Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan - getting e-certs for fare decreases

I know that if I buy a fare at AlaskaAir.com and then the price drops, I can call in and get an e-cert for the difference.

I'm curious how this works on one-ways vs. round-trips.

One-ways are obviously straightforward. Round-trips are confusing me. Let's say I have a RT booked, the outbound leg is $130 and the inbound leg is also $130. Total is $260.

If the oubound leg drops to $100, but the inbound leg rises to $200 (total $300), am I just pretty much out of luck on getting any kind of credit for the price decrease on the outbound leg?

If that answer is yes, then shouldn't I try to always book OWs instead of RTs?

(I know there is some advantage to booking a RT... but I don't know what it is.)

Thanks!

The advantage of booking a R/T comes into play when you need to make a change on the return. If you've alreeady flown the outbound you don't need to re-qualify for the advance purchase requirement of the fare. For example let's say you buy the round-trip at least 2 weeks in advance and get the 2-week advance fare in Q class for both segments. Now after fying the outbound you want to change the return. As an MVPG you don't pay the fee but if they can find you a return in Q class, and there arent any other day of week restrictions or a "travel must be completed by" date on your original fare, you won't pay any additional fare. If you book it as 2 one-ways you probably would be looking at additional fare unless you were looking to change the return for two weeks later and the original fare was still available.

well one advantage to buying 2 one ways if you use the BofA card you get 2 1,000 mile bonuses instead of 1. Even so I still usually end up booking RT's

The advantage of booking a R/T comes into play when you need to make a change on the return. If you've alreeady flown the outbound you don't need to re-qualify for the advance purchase requirement of the fare. For example let's say you buy the round-trip at least 2 weeks in advance and get the 2-week advance fare in Q class for both segments. Now after fying the outbound you want to change the return. As an MVPG you don't pay the fee but if they can find you a return in Q class, and there arent any other day of week restrictions or a "travel must be completed by" date on your original fare, you won't pay any additional fare. If you book it as 2 one-ways you probably would be looking at additional fare unless you were looking to change the return for two weeks later and the original fare was still available.

well one advantage to buying 2 one ways if you use the BofA card you get 2 1,000 mile bonuses instead of 1. Even so I still usually end up booking RT's

Agree with the top two responses - both situations are valid... and have utilized both to my advantage-

If using an ecert, it can help to book as OW travel to use up several faster (ie- $25 late baggage offer)...

But for IRROPS, it does help to book a return flight, so if you get stranded due to mx or wx... AS can be more empowered to help (Help... I don't live in this city - get me out of here/place to stay) :p

Okay, so now I understand the advantages of booking the RTs.

But does anyone have an opinion on how fare decreases work for OWs vs. RTs in the scenario posed above? I suppose I could just call the MVP Gold desk and ask, right?

Thanks!

Wirelessly posted (beckoa's PWP wonderous poster: BlackBerry9000/4.6.0.297 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

Okay, so now I understand the advantages of booking the RTs.

But does anyone have an opinion on how fare decreases work for OWs vs. RTs in the scenario posed above? I suppose I could just call the MVP Gold desk and ask, right?

Thanks!

I'd say call and ask as I've wondered about this myself...

Okay, so now I understand the advantages of booking the RTs.

But does anyone have an opinion on how fare decreases work for OWs vs. RTs in the scenario posed above? I suppose I could just call the MVP Gold desk and askMy recent experience is that if it's a RT, they compare the price of the entire trip, not each leg individually. Lucky for me, the outbound dropped more than the return rose, so I still got a credit, albeit a smaller one.

And another benefit to booking RT, at least for non-golds, would be that you could cancel the entire itinerary and incur only one $75 fee instead of two.

My recent experience is that if it's a RT, they compare the price of the entire trip, not each leg individually.

I called MVP Gold Desk and a very knowledgeable rep confirmed for me that they would, in fact, re-price the RT and only give an e-cert if the RT had decreased. If I want to try and reap individual legs dropping in price, I will need to continue booking it as a OW.

However, that will all change once eWallet rolls out.

I called MVP Gold Desk and a very knowledgeable rep confirmed for me that they would, in fact, re-price the RT and only give an e-cert if the RT had decreased. If I want to try and reap individual legs dropping in price, I will need to continue booking it as a OW.

However, that will all change once eWallet rolls out.

Thanks for the confirmation :cool:

I applied an ecert for a discounted airfare for an upcoming trip but I have decided not to take the trip. Will they credit that ecert back to my discounts or will they credit me for the entire cost of the trip? I wish my wallet was up and running. It would be nice when you viewed your initerary under my trips, that besides allowing you to forward the reservation and adding to your calendar, you could opt to cancel the reservation and apply the credit to your "my wallet". That would definitely make it easier for everyone.