22. The Upgrade | Weekly - WTF is Happening with US Based Airlines?

Airlines Court the Jet Set, Downgrade Miles-Based Business Class Travelers

🗝️ The Upgrade | Weekly by Anne Marie Brown

22. The Upgrade | Weekly – Airlines Court the Jet Set, Downgrade Miles-Based Business Class Travelers

Travelers -

Hello from a beach at Rosewood Mandarina! This week, I’m checking in from a Coastline trip that happens to fall over my son’s 6th birthday. Cue the endless mom guilt. Happy birthday, Jack.

So far, we’ve conducted a site tour of all the room categories, had a delicious dinner, and massages. My business partner, Kylee Glaser and I are bunking together and hammering out a ton of work, because a travel advisor never truly vacations.

I also had the distinct pleasure of sitting next to Eli Wagner of Wagner Bespoke Travel, who is kind of a celebrity in our world. You can learn more about her in next week’s The Upgrade.

I flew here on a Southwest flight because oddly, there were no United direct flights to PVR this week. This week, I’m ruminating on the state of the US airlines. Read to the end for The Lobby Bar: Virtuoso's numbers on fall overtaking summer, the Six Senses CEO taking over The Connaught, TSA letting non-flyers back to the gate, United's three-flight standby, Southwest's first lounges (not in Denver), kids at Michelin two-stars in San Francisco, and people flying across the world to run marathons.

Happy travels,

Anne Marie

Yours truly, in a dramatic reenactment of my downgrade

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🗝️ Pre-Departure — Hospitality Hot Takes

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I am a giant travel and hospitality nerd, which means I get excited when hotels announce earnings and airlines announce new routes.

Over the past year, I’ve been learning from the points gurus who make booking Emirates first class look easy. My Instagram feed is full of points tutorials, and I did score a first class Emirates flight home from Kenya in January. I was happier than I’ve ever been on an airplane.

But something unpleasant keeps coming up in the airline forums I belong to: involuntary downgrades.

This week’s Upgrade covers the new routes from American, United, Delta, and Alaska, what they are telling us about how people are traveling, why involuntary downgrades are happening more often, and what to do if it happens to you.

American’s New Routes

American announced six new routes for summer 2027 last week:

Philadelphia to:, Vienna, Reykjavik (back after a pandemic delay), Porto

Along with:

• Charlotte to Barcelona

• A new JFK to Nice run

• More capacity on JFK to Heathrow

American is also returning seatback screens to its narrow body fleet, adding 40% more premium seats across the network, and opening Flagship Dining to more business class passengers.¹ American, who posted $71 million in Q2 profit against Delta’s $1.6 billion and United’s $805 million,¹ is playing catch-up with Delta and United in Europe.

United

Denver is a United hub, and I’m a Million Miler. This will be the first year in decades I don’t make 1K status, because they moved the goal posts again. That doesn’t make me any less excited about the new routes. United announced ten new international destinations, the largest expansion in its history. Seven of the ten have never had nonstop US service.²

From Newark (my second least favorite US entry point after O’Hare):

• Luxembourg City (April 2, daily, A321XLR)

• Ljubljana (May 12, four times weekly, 767-400ER)

• Olbia, Sardinia (May 27, three times weekly, 767-300ER)

• Catania, Sicily (May 28, four times weekly, 767-300ER)

• Ibiza (May 31, four times weekly, A321XLR)

• Valencia (June 2, three times weekly, A321XLR)

• Marseille (June 4, daily, A321XLR)

• Terceira, Azores (June 9, three times weekly, 737 MAX 8)

From Washington Dulles:

• Toulouse (April 26, daily, A321XLR)

From San Francisco:

• Okinawa (March 27, three times weekly), the first US nonstop to Okinawa

Most of this airlift is on the Airbus A321XLR, a narrowbody with the range to cross the Atlantic and a cabin built around 20 Polaris suites.³ A widebody needs roughly 250 seats a day filled to make a route work; a narrowbody needs a fraction of that. It’s the only reason an airline can justify flying to Ljubljana at all. (Side note: I have zero idea how to pronounce that.)

Delta and Alaska

Delta will fly Austin to Paris starting March 27, the first US airline to run long-haul service out of that airport, and it’s adding a second daily Newark to LAX flight.⁴

Alaska will fly Seattle nonstop to Paris and Athens starting May 2027 on 787s with lie-flat business class suites, making it the first oneworld carrier flying nonstop between the West Coast and Paris.⁵

Why these routes, and why now

I’ve said this before. The airlines are chasing the top half of the K-shaped economy, and these route maps prove it.

