MastaHanky

Hi all,

The cuts in the Delta Skymiles program and the big carrot that Alaska has been dangling for SLC-based fliers has reeled me in. I have a few questions though before I drop on bended knee with a ring to Alaska:

1) I have a trip booked next week - SLC-SJC-OGG-LAX-SLC. The trip was booked through American's (not Alaska's) website. I thought I would be able to add the Alaska segments to the "My Trips" section of the Alaska website, but it appears the AA PNR and ticket numbers don't work, and I can't find the Alaska PNR and ticket number on my receipt anywhere. Is this normal?

2) The handful of flights I've taken to/from SLC so far have been fairly empty, and short enough that I didn't bother with upgrades. However I'd be interested in buying a paid upgrade for the SJC-OGG segment. What's your experience with availability on that? And how far in advance can I buy an upgrade? Is that a T-24 thing, or only available at the gate? It's a mid-week (Tuesday) departure so perhaps the loads will be a bit lighter.

lastquestion

Call American and get your Alaskan PNR and ticket. then you'll be able to add and select seats on Alaska's site.

IMHO, paid upgrade offers are not that common... not like on the big legacies (cough) like Delta.

Most of my flights, first class is full by the time gate upgrade offers "should be" available, e.g. either full of all revenue or upgrades.

WrightHI

You can also call Alaska to get the PNR. Their telephone customer service is generally very good.

Paid upgrades, if available, can be done via online checkin starting at T-24. You may have a shot on that route, so it's worth planning to check in right at the 24-hour mark.

lg20

Assuming there is FC availability, which for SJC-OGG is a possibility, you may get an option to buy the upgrade for $150 when you check in on the app or online. This will only show if you're in an eligible fare class (not the lowest classes).

If you are in one of those classes (G & T I think), you may get the option at the gate to buy an upgrade. At the gate the class restriction goes away.

ashill

+1, or if you use Twitter, tweet either airline and get it via direct message (the ticket number will probably be helpful if contacting AS); it's faster.

I second the call Alaska over AA bit; you'll get through their automated prompts and to an agent faster than AA most likely, given that this is a <30 second conversation once you get to an agent.

WNHHTraveler

Are you sure about this? I thought all published fares were eligible for paid upgrades at T-24, if available. I've bought rock-bottom fares in the past and have upgraded at T-24.

WrightHI

I think you meant to quote a different post, but I do think you're correct about being able to upgrade anything (including award tickets) for cash if there's space available.

beckoa

And to further clarify... space available in this case equals U class (upgrade class). Just because F is for sale doesn't mean one can 'upgrade'.

MastaHanky

Thanks for the input everyone. A couple more questions:

- How accurate do the seat maps to actual load tend to be? Right now large portions of both flights show they are already taken, which I guess can be plausible. But I hear the SLC-SJC flight in particular has had horrible load factors and I'm surprised there isn't anything available for allocation yet. I guess it doesn't help that I don't have status yet.

- Have you found the Alaska Airlines credit card worthwhile? It doesn't look like it has many flight benefits like an extra checked bag or 20% off in-flight purchases like the Delta one did - those were big pluses for me.

dave1013

They have a time-limited promotion wherein if you have the card, you can check one bag for free. Doesn't mean that much for elites and Club 49'ers but still is a nice gesture to kettle-people.

Also, the companion ticket feature is a valuable benefit. Not so much as before, when you could buy two F tickets. There's mixed opinion on this. I happen to be one who still finds some value in it.

WrightHI

And if you live out on one end of their route network, and sometimes fly to the other with a companion, and are MVPG and willing to pay a modest upcharge to an instant upgrade fare, the companion ticket can be very very good indeed.

yohanson

Do they have a card that always allows one to check a bag for free?

beckoa

Wirelessly posted (beckoa's BB: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9810; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.694 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

No. If you are from Alaska there is Club 49, or fly 20K for MVP.

MastaHanky

This is why I love FlyerTalk. I checked in at T-24 this morning and the SJC-OGG segment showed seven seats available in first class. By the time I completed my purchase there was only one seat left, so a few other people were waiting to snap those up too. Thanks for your help!

(BTW, SJC-OGG is only a $100 upgrade!)

ou81two

Unfortunately, what was a strength of the program is now a weakness. Do this. Pick a date range and try to find an actual business trip to Sydney. You won't. Alaska's joke of a redemption site will show you all mixed itineraries. Delta will you get actual redemptions. I'd be sure you know what you're getting yourself into. The frequency of AA awards and Emirates awards has dropped to next to nothing. USING Delta miles is much easier.