FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Alaska Airlines *FLAME-FREE* Q&A Thread: All Welcome, New and Old! (2023 and Later)
Old Apr 13, 2024 | 10:31 am
  #1106  
notquiteaff
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Originally Posted by Bballfan28
I fly Alaska a lot so a little embarrassed about the rookie question but…

if I buy my ticket revenue, and I buy my companions ticket with miles…how would I like these up so they are on my PNR and can get seat selection, upgrades, etc.

I am 75K.
No need to be embarrassed. There are so many details to know about airline programs, and there are slight differences between programs (see below) that I often struggle to know what rules apply.

In this case, the is no linking of reservations for the purpose of sharing benefits to a non- or lower status companion. None of the airlines I use seem to have a real PNR linking or merging feature.

Alaska says this on the upgrade page for Premium Class (and similar for First Class):

MVP Gold, Gold 75K, and Gold 100k members may upgrade one companion traveling with them on the same flight, in the same reservation.”

I recently read some posts where AA in cases like this allows elite members to move a companion on a separate reservation to MCE (but manually via agent). Not sure if AS would be doing this, or if it depends on the agent (HUCA). Here is an example where a chat agent accommodated people in the preferred section together.

(editorial comment: this limitation has been frustrating to me when I was actively chasing AS status as I could not really benefit from my status when booking my spouse on awards from my account)
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