Free Business Class Upgrades, everytime 

So I only need to spend 600 billion dollars, very nice.

Who else continued to watch it even though they don fly alot

How to get 1st class flights for free: Step 1: Be rich.

All you need is a small loan of a million dollars.

First, I don't fly a lot. End of story.

“status is the endgame” i guess casey neistat spoiled endgame for all of us 6 years earlier than it was released

so basically you have to have money in the first place to be cheap

1:17 "All this is is a complete exploitation of an airline's loyalty program." You're not exploiting anything, this is what the loyalty program was intended for-- they want you to be loyal to their airline.

These videos are awesome..... vlogs are interesting but these are truly 'films'

for the price of all those miles in coach the average person could just pay for business on their occasional flight

Basically, u need a lot of cash lol

2:39 "First Class, business class?" "Yup".

First class on AA doesn't look all that classy.

If you fly less frequently you could just spend the money and upgrade

This was the video that got me on to Casey’s channel. I remember searching “how to get free flight upgrades” right before a huge trip. I started binge watching his previous uploads, but then a couple weeks later he started the daily vlogs. I really came in perfect timing cuz of this video.

Nothing is Free, bro

1:37 "I've committed to American Airlines" Now he flies with JetBlue

If I buy First Class with Executive Platinum do I get upgraded to Co-Pilot???

4:31 A wild Deadpool appears

At that point you'd probably save more money buying a private jet.

How is this complicated? Or even a trick?This was basically just, "American Express will give you free upgrades if you fly a crap ton"

100,000 miles is a lot of flying!

100,000 points is equivalent to 20 round trips from NY to LA. Which is almost twice every month to get that done in 12 months. So basically, unless you take a round trip from NY to LA every 18 days or so, it would be significantly cheaper to just pay for an upgrade lol. But, if you are on a plane that often, the free upgrade would definitely be something to take advantage of.

So pretty much make 20 LAX-JFK return trips every year for executive platinum membership.

There is nothing about this that couldn't have been explained in text that would have taken about a minute to read.

i think the US is the only country where you are made to feel like a piece of shit for just being a normal person

‘Shitty little seat at the back of the plane’ Some people just have the money.

my dad was able to do this with Virgin Atlantic with him using them for business and personal (he worked in NYC and lived in the UK, leading to A LOT of miles). He ended up being within Virgin's top 50 flyers, getting upgrades, a PA from Virgin and was invited to wine tasting and stuff like that :)

So, for the low low price of ~$24,000 per year, you can get first class! (For the price of economy class)

Step 1: fly alot Me: doesn’t fly alot Also me: *continues watching*

just fly to NYC and LA back and forth 20 times with American Airlines, every year. Nice!

I miss old Casey, Don't get me wrong, the vlogs are great, but I preferred his films way back when.

How to get free first class: 1)Be active duty military. 2)Hope there is space available.

American First is not First. It's Premium Economy at best.

he hates American Airlines now lol

Damn. The storytelling, editing, and filmography are a class apart. That's what makes Casey so unique!

When I first saw your video I thought, oh no, not another demand for an illegitimate upgrade without a single legitimate claim for one. But, having watched your clear, concise and honest explanation I came to the conclusion that there are some decent and respectable customers out there. Commitment is the operative word in your presentation and you capitalise on it. Good on you for having the sense to actually read the small print and for American Airlines willingness to reciprocate. I was a flight attendant for 30+ years and, now retired, never having to hear that ugliest of ugly customer demands, upgrade, upgrade, upgrade makes me appreciate the credibility of your video.

in short: FREE upgrades cost a truckload of cash.

August 3, 2019. Doha to Boston. I approached the lady at the boarding desk. Asked her if flight was overbooked. She said lemme check. And then said yes it's overbooked. I asked politely if I can get a complimentary upgrade. She said, go to the gate and you will find out. I asked her if she can write something to the person at the gate about my request. She said again, go to the gate. I went to the gate and before I could finish the sentence about my conversation with the lady at the desk, the guy said, '' It's already done for you Sir''. I couldn't believe it. He took my economy class boarding pass and issued me a business class with seat number 6D. Still can't believe it but it's possible. Always ask if flight is overbooked. Wear for it. Be polite. Travel alone if possible. They won't give you business seats for the whole family. Try every time. This was my 4th attempt. Good luck.

This felt like one big AA ad basically.

Be rich. Saved you a click

Casey's early videos are imbued with a certain, innocent/childlike/playful magic that is beautiful.