In Q2 2026, revenue from Delta’s premium cabins passed main cabin revenue for the first time in company history, $6.92 billion against $6.85 billion.⁶ United is retrofitting its 787 fleet to match.⁷

Airlines used to fill a widebody with economy seats and treat the premium cabin as icing on the cake. Now they’re banking on clients who have done the major European capitals and want direct, premium-cabin service to Sardinia and Sicily.

After a year of disruption from the Middle East conflict, luxury travelers want straight shots that cut the odds of a missed connection or lost bags. Newark to Ibiza or Valencia skips Madrid, Denver gets a nonstop to Paris (wahoo!!), Philadelphia gets Vienna, and Seattle families can reach Paris and Athens without touching the East Coast.¹ ² ⁵ ⁸

The Downgrades

Last October, I was settled into my business class seat on a United flight to Dublin. I’d taken my sleeping medicine for the red-eye, stowed my carry-on, and was ready to go. Then a United employee woke me up to say I was being downgraded to a middle economy seat because they needed mine. I had bought that seat eight months earlier with miles and money, because I was teaching the morning I landed and needed the sleep a lie-flat seat gives you.

I pushed back and asked why me. I suspected a deadheading pilot was getting my seat. They wouldn’t confirm it, but I saw him hovering near the front of the aircraft, waiting for me to leave. A later flight meant missing my lecture. Nobody had been offered a voucher to give up a seat voluntarily; they went straight to me, apparently because I was the only one who had booked with miles.

In a complete show of self-pity, I cried into my pillow in my center economy seat and was a wreck the next day.

United initially denied my compensation request by email. I took to the United subreddit to vent and was told to file a Department of Transportation complaint, which airlines have to answer within a set window. I then got back the miles I’d used for the upgrade plus $500 “as a goodwill gesture.” At least it was something.

Last week, the same thing happened to Katherine Malinosky of The Luxury Wife Style, an influencer I follow who travels with kids about the same ages as mine. Her whole family except her 3-year-old was downgraded from Miami to Milan on American. They had also booked with points.

So I went digging to find out why this was happening more. First, Katherine’s side of it.

Katherine Malinosky

The interview: Katherine Malinosky, The Luxury Wife Style

1. Anne Marie: How long have you been utilizing points for business class flights? How did you learn the system of points upgrades?

Katherine: I’ve been using points for 12+ years. One of my best friends was actually a pilot for American Airlines when I was in college, so she would let me use her buddy passes and I could sometimes fly First Class Miami to Europe for around $200. Once you get used to flying that way, there’s really no going back 😂 so I had to figure out how to do it without paying the crazy cash prices.

I basically taught myself. I’m super analytical and will research like crazy, so I just spent a ton of time learning how the different programs worked, how points transferred and where the best redemptions were.

There are so many more resources now teaching people how to use points, which is amazing, but I still think if you’ve never actually booked an airline ticket with points before, the whole system can feel incredibly confusing.

2. How frequently do you fly business class with your family, and how frequently do you use points for those tickets?

Katherine: My family of four (and our nanny when she travels with us) has only flown Business Class internationally (until last month 😆). We usually take anywhere from three to five international trips a year and we’ve only paid cash for Business Class tickets twice.

Finding four, or sometimes five, Business Class award seats together at what I consider a good points value can be extremely challenging, but at this point it’s almost like a game to me. I actually enjoy figuring out how to make it work.

Another huge reason I love booking with points is the flexibility. My husband’s job can be unpredictable and we’ve had trips where a client is coming into town or a deal is closing and suddenly we have to change plans a few days before we leave. I’m also the person who always buys travel insurance for that reason.

With many award tickets, the cancellation or change terms can be much more forgiving than buying an expensive cash Business Class fare, sometimes free or with a relatively small cancellation fee. That flexibility is incredibly valuable to me.

3. What most shocked you in your recent downgrade experience?

Katherine: Honestly, being downgraded at all was shocking because it had never happened to us and had never really crossed my mind as something that could happen.

We had checked in normally, gone to the Flagship Lounge in Miami and everything looked completely fine. It wasn’t until we were literally scanning our boarding passes and showing our passports to board the plane that we found out three of the four of us had been moved from Business Class to Premium Economy.

One of the strangest parts was that my three-year-old was the only one who had kept her Business Class seat. I was surprised there wasn’t some type of safeguard in the system recognizing that a three-year-old obviously couldn’t sit in a separate cabin from her parents.

A lot of people have commented, “Well obviously you or your husband could just switch seats with her,” which is true in our situation. But what if I had been traveling alone with my three-year-old and the system had kept her in Business Class while moving me to another cabin? It made me realize how odd the whole process was.

