Continental how many miles to upgrade to first class
Near the bottom of that page is a section for fare preferences. You can enter one or more fare classes if you wish to take advantage of special upgrade rules for those fares. The results page will show not only the cheapest available fare without an upgrade , but also the cost when booking an upgradeable fare that includes the necessary miles and the co-pay.
You can also view the details under each itinerary — without jumping through all these hoops — to look at the inventory in specific fare classes.
United classifies its upgrade inventory in the R fare class. To upgrade a flight operated by United Airlines, United Express, or Copa Airlines, you will need to redeem miles and provide a co-pay that vary depending on your destination, route, and the fare class purchased.
A small portion is copied below. For example, upgrading a one-way domestic flight within the Continental U. There are other levels in between. On international routes between the U. The co-pay can be the biggest inhibition against redeeming miles for an upgrade.
You should determine if purchasing a more expensive fare that allows you to reduce the co-pay is more sensible. Or it may be worth paying for a discounted business class ticket. To their credit, American Airlines and United Airlines are two domestic carriers that still offer fixed rate rewards.
Delta and Southwest only offer floating-rate award flights. Primetime flights are going to cost more than red-eye flights. If you want to fly on a busy travel day, all flights will cost more points than a less busy travel day. For domestic flights, expect to pay between 4, miles and 20, miles each way for a main cabin seat. With legacy carriers, 12, miles is the norm for an economy seat.
If you're flying in business or first class, expect to pay between around 50, miles each way in most cases. Of course, you might have to pay more for any cabin class. Plus, you still have to pay fees and taxes for an award flight.
For most flights, it's a manageable fee, but not on long British Airways awards. For legacy carriers American, Delta, and United , American might be the cheapest option for domestic flights because of their discount rate for short-haul flights. To get the best deals, look for their MileSAAver rate.
With this rate, award flights start at 7, for flights less than miles in the mainland U. For flights longer than miles, expect to pay the following for domestic flights:. American Airlines has just recently announced new lower web special deals. United also has a fixed award chart with their Saver Award flights. If you can't book a Saver Award, you will pay a floating rate that only has an upper mileage limit. You can see some United award booking tips here.
To find better award flight availability, carry the United Explorer Card, which is one of the best travel credit cards. Many people have a love-hate relationship with Delta Air Lines and booking award flights. Sign up for our daily newsletter. Sign up. I would like to subscribe to The Points Guy newsletters and special email promotions. The Points Guy will not sell your email.
Please enter a valid email address Please check mailing preferences. Sign-up Successful! Welcome to The Points Guy! He's been a miles and points fanatic since and previously wrote for Upgraded Points and Credit Karma. Outside of the travel world, Andrew is a cyclist, craft coffee aficionado and — despite now living in NYC — a Chicagoan at heart.
Frontier is cutting 2 Northeast airports in a big competitive shake-up. Time is running out to take advantage of this JetBlue Mosaic fast-track offer. Quick Points: Maximize Priority Pass benefits by labeling your cards. Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels. Earn 2X Miles at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery and at U.
Earn 1X Miles on all other eligible purchases. Receive a Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate each year upon renewal of your Card. Baggage charges and other restrictions apply. See terms and conditions for details. Enjoy your first checked bag free on Delta flights. The race to offer lie-flats was kicked off by American Airlines. In , the airline announced plans to buy Airbus ATs for transcontinental flights, with 20 lie-flat seats in business class and 10 in a first class laid out with one seat on either side of the aisle.
United started to put a lie-flat fleet into service on the same route in , and now has lie-flats in business class from Newark, too. But what I like most about JetBlue Mint is the price. You can leverage frequent flyer miles and elite status to get across the country in the front of the plane—but every airline is definitely not equal on this front.
When it changed its AAdvantage program in March, American raised the rates for most award tickets—especially on its three-cabin transcontinental planes. At the same time, it also got rid of blackout dates, so you can redeem miles for pretty much any seat.