to upgrade from Main Cabin to Business I always try to think of flights which are likely to have low demand for premium cabin travel. When using this strategy it’s always a good idea to book flights in the middle of the week or on Saturday. Business travelers tend to travel Monday, Thursday, Friday, or Sunday. So if you’re planning on trying to snag a business class seat, it’s best to book on either Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday.
If neither of the above days work for my schedule I next try to think of what times business travelers are least likely to fly. Take Chicago to London for example. There are several American Airlines operated flights between the city pairs each day so there are a few flights to choose from. When I pull up the seating chart on the last flight of the day (10:25PM CST) I see that there are few seats available. 8 to be exact. However, when I pull up the seating chart on the 7:25PM departure I see 14 seats available. That tells me there is less demand for the 7:25PM departure and that flight is my best bet if I’m trying to use a SWU to upgrade to Business.
Final Thoughts
For me, Systemwide Upgrades alone help me justify qualifying for Executive Platinum status each year. I love the idea that I can book a deeply discounted international economy class fare and end up flying in a lie flat bed. However, Systemwide Upgrades aren’t exactly the incredible benefit they are made out to be. While you can use SWUs to upgrade from the Main Cabin to Business class, in my experience, the reality is a bit less glamourous.
Each time I’ve tried to use a SWU I end up waiting until the day before or the day of departure for my upgrade to clear. In fact, on a recent trip to London, my upgrade didn’t clear until the boarding process began at the airport.
However, as I learn more about SWUs and how to use them I’ve had much better luck in my upgrades clearing ahead of my departure date. This is especially true if I’m diligent when booking and only book flights with confirmable space available.
