Mileage Plan Changes As Of 11/1/08 (Merged Threads)

[soonerfanatic]

Plenty of time to burn at current levels.....until Nov. 1.

Saver now 20K, Super Saver Nov. 1 25K, makes perfectly little sense.

Would like more info on the intra-state award, ie:

Is OW LAX-SEA-STS the same as LAX-STS ?

[makfan]

Originally Posted by formeraa

I think a $25 fee for PARTNER redemptions is not unreasonable. How is it SERIOUSLY devaluing the program??? C'mon now people! Yes, it's a minor nuisance but "seriously devaluing".

As for the AS50's no longer accruing mileage, I'm really surprised that they accrued mileage for this long. Obviously, a lot of people were taking advantage of this and possibly earning almost as much mileage as they spend on longer haul flights (think ANC-SEA-BOS). Initially, a lot of programs had these sorts of "loopholes", but we need to make sure that AS stays around for awhile.

Well, if you use an AS50 to bring a $600 ticket down to $350, why shouldn't you accrue miles? The AS50 is getting you 1.6 cents per mile for the $250 discount, but you still have significant cash out of pocket. I thought that's why they changed it a few years ago to cap the discount at $250--to avoid giving you a $900 transcon for $450.

[dgwright99]

Yes, this is disappointing, but IMO MP earning/redemption ratio will remain exceptionally high compared with other airlines primarily on account of the 1k per booking CC bonus, which allows the earning of >6500 miles on a $300 ticket SEA-SoCal for an MVPG. I can't think of any other airline that comes close to "buy 4 get 1 free" on domestic 3-hour routes.

[meej]

I guess I can kiss my MVPG status good-bye for 2010...surely fare "sales" wont' be getting any better and without lots of interstate travel for work, it will cost lots of $$ to earn status after the new changes.

I was expecting an award level increase at some point but the AS50 news does not sit well with me. And as for the award levels...its tough enough to get a saver award now....how difficult will it be to score a "super saver" award???

Its too bad they had to institute all these changes at once...many of the things I really loved about MP will be gone as of Nov 1. I guess we'll have to buy up lots of AS50's prior to that for travel next year and hope for the best!

The funny part is, I was checking in for a flight this morning and was very pleased to see that we scored an upgrade. Then I clicked on the "changes to MP" link and that was a pretty big downer.

such is life, I guess.

[dgwright99]

Do wqe know for sure if the $25 fee applies to MVPG ?

[ANC]

very lame! AS was distinct and the mileage plan was a great reason to stay AS. Im not sure anymore. If their plans are now the same yet everybody elses fares are cheaper what will be the point of using AS. I guess they figure in Alaska you are forced to at least. The way they keep cutting away at the AS50 why not get rid of it all together. A $250 discount you get no miles? Thats rather nuts! The 25k award doesnt bother me as much as hacking away at the AS50 some more

[bobsyouruncle]

This change was (mostly) inevitable. When I got the news this morning I quickly booked my fall vacation in October and burned up all my points.

I'm disappointed about the AS50 awards not accruing miles. I used this to buy first class tickets to get the extra qualifying mileage. It may be harder to retain Gold for 2010. We'll see...

[Cholula]

Folks, just as a heads-up, we've closed most of the dupe threads on this topic and have merged the rest into this master thread. If anymore pop up, please advise.

Thanks.

_____________________
Cholula
Alaska Mileage Plan Co-Moderator

[JPat]

Originally Posted by bobsyouruncle

This change was (mostly) inevitable. When I got the news this morning I quickly booked my fall vacation in October and burned up all my points.

I'm disappointed about the AS50 awards not accruing miles. I used this to buy first class tickets to get the extra qualifying mileage. It may be harder to retain Gold for 2010. We'll see...

yes , my biggest disappointment is the hit taken on not accruing miles for the AS50 awards, I hope that this is not going to also be changed in the companion fares on the Visa card! That would be extremely disappointing....

[eastwest]

Originally Posted by spgaston

Mileage Plan has nothing left to differentiate itself.

What about the fact that you are earning miles in a program that is likely to remain solvent? That fact alone differentiates MP from lots of other FF programs...

[spgaston]

Originally Posted by JPat

I hope that this is not going to also be changed in the companion fares on the Visa card! That would be extremely disappointing....

That would probably = cancellation of my two signature cards.

[QuietLion]

This will probably result in my moving all my business to Southwest. With no mileage on the AS50 award it will be too expensive to justify renewing MVP Gold, and with no MVP Gold I can't justify paying extra to fly Alaska.

QL

[spgaston]

Originally Posted by eastwest

What about the fact that you are earning miles in a program that is likely to remain solvent? That fact alone differentiates MP from lots of other FF programs...

Just the other day I was thinking to myself "boy AS sure does get a lot of business from its Mileage Plan". Just think of all those people who fly on AS's expensive fares just to bank their miles with AS because the FPP is different (better) than the others.

I recently bought a $520 ticket for a weekend trip on AS from SEA-ORD. Thank god for the BofA companion fare it cut it down to ~$300 each.

My point is that AS is more expensive in most markets that it serves, and one of its best competitive edges was MP. Now that that competitive edge is gone what is left?

Sure, solvency is good but none of the airlines or FPP that I use are out of business yet. Devalued programs, yes, but still there.

Now that there will be no difference in award pricing I can just continue my mileage accrual on DL, where they give out bucket loads of miles in promos, and use those (cheaper) miles to get the same award at the same price on AS.

[LuckyDenver]

Maybe I'm over-analyzing, but the presser lists new award levels in the following categories:

Continental U.S. & Canada
Mexico
Hawaii

Is there a pending/unannounced change for travel to/from Alaska? Did I miss something?

Is Alaska now part of the continental US? (which is fine by me...no more exorbitant shipping charges)

[bobsyouruncle]

While I'm disappointed with the changes (although not surprised) I must give credit to AS for giving us over three months notice. That is quite reasonable IMHO.