U Class Questions
 

Greetings all.

My wife and I have been able to accumulate some FF miles and I have three questions about the 10,000 upgrade to First. We're flying from PDX to WAS (I don't care which airport in DC)

My questions:

1) What is U-Class? Am I guaranteed a seat in first?

2) Do I need to spend the miles at the time I purchase the ticket or can I do it after I have already bought the ticket?

3) Is there a way to see how many seats are still available in first class on a specific flight on a specific day?

Thanks for all the help. I don't fly much, but I try to "game the system" as much as I can.

Well, let me see if I can answer some of your questions.

1. U Class is one of the First Class fare buckets that mileage redemtions and free upgrades (for elites) to First Class come out of. There is only so many U seats availible per flight that is determined by revenue management.

2. To answer your other part of the question, no.. you are not guaranteed a seat in first untill you redeem your miles and U space is availible. If it is availible when you request it either when you book your tickets or later, then you will be assigned a seat in 1st.

3. There is a way to see if there are seats in first. Either you call call mileage plan before you book your flights or you can go to http://flyaow.com/classcwt.htm and punch in your flights and look for U space. This web site will show you availibility in most fare buckets. This will be close but not a for sure thing as fare buckets shown may not be exactly the same as what the mileage plan agents have access too.

Hope that helps. :)

Also, if you go try to book a " gold comp upgrade" fare at alaskaair.com, the gold diamond will show up next to a flight that has "U" inventory, which means you can do a redemptive upgrade. Of course, the inventory could change by the time you speak with an agent.