Programs: AA Gold, AS MVP, Platinum SPG, Platinum Hyatt, Silver Marriott, Avis First
Posts: 78
Quote:
Originally Posted by trentonl
And, if you want to double those bonuses, you can book each segment separately. You do risk doubling your fees, though, if you need to make changes to both legs of the itinerary.
The fares come out the same? E.g. 2 one ways = 1 round trip ?
Programs: AA Gold, AS MVP, Platinum SPG, Platinum Hyatt, Silver Marriott, Avis First
Posts: 78
Quote:
Originally Posted by doog
I'd seriously consider switching to AS for flying if you're flying once a week for the next six months. SJC-SEA is 697 miles each way, if you fly a round trip once a week for 26 weeks you'll fly 36,244 miles, which means you'll be less than 4,000 miles away from MVPG (you only have to fly 40,000 miles if you fly them all on AS metal). You'll have a decent chance at getting upgraded to F (vs. no chance if you stick with AA) and you'll gain an additional 9,000 miles (based on MVPs getting a 50% mileage bonus vs. the 25% AA Golds get). If you pay for your own air travel, you could also get an extra 26,000 miles by picking up the AS credit card (you get 1,000 miles every time you book an AS flight on their website using the credit card).
In sum, it seems like you'd be MUCH happier over the next six months switching to AS, if I were you I'd make the switch.
Thanks for putting the nail in the coffin. I'm switching to AS immediately!
Thanks for putting the nail in the coffin. I'm switching to AS immediately!
AS, in my humble opinion, is a fantastic airline. Great service, new planes. Even Horizon is great.I always try to fly AS when I can, even in coach. If you live on the west coast, this should be a no brainer for you.
If you normally fly more than 25,000 miles a year, you get a 50% mileage bonus on AS for MVP vs. 25% on AA for Gold. Also, if you fly AS more than you fly AA, you'll be able to get upgraded to First... and as you probably know AA's upgrade policy for Golds is fairly weak.
You gain the ability to use NW/DL for EQMs and CO for RDMs. That means if you're a price-conscious traveler you have a few more options when you're looking to buy a ticket. The same goes for award tickets, you get additional options for redemption (including KLM/Air France, and Korean Air).
You can fly BA out of the US and still earn/use miles. If you're with AA you can only earn or use miles on BA through Canada or Mexico, which means there's greater award availability on BA via AS than AA.
A *great* credit card program, especially if you frequently fly with a companion. The $50 companion coupon is good for any type of fare, so for instance you could buy a first class ticket to Hawaii and add a companion for $50 plus tax. IMO it's a HUGE advantage over other FF programs.
Disadvantages:
With AS you can't use multiple partners for award tickets. For instance, if you're flying to Berlin, you can't fly Alaska to ORD, AA to LHR and BA to TXL. You'd either have to fly the entire trip on BA, or fly AS to somewhere that BA flies (SFO, YVR, SEA, etc) and then fly BA to LHR and then on to JFK. With AA you can use a different partner on each leg of your trip if you so choose, which can be handy when there is limited flight availability.
With AS you have to pay a fuel charge for BA award tickets, AA doesn't have to pass on the fuel charge. AA has enough muscle to prevent BA from passing its fuel surcharge to AA customers, AS was forced to do so by BA this fall. BA assesses this surcharge on its own customers, so this isn't a case of Alaska being greedy, just a case of AA being able to dictate terms to some degree. The surcharge can be pretty expensive, so if you regularly fly BA for award travel, it might be worth sticking with AA.
I made the switch from AA to AS and have been quite happy with my choice, however know more about your individual flying patterns will help people here be able to help you make your decision.
I have wanted to switch to AS for years but I stay with AA because I can earn 750,000 miles/yr @ 1/4 cent per mile. All of my flights are now award travel and it would be great to use AS partners for first class international trips. Any AS opportunities to earn cheap miles?
flight miles...not so much no. redeemable miles yes! Use the AS signature visa to pay for everything except the mortgage every month...just remember to pay it off each month(IMO thats 0 cents per mile if you dont pay interst because its stuff you'd need to buy anyhow)! But how on earth are you earning 750,000 miles a year and only fllying on awards! I dont see how this is possible if you arent flying as an elite getting bonus miles, booking bonuses etc, on top of all the other ways to earn miles throughout the year Im a bit... Are you an AA Business ExtrAA owner or something?
