Upgrades with miles?
 

How does it work? I thought this was the only way to get First Class on AS with a companion certificate. So I look at flights, using the “upgradable fare” option with “miles” checked. The flights are offered in 3 columns: Main, First with Upgrade, and First. Curiously, the First with Upgrade fare is higher than a straight-up First—-$259 versus $219 for the flight in question.

I select a flight with the dark F icon, which indicates that upgrades are available on that flight. The Seat Preview shows lots of seats in First. I put that flight in the cart and it shows the cabin as “Main (M) F” in dark blue. So far so good.

I go through the booking process to seat selection and the First seats are all blocked; only Main cabin and Premium seats (with extra payment) are available for selection.

so is this a First Class booking or not? If I can only choose seats in Main or Premium, what have I paid all the extra $$$ for? I assume that this fare class is designed for people using 2-4-1 companion certificates; otherwise why would the fare be higher than regular First. But it looks like I am not getting seats in First Class at all.

I must be missing something. . . .

Do I have to go through the complete purchase, make the payment and deduct the miles (I haven’t seen how many), get the booking confirmed, and and then go back in to the booking to get seats in First? Will they show up then?

And it looks like I am only saving $100 on a booking for two, roundtrip SEA to SJC, but have to throw in some miles—-how many? It seems like a bad choice, unless the flights are far more expensive than these.

It's an economy booking.

You've paid for an economy ticket that books into a higher fare class, which is upgradeable. If you bought the cheaper economy ticket it would not be upgradeable.

Once you upgrade, you will be able to select first class seats.

If it doesn't work out you can always cancel for full refund within 24hr

far wiser to pay for F outright than to purchase a more expensive upgradeable coach fare *AND* burn miles for the upgrade

But how do we upgrade? Does that option appear on the website after I have paid for the flight? And where can I find the number of miles for the upgrade to know if it is worth doing?

I agree with the person above that it isn’t worth it for a short flight like this one, but we might like to do it for a flight to New York using our companion fare voucher.

Yes but the OP said he wanted to use a companion pass which is only good for economy.

Apparently you have to call in...

https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mi...plan/use-miles

First Class upgrade

Only 15,000 miles to upgrade to First Class.2

To shop for fares that qualify for a mileage upgrade, and to view available space and eligibility, please select Mileage upgrade as your Upgrade preference option when shopping for flights.

Once your ticket is purchased, redeem a First Class upgrade award by calling Alaska Airlines reservations at 1-800-252-7522.

Upgrades can also be requested, if available, within 24 hours of your flight departure through online check-in or on the day of departure at an airport check-in kiosk.

Check out what First Class has to offer and how to pay for an upgrade.

In case it hasn't become clear yet, this is a terrible deal. I let every single companion certificate I ever got expire unused, and I have zero regrets.

Wow. Great information, and I see it is definitely NOT a good option. Just having to call in to request the upgrade is a deal-breaker these days. And 15K miles per seat, per flight, so 60K total.

We could use those 60K miles to book the flight for both of us one-way, and pay regular price for the return, all in First, and we’d be $330 ahead of booking with the companion certificate and paying for the upgrade.

I am really glad I asked about this, and appreciate all the good information.

rather than purchasing 15k award tix, OP could also use 10k miles to offset $100 of the F fare — and would still earn 150% for both redeemable and MVP qualification miles

Up to $100. The 10K/20K offers a 50% discount upto $100/$200 off of the base fare. Your maximun redemption is 1 cpm.

You would need to look at the base fare to determine if you are getting the full value. If the base fare is $190 then the 50% discount would be $95 with 10K Miles, not $100.

James

not everyone analyzes things to the degree that you do; for many people, that $5 falls into the “close enough” category

And in our case the base fare is $219 one way In First, so it would be $100? That seems like a good use of 10K miles, since we have plenty right now.

I think that redeeming miles at 1c each is a pretty bad deal, considering the alternatives.

Although if you don't travel internationally your valuations may be different.

Can you waitlist a miles upgrade?

No - U space needs to be available to confirm into.