brettsir

Upgrades (to MCS) seem to be luck of the draw/goodwill of the gate agents who are aware of the differences of cross program benefits, but not an official policy. No comped upgrades to first are given on VX to elevate or mileage plan members. The checked luggage fees on the other hand should be waved for your allotment provided you can show your status (physical AS elite card, digital card, or boarding pass from the last 30 days). If you show up at the counter the VX agents have no way of knowing your status (and thus waiving bag charges) without one of the mentioned forms of eligibility. That said they can change FFP numbers for the reservation, though it is best to stick with the programme you wish to credit the miles to as inputting both an elevate and mileage plan number seems to always credit to the programme you don't want it to. Murphy's law.

artieb78

I am a VX gold who now has AS MVP gold. I mainly fly VX metal out of SFO. Crediting to AS seems to yield more miles usually, but sometimes crediting to VX is better (e.g., short distance but high price).

When flying VX and crediting to AS, I was told by a phone agent that I need to have my VX number on the reservation in order to get the free upgrade to MCS. I figure I will wait to see if the free upgrade clears, and then add AS number to reservation at the gate. (I will probably have them remove the VX number at that time just to be safe.)

Anyone have experience with this scenario?

brettsir

Agent is correct regarding your elevate number. If you clear the upgrade before the gate what you do at the gate is your business, and if it continues to post to the account you specify at the gate thats between you and your account. If you get upgraded at the gate and then decide to switch numbers you may get the upgrade takenż
Other airlines typically will claw back any perks you got from your previous FF number but have not seen/heard/read anything about a VX-AS switcheroo... My guess is that even if you were "caught" your account would not be in jeopardy given the grey area of benefits. Just don't fight it if you get sent back to the main cabin as I'm sure THAT is against both program's T&C

halamadrid

I'm Elevate Gold and have changed the FF in the reservation to my MP# prior to checking in or anything (I never check the upgrade box when I reserve as I don't want to end up in a middle seat in MCS). Then at the gate I've let them know that I'm actually Gold but used my MP# and they have manually upgraded me to MCS on the spot without it affecting my reservation or getting properly credited to my MP account. Agents at the gate don't even blink an eye in terms of giving me the upgrade either.

Robt760

Are there any recent experiences with VX flights, where you book with Elevate Gold, but change the earning partner to Mileage Plan after booking/before flight and how it affected upgrade and mileage posting ?

travelerp

I have booked as a VX Gold several times and added my Alaska MP number later by phone. The times it was not already booked MCS, I have received no upgrades (granted, I also haven't asked at the gate). I think they have a glitch in the system with those changed FF numbers. My experience has been a struggle every time to have my boarding pass reflect the Alaska number instead of VX (I was told that you receive miles for the FF number reflected on the BP). It has consistently taken me at least twice, sometimes three tries, to get it straightened out at the airport - from ticket agent, to customer service desk or gate agent. The mileage posting to Alaska seems to take about ten days. Others may have had better or different experiences!

AFAM-DFW

The process I use has worked for me pretty well. I Book oneways not round trips since easier to fix ff on outbound without messing up return upgrade. I don't check in until the MCS auto upgrade time and choose MCS seat or pay for upgrade to first. If MCS didn't clear, I'll show card on phone app at gate.

After checkin, I call and ask them to REMOVE my elevate number from the reservation. I then login to vx site and add elevate number using the search for reservation link. Flight doesn't show in regular manage since elevate number removed. I then add the elevate number on the website.

if you ask vx to add your as number their system puts the as # in but leaves the vx and points opting is mess up. By calling to remove, you know well in advance if the agent did it correctly and have time to call back if not done properly.

Along with printing the the boarding pass to use, I print a spare boarding pass and a copy of the ticket receipt to email for missing points if needed.

I'm also at about ten days to post but the almost always do nice the as number is on the boarding pass.

flightfulbird

How do you add it through the app ? I definitely need to change both of ours from Elevate to Alaska MP because we have zero points with VX now, all were transferred. I didn't even think to use the frequent flyer number for Alaska instead.

flightfulbird

Is it the cleanest way to just call after checkin the way you did ? It makes sense to only have the Alaska number tied to the reservation (for us with no status on either airline so no concern about upgrades).

I called in tonight and asked the agent to change the number to Alaska Mileage Plus - the agent said she would "add" the AS number to the booking - but it's not showing up on the manage travel page - just our VX Elevate numbers - so I am going to try to change it through the app (but I still cannot tell where to change/add it in the app).

If it works out best to call in after checkin then I will just plan on doing that.


We will print all of this just in case - and will make sure the AS number is on boarding pass - it seems to be most pax' experience that the number that shows on boarding pass is the one that gets the miles.

flightfulbird

Replying to myself for future reference for anyone else -

No status on VX - I called to add Alaska Mileage Plus numbers to our flight reservation

then

called the day before checkin to ask the agent to remove the Elevate numbers, which he did

so the Mileage Plus number showed up on our boarding passes when I printed them and it also shows on the itinerary on the VX website.

But logging in with Elevate ID and password, it says no flights scheduled (if/because Elevate number is no longer tied to reservation) so to manage travel once Elevate number is removed, you have to look up with last name and confirmation number.

It probably has to be handled much differently if status and upgrades are involved !

Repooc17

I am sure there is a thread on this, but I had just thought of a (somewhat) related question:

Is it best to credit to MP for all VX flights through the end of the year, as opposed to Elevate or other airline partners?

VXforever

Always have them remove existing FFPs before adding new ones. The way to do this is call and ask them to remove it. Then on your own via website add AS MP FFP number. That way you can verify for yourself that the VX Elevate FFP number was removed, and don't have to go through the hassle of reading your AS MP FFP number to the (inept) VX agents based in Denver.

AFAM-DFW

Main reason to wait until checkin with no status is if you are considering buying an upgrade at the 6 hour window. Otherwise, cleanest to book with AS FF at booking.

AFAM-DFW

depends on the points that would be earned in each program.. with AS being mileage and VX being dollar based, VX is better for short but expensive and AS is best for long and cheap. Also consider the 1.3x VX to AS conversion ratio.

rustykettel

Also, if the OP is looking at elite qualification, it's a bit more of a muddled mess
1) Credit to VX and earn Elevate status this year (& elite bonus on subsequent Elevate points)
2) Credit to VX but earn Mileage Plan status this year after VX miles/segments are added to linked MP accounts for elite status at the end of the year
3) Credit to AS and earn Mileage Plan status this year (& elite bonus on subsequent MP miles).