It does matter. My sister paid $50 last week for a preferred plus seat at online check in for a flight from KOA-SJC. The flight was full with several non-revs. The gate agent denied her priority boarding due to the policy change. Now if you have ever flown through Kona, Hawaii, Alaska uses HA ground agents who are very strict and can be nasty if you go into the XA line when you are suppose to be in the XB line. The agent refused to let her board in the priority line and had to get in line with all non-elite. She ended up finding no space for her roll aboard and had to gate check her carryon which was all she was traveling with on this trip. She had to empty half of the carryon in the aircraft to take out her computer and other fragile items and it wasn't smooth boarding whatsoever. She paid for the seat so she could have a better chance of getting bin space and a more comfortable ride. The drink was just a nice add on if she wanted to have one or not.

As a 75k for several years, I called Customer Care on behalf of her to demand an explanation and compensation. I provide proof of the gate checked baggage ticket as well. The Customer Care agent was very accommodating and truly felt for my sister that she paid the highest amount of money for a preferred plus seat and didn't receive what she expected. The agent issued a travel credit for $50 plus 15K miles as a good will gesture that would amount to an upgrade to first class pending availability and/or fare selection that she could use on any future Alaska flight.

And the other day, another person posted that they were denied priority boarding due to the policy being changed and they paid $15 so they could get onboard sooner to secure bin space.

So that is why I created this thread. I didn't feel the need to post my sister's experience because I actually thought people would think what AS did wasn't right. I was wrong. I should have realized that almost everyone here takes these seats for granted since they are entitled to them for free at booking practically. Makes sense though, why should an elite care about the non-elite spending money for checked bags and waiting in the long lines when an elite will never have those issues.