I don't fly a lot but i stayed because its a quality video.

so its not free, i have to buy 100,000 flight hours, damn

Basically you need to fly 20 times from NY to LA in one year and the tickets go for approximately 1200 dollars so the executive pass will cost you about 24000 dollars per year

If you fly from NY to LA, you need 100,000, each round trip is 5,000. Math time, 100,000 / 5,000 = 20 (100/5=20) 20 • average of $550 per round trip = $11,000. To upgrade to first unrestricted, $1,500 more. REMEMBER you're flying 20 times to activate first class, spending $11,000. This is really useful if you're flying at least 50 times a year. This is how airlines make money.

No way, are you telling me that if I get this elite of the golden of platinum diamond enchantment lvl 17 card and you get food??? no this isn't real life.

"it's complicated and there is no loophole". - fly a lot and get free upgrades for a year. rinse and repeat. super complicated. i don't know how no one gets this. you are such a genius.

I rather opt for better hotels than the 2hrs spent on a plane.

20 NYC - LA Flights a Year. More than 1 a month. No one has time for that.

As someone who works for a legacy carrier he is correct, you need to commit heavily to 1 airline. I've seen people travel from airport to airport to airport in 1 day. Now there are days where you won't always get these upgrades. Like the month of August, everyone is traveling so good luck unless you are like 12 million miler or something. You can bring chocolate or Starbuck gift cards to the flight attendants but they don't have the authority to upgrade you. In fact they could get fired for doing that, and no the union won't protect them from that.

this is like those annoying "how to get money in minutes" pop ups advert.

They do this on purpose, and it's kind of humorous. The only people getting that many points, in that time span are either a) people that can afford to travel that much, or b) they're traveling for business and their job pays for all expenses. Why is it humorous? Because the people in the "a" category that have that many points, can already afford to just buy a ticket in first class. Then the people whose job pays for their tickets, usually they put you in first or business class anyway. The rich get richer and the poor...stay in coach forever.

So while… After being SUCH a big fan of Casey now for almost 2 years, to come back and find THE video which turned me onto him - wild.

First class on American? What crap. First class anything American is shit unless it's Virgin, no wait, that's British. Fly first class Emirates then tell us about how wonderful your life in the sky is.

I don't even flight but I still watch until the end. Love your videos, you're my inspiration filmmaker! EVER!

throw back to the good old days. these videos are nostalgic.

"they are giving you keys to the kingdom, why would they make it easy." i luv that

You can always ride grayhound, always first class.

Just saying, when Casey has facial hair he looks like a really sketchy guy

So, i did some rough math and I've gathered this. If you need 100,000 miles to be a member of the top tier of their rewards program, and a roundtrip flight from JFK to LAX is 5,000 miles then... One needs to go on that trip 20 times within a year. Okay, then i searched, currently, how much that trip costs, and it's $1,058 on American Airlines. Meaning that, in order to enter this top tier, one would need to spend ~$21,160. Woah... No criticism or anything, i just thought this was interesting lol

If the purpose of this video is to teach the viewer about the benefits of reaching elite status (i.e. free upgrades and bonus mileage earnings), then let me point out a few misconceptions on your so-called "list." 1. You do NOT need to fly a lot. 2-3 transcontinental round trips (on AA, for example) flown strategically within a calendar year will give you the 25K you need to go from basic to Gold, and so on. So if a passenger amasses 13K in January and then another 13K in December, that's not flying a lot. And then with 26K total he/she reaches elite level, anyway. 2. You do NOT need to commit to one airline. Maybe one alliance, but NOT one airline. So if a passenger amasses 13K from AA and then another 13K from BA (putting into AA account) all within a calendar year, that's not committing to one airline but rather to one alliance. And then with 26K total he/she reaches elite level, anyway. Good video, but it's not completely true. People, please read more about partnerships and alliances before accepting the author's list as fact. Thank you.

Please!! Nobody show this to wendover productions.

spend 40,000 in a year on flying and you'll get to ride first class for "FREE"

The whole business class thing amuses me, it really does, people losing their shit over a bit of precious legroom. Airports and flying bring out the neurotic teenage girl in so many people...waaah I want slightly more wine and a pillow. How very daaare you recline your seat .... why you ... you scoundrel.

Diamond with Delta. Delta for life!

So 20 flights from coast to coast on American Airlines would, according to the prices right now, cost me about 8'000 dollars. Yeah, no thanks I can start saving up for a Cessna with that amount of money, or at least pay rent.

so your trick to getting 'free' upgrades is to pay for them through a promotional program?

Anyone else got this in their recommendations section?

So there's no tricks it's just participating in a widely-known loyalty program... nice. Great advertise- I mean video.

I like the front left seat best. The one with all the pretty gauges to look at!

This video better be sponsored, you shouldn't do this for free!

