Also raises mileage costs for some trips

American Airlines is revising the terms of its AAdvantage frequent flyer program effective October 1, so that persons who want to use miles to upgrade from discounted economy fares will have to pay a $50 fee in addition to the mileage cost – and elite members will not be exempt. The new non-refundable $50 “co-payment,” as American calls it, will apply when members claim one-way, 15,000-mile upgrades from most discount economy fares within the continental U.S. or between the U.S. and Canada,, Mexico and the Caribbean; and for mileage upgrades between North and Central America. A $350 co-payment one-way – rather than the current $300 -- will be required to upgrade from discount coach fares for travel to other international destinations (for Hawaii, the co-pay will be $150). At the same time, American is raising the mileage costs of award travel to a number of destinations, mainly for premium cabin seats or for unrestricted “AAnytime” awards. The cost of a basic domestic MileSAAver award, which has restricted availability, will remain at 25,000 miles roundtrip. And the AAdvantage program will discontinue the current option of letting members acquire an award ticket with miles plus a co-payment, although they will still be able to purchase miles for their accounts through the buyAAmiles program.

As for its decision to start charging $50 for a mileage upgrade, “The reality today is that the disparity between discount and premium class fares is too great to be offset by miles alone,” American said on its web site. The airline said it decided to go with a co-payment plan rather than just prohibiting upgrades from some discounted fares because it didn’t want to “reduce members’ opportunities to upgrade,” or force them to purchase a higher fare in the hopes of upgrading when there’s no guarantee they will be able to. As with the upgrade mileage deduction, the fee won’t be collected until an upgraded seat is confirmed. American noted that “the majority of carriers” don’t allow mileage upgrades on many discount economy fares; and if they do, they often charge a fee of $200 to $450, American said. Passengers flying on full-fare (Y or B) economy tickets can still upgrade without a fee, although the mileage cost for such upgrades will increase in some overseas markets—e.g, from 7,000 to 8,000 miles to Central and South America, and from 10,000 to 15,000 for Europe. The upgrade co-pay will not apply to system-wide upgrades. The increased mileage cost of full award tickets varies by market; e.g., the cost of an AAnytime award ticket to Europe increases from 100,000 miles to 120,000, and a business class award ticket to Europe increases to 200,000 miles. For details on the AAdvantage changes and award levels and costs, go to http://www.aa.com/aa/pubcontent/en_US/urls/awardChanges.jsp.