Flying with AS for the first time
 

Hello There,
I am an Israeli resident and I plan a visit to the US with my family using LY points in August 2010 (we are 4 people).
We will visit LAS and SEA, while I will also go one week before the rest of my family to SFO. As a result all of us will have to fly LAS-SEA with AS or with US (we don't want to use southwest, so these are the options).
The AS flight costs 110 $ in coach while the US flight costs 220$ in coach. When flying AS I have the option of paying 220$ (economy value fare). As a LY gold member and as a BD*G member I will be able to match my AS status to gold and then to recieve free upgrades.
My questions are:
1. Does AS allow Israeli residents register to Mileage plan?
2. If I match now my AS status to Gold when will it expire?
3. I can see that AS give free upgrades from value fare to me and to a companion + 4 one way upgrades. Can I use the other one way upgrades for the rest of my family? How do how use these upgrades?

THX in advance

Lets clarify a few things. Are you using LY points for all the travel? If AS isnt booked with AS the one way upgrade certificates cant be used. If it is booked with AS there would have to be 4 U spots available to upgrade all 4 of you. Just for fun I checked a few August 2010 dates to see the value U on that route. On some days U is readily open for 1 person on some days hardly any. I then searched with 3 or 4 people and almost any day I look at shows no gold or mvp upgrade options for 4 people. That leads me to believe there are only 2 or 3 open U seats at this time for that route LAS-SEA. AS doesnt just give upgrades to golds just for purchasing a value fare. There has to be U bucket open. The one way certificates cant be used on awards either.

As far as joining mileage plan, I dont see why you wouldnt be allowed

AS may or may not match status. If they do bear in mind its supposedly a once in a lifetime match. So if you came back in 3 years again and wanted another AS match you couldnt get it.

1: Yes
2: Assuming you do it in Oct, it should be good through 12/2010. I would wait about a week just to be safe.
3. Anyone can use the upgrades as long as there is enough U availability for the particular flight you want. Just call AS reservations and tell them you want to use the coupons and they will book you into F. When you check in at the airport they will collect the coupons.

I'm not sure if AS takes into account what airline you're trying to match. In the case of LY, they aren't exactly a competitor.

And I also think they take into account that you will actually continue using them frequently. If you live in Israel thats going to be obvious to AS that you wont be using them very much

Do you intend to give AS future business or will this be a one-time thing? I don't really see the point in enrolling in MP unless you intend to accumulate a significant number of miles in the account. What would be the point. Additonally the LAS-SEA route is fairly easy to get upgrades but it's a relatively short flight and even at meal times the most you'll get is a hot or cold sandwich/wrap or salad. Really not a good use of a once in a lifetime status match IMHO. The difference between the upgradable fare and paid F is less than $100. If you have a mileage account with any of AS's partners paid F will give you a 50% class of service bonus. Just a thought.

Is it really worth all the trouble to fly F on a 2 hour flight? I seriously doubt AS will match your status with either LY or BD. They definitely are not competitors, combined with the fact that you don't even have an address in North America.

I mean...you could just PAY for F. You would get bonus miles and lounge access.

Good point. I forgot about lounge access, however the OP is traveling next August and the current arrangement with CO's Presidents Club may have ended by then. They could use the Board Room in SEA when they arrive.

I know several Israeli tech execs who spend ~1 week per month on the west coast. Easy to imagine a plausible scenario why somebody with an address is Israel might be taking lots of LAX-SEA, SJC/SFO/OAK-SEA or SAN-SEA flights.

The is FT ! What is wrong with everybody ? Suggesting paying for F instead of UGing ? Suggesting that its not worth bothering with F ? this is heresy ! Finding a hundred reasons why AS might not match, instead of helping the OP with ideas to help !

As far as U availability, what about connecting in PDX ?

dgwright99 - The OP sounds as if he is going to get a status match simply for the chance at upgrading a single flight from LAS to SEA and for the other bennies that go with MVPG. He posts no hint of giving AS any significant future business. Why should some of us not have a problem with this? When I first made MVP and later Gold it was all on AS metal and I'm in Phoenix. Talk about doing things the hard way! It does kinda irk me that this guy, if status matched, will pay no bag fees, get to use FC/MVPG checkin and express security lanes, be amongst the first to board and possibly get an upgrade to FC and be able to possibly upgrade his entire family with certs. What does AS get in return? Four dirt-cheap one-way Y fares in a highly competitive market. I doubt the price of their tickets wouldn't even cover the fuel to transport them and their free bags. If they want to avoid bag fees they should just fly Southwest!

Rant over...for now :D

Well if the OP intent is to visit a week every month and fly around on AS sure by all means. Otherwise its rather silly to request a once in a lifetime status match to ride in F for 2 hours....and thats if there are even 4 U bucket seats. Im going to also jump on the bandwagon of agreeing that the most effective, time efficient, logical, and guaranteed way to ride F on this flight is to pay the $100 for it. The other alternative other than paid F would be to somehow uuhhh hummm "buy" "an envelope" containing upgrade certificates

Well, that's a bit more of the FT spirit ! The OP is after all CC-eligable, so need for "white envelopes".

While I am a big fan of AS as an airline and indeed am currently an ALK stockholder,a substantial purpose of FT is to share info on how to game travel loyalty programs, and while as a stockholder I'd like the OP to pay for F, that is not the hat that I wear when I'm posting on FT (except mabe occasionally on Omni)

I'm not bothered by the OP trying to game the system (as dgwright99 said, that's what FT is all about, plus, they're looking at spending $220 pp ow on Value fares--hardly a dirt-cheap fare that doesn't cover their fuel burn).

But I agree more with the other point that was made: is it worth all of this effort for a moderate (i.e. not even guaranteed) chance of scoring some upgrades on a short, two-hour route with mediocre meal service? For a one-time flight of this length, where earning/maintaining elite status is not a factor, the OP should (IMHO) be happy on any airline--including WN.

A transcon or Hawaii flight or something might justify the effort of status-matching and trying to secure upgrades, but a measley west coast regional flight? My money is currently far more valuable than my time, and yet I'm not sure even I'd mess with this were I in the OP's shoes.*

*Well, OK, yeah, I would, but I certainly wouldn't expect anyone else, except maybe beckoa, to!

Hey, unlike some posters, AS does get a nice size chunk o' change from me ;)

And I concur with several other posters... not sure if its worth the effort of trying the status match just for one flight... if the OP wanted more or a longer flight... then yes, but this is boarder line, even for me :D

And to the OP, did you hear @ AS' service they had in Israel before? No joke: