Can address a few of your questions...

Well, once you hit MVPG, you are effectively earning double RDM for every flight. Alaska does do occasional double RDM promotions for certain markets. There is one going on right now for LAX-SJC and PDX-SJC. Double EQM was last offered in 2009 as a response to AA et al. I wouldn't expect to see this come back any time soon.

For AS metal, 10 CPM is a decent fare. Less than that is rare but happens. 5 CPM you'd probably only be able to get during a fire sale with some creative routing (SEA-LAX-DCA). The only real "MR-worthy" fares I've gotten on AS have been booked via a third party (often Expedia). Real MR's can be found on DL and AA, but crediting to AS means you will have little (DL) or no (AA) chance of an upgrade.

Hopefully we will have complete answers. If you can pull off Alaska MVP based on Alaska metal flying go for it. Alaska status will give you priority on upgrades over Delta elites on Alaska flights if you were to choose to go that way. Alaska's planes also have a larger first cabin than similar sized UA aircraft.

There has been a quarterly promotion for a little over a year now, note these are not EQM. There was (is?) a double Alaska RDM miles on new American routes out of LAX as well.

http://www.alaskaair.com/www2/Promo/...g||&pid=AS1108

Geography hinders mileage runs on Alaska metal, all the hubs clustered in one corner of the country do that. Delta is geographically challenged at times and those miles count just the same. ;)

I will have to pass on this, I am too close to my Kettle roots.


Alaska miles can be redeemed for American's low mileage inventory. This does not include the off season specials to Europe or South America. You also have access to use your Alaska miles on 5 other airlines (AF,BA,DL,FI,KL) to get to Europe.

As an Alaska elite you will earn the redeemable miles faster (25%/50% vs 50%/100% bonus) and have more options to redeem at a low mileage cost. Best of both worlds.

From the Bay Are Alaska should be good to ANC, PVR, SEA and limited options to Hawaii - more options if you fly via SEA which can be good for miles but AS fares may not be competitive. For Chicago, NY, Boston & DC, you will either have convoluted routings or high fares or need to travel on partners - DL won't have many non-stops, AA only to Chicago and NY.

Sure seems like United is likely to have more flight options that fit your patterns, which will include ANC with the CO merger, and allow for more creative mileage maximizing routings when you feel like it, e.g. PVR via IAH or BOS via LAX or IAD.

DEQM has been very rare, beyond the very limited match in 2009.

Living in SEA I find it hard to find Alaska mile run opportunities. There are few long routings and Alaska usually doesn't have rock bottom fares, though occasionally you can find some good values in the low season. But it's not like you will find a $200 round trip to Florida via Seattle - Alaska is more likely to add up the Bay Area to SEA fare on top of the SEA-Florida fare, taking it out of MR territory.

Upgrades on AS transcons from SEA are rare. I'm told they are easier on the few PDX and LAX transcons.

I'm told the upgrades on transcon and Chicago flights from SFO are extremely difficult on UA. No idea about DL or AA. I've always gotten an upgrade when I've flown p.s. to JFK to/from SFO as a 1K using an instrument.

It seems to me that you'd have more options for MRs and creative routings as well as more non-stops if you stick to UA... and I am elite on both UA & AS.

I only travel when I find what my gut tells me is a good deal, and as such, my average CPEQM last year for personal travel was 3.79. (Counting the 50,000-mile bonus for hitting 75K, my CPRDM was 1.5. :p)

Then again, a significant chunk of last year's travel was ANC-PDX-SEA-LAX-DCA-LAX-SEA-PDX-ANC for $400 round-trip each... :D

Hey! You didn't tell me you already had a chance to experience the fabled PDX-DCA route before AS even announced it!

3.79 is pretty respectable especially living in Alaska. You gotta let me know when you put together some of those fares next time!

No clue what you're talking about. Check out my post again. :p

I think someone needs to be debited some EQM's as a penalty :eek:

Debited? PDX-DCA > PDX-ANC. I think AS owes me some more. :p

Hey guys, relatively new member to FT and first time AS board poster. Just wondering what the best CC deal (i.e. bonus miles) is currently for AS. I see a 25K card on the AS website. I know that the best deals are not always posted however. Just want to cover all my bases before signing up for a new card. Thanks in advance.

