Originally Posted by
formeraa
Well, it still remains to be seen what AS does once they introduce their Y+ section. On the 738's, they are reducing the number of F seats from 16 to 12, in essence reducing the chance of Elite upgrades. So, there may or may not be an explicit change to the program, but AS is doing small things that could be interpreted as reducing Elite benefits.
Hi Formeraa, the reasoning at Alaska is as follows:
Our schedule has some undecided aircraft on some routes and this will continue over the next year. Some -400's will be retired and we will replace them by new aircraft. By only showing 12 F it's easy to increase that number, rather than reduce it, in case it is actually flown by a -400.
Meanwhile, Alaska added Japan Airlines as a new partner! This is hugely attractive because we are now able to secure E+ seats all the way from the West Coast to HND/NRT/KIX/ICN/PEK months ahead of departure, with one click on a mobile app, free of charge.
As for HA, they have done a great job of trying to sell their product. I applaud them for not giving away the F seats.
No offense, but the very mindset -- often prevalent among airline employees and executives -- that Alaska might be "giving away" anything by providing us road warriers with complimentary upgrades to F and E+ is the core of the problem! It pits us, your most loyal customers, against you. The genius of Alaska's FFP program is the recognition that the whole can be greater than the sum of the parts:
"Every man who becomes rich by competition throws down behind him the ladder by which he rises, and keeps others down; but every man who gets rich by creation opens a way for thousands to follow him, and inspires them to do so."