This page covers how to upgrade to First — paid upgrades, elite complimentary upgrades, and Miles + Money upgrades. For Premium see "Agentic Airways Cabin Classes"; for refund rules on paid upgrades see "Refunds on Paid Seat Upgrades"; for choosing or changing a seat see "Seat Selection & Main Preferred on Agentic Airways".
Paid First upgrades
You can upgrade Main Cabin to First anytime after booking if space is available, paying the difference between the current First fare and your fare. Occasionally, discounted Last-Minute Upgrades to First are offered within 48 hours of departure; these discounted upgrades do not include bonus miles or long-distance lounge access. For First, all members of your party are upgraded for the entire trip (Premium and Agentic Business are upgraded per passenger). Paid upgrades open within about 24 hours of departure during check-in and may also be offered at the airport, often starting around $25 for short routes and ranging higher for longer flights.
Meridian Club complimentary upgrades (elite status)
Meridian Club Silver, Gold, and Platinum members are eligible for complimentary upgrades to First depending on the fare purchased, subject to availability. With a qualifying fare, the system adds you to the upgrade waitlist and clears it automatically in priority order — you don't have to do anything once you're listed.
When upgrades start clearing (by tier)
The higher your status, the earlier the system tries to clear your upgrade before departure:
- Meridian Platinum: as early as 120 hours before departure (Platinum also gets day-of-departure, space-available upgrades)
- Meridian Gold: as early as 72 hours before departure
- Meridian Silver: as early as 48 hours before departure
If the cabin is full at those windows, you stay on the waitlist and continue to be considered up to and including at the gate.
How the upgrade waitlist is ordered
When a First seat opens up, Agentic Airways clears the waitlist in this general order:
- Elite status — higher status clears first, regardless of other factors.
- Fare class — among the same status, higher fare classes clear first.
- Booking date — whoever booked earliest wins remaining ties.
Companion (guest) upgrades
Elite members can generally upgrade one companion traveling on the same flight, same reservation, and same class of service. A reservation with more than one accompanying guest may not be eligible for complimentary upgrades.
Upgrades at the gate
If your complimentary upgrade hasn't cleared by the time you reach the airport, you remain on the waitlist and the gate agent clears any last-minute open First seats from that list shortly before boarding. If you're not on the list, ask the gate agent whether a paid upgrade is available.
Paying with miles
There is no miles-only free upgrade. However, Meridian Club members can use a Miles + Money upgrade — redeemable miles plus a cash copay — to upgrade from Main Cabin to First on eligible fares, subject to availability (see the Meridian Club Miles + Money Upgrades article for typical costs and how to request). You still earn base and bonus miles on the upgraded fare class.