Thank you for your answer!,

Flying AS metal, price is the same on both sites; I assume you refer to this guarantee http://www.alaskaair.com/content/dea...guarantee.aspx

It seems the lower fare guarantee for AlaskaAir.com doesn't require you to buy it on AlaskaAir.com. (Only the guarantee for other travel sites, which I don't care about since it is very unlikely that other travel sites will have a lower fare for the same flight (the same Alaska flight that is)).

I believe AA.com will give me an e-ticket number, and that is all I need to pull up my reservation on AlaskaAir.com.

I have another question, is AlaskaAir's system aware of your AAdvantage status?, what if it changes, say you go from Gold to Platinum (therefore having access to further AS benefits) before you take your Alaska flight, will Alaska be aware of that and give me access to benefits such as preferred seats?