I've never seen a better deal then the 25k miles bonus. There is an offer where if you refer someone else, you get 2.5k miles and they get the standard offer of 25k miles. So if you know someone who already has the card, you could be nice and offer to "give" them 2.5k miles for using their referral.

AS has been giving a bonus 1000 miles if you sign up while on board one of their flights. Not sure if that is still going on though...

Wirelessly posted (beckoa's PWP wonderous device: BlackBerry9000/5.0.0.1067 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

It was as of last month- of course giving someone 2.5K miles (FTer or not) is a better deal IMO ;)

Oftentimes one can add a connection in PDX (or SEA if flying to PDX) for a small fee (extra taxes) and that can get you more miles, but DEQM promotions are rare.

Most of the more MR worthy AS fares will require travel on partners. AS will occasionally match fares out of SoCal and the Bay Area and offer connections via SEA/PDX, but there is very limited availability. From OAK, I have seen some AS-operated, AA-ticketed codeshares. Really, if you are qualifying by AS+partner miles or by segments, it is fine to do a MR on AA/DL.

I don't have any experience having the higher statuses. If the question was something like DL FO versus AS MVP, I could provide more input.

As others have posted, AS may require more/less miles than the partner you're flying on because, while they are similar, frequent flyer programs do differ between airlines.

AS has a wide variety of award partners and I don't seem to hear as many complaints (proportionally speaking) about booking international awards with AS as I do about DL.

Thanks for the info guys. I really appreciate it. I'll reach out to a fellow FTer once I get the application started. Probably won't start until I've banked the both BA and AA bonus miles that I'm working towards. You'll hear again from me soon!

Peace.

Still offered as of 5/27; long and painful pitch on my flight home from SEA...

Cancelling ticket online
 

The three options...

Having it in my electronic wallet sounds nice, but if I keep it with the ticket number the expiration date is later and I can use it for partner travel? Do I have to redeem this on the phone? Why wouldn't someone choose door number three?

Thanks.

Delta, on the otherhand, seems to pop up every now and then in the MR forum with some great deals out of SEA.

I flew into SEA last year to do a SEA-SNA MR on Delta (credited to AS) and there was another cheap fare recently posted out of SEA on DL.

I agree that AS doesn't seem to have many low fares out of SEA (or GEG, for that matter). But if you're making MVP or MVPG using partner travel, it's worthwhile to keep an eye out for DL fares.

I had not heard this tid bit. Does it apply to 'assigned' MVPs as well? I was given MVP status by a 75Ker friend (neat perk, and very pleased to receive it) earlier this year (April). Obviously it counts for the rest of the calendar year, but I assumed that come december I was done (unless I earn it myself, which I probably will). Do you know if 'assigned' MVP status (or whatever the FT term is) will get me through 2011 as well?

On a similar note, I was assigned MVP status with about 8,000 miles flown. I've since done a bunch more trips, and am very close to achieving MVP levels (20K miles flown) on my own. Is this additive to my MVP? E.g. will the 'extra' 20K miles move me up to MVPG? I'm doubtful, but quietly hopeful :).

(if it matters, 90% of my miles are on AS tin, and the rest are DL).

My GF's status is set to expire end of 2011 and i gifted it to her in september of last year.It makes sense considering my 75K status is only good through end of this year. She doesn't fly enough to maintain on her own

You still need to fully qualify for status regardless of gifted status (You never know they could always have programmed it wrong). If you hit 20K this year on AS, you will get to keep MVP for 2012 as well. You will still need to make it to 40K on AS (50K incl partners) to make gold

Discount Code
 

Can I use a discount code (I have a $300 discount code from the AS kerfuffle in March) for a paid F upgrade?

Wirelessly posted (beckoa's PWP wonderous device: BlackBerry9000/5.0.0.1067 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

Unclear what you are asking.

Do you want to apply it towards a new ticket? (Yes)

Do you want to apply it towards an old (preexisting) ticket? (No)

I have a ticket - already paid for (V class fare). I want to pay the difference in fare for an F ticket to get an F seat. Can I use the discount against the difference in fare?

Sadly no, the discount is only valid towards new tickets.

Just hit MVP. Yay!

Now that I'm there, a couple upgrade questions for everyone. I'm sure some of these have been answered, but this thread is gigantic and I didn't want to parse through all of it.

