Originally Posted by
jrl767
this
granted, we FTers aren't representative of the vast majority of the traveling public (or probably, for that matter, the majority of the AS Mileage Plan MVPG/75K community), but it's not so much the abuse as it is the gloating about it here that could easily turn into the last straw
Alaska could care less about a guy like me or you changing from a PE seat to a J class seat on a CX flight 6 months from now. Until last year as long as it was 60 days before flight time they allowed everyone to do it as often as they wanted. I have talked to partner desk reps who said that people do it all the time. On a paid ticket you are still paying the fare difference if there is one and there often is so Alaska is seeing the revenue from it. All they are doing is moving you to a different flight. Its the flip of a mouse
In each case they are seeing real time revenue from the sale of that seat.
I doubt Alaska is going to take the comments of a few people on a message board and say "time to do away with this perk"
The change fee is similar to a baggage fee. What once was free is now monetized just like every other aspect of air travel. I guarantee you the bean counters keep a watchful eye on every so called perk and when the investors call for ever more cost cutting to increase share price, they will find another dollar to squeeze out of passenger. It's how its always worked. Soon it will be no change fees for 75K only and it won't be because 10 FlyerTalk members changed their tickets 100 times in a one year. It will be because their analytics software identified another incremental increase to their bottom line. 5 years ago there were no change fees for MVP's.