The compensation was another shock. We were offered a $600 travel voucher toward future American Airlines travel, while the cash price difference between Business Class and Premium Economy on our itinerary was around $8,500.

But probably the most frustrating part has been what happened afterward. I’ve submitted multiple complaints and still don’t feel like I’ve received a meaningful explanation of exactly why we were selected or a resolution that reflects what happened.

4. What did you learn from the experience?

Katherine: I learned a lot!

One of the biggest things was understanding how much passenger protections can vary depending on which airline you’re flying and where the flight originates.

For example, when you’re flying from the US to Europe, EU261 protections generally apply if you’re flying on an European carrier. On the return, when your flight departs from the EU, those protections apply regardless of whether the airline is American or European.

That was something I understood vaguely before, but I definitely understand it much better now.

I also learned that even after more than a decade of successfully booking award travel, there are still operational things completely outside of your control. I used to book a Business Class award seat and essentially consider the job done. Now I realize the cabin you booked isn’t necessarily guaranteed until you’re actually sitting in that seat and the airline door has closed.

It hasn’t changed my mind about using points because the value we’ve gotten from them over the years has been incredible, but it has made me much more aware of downgrade policies and passenger protections when deciding which airline to book.

5. Tell me more about how your family travels. How many international trips do you take a year? Do you use a travel advisor?

Lately we’ve been trying to take one to two international ski trips and one to two international summer trips each year, although sometimes it ends up being more depending on the year.

Until recently, I would say our European summer trips looked pretty similar to what a lot of Americans picture when they think of a Euro summer: Lake Como, where we’ve probably been a dozen times and actually got married in 2017, Southern Italy, the South of France, Paris, Tuscany, Provence, etc.

This past summer we spent time in both the Austrian and French Alps and they ended up being two of our favorite family trips we’ve ever taken. It completely changed the way I’m thinking about our future travel.

Now I’m almost more interested in finding the destinations people aren’t automatically thinking of, especially when traveling with kids. Sometimes the places that aren’t at the top of everyone’s summer list end up having incredible hotels, amazing family activities and much better value.

And yes, I always book our hotels through a travel advisor unless the hotel or destination is hosting us. There are just too many perks not to. Depending on the hotel that can mean breakfast, resort credits, upgrades, early check-in, late checkout and other benefits.

Recently I’ve started looking at what our hotel breakfasts actually would have cost if we hadn’t had them included through our advisor and some of them are around $300 for our family. I definitely do not want to be paying for the $300 breakfast 😂

I also think a good travel advisor becomes even more valuable when you’re traveling with kids because there are so many little details that matter, from room configurations and connecting rooms to transfers and knowing which properties actually work well for families.

Why Are Downgrades Happening? The Answer is - Oil

The renewed Middle East conflict pushed jet fuel prices up sharply starting in late February, and in response, the airlines pulled capacity to protect margins. United cut about 5% of its scheduled flights this spring, concentrated on red-eyes. CEO Scott Kirby said that if fuel costs held through year end, they would add $11 billion a year to United’s bill, more than the airline made in its best year on record.⁹ Airlines worldwide pulled roughly 13,000 flights and 2 million seats from their May schedules alone.¹⁰

Fewer flights means fewer open seats to reposition crews, or “deadheading.” Every major pilot union has bargained language requiring the airline to seat a deadheading pilot in the highest cabin on long-haul segments.¹¹ I don’t fault pilots for negotiating this, because let’s face it, no one wants a tired pilot in the cockpit. American’s version came out of a $9.6 billion agreement with the Allied Pilots Association, ratified this year to bring American in line with United and Delta.¹²

When a long-haul premium cabin is full and a pilot needs the seat, the airline bumps a business class passenger.

How the airlines decide who gets bumped

Two years ago, my husband and I were flying home from Portugal when a gate agent offered us $2,500 each to downgrade to economy. Being a wuss, I declined. My husband took the deal, and I spent the flight next to a pilot.

That is how deadheading bumps used to work: throw money at the business class cabin and keep raising it until someone bites. That system has seemingly been replaced by an algorithmic ranking that puts points bookers on the chopping block first. Katherine’s family got a $600 voucher.¹³

American has said outright that it won’t disclose its downgrade priority rules, even in response to DOT complaints.¹⁴ A separate DOT complaint filed this year argues that American publishes specific procedures for oversales, but nothing about who gets bumped in a downgrade.¹⁵

How does is this ranking determined? As I often say in The Upgrade, follow the money.

