Originally Posted by CSquared

When booking an international trip I always have to do a bit of guessing in terms of how many elite qualifying miles I earn. I feel Alaska Mileage Plan seems to have made it bit more easy to understand. When booking through Alaska’s website you will earn 100% of mouse flown at a minimum, but if you book with a partner airline directly, it depends on class of service. is there a way to determine class of service before you actually buy a ticket? I used to be able to see that on Google flights, but it seems like they’ve taken that out and all other sites are hit and miss on whether or not they display the class of service That makes it tricky to guess what I’d earn until after booking.

All the other rules seemed to be a little disjointed, but maybe it’s because I just don’t understand all of them Because of MVP status, I seem to always get an earlier boarding position flying BA or AA without having to pay for it. Sometimes I end up paying for seats on my own if I’m traveling with others because I have never figured out if I get access to better seats because of status or due to the airlines I own practice.

Any tips or tricks you lived by when booking with partner airlines? Do you always book through Alaska’s portal? Is the only advantage booking through Alaska is getting the 100% earning mileage?

thanks for any insight.