Our low-mileage upgrade awards are available on SAA operating flights. The upgradable seats will be released 48 hours prior to departure, and the qualifying classes members can upgrade from are Y B M and K class fares. The relevant levies/taxes and surcharges will be for your account, payable in cash or card payment.

SAA operating flights are flights where SAA sells seats on SAA's own aircraft. SAA operating flights are typically identified by flight number range SA001 – SA 999.

Note: Upgrade Awards have to be issued on a one-way basis and per sector. For example if you travel from Cape Town to Johannesburg (sector), Johannesburg to Sao Paulo (sector), Sao Paulo to Johannesburg (sector) and Johannesburg to Cape Town (sector). Four (4) Awards will need to be issued, if you want to upgrade on the entire route.

 Upgrade miles per Region Table
Region One-way Award Mileage Threshold  Eligible Economy Class bookings for the use of an SAA Upgrade Award Upgrade Award Booking Class
Southern Africa   6 600 Y,B,M,K E
Africa 16 000 Y,B,M,K E
South America 17 000 Y,B,M,K E
Australia 28 000 Y,B,M,K E

Award Chart Regions Table
Award chart regions Award chart region descriptions
Southern Africa Blantyre, Harare, Lilongwe, Lusaka, Victoria Falls, Windhoek, South Africa (Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Gqeberha)
Africa Abidjan, Accra, Kinshasa, Lagos, Mauritius, Lubumbashi
South America Sao Paulo
Australia Perth