Hello, I have lowly Ruby/Gold status via AA. I have two Alaska seats booked using Q fares and are currently offered a paid upgrade to Premium Class. If I take the paid upgrade, am I eligible for a Gold upgrade to First if space is available? Or is the best I can do is hold out to see if I may get free upgrades to Premium? Another question - and sorry for being uninformed - they are offering me the upgrade for $55 each, but if I booked fresh tickets now, it would only be $20 more each. Since Q is non-refundable, is there any play here? Thanks so much for any insight shared.
If you pay to upgrade to premium, you would still stay on the upgrade list for first, however no refund will be issued for the premium class upgrade fee if you do clear into first. As a AA Gold you would be at the end of the upgrade list, after AS MVPs.
As a AA Gold member you can swap seats to a Premium Class seat for free up to 24 hours before departure.
Alaska no longer has cancellation or change fees. If a ticket is nonrefundable, you can still cancel it and get credit (for both the fare and the premium upgrade fee) for use to book a future flight. However, wallet credit can only be used for airfare; it cannot be used to upgrade a future flight to premium class.