Delta, United, and American all pay frontline employees a monthly bonus when the airline hits on-time departure targets. Station managers are judged on D0 (departure exactly on time, zero minutes late), so they push gate agents to close the door at T-10 no matter what. That rewards bumping someone over delaying a flight to run an auction for volunteers.

What to do if you get downgraded

Document everything. When you book, screenshot the miles you paid, anything spent to upgrade, and the cash price of both economy and business class that day. If you’re downgraded, screenshot the current cash and miles prices for both cabins again, if you still can.

1. Get the gate agent’s name and the time. American won’t release its downgrade records voluntarily, so this may be your only record of who made the call.¹⁴

2. Don’t sign anything at the gate. Some airlines present a voucher as a signed settlement, and signing can waive your right to a cash refund later.¹⁷

3. Keep your original receipt and the boarding pass for the downgraded seat. On an award ticket, ask specifically for the mileage differential refund and the math behind it. Airlines owe it, even though a voucher is what they’ll offer first.

4. Ask whether premium is oversold or a crew reassignment caused the move. Write down who told you and when.

5. If the compensation doesn’t come close to the fare difference, file a DOT complaint at airconsumer.dot.gov/escomplaint/ConsumerForm.jsp.

What are your rights?

Europe is more protective than the US, by a lot. On a flight covered by EU261 or UK261, meaning it departs the EU or UK, or arrives there on an EU or UK carrier, downgrade compensation is set by distance rather than by what you paid: 30% of the ticket price for flights up to 1,500km, 50% for flights within Europe over 1,500km and other flights up to 3,500km, and 75% for anything longer.¹⁸ ¹⁹ Airlines must pay within seven days, and the right only applies if you didn’t consent to the move.¹⁹ Again, don’t sign anything as that counts as consent. This is separate from the standard EU261 delay or cancellation payment, and a pure downgrade with no delay doesn’t trigger both.²⁰

US law works differently. DOT guidance says an involuntary downgrade is a “significant change,” and if you continue traveling, the airline must refund the difference between your original fare and the downgraded fare.²¹ If you decline to travel, you’re owed a full refund instead.²¹ However, the rule doesn’t define which downgraded fare counts, and the airlines have taken advantage of that language.

Paying in miles doesn’t change the underlying right. You’re still owed the fare difference, refunded in whatever currency you paid.²² ²³ On US carriers, that usually means miles, so use your documentation and show the airline how many miles the original award cost and how many the downgraded cabin would have cost.

United’s contract of carriage has no downgrade formula. It refunds a difference it calculates internally, usually against a same-day walk-up economy fare rather than a cheap advance-purchase fare, so the refund is often much smaller than you expect. Then, as with my Dublin flight, it adds a “goodwill gesture” in miles, a travel certificate, or cash. Goodwill means United admits zero fault but wants to throw you a bone.

American refunds a flat 40% of the ticketed fare on the downgraded segment. Two researchers filed a DOT complaint this month arguing that number badly understates what passengers lose. On one route they priced, the lowest business fare was $10,644 against a $949 coach fare, a gap nowhere near 40%.¹⁶ American has also started converting complimentary elite upgrades on select routes from business class to premium economy, which is a devaluation.²⁴

TLDR

The good news is that airlines are adding more direct routes to secondary European cities and vacation hot spots for the luxury jet set, which means less risk of missing your connection.

The downside for those who book with miles is that these are all on narrow body aircraft, which have fewer premium seats and so less margin for error if a pilot needs to deadhead in a business class seat. Be careful about where you use your miles for a business class upgrade on these new routes.

As airlines pull flights in response to fuel costs driven by the Middle East conflict, there are fewer seats to absorb overflow, fewer flights to reposition captains, and a downgrade hierarchy that punishes travelers who booked with points. Your premium seat costs more than ever, and it still isn’t guaranteed.

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🗝️ The Lobby Bar — Hospitality updates, promotions, and the occasional pun

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• Fall is the new summer, welcome to the “Fallcation.” Virtuoso’s fall bookings are up 59% over last year and sales are up 69%, with September, October, and November each running 54% to 77% ahead, as travelers trade July crowds and heat waves in Italy and France for shoulder season. If you have been thinking about Europe in October, so has everyone else, so book it now. These people must not have elementary school children. (Morning Brew)

• The man who built Six Senses now runs The Connaught. Constellation Hotels named Neil Jacobs CEO of a new management company for its portfolio, which includes The Connaught, The Emory, and The Berkeley in London, Hackwood Park in Hampshire, a Paris hotel on the way in Saint-Germain, and a project in Marrakech. Jacobs took Six Senses from 8 properties to 27 with 30 more in the pipeline, so expect a wellness push in some very old buildings. (PR Newswire)

• You can walk your friends to the gate again. Gateside by TSA PreCheck lets non-ticketed PreCheck members apply one to three days ahead for a free, one-day pass through security at 13 airports, including LAX, DFW, Las Vegas, San Diego, and Salt Lake City. Denver is not on the list yet, but Pittsburgh has offered a version of this since 2017 and about 20 airports have followed, so it is coming. (The Aviation Circle)

• United will let you stand by for three flights at once. When a delay gets you rebooked onto a later flight, the United app now lets you join the standby list for up to three earlier departures, watches all three, and texts you when a seat opens while your later flight stays confirmed. Before this you picked one flight and refreshed the app yourself, which every one of us has done from a bar at Gate B41. (The Aviation Circle)

• Southwest is building lounges. The airline that spent 50 years without assigned seats will open its first four lounges in late 2027 in Austin, Baltimore, Honolulu, and Nashville, with at least seven more planned and access tied to a new premium Chase card launching next year. Denver did not make the first round, whatever you may have read elsewhere. (AFAR, Southwest Airlines)

• Six-year-olds are eating at Michelin two-stars in San Francisco. The San Francisco Standard talked to chefs and GMs around the city and found kids becoming regulars at the most expensive tables, including at Sons & Daughters, where chef-owner Harrison Cheney brings his own daughter. We see the same thing on our trips: families who want the tasting menu with the kids at the table instead of a sitter in the hotel room. My Bougie Bunnies love caviar. (The San Francisco Standard)

• People are flying 26 hours to run 26 miles. Vogue calls it “sweat-jetting,” Tripadvisor ranked it the top travel trend of 2026, and Accor reports a 50% jump in interest in workout vacations. The examples run from Langham’s Pink Run in 10 cities to a 37-mile ultramarathon through the Icelandic highlands out of Highland Base Kerlingarfjöll, which sounds like the least relaxing hotel stay on record. (Vogue)

Sources

1 Meghna Maharishi, “American Joins the Race to Add New European Routes and Premium Upgrades,” Skift, August 27, 2026.

2 Live and Let’s Fly, “United Airlines Announces Its Biggest International Expansion Ever,” August 2026.

3 “United’s largest-ever expansion: 10 new cities for 2027,” From the Tray Table, August 2026.

4 Delta News Hub, “Ooh la la, Austin: Delta launches first-ever service to Paris,” 2026.

5 Live and Let’s Fly, “Alaska Airlines Adds 787-9 Flights To Athens And Paris,” August 2026.

6 CNBC, Delta Air Lines Q2 2026 earnings coverage, July 2026.

7 CNN, airline seat reconfiguration explainer, 2026.

8 Travel And Tour World, “US and Europe Set for Major 2027 Flight Expansion as United, American, Delta and Alaska Add New Routes,” August 2026.

9 Business Insider, coverage of United’s spring 2026 flight cuts and CEO Scott Kirby’s statement on fuel costs, March 2026.

10 Air Cargo Week, “How Fuel Prices Are Affecting Aviation in 2026,” citing Cirium data on May 2026 global schedule cuts.

11 Aviation A2Z, coverage of pilot union contract terms for deadheading crew premium cabin seating, June 2026.

12 Simple Flying, coverage of American’s labor agreement with the Allied Pilots Association, June 2026.

13 InsideFlyer, “Family downgraded from business class for pilots,” August 2026.

14 Aviation A2Z, “American Airlines Passenger Downgraded After Business Class Seats Given to Pilots,” August 23, 2026.

15 TheStreet, “American Airlines policy change could cost flyers big,” June 2, 2026.

16 Aviation A2Z, “Pay $10,644, Get Coach: American Airlines’ Downgrade Refund Sparks DOT Complaint,” August 28, 2026.

17 Altitudes Magazine, “Airlines Owe You More Than a Voucher: How to Claim Cash Compensation After a Flight Cancellation,” April 6, 2026.

18 SkyRefund, “Your Air Passenger Rights Under Regulation EU261,” 2026.

19 AirTeo, “What Is Flight Downgrade Compensation in Europe?” February 2026.

20 ClaimEU261, “Downgrade Compensation,” 2026.

21 US Department of Transportation, Aviation Consumer Protection, “Refunds,” transportation.gov.

22 One Mile at a Time, “Downgraded On A Flight: What Are Your Rights?”

23 AirAdvisor, “Involuntary Downgrade Compensation: Understanding Your Rights.”

24 Live and Let’s Fly, coverage of American’s Premium Economy upgrade policy change on select domestic routes, effective August 25, 2026.