My husband and I have used ExpertFlyer since close to the beginning of our points and miles journey. And while the product languished for a few years in the early 2020s, a dedicated team has been working over the last few years to support and improve it.
I sat down with this team in Puerto Rico in late January to learn about a few of their upcoming features. Today, the team is releasing two of these features: broader American Airlines systemwide upgrade searches and detailed seat maps. However, these features come alongside the introduction of a new Elite membership tier and slightly higher prices for the Premium and Basic tiers. So, here’s what you need to know.
330-day American Airlines systemwide upgrade availability
If you have American Airlines elite status and choose systemwide upgrades as your Loyalty Point Rewards at the threshold of 175,000 or more Loyalty Points each qualification year, you know how time-consuming it can be to find a worthwhile way to use these valuable certificates. After all, while you can waitlist for systemwide upgrades on flights you’ve already booked, it’s better to book a flight with systemwide upgrade availability and apply the upgrade right after you book.
ExpertFlyer has long been the go-to tool for many AAdvantage elite members looking to use systemwide upgrades. To this point, my husband and I have used ExpertFlyer to find long-haul availability for 61 systemwide upgrades over the years (with the shortest flight being from New York to London).
But while in the past you could use ExpertFlyer to search only one city pair at a time within a seven-day window (and ExpertFlyer Premium members who don’t upgrade to Elite will still find this to be their best option), ExpertFlyer Elite members can now see systemwide upgrade availability across hundreds of routes for the next 330 days.
ExpertFlyer Elite members can start their systemwide upgrade availability search broadly — such as for flights from North America to Europe — and narrow down the results from there.
Or, they can jump straight to the detailed list view for a specific route.
Despite the longer “Last Updated” periods in the above screenshots during a beta test, ExpertFlyer told TPG that results are now updated daily. Since the data is cached, the results may still be outdated. But a one-click confirmation button lets you verify that the space you see is still available before you book.
Even with the “Verify” button, I also recommend logging in to your American AAdvantage account and searching to confirm that systemwide upgrade space is actually available on your flight before booking.
Related: How to get upgraded on American Airlines flights
Detailed seat maps
The second new feature is a partnership with AeroLopa that brings detailed aircraft configuration data into ExpertFlyer seat map results.
Premium and Elite ExpertFlyer users can now see detailed seat maps when setting seat alerts and viewing seat maps. This is important because some airlines operate multiple versions of the same aircraft type (such as American Airlines’ 787-9, which may feature the new Flagship Suite or the older Super Diamond seats in business class).
Plus, now Premium and Elite members can see the seat pitch, width, layout configuration and other details they’re used to seeing on AeroLopa within ExpertFlyer, alongside live availability.
However, if you prefer the old ExpertFlyer seat map view, there’s a toggle to switch between the new detailed view and the classic experience.
Related: How to use ExpertFlyer alerts to snag a better seat on the plane
New ExpertFlyer pricing and tiers
Alongside the announcement of these two new features, ExpertFlyer is also unveiling a new Elite membership tier and slightly adjusting pricing on its current membership tiers. Here’s what’s changing for each tier:
| Previous cost | New cost | Other notable changes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | None | None | N/A |
| Basic | $4.99 per month or $49 per year | $7.31 per month or $72 per year | 50 alerts at a time (up from four) |
| Premium | $9.99 per month or $99 per year | $16.96 per month or $132 per year | 250 alerts at a time (up from 200) |
| Elite | N/A | $240 per year | N/A |
ExpertFlyer says the new Elite tier is designed for American Airlines elite members who have systemwide upgrades. And since a slew of systemwide upgrades expire March 31, it’s expected that some Premium members will want to upgrade their ExpertFlyer membership to Elite.
Luckily, ExpertFlyer told TPG, “existing Premium Yearly members who upgrade to Elite will receive a prorated credit for the remaining balance on their current membership.”
Related: How to use ExpertFlyer to find the real reason your flight was delayed or canceled
Bottom line
If you’ve been struggling to find uses for your American Airlines systemwide upgrades, this new ExpertFlyer feature may be welcome news (and potentially well worth the $240-per-year Elite membership fee).
Meanwhile, the Basic and Premium tiers are receiving more alerts at a time for a modest annual increase in cost. And the new AeroLopa partnership for detailed seat maps is a vast improvement over the previous SeatGuru partnership.
Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
