Originally Posted by
NWAlaskaFlyer
Apologies is this question has been answered. I see some variations but nothing like the specific questions I have. Here goes:
I am an MVPG75K and have some upcoming travel with companions. I am curious about the best way to book these trips. In some cases I will be traveling with my wife and want either all or none upgrades to first. I don't care as much about the seating proximity but we either both fly first or neither. 2 questions about this scenario. First does this type of travel ever qualify for automatic online upgrades or is it wait-list only? Second, does it matter which fare class I use to purchase these tickets? (I.e. will I improve our chances by purchasing flex?)
Second scenarion is travel with a work companion. In this case I want my upgrade regardless of whether the companion gets upgraded. How I handled this so far is to book the travel together to get the companion on the upgrade list and then call in and have the reservation split. This way the companion maintains the upgrade list but I am processed when the first seat becomes available. Is this optimal or should I handle the companion upgrade differently to give the companion a better chance of upgrade?
Companion upgrades on Alaska are always an all-or-nothing affair. No matter how the reservations are structured, you will always either both be upgraded or neither.
When traveling with your wife, you should book together on the same itinerary. This will be simplest because you will be able to pay together and presumably always expect to travel together. When you book as a 75K with a companion, your upgrade request will be entered at time of booking for the two of you. If you purchase a Value fare or above (fare buckets Y/S/B/M/H), you are eligible to be upgraded as soon as you are ticketed. If there is no upgrade space available at time of ticket purchase, you will be waitlisted and will have priority over all others who book later. If you purchase a cheaper ticket, you will not be eligible to be upgraded or placed on the waitlist until 5 days prior to departure. This means that other Golds that purchase Value fares could clear before you. As noted above, companion upgrades are always all-or-nothing, so there must be 2 U seats available for your upgrade to clear.
When traveling with a coworker, if you want to clear even if he doesn't, you should book separately. When you are on an itinerary by yourself, your complimentary upgrade request is for just you by default, so you will clear even if there is only one U seat available. To upgrade a companion without disrupting your own chances, you will have to wait until your upgrade clears before requesting the coworker's upgrade. The way you do this is key: wait until your upgrade clears, and then look for additional U seats. When you see that there are at least 2 U seats available, call up and ask to add your coworker as your complimentary upgrade companion. Companion upgrades must be processed at the same time as the elite's upgrade, so they will first downgrade you, request upgrades for the both of you, and since there are 2 U seats, you should both be upgraded immediately. The reason you need at least 2 U seats is that even though your upgrade has already cleared, downgrading you does not necessarily release your seat back into upgrade inventory.
It's a bit more work for the coworker-style upgrade, but since companion upgrades are always requested together, it's the only way to prioritize yourself over the pair of you. There is unfortunately no way for you to upgrade yourself with "high" priority and a companion with "low" priority.
Note that the way you are currently processing your coworker's upgrades is the same as if you had not split the reservation at all. You will either both be upgraded, or neither, so there's no point in booking together and then splitting the reservation.