Legend717

I'm glad you've posed this question, because it's made me think about the subject, and work my way through what I've experienced.

Having status matched at the end of the year, and been so excited about it, I've now encountered the less-than-unicorn reality of life with Alaska Airlines.
So on that note, I'll list the negatives first:

1. IT platform is terrible.
While not as useless as Virgin America's app (want to book a ticket? tap here to go to our website, and totally invalidate the existence of our app!), Alaska's app is NOT as powerful as United's. But what really gets me is the website. The complete inability to search, much less book, revenue/paid tickets on partners is incredibly frustrating. Similarly, to book partner awards, the website will put you on Select Buddy Partner. Only. I'm supposed to call in? What is this, 1995?
2. Partner earnings are brutal, and redeeming is unnecessarily difficult.
I have discovered at every turn JUST how hard it is to actually earn miles on partners. Never mind fare class punishments (which are somewhat common even at United), but flying LATAM? Well, you'd better hope you're flying the LAN side and not the TAM side. The Singapore partnership still isn't fully baked yet. AND, most of the partner's websites won't let you list ANC as a point of origin, even though they're partners with AS. So I have to book on an OTA or a separate ticket to SEA and then get started from there. And then I must make extra sure that my tickets are booking into a fare class with earnings. That's a handicap for AS; I shouldn't have to fly full Y fare to get 100% miles, when AS doesn't offer flights on their own metal. In my previous program (see user handle), if you didn't like the Star Alliance partner earnings for a particular trip, you could always just default to United and get full credit, because UA has.... wait for it... a GLOBAL NETWORK.
To redeem, well, see my complaints above about their IT platform. There's just no good way, unless you want to fly a handful of their partners. Primarily Emirates, JAL, or Korean. Or BA with extortionate fees. On BA, you're paying for the ticket twice!
3. Realistically no upgrades.
This is obviously a YMMV situation, but as a plain ol' MVP, there are no upgrades to be had between ANC, SEA, and any major cities, as far as I can tell. And I have flown on Sundays and Tuesdays. Admittedly, with mega-merger-mania, there don't really seem to be any upgrades at ANY carrier for bottom-rung elite members. I can't remember the last upgrade I got as a Silver at UA. Of course, I hope to gain higher status level than mere MVP. But I was status matched based on my drastically reduced flying at UA last year (I fragmented based on convenience and price). So that's what I get.
4. HUACA
AS seems to be transitioning from an airline with a customer-first attitude, very willing to bend the rules, to an airline with more of a "Hey, we have to make money here, so let's enforce some rules" approach. Fair enough, but in that process, many phone agents (and also check in agents) don't seem to know the policies. Sometimes they try to enforce rules that don't exist, or they've made them up on the fly. Especially as it relates to VX. Speaking of VX...
5. The Virgin America situation is a complete mess.
MCS upgrades won't process, except when they do, but not when they don't. And VX gate agents are under the impression that MVP MCS upgrades may only be processed AFTER BOARDING HAS BEGUN!!! Mile credit posting takes two weeks. Checking in for your flights causes you to run a serious risk of deleting your entire itinerary. AS can't issue a VX boarding pass. VX cannot issue boarding passes for AS onward connections, well over a year into a merger between two small airlines. For the return sectors of my last trip, NEITHER airline could check me in via website or mobile app- each directed me to the other carrier. And the VX onboard product is superior in every way (although not particularly profitable), so kiss it all goodbye. Except for boarding music, because 1970 called and invited AS to catch up to it.
6. Devaluations and Loss of Partners
This was also a constant fear at United- every 6 months, they found some way to make my miles worth less. I'm starting to hear rumblings that devaluations are coming to partners at AS as well, especially in the Asia region. That's a problem, because AS doesn't fly to those places. So it's not like I can just default to taking AS instead of a partner. Also, Losing AA, DL, and supposedly KL/AF is a BIG HIT to this program. I know AA is still technically there, but one year ago, I could fly from anywhere in the US to anywhere else, and have TWO carriers to choose from and earn AS miles. Now? NONE. I can't fly from MIA to CVG, unless I connect in SEA. And that's a great big HELL NO, ALASKA. And AS's attitude is basically "We merged with Virgin America, so all of your conceivable travel needs have been met with our award-winning service!!"

On the other end, I've also experienced some of the perks Alaska Air:
1. Non-Combative Customer Service
Every employee (except for a handful of flight attendants, which are always a sketchy group!) that I've encountered has been FANTASTIC. Coming from United, this is a breath of fresh air. I can't tell you how much it means to me to be treated, at every point of human contact, as though I was important to that person. I'm not a demanding individual- I'm certainly no DYKWIA type. But still, United found ways to clearly communicate that I was a part of their problem, and that their preferred solution would exclude my existence as well as the rest of their passengers. That's a sentiment I came to agree with- the only way forward for United is as a FREIGHT ONLY CARRIER. At AS, though, I'm smiled to, and spoken to... as if I were a human being.
2. Dallas Love Field.
I won't always use Love Field for my Dallas area travel, but I like having the choice to do so. I can choose either by convenience or by ticket price. Perfect! This was one of the reasons I stuck with CO/UA even after moving to ANC. I could use DFW or DAL depending on what suited me best for that trip. Now, ditto AS/VX. Love Field is a very quick and easy airport to get through, and a pleasant experience overall.
3. Distance Based Earnings.
It's like time travel back to the glory days of CO. And it really speaks for itself, so I won't drone on. But I don't want to overlook the fact that I've already got a healthy account balance, whereas in my previous program, I'd have a fraction of that.
4. Elite Bonuses
I know the other carriers CLAIM they still offer elite bonuses, and they technically do. An extra mile or three per dollar spent. But that pales in comparison to an across-the-board XX% bonus. And it's causing me to strive toward higher elite status, which means more revenue for AS!
5. Price Guarantee
I've been able to use this on 66% of the itineraries I've booked. What more can I say!?!?

In summary, the AS MileagePlan is still a good elite program, but in the past year has seen itself become severely crippled to anyone wishing to travel beyond the West Coast and key US markets. Elite status is still good for earning bonuses. But the much-vaunted partnerships are a migraine to actually take advantage of.