We are an independent publisher. Our reporters create honest, accurate, and objective content to help you make decisions. To support our work, we are paid for providing advertising services. Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Next” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. The compensation we receive and other factors, such as your location, may impact what ads and links appear on our site, and how, where, and in what order ads and links appear. While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, our site does not include information about every product or service that may be available to you. We strive to keep our information accurate and up-to-date, but some information may not be current. So, your actual offer terms from an advertiser may be different than the offer terms on this site. And the advertised offers may be subject to additional terms and conditions of the advertiser. All information is presented without any warranty or guarantee to you.
This page may include: credit card ads that we may be paid for (“advertiser listing”); and general information about credit card products (“editorial content”). Many, but not all, of the offers and clickable hyperlinks (such as a “Apply Now” button or “Learn More” button) that appear on this site are from companies that compensate us. When you click on that hyperlink or button, you may be directed to the credit card issuer’s website where you can review the terms and conditions for your selected offer. Each advertiser is responsible for the accuracy and availability of its ad offer details, but we attempt to verify those offer details. We have partnerships with advertisers such as Brex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Wells Fargo and Discover. We also include editorial content to educate consumers about financial products and services. Some of that content may also contain ads, including links to advertisers’ sites, and we may be paid on those ads or links.
How to Take a Business Trip in Style: Using Miles to Upgrade a Paid Coach Ticket
Million Mile Secrets
Signing up for credit cards through partner links earns us a commission. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Here’s our full advertising policy: How we make money.
Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers.For folks who love to travel, taking business trips can be a great way to explore new places. But many companies will only pay for travel in coach.Fortunately, you can often use miles and points to upgrade a paid coach ticket to a more comfortable and civilized Business Class seat!
Use Miles to Upgrade a Paid Coach Ticket on Your Next Business Trip and Fly in Style!In this example, I’ll show you how to book a paid coach ticket on United Airlines and use miles to upgrade to Business Class!
How to Upgrade a Paid Coach Ticket on United Airlines With Miles
Many airlines give the option to use cash or miles to upgrade a coach award ticket. But folks traveling for business typically purchase paid coach tickets they can expense to their company. This makes using miles and points challenging for business travelers. But if your company is paying for your coach ticket, you can use your own miles and points to upgrade your seat!American Airlines, Delta, British Airways, Etihad, Emirates, and many other major airlines also allow you upgrade a paid ticket using miles and points.Here’s how to book a paid coach ticket and upgrade it with miles on United Airlines.
Step 1. Search for a Paid Coach Ticket Eligible for Upgrades
Go to United.com and login to your MileagePlus account. After logging in, click the “All search options” link on the home page.Start by Clicking on “All Search Options” in the “Book Travel” Box at United.comOn the next page, select “No” on the award ticket option. Choose round-trip, one-way, or multi-city based on your travel plans.You Can Use Miles to Upgrade a Round-Trip, One-way, or Multi-city TicketScroll down and enter your destination and travel dates.United Airlines Allows Searches for a Variety of Dates If Your Plans Are FlexibleScroll down again and select “economy” for your cabin. Under the upgrade type, select “Buy Economy and upgrade” from the drop-down menu.You Can Also Pay for Business Class and Upgrade to First Class With Miles!Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “Search.”United.com Will Display Flight Options for Both United Airlines and Other Star Alliance Partner Airlines.The cheapest available coach tickets are shown in the first column. United Airlines restricts upgrades on deeply-discounted coach fares or “basic economy” fares. That’s why in the second column, you see the price of the coach fare plus a co-pay. You also see the number of United Airlines miles required for the upgrade.Look for flights with the green arrow next to them. These are flights with current available upgrades.The Co-Pay to Upgrade Is More Expensive on Deeply-Discounted Coach TicketsBe sure to check with your company for their policy regarding booking business travel. They may or may not be willing to pay for the co-pay portion of your upgrade. Keep in mind, United Airlines does not charge a co-pay to upgrade full fare coach tickets. Full fare coach tickets are usually refundable and changeable, which some companies prefer anyway. So if your company is willing to pay full fare, there is no co-pay to upgrade using miles!After selecting your flight, United.com proceeds with any additional flights you included in your original search.In this example, the return trip search displayed flights with a red question mark and a yellow arrow.Be Sure to Read the Details When You See the Red Question Mark or the Yellow ArrowThe yellow arrow indicates that the flight is eligible for a wait list upgrade. This means that a confirmed upgrade isn’t available, but you can get on the wait list to fly Business Class if an award seat opens up prior to departure. If you choose this option, United Airlines will charge you the co-pay and miles at booking.If a Business Class Saver award seat doesn’t become available before your flight, you’ll receive a refund of the co-pay, miles, and any taxes you paid on the upgrade.So you should only choose this option if you are comfortable flying coach!The red question mark displays when not all legs of the trip are available for upgrade. This may be okay if you have a short connecting flight before or after a longer international flight, but make sure you read the details to understand which flight is actually being upgraded.Be Careful – This “Mixed Upgrade” Option Has no Upgrade on the Paris to Toronto Flight, and Only the Chance to Waitlist on the Toronto to Chicago Flight
Step 2. Book the Flight
After selecting your flights, the “Review Itinerary” screen will display your selections.Before Booking, Double-Check That You Chose the Correct FlightsAt this point, you must have enough United Airlines miles in your account to cover the cost of the upgrades to Business Class.Remember, United Airlines is a Chase Ultimate Rewardstransfer partner. So if you need extra miles to cover your upgrade, you can instantly transfer them from your Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, Chase Sapphire Reserve, Ink Business Preferred℠ Credit Card, Chase Ink Plus (no longer available), or Chase Ink Bold (no longer available).
What If My Flight Is Already Booked?
If your employer has already booked your ticket in coach, you can still upgrade your ticket using United Airlines miles!To upgrade an existing reservation, click “Manage Reservations” on the United Airlines website and find your flight. Click on “View/Change Seats.”You Can Upgrade an Existing Reservation Using Miles by Clicking “View / Change Seats”Then select the seat you would like. Remember, if you purchased a “Basic Economy” or deeply-discounted coach ticket, you may not be able to upgrade your seat with miles.This Flight Still Has Plenty of Business Class Seats Available for Upgrade!The next screen displays the number of miles and co-pay to upgrade.Business Class Upgrades on Flights to Europe Start as Low as 20,000 United Airlines Miles!
You Can Do It Too!
Before starting your search, it’s a good idea to check your company’s policy for business travel. Some companies will actually pay for you to fly Business Class! But if yours does not, you’ll want to know what the policy is for coach fares. Will they only pay for the cheapest available flight? Or is full-fare coach an option?Next, you’ll need to have enough miles to actually pay for the upgrade.There are lots of ways to earn United Airlines miles, particularly if you travel frequently for business. But even if you don’t, it’s easy to earn United Airlines miles with sign-up bonuses and spending on credit cards.You can earn United Airlines miles directly with cards like:
And because United Airlines is a Chase Ultimate Rewardstransfer partner, you can move Chase Ultimate Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio to United Airlines when you have one of these cards:
Chase Sapphire Reserve – Earn 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first 3 months of opening your account (here’s our review)
I think so! For travel to Europe, or any long flight, Business Class makes a huge difference! Lounge access, priority boarding, delicious meals, premium drinks, and a lie-flat seat are great reasons to upgrade to Business Class.And for business travelers, the ability to sleep comfortably can help you land rested and refreshed if you have to work right after arriving at your destination.The Extra Legroom in Business Class Is Great on Long Flights!With Business Class upgrades to Europe starting as low as 20,000 United Airlines miles, upgrading your paid coach ticket can be a great deal! For domestic flight or shorter international flights, you’ll pay fewer miles to upgrade, but it’s probably best to save your miles for longer flights or an award ticket!
Bottom Line
It’s easy to use miles and points to upgrade a paid coach ticket to Business Class. Even if your company pays for your coach ticket, you can often still upgrade using your own miles!When paying for coach and upgrading to Business Class on United Airlines, look for tickets with current available upgrades. This is shown by the green arrow on the search page. If you see flight options with a red question mark or yellow arrow, be careful to check the details!If you paid for a full-fare coach ticket, you’ll only have to pay miles for your upgrade. Otherwise, there will be a co-pay.
If you have already purchased your ticket, you can still use miles to upgrade, as long as the paid coach ticket is not “Basic Economy” or a deeply-discounted ticket.How have you used your own miles to upgrade a paid coach ticket?
Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)