-What are the steps I need to take while buying a ticket to ensure a chance at an upgrade?

-What steps do I need to take once it hits 48 hours beforehand so I can try and grab a first class seat?

-For Delta flights specifically, what do I need to do to be placed on their upgrade list? Will it automatically happen?

-Can I get an upgrade on flights that have already been purchased on Alaska/Delta pre-MVP status? If so, how?

Thanks!

CONGRATS!!! Now its time to reap in all the benefits of being an MVP ;)

Book your ticket and make sure your Mileage Plan # is in your reservation... The system will automatically add you to the upgrade waitlist :) If you log in first before making the reservation and then your number will be added to your reservation automatically.

Nothing, just check your reservation at T-47.5 hours and if there is "U" availability you will be upgraded automatically.... The free way to check if your flight has "U" space is to do a dummy booking on alaskaair.com and in the drop down menu right above the "Find Flights" button select "MVP Complimentary". Under the Full Flex column if you see a Gold/Teal "U" for your flight then that means your flight has complimentary upgrade space available... So if the "U" is there at T-48.5 hours that means you have a decent shot of getting upgraded at the T-48 hours mark.

Similar with Alaska, when you book your reservation with Delta be sure to put in your Alaska frequent flyer number during the booking process and the system should automatically recognize your MVP status. In my experience, upgrades on Delta for Alaska elites will take place at the gate just right before boarding, so don't expect an upgrade in advance.

For Alaska, give it a few days and call reservations and have them remove and re-add your Mileage Plan # so that way you will be added to the MVP upgrade waitlist.

For Delta, it will take some time before your MVP status is reflected in their system, so I would give it at least 1-2 weeks before calling Delta reservations.

BTW, welcome to Flyertalk! :D

And if for some reason you do forget to do this, you should be able to pull up your itinerary online and click a link that says "Request Mileage Plan Complimentary Upgrade" or call the MVP desk and have them waitlist you.

I second the welcome to FlyerTalk!

Switch from Upgrade Certificates to "Complimentary Upgrade + Companion Upgrades"
 

Can MVP gold use 2 upgrade certificates at time of booking, and switch to "Complimentary Upgrade + Companion Upgrades" if "U"*2 is still available with 72 hours before departure? Thanks.

AS used to not really pay attention to this behavior, but now they warn you when you apply the paper certs that this is strictly not allowed. Here's the recently published information:

So you have to gamble a bit - you can burn your cert early, buy up to an H fare to secure your upgrade, or just hope for the best when your upgrade window rolls around. I think the reason AS is so adamant about this is that if you're an elite eligible for complimentary upgrades, they want you to buy up to an H fare to secure an early upgrade. The reason AS calls them guest upgrades is really because they're designed to be given to non-elites, not used by the elite member.

I have about 150,000 Alaska Miles. My son is going to Paris next year with band, over spring break. Last week in March, First week in April. I am thinking of taking the family and tagging along. Wondering about best way to utilize those miles to get there. I see I can go a combo of AA and Delta and it is 40,000 miles plus $120. in taxes and fees. Any way to avoid those? I am flying from Seattle.

Thanks!
Tracey

There is really no way to avoid the taxes and fees as they are assessed by the respective governments of the countries you are flying to/from. There were times when less taxes were assessed to those flying out of YVR (Vancouver, BC), but that is no longer the case.

Have you looked at award availability for your dates? If you haven't, be aware that the "low" awards may not be available and that you can't have an award ticket with both AA and DL segments and that DL awards require 60,000 miles per ticket.

Partner awards can only use Alaska Airlines + one partner. As stated above, you cannot use multiple partners in one award. You can use Alaska Airlines to connect to your "gateway city" which is basically whatever city you can find availability or a desirable schedule on for your transatlantic segment.

Your options to Europe are: American, Delta, KLM/Air France (probably an exception to the cannot combine partners rule since they are effectively one airline), Iceland Air, British Airways (note fuel surcharges in addition to taxes will apply to BA awards)

That said:

I called and used two certs for us to travel ANC-PDX-LAX-DCA in May. I was only able to upgrade the first two legs--even three months in advance, the transcon never opened up for U space.

