Why it's getting harder to get a free first class flight upgrade

Cheap seats are no longer enough for airline passengers.

Since the pandemic, passengers have shown airlines that they are willing to pay up to sit in the relatively spacious front of the cabin. That means that many of the seats are already full, so it is more difficult for frequent flyers to get an upgrade at the front of the plane.

And the levels of frequent leaflets with elite status going all the way from airport lounge to the first boarding group is full, meaning more competition for those seats. Expect even more crowds during the year-end holidays, which airlines expect will set another record.

Even in the off-season in early 2025, executives have been predicting strong demand. US airline capacity in the first quarter will be up about 1% from a year earlier, according to aviation data firm Cirium.

“We probably see our best unit revenue on the transatlantic (routes), for example, in the dead of winter,” said Delta Air Lines President Glen Hauenstein at an investor day in November.

The price difference between first class and coach varies, of course, based on distance, demand, time of year and even time of day. For example, a round trip ticket United Airlines from its hub in Newark, New Jersey, to Los Angeles International Airport in the first week of February was $347 in standard economy and $1,791 in the carrier's Polaris cabin, which features lie-flat seats , but without access to the international business class lounge. .

American AirlinesA nonstop flight from New York to Paris during Easter week 2025 was $1,104 in coach and $3,038 in the airline's flagship business class.

Billions of dollars in revenue that keep airlines afloat hang in the balance. Airline loyalty programs are a cash cow, and it's important to strike the right balance between benefits like free upgrades and cash in.

In recent years, airlines have changed the requirements to earn status, rewarding costs and not just the distance flown. They have also raised the amount labels must spend to be anointed with elite status. Next year, customers must spend more on United to earn status. On Thursday, however, American said it would keep its requirements the same for the next earnings year, which begins in March.

The move is cutting across the industry, from Delta, the most profitable carrier, to discounters such as Frontier Airlineswhich adds more room first class seats in front of its Airbus fleet in 2025. Wednesday, JetBlue Airways he said he would include two or three rows of domestic business class on planes that do not have the Mint business class the highest level with reclining seats, it is called “Mint junior”.

A day before that Alaska Airlines announced that it would redesign some of its planes with premium seats as it prepares new international flights after acquiring Hawaiian Airlines earlier this year, with revenue from higher-priced seats exceeding standard economy

“You see the Airbus 330s and the Boeing 787s under-indexed in business class and they don't have an international premium economy cabin,” said Andrew Harrison, Alaska's chief commercial officer, at an investor day in New York on Tuesday. “So we expect, beyond 2027, that you will see our core mix continue to grow. “

American is reset some of their longer planes to accommodate more premium seats, like other carriers, drop first class entirely to accommodate larger international business class cabins which will have new seats with sliding doors. Delta and United have too increase their precious contributions to keep up with customers who want to pay for the pricier seats.

“They are doing everything they can to trick you into paying for their premium products. That's exactly what they should do,” said Henry Harteveldt, founder of the travel consulting firm Atmosphere Research Group. Customers don't buy a store-brand item at a department store and then expect “the salesperson (to) ring up that product and give you a free designer bag.”

Southwest Airlines took her own approach. In 2026, he plans to fly with several layers of seats outside legroomredesigning the standard coach-only cabins it has flown for more than half a century and removing open seats.

CEO Bob Jordan called it partly a “generational shift”.

“What we're seeing is our younger customers are looking for a little more value,” he said in an interview this week. “A lot of this is a mindset shift, the willingness to spend more on travel and less on other things.

But the airline decided to keep the number of seats on its aircraft more or less the same and they are not adding first class like other carriers, after examining passengers purchase and emphasize the cost of losing space for more seats on board.

For the first class, Jordan said, “You're talking ovens, you're talking foods, you're talking catering. It's a big capital investment and a big jump.”

“But never say never,” he said.