For travelers who have spent decades building status with a single airline, the rewards were the point: the lounge before a long flight, the upgrade to a lie-flat seat, the free checked bag.
In 2026, those rewards are shrinking, getting more expensive, or both.
Lounge Access Just Jumped by up to 75%
From August 23, American Airlines raised the price of an Admirals Club membership from between $700 and $850 a year to between $1,200 and $1,400. Household plans were scrapped entirely. A new single membership covers the member only.
The change appears designed to push travelers toward American’s $695-a-year Citi credit card, which includes lounge access. For anyone who doesn’t want another card, the choice is to pay far more or lose access.
The Lie-Flat Upgrade Is Disappearing
Since August 25, elite members who buy a main cabin ticket on nine American routes can no longer be upgraded straight to business class. The upgrade now stops at premium economy.
The affected routes include transcontinental flights between New York’s JFK and Los Angeles and San Francisco, and select flights to Hawaii. These are exactly the long flights where a lie-flat seat matters most.
There is a further catch. American notes that some of its premium economy cabins include middle seats, so an elite member could be upgraded into one.
To remain eligible for a business class upgrade, travelers now need to buy premium economy in the first place or pay for an instant upgrade to it.
The Squeeze Is Everywhere
On American, basic economy passengers who bought tickets from May 18 now pay to choose a seat, and they aren’t eligible for upgrades even with status.
Southwest, long the holdout, began charging most passengers for checked bags on tickets bought from May 28, 2025, and has moved from open seating to assigned seats.
The money involved is enormous. United alone earned $11.5 billion from extras such as seat charges and bag fees in 2025.
A Fair Caveat
Not every change is a pure loss. American’s premium economy upgrades are a real improvement on routes where none were offered before. But for travelers who planned their spending around reaching business class, the value of their status has dropped.
What Loyal Travelers Should Do Now
- Recalculate what your status actually earns you on the routes you fly most.
- Price premium economy at booking on long domestic flights, since it may now be the only route to an upgrade.
- Compare a lounge membership against a credit card that includes access, including the annual fee.
- Check seat maps before accepting an upgrade, to avoid a middle seat.
- Consider whether spreading flights across airlines now gets better value than staying loyal to one.
Source: American Airlines AAdvantage updates, reported by USA Today, Frequent Miler and Travel Market Report, August 2026.
Amanda O’Brien is the creator and editor of The Boutique Adventurer. She has visited 80 countries and is a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers as well as the IFTWTA. She is passionate about wine had has just completed Level 3 of the WSET. Born in Australia, she lives in London.