But how on earth are you earning 750,000 miles a year and only fllying on awards! I dont see how this is possible if you arent flying as an elite getting bonus miles, booking bonuses etc, on top of all the other ways to earn miles throughout the year Im a bit... Are you an AA Business ExtrAA owner or something?[/quote]
370,000 miles with Citi card churning and 384,000 miles with Visa Buxx. I understand B of A only gives bonus miles once for a new card. B of A Visa can't be used to load Visa Buxx.
Several AA partners have better first class than AA (including AS) and AS partners have better first class than AA (Continental and AF and KM). AS and AA share some of the same partners but I read a thread recently claiming that it was easier to get seats through AS. So I keep looking for better possibilities in award travel.
Location: BOS (Temporary Home until economy picks up) PDX (Friends and Family)
Programs: US Silver (giving up) -AS MVPG & Boardroom member - Hilton Gold (compd)- SPG Nobody
Posts: 1,026
Quote:
Originally Posted by ederemer
The fares come out the same? E.g. 2 one ways = 1 round trip ?
Yes, round trips on AS are priced as 2 one ways. Do a dummy booking based off price, note the flights and price. Click on the "choose Separate Departing and Return Flights" select the same flights and the price will be the same
__________________
2009 AS- 79,706 EQM/29 Seg - AS+Partner 87,619/38 seg
Programs: AS MVP (withering away due to insane fares), UA, AA, AGR, NPS passport, Costco Exec
Posts: 5,179
No discounts for round trips has its benefits, such as not requiring a Saturday-night stay to qualify for advertised prices or having minimum stay requirements, but it has a downside, too, in prices being somewhat higher for leisure travelers who otherwise would be more flexible in exchange for lower prices.
Not sure how intra-Lower 48 fares are, but from ANC, you can occasionally find round-trip fares (with the typical minimum-stay/Saturday night requirements) all the way to the East Coast for under $500 on other carriers, whereas the same destinations are always at least $900 on AS. I wonder how much of that is actually because of AS's "simplified" fare structure giving them less flexibility to offer cheap fares.
No discounts for round trips has its benefits, such as not requiring a Saturday-night stay to qualify for advertised prices or having minimum stay requirements, but it has a downside, too, in prices being somewhat higher for leisure travelers who otherwise would be more flexible in exchange for lower prices.
Not sure how intra-Lower 48 fares are, but from ANC, you can occasionally find round-trip fares (with the typical minimum-stay/Saturday night requirements) all the way to the East Coast for under $500 on other carriers, whereas the same destinations are always at least $900 on AS. I wonder how much of that is actually because of AS's "simplified" fare structure giving them less flexibility to offer cheap fares.
I like the simplified structure even though it does generally cost more. As far as air carrier websites go AS IMO has one of the most user friendly, fast, understandable, and easy websites out there! It shows all fare classes at once. They dont have a bunch of "advanced search" crap. You dont have to keep pressing page back to pick a new fare catergory and to see the price of unrestricted, restricted, or F the way you do at some of these 350 or 500 fleet carriers!!!
The only big improvement Id like to see is with partner fare searching. Why some on AS come up as being able to choose by schedule and some only allow the by price option where you dont get to choose any option except the RT combos they already paired for you It would also be nice if partners fares showed all the fare options at one time but you have to start the search all over again for each fare class just. At least AS metal you dont have to do this whereas like I said you have to do that on the legacy carriers even if its all on their metal
As most of my travel is SEA - east coast and I am required by my employer to find the least expensive ticket (or at least in the ballpark), I ended up giving up MVP in exchange for keeping AA Plat. My MVP upgrades were never clearing anyway, and I think AS should have waived 2nd bag fees for MVPs as well as MVP Golds (AA waives baggage fees for all elites). I used to be AA Gold and my upgrades cleared periodically, more often than MVP. I would rather pay for upgrades and have a better chance to have them clear when they really matter to me, vs. rarely having them clear on AS. YMMV. The 50% mileage bonus was nice as MVP, but with the constant dilution of miles, not a deciding factor for me. Ultimately, I can usually find a cheap ticket out east on AA, rarely on AS, and status is the most valuable if you can use it the most.
If AA fares swing upward again and I find myself flying NW and DL a lot, I'm sure I'll be eating my words. It was nice to be able to book exit rows on NW.
I still have the AS Signature Visa and DH is still MVP, so I'm not giving up on AS. SEA-TUS nonstop is still a godsend, though I'm bummed we didn't get to keep 2 runs a day as was originally scheduled.
Are you an AA Business ExtrAA owner or something?
It would also be nice if partners fares showed all the fare options at one time but you have to start the search all over again for each fare class just. At least AS metal you dont have to do this whereas like I said you have to do that on the legacy carriers even if its all on their metal
