I was proceeding on “don’t want to get stuck with flight credits” being the priority. You need a fully refundable fare for that. If you’re willing to risk that on the assumption you WILL fly AS before credits expire, yes, any main cabin fare will work. But if it’s not refundable main cabin you get flight credits that will eventually expire if not used.
FWIW, fully refundable SEA-PDX is $168.40 on some flights…
Last edited by eponymous_coward; Dec 2, 2021 at 1:41 pm