DH and I are planning a trip to So. California in late February, arriving at SNA. I wanted to use some Avois miles (7500 per ticket, one way). The telephone waits have been excruciatingly long (45 minutes yesterday, with no success; 15 minutes today) but I finally got an agent (UK based?). I asked to book Alaska 514 for 2/22 (departing 5:25 pm). She found the seats, but then told me the charges would be $55! $25 would be for the telephone fee (which she said they stopped waiving about 4 months ago). However, I don't know what the other $30 would be for, and I didn't think of asking.

This very same flight can be booked on AlaskaAir.com for $79 per person, for a total of $158, all inclusive. The fees are indeed over $15 per person, as follows:


Total per Traveler
$79.00
Fare
$63.26
Base Fare
$63.26
Taxes and Fees
$15.74
US Flight Segment Tax
$4.00
US Psgr. Facility Charge
$4.50
US Sept. 11 Security Fee
$2.50
US Transportation Tax
$4.74

I decided to pay the $158 to Alaska. There were only 3 seats left in economy. If I had gone for the mileage award, I would have gotten $103 worth (after deducting the $55 in fees) for 15,000 miles--not a good exchange.