So, about a week before departure--when it was clear that not only U space would not open up (and if it did, the cert would do me less good than anything else because I wasn't on a waitlist) but F was full as well, I called and explained that the certs were worthless without being upgraded on the transcon, and the agent happily removed them from the reservation. A few minutes later, I was able to view my reservation online and list us for the complimentary upgrade. Didn't make it on the transcon, but we did get upgraded on the first flight but missed it on the second flight, so we actually did lose an upgrade by withdrawing the certs.

So, while the verbiage may be there, the computers may not really be able to enforce it. I wouldn't go calling an agent to withdraw the cert and then immediately ask them to re-list you for the complimentary upgrade, but it should be no problem to re-list yourself online (though do note you'll be moved to the bottom of the waitlist).

Alaska Miles for AA to Caribbean - coach availability
 

I am not only a "newbie" to this thread, but this fantastic forum as well.

I currently have enough Alaska Airlines (AS?) miles for two round trip coach seats from San Diego to the San Juan, PR in March 2012. Per the website American and Delta are partners and offer coach and first class. When pulling up a RSVN on the website today it only has AA available with first class being the only option. I called the partner desk and they confirmed no coach, but said it is possible it could open up later.

Would you agree that with nine months to go some coach availability can open up as time goes on? If so, best to check once a day?

I don't have enough miles to get two first class seats (and too far from the buy up). Thanks for any help/advice you can provide!

Delta International - Economy Comfort upgrade?
 

I searched the forums, but couldn't find conclusively (also not listed in the "Delta benefits" thread)..
Does MVP/MVPG get free upgrades to Economy Comfort on Delta international?

If so, what are my chances? I'm only MVP.

I'd prefer not to pay the $90/leg(!) fee, but it may be worth it PEK-SEA. My full trip is SEA-NRT-SIN-PEK-SEA, and I managed to get the full-recline exit row on SEA-NRT (no thanks to the DL rep, who seemed to have no concept of an AS partnership whatsoever).

Welcome!
I used to fly AA a lot, but not much anymore. From what I understand, they do occasionally open more award seats, but chances are not so good, unfortunately. Also, I believe that you can only redeem AS miles for the low-mileage AA award seats, but I could be wrong.

How easy is it to get to the BR from the AA terminal? Thinking about doing a MR BOS-LAX on 7/3 to use up my AA gift card. Layover is too short to run to In-N-Out

I haven't been to LAX for a few months, but in January, a shuttle ran from Gate 38 at Terminal 3 (Alaska) to Terminal 4 (American). From when I got off the plane, about a 7 min wait for the shuttle bus. About 2 min to walk out onto tarmack and board bus, then another 10 min for bus to drive around the international terminal to Terminal 4. Good view of all the airport activity though. I would assume that the total trip time is about 15 min each way, not counting the wait for the shuttle.

So I recently had a 4 segment trip on DL, but only 3 segments posted to my MP account. I stupidly threw away my BPs once I saw that my DL flights posted, but I didn't look closely enough to see that they missed an entire segment. It wasn't until later that I was putting my flights into openflights.org and looking at my stats and realized that the numbers weren't adding up. That's when I realized that a segment was missing.

I emailed AS about this and tried my best to prove I flew that segment by posting my travel agent intinerary and receipt. The response I got wasn't reassuring. Basically either the CSR didn't read my email thoroughly enough to catch that I didn't have my BPs anymore or they were subtly trying to tell me I'm SOL, because all they did was reiterate that I needed to scan a boarding pass and send it to them.

Any ideas on this?

Just wondering if there is anything I can do, or if I simply need to resign myself to the fact that this is to be used as a lesson that I should *never* throw away my boarding passes and to continuous calculate and reconfirm the miles on my account.


PS - the one segment that didn't post was the one segment I actually scored a DL upgrade. Coincidence???

Did you fly any segments AFTER the missing one? If you have a ticket receipt and they acknowledge that you flew the last segment, that basically proves that you flew all 4 segments. As we all know, airlines cancel the entire rest of your itinerary after you miss one segment.

I find it very interesting that airlines are so effective at cancelling remaining segments once one is missed, but so often miss posting miles from random segments in between. Indicative of their business priorities to say the least.

It always seemed a little ridiculous to require a boarding pass which is often thrown away or lost before the flight lands. My approach is to