So you have to fly to from LA to NY and back almost twice a month lol.. Yea, I'll pass, and i'll keep my economy seat for the 1-2 times I fly every year

In other words this is not applicable to most people who wouldn't already know it anyway.

I’ll just dream about the first class seat while I sit in my economy seat.

Obviously American Airlines have just paid him to advertise their Airlines on youtube. This is a part of their marketing, and anyone that has studied business can tell easily.

So, you basically need to make your life miserable taking long planes constantly to be 'rewarded'?

Usually, asking the question with a polite smile 'do I qualify for a free upgrade please' never really works just on it's own. It's how you are dressed as well as frequent flyer status and whether the flight is over sold in economy class or not. The airline's loyal frequent flyers will be the ones to receive a complimentary upgrade, then it is based on the fare and ticket class paid.

My dad works for Delta Airlines, I get upgraded about 1/5-6 times I fly. Coach or First I pay $200 a year for unlimited flights to anywhere in the world.

What if the airline you choose is southwest, where everyone is equal?

hey casey this was the first video i saw from your channel and i remembered you had around 500k subs. now you're like insanely famous! your style of filming is really unique. keep it up! big cheers from Singapore!

Love this video soo much. This was my first Casey video that I had ever seen. Also the first video I had came across for ways to sit upfront for cheap. He has it mostly right except there is a way which I use to fly upfront on all my international travel which is about once or twice a year. Its the goose that lays the semiannual golden egg strategy.

This video introduced me to casey! And today I'm a daily viewer!

ah back for my yearly dose of nostalgia - happy new year 2022 :)

Anyone watching this in 2019??

My 1st Casey Neistat video. I saw it on the most popular page on RU-vid when it came out. Never knew that these loyalty programs give you these advantages.

Casey I’ve been watching ur vids for 5 years and I’m 13 years old and I love every vlog u post and I wish to come to New York from England just keep up the amazing job u do!

so basically your telling me if i spend hundreds i get a little bit free... do you not think i already knew with most companies and mostly anything in life if you give alot you get a little back...

It's a great video and I give him props for making a few bucks. But, it makes me laugh at the people protecting this guy. This is a commercial. period. It's packaged in a "cool kids only" shiny box, but it's still a 5 minute commercial. He didn't do anything, besides get your attention long enough to explain American Airlines loyalty program. Props to him for doing it though.

So, just watching this in May 2017. It seems that the program has been updated since then making it more complex to understand, but easier to actually do. For starters, there are now four tiers: Gold (25k), Platinum (50k), Platinum Pro (75k), and Executive Platinum(100k). Each tier has bonuses for your elite miles, so it doesn't actually require 100k miles flown to get to Executive Platinum. The bonuses at each status are 40%, 60%, 80%, and 120%, respectively. Meaning you will need just less than 69k miles flown to get to Executive Platinum the first time, but just less than 46k miles flown each subsequent year to maintain. Other benefits: Gold gets upgrades on flights under 500 miles and 50% off an extra cabin seat, Platinum and up gets a free extra cabin seat, Platinum Plus gets upgrades on all flights, Executive Platinum get 4 free guaranteed one-way upgrades (that you can also apply to accompanying passengers) and the ability to earn 4 more. So, this would be advantageous to get prior to a large family international trip... you can get your and your spouse guaranteed upgrades and you can get a free ticket. Also, Platinum Plus is really about all you really need unless you want the guaranteed upgrades and the ability to get a passenger upgraded. You could also do this in phases. Year one, earn Gold/Platinum status. This is a lot easier to attain for the casual/business traveller. You get the 40/60% bonus and can use this the following year to reach the upper levels. Year two, earn Platinum Pro/Executive Platinum. You get the 80/120% bonus for the subsequent years and the free passenger tickets. You could also use your traditional AA miles to "pay" for upgrades along the way. Not a complete waste to get Gold, as Casey suggested. For him, he doesn't seem to care because he is doing so many longer flights that a free upgrade for

I don't fly a lot so, thank you for the first minute of the video!!!!!

so you need to do the NY to LA fly 20 times to get the executive platinum

Crazy to think how much this changed in 10 years...The basics will always apply - fly a lot, buy premium tickets when possible, and fly a lot.

Yeah so you just paid for it by flying a lot

Yep, It would just be easier and cheaper for me to just pay the extra for first class as little as I fly.

This is my favorite video of all time for the last 6 years.

This was the first Casey neistat video I saw

I fly so much I can recite the British Airways safety announcement off by heart...

the greatest advertisement for a credit card of all time. I remember when I got my first job I told myself I was going to be just like Casey Neistat. in 2022 my girlfriend and I did a lot of flying on American to get the coveted EP. I hit that last year and am currently enjoying the fruits of my labor (until feb 2024)

First video I ever saw of Caseys...