Originally Posted by
VegasGambler
This is really the issue with them. Most of the time you are paying extra to upfare to a higher economy class, to secure an upgrade that you would have gotten for free anyway, so really they just cost you money.
They would be a nice benefit if not for the minimum fare class.
lol, you have that much faith in the upgrade processor? If most of the time the fare is higher then some of the time it isn't. You wouldn't apply a GGU and wait for the "free" upgrade if the lowest fare available is eligible? That useless are they?
You have made it quite clear that you don't find value in GGUs, even when you were actively flying AS, but to say AS is nefarious in providing a benefit that has no utility is a little over the top.
If it doesn't work for you, don't infer they don't work for anybody. I always utilize all of mine and get great value out of them. The 4 Alaska Lounge Passes at 75K don't benefit me. I still have 4 from last year expiring at end of this year and 4 more for qualifying again this year good until the end of next year. I won't use them. The minimal benefit is I can give them away. Does that mean they are of little value to everyone? Of course not!
There have been multiple times in the last few months where U space was available within the 100K window yet I wasn't upgraded before OLCI and skipped twice. Perfect opportunity to snag First Class with a GGU, no Elite Status required. The lowest fare bucket for sale was already eligible.
A single GGU will upgrade all connecting segments in your itinerary (<=4hrs) with availability. If you have three segments on a through fare, there is potential to secure all the upgrades instead of waiting for the processor that may or may not skip you. If an upfare is required for eligibility, it is a single upfare for three upgrades. It isn't unusual for a through fare to be cheaper than a non-stop and the upfare is spread across all the connecting flights. You are confirmed in F at booking.
GGUs + companion certificate together for a vacation + MR combination = a winning strategy. With a companion certificate, only the primary party pays the upfare to the eligible fare and both passengers earn 100% EQM and their Elite bonus. For a simple 6 segment itinerary, 1 companion certificate, 4GGUs (2 per passenger), 10K+ miles; 10K+ EQM, confirmed in F at booking, for an average price of $450 per passenger is $75 per flight segment per passenger. The 100K earns 25,000 RDM and 10% of requalification while the 75K earns 22,500 RDM and 13.33% of requalification.
If you are wanting to use a GGU on a single one-way transcon, definitely a lot less value but some still prefer being confirmed ahead just like some see value is redeeming RDM for, at most, 1 cpm on Money & Miles to down-fare the F cabin seat.
James