Why don you just exclude certain Deep Discount fares from use with Upgrade Awards, and not charge a co-pay on the rest?
We don’t want to reduce members’ opportunities to upgrade by reducing the types of fares that are eligible. Unlike many of our competitors, we understand that customers want low fares and still want the opportunity to upgrade. Furthermore, we think it’s inherently unfair to expect customers to purchase a higher fare ticket with the hope of upgrading when there’s no guarantee that the upgrade will be confirmed. At American Airlines, we won’t collect the co-pay until the upgrade is confirmed.
