I called AS and they didnt know if the upgrade offer on the app dropped you in a U fare bucket
or other fare code

She said 5 seats available but no U Space

Does anyone know what fare class it goes in?

I paid for an upgrade on the app, it booked into C

I have had it book into both C and into U. No idea how this is supposed to work. Sent a message to Alaska asking for clarification, no response.

Generally within I believe 24-48 hours it drops you into U, even if no actual U space exists for upgrades. You then earn based on your original fare class. Prior to that you usually get dropped into I/D/C and earn accordingly.

This is basically my experience. Rule of thumb: Expensive upgrade will earn fare bonus and a cheap upgrade will not.

Accordingly, do you earn a 75% COS on the C fare?

James

Not in my experience, it still maps to underlying, but depending upon your fare, that may be 75% of original?

Your non-saver underlying main cabin fare always earns, at least 100% EQM and topped up to 500 EQM on sub 500 mile itineraries. For First Class, I & D earns 50% COS, C earns 75% COS, and J earns 100% COS. I have never purchased an in-APP upgrade, so I was curious if the upgrade into C class earned the 75% COS bonus.

James

Paid in-app upgrades map into regular fare classes as far as I recall (J/C/D/I) and you will earn the COS bonus as per the upgraded fare class. I would expect it never to book into U class.

BTW: it might take some action to get the correct credit though...

Gotchya, I just dug up the emails/earnings and it was I class and 50%.

I have five legs of paid upgrades scheduled, 2 I, and 3 D.

i believe quite often the "app upgrade" offer is simply an upfare and the cost is the exact diff between fare paid and higher fare class, so you get actually moved into the higher bucket. Within 48 hrs of departure that may change.

Here is the official word from Alaska as of today. My take on this is if you buy the more expensive upgrade you get bonus miles. If you buy the cheaper last minute upgrade you don't.

July 8, 2025


Dear XXX,

I appreciate that you took the time to contact Alaska with regard to your travel on June 27 from Boston to Seattle.

Purchased First Class upgrades do not earn any EQMs, only base miles. You would still earn bonus miles in line with your elite status. Only if you paid the fare difference to change your ticket to a First Class fare would EQMs be issued, based on the new fare class.

I apologize that it seems other flights that you've purchased a First Class upgrade for have provided EQMs. If you could please provide the flight information for one such flight, I could then review and compare to explain.

As always, thank you for flying with us. We look forward to welcoming you aboard an Alaska flight soon.

Sincerely,

XXXXX.
Customer Care Representative

With respect to the in-app upgrade process, this agent is incorrect.

Not exactly. As an example, book a (lowest) main ticket at $100 (and lowest F is $200). At that point in time the in-app upgrade will indeed cost $100.

Some time later when the lowest main ticket is now $150, and the lowest F ticket still $200, the in-app upgrade will cost $50. So it's based in the fare difference between the current lowest main and first, not on the fare you paid some time in the past.