Can I redeem Miles One (Mastercard) points AND upgrade to Business Class with my AA miles on the same ticket?
 

I have a Miles One (or Capital One--whatever they're calling it nowadays) credit card. I have enough credits for one RT ticket to Europe. I also have an AA frequent flyer account, and enough miles with them to upgrade both DH and I to business class. Can I redeem both on the same ticket? I need to use Capital One's travel agent to redeem those miles. I've never redeemed upgrades or tickets with AA.

Probably not, but call or email the AAdvantage desk to ask directly. Most likely the fare basis code that the Capital One ticket will carry will not permit mileage upgrades.

Thanks Gardyloo. I'll email AA--it's worth a shot.

So I called AA. Their answer? "I don't know." Gee, what a big help! I've got an email in to Capital One but I'm afraid they'll say the same thing. Has anyone tried to do this before???

Call AAdvantage again and ask to speak to a supervisor. I've just made several calls to AA and it appears the company is bending over backward to be helpful these days.

P.S. Try posting your query in the Airlines forum.

Underhill,

I just did post on the Airlines forum, and AAFrequentFlyer already responded, saying I need to get the "fare code" from Capital One. Should be easy. I'm so intent on doing this because it's much easier to redeem miles on Capital One, but the upgrades on AA are significantly cheaper in terms of miles used. I'll let you all know what I find out.

From the Miles One website FAQ:

Q: Can I combine the miles I earn on my Miles One Rewards card with those earned in frequent-flyer programs or on other mileage cards?

A: No. Because Miles One Rewards provides the flexibility to travel on any airline, you cannot combine miles from different accounts <i><b>or use miles in conjunction with other airline frequency or reward programs.</b></i> (Emphasis added.)

Looks pretty clear to me, but YMMV.

Thanks for looking that up for me, Gardyloo. I called Capital One and they weren't that cut and dried about the upgrade aspect of it. Yes, I can't combine them for a reward ticket, but the agent I spoke with wasn't sure about the upgrade--she said it was up to AA. C.O. won't do the AA upgrade for me, but will AA do it for an existing paper ticket that I bought through (essentially) a travel agent? According to C.O., their fare code that AAFrequentFlyer said I should ask for differs from day to day. I'd have to call the day I'm ready to buy the ticket to find out if I can swing this. The woman at Capital One said the ticket they issue looks like it was purchased by me, but the credit card company pays for it.

After dealing with several hiccups on my last trip, I could start a new thread called &quot;Things I've learned about dealing with airlines&quot; that would include:

If you don't get the answer you want, call back and try someone else. You may eventually get the answer you want.

When you DO get the answer you want, document everything about that conversation and ask for the same person if you need to call back.

No one wants to give you a definitive answer if there's a hard question. &quot;Pass the Buck&quot; is a very popular game.

It doesn't help to get frustrated.

I've just got to play the game and hope I can get what I want. :)

I generally wouldn't pursue this so much, but it's got me intrigued. Evidently you can add some of your own money to the Miles One &quot;maximum&quot; for the ticket you want, and buy it. So, you might look at your Miles One literature and see what their maximum value would be, then contact AA (my choice anyway) and see what the next-cheapest rate would be above the least expensive (which the Miles One ticket will probably come close to.) Then if you book the higher fare, use the Miles One amt as a credit toward that fare, you ought then to be able to U/G the AA fare. Hope that's clear. The fact is, that there will be umpteen fares in economy for any given European flight, most of which are upgradeable by AA for 25K miles. If the fare code on the Miles One award is for a ticket that's not upgradeable, then just apply it to one that is, pay the difference in cash, then use your miles to upgrade.

Okay, after talking to AA again I've got it figured out. You CAN do both, but it's not as cost-effective as I thought. I need to use more miles than I thought for the upgrade (25,000 each way or 50,000 RT since it's not a &quot;full fare&quot; ticket), but it's still cheaper than using the Capital One system for an upgrade (an extra 60,000 miles RT). We won't have enough miles to upgrade for this trip, but maybe the next one. :)

It's still good news!!!

Oops! We crossed posts. I think I see what you're saying, but it doesn't sound like it's necessary. As long at the CO travel agent uses a published fare (which they do), I can upgrade through AA for 25K miles.

Question: how difficult is it to upgrade using your miles on AA? I hear horror stories about trying to cash in miles for reward tickets, but I'm assuming it's much easier to upgrade?

Like everything, capacity controlled. Only a few business class seats (in 3-class airplanes) are set aside for upgraders, FF elites get first dibs, so not a sure thing at all. Obviously the chances of getting upgraded on a weekend flight in February, from an airport with lots of transatlantic seats daily, are better than from an airport with only one flight daily, in a busy summer week. Entire squadrons of fliers make an obsession out of this issue; go visit any of the airline forums at flyertalk.com and you'll see what I mean.