First Class Upgrades Using Miles
 

Does U space need to be available in order to use
miles to upgrade a paid coach seat?

Cant find these rules on AS website anywhere

You can no longer upgrade a paid fare with miles to First Class.
https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mi...s/faq-upgrades

Literally the first google search result

"Upgrades are currently not available for purchase with miles."

To answer your question, yes historically, "U" needed to be available to upgrade using miles. Alaska Airlines stopped doing upgrades with miles "until further notice" (I was told by a representative that it's due to the Hawaiian Airlines merger and will be available again at a later date). To be honest, I used my companion ticket only on flights where I could upgrade. This was a wonderful benefit, and it's sad to see Alaska Airlines get rid of it so nonchalantly.

Find a friend or relative in the coupon connection forum who has extra upgrades.

I was wondering if this would come back! I was bummed by the loss.

It should be obvious to everyone at this point that Alaska is phasing out most non revenue upgrades so they can sell the upgrades for cash. I just flew on the 4th of July SEA-MSP, the easiest upgrade possible for a 100K. 7 J were available and I was number 1 on the upgrade list. I didn't get upgrade because they put them on fire sale prices a couple hours before the flight.

This is a terrible strategy by Alaska Airlines. It really takes away any incentive to earn higher status. Without upgrades, there really is little point in getting status above MVP Gold, which will get you better seats and checked bags. I'll give it one more years as 100K before I cut back on my leisure travel and shift my CC spend elsewhere.

My partner as a 100K finds him #1 on upgrade list as F seats disappear
in last 24 hrs increasingly

Appears it may be a feature of the new program, rather than a bug.

I will only make 75K this year as I have shifted my international flying to UA. I refuse to accept the partner booking penalty and I am certainly not paying hyper inflated prices to book on the AS web site. For me there is zero incentive to make 100K as the upgrades are spotty and getting worse the "perks" have now moved what used to be 100K benefits out as far as 250K miles. No thanks!

MVP gets you better seats and checked bags (through 2025, checked bag in 2026).

Not coincidentally I stopped trying to shoot for enhanced AS status past MVP years ago when I could see how this was going for all the majors. You're fooling yourself if you think DL, UA and AA aren't scheming to sell upgrades out from under elites. The same brown grass is on the other side of the fence (maybe you might be luckier if you're flying DL out of SEA or AS out of SFO or SAN, but still).

The bottom line is that the way the majors were pricing F ("we only have to sell ONE million dollar glass of lemonade!") has been conclusively rebutted by how DL has run things the last decade or so (and laughed all the way to the bank while hosing elites expecting a free upgrade), and everyone has followed suit.

(I've nejoyed quite a lot of cheap cash upgrades on DL out of SEA to go along with some cheap AS F upgrades. Sorry, DL/AS senior elites who I snatched them from, but not sorry.)

As @Herb687 has put it: "loyalty is for chumps".

That is a bit harsh; I put significant value on being able to pick an extra leg room seat at time of booking, extra checked bags and priority check-in lines, well worth any incremental cost of loyalty. Being based in SAN, flying 6+x annually to State of Hawaii, AS/OW serves my needs well - enough to make an effort to earn MPVG. YMMV.

My WAG is that mileage upgrades may return in a limited form, maybe just for international flights, perhaps a derivation of HA's current scheme.

MVPG doesn't grant PC seating at booking on all fare classes. Discount Q, O, and G aren't eligible.

James