I had desert on all first class flights over 3 hours (Hawaii, atlanta, etc)
But did you have rolls or dessert on any flights less than 3 hours? Last time I checked, a pretty significant portion of the AS route system is less than 3 hours (i.e. SEA - California)...and I believe the OP is correct, the F meal service has generally been watered down.
I don't see what award sales in your particular city have anything to do with the quality of the mileage plan.
With regard to the sales to Mexico. The only time I looked into this sale it was a discount from ALL AS cities in US/Canada to Mexico. So, changing that to only select California cities is, indeed, decreasing the value of that sale and arguably the "quality of mileage plan".
YMMV. I've booked last minute super saver awards on the routes i fly people, but i've noticed hawaii has been a bit tight lately.
But what I suspect the OP is complaining about is that in the past, one could (with flexibility) often find super saver award availability. I would agree that generally super saver availability has decreased. Saying that you've been able to book super saver awards at the last minute does not negate the fact that
generally that availability has decreased. FWIW, it does seem that not-uncommonly AS releases super saver availability at the last minute - likely as a way to get a couple of more seats booked.
I've noticed this a bit on flights routing from the 48 to alaska, but its still cheaper than dropping $1000 on a ticket.
Again, I agree with the OP...I've taken more overnight stops than ever on super saver awards in order to keep the mileage redemption down. Yes, better than dropping $1000 on the ticket...but that's not what the OP said; the statement was that more often than before if a super saver is desired, you have to accept an overnight stop.
Its still 75k on alaska metal for the 50k bonus. 15k increase to 90k for partner.
Fact is that for those qualifying on partner miles, it's a 20% increase in the requirement from what it used to be. I don't know what the breakdown is, but I would guess that a lot of people who previously got the 50K bonus qualified on AS+partner miles. As an aside, it is fantastically interesting to me that the new 75K qualification is actually toughest on those who qualify on AS miles exclusively:
AS miles: 75K (an increase of 87.5% over MVPG qualification on AS miles)
Partner miles: 90K (an increase of 80% over MVPG qualification on partner miles)
Segments: 90 (an increase of only 50% over MVPG qualification on segments)
Originally Posted by
maokh
If his post wasn't wildly inaccurate, i wouldn't have defended the Mileage Plan.
Thats like accepting the guy's opinion that all Alaska planes are painted yellow ...
Interesting, because I think calling his post "wildly inaccurate" is...wildly inaccurate.
Originally Posted by
eponymous_coward
I think the main point is fine... but being accurate about your criticism is important, too. It's not all takeaways.
You're right, AS has given frequent flyers in the past years:
- easier qualification for the 50K bonus miles on segments
- first one free on us program for MVPG
- Baggage service guarantee (actually for all travelers, not just FFers...but, how much does it count in light of new baggage fees?)
- new MVPG 75K tier
- new intra-state award redemption levels for the lower 48
Anything I'm missing? As far as I can tell, if you're keeping score, the rest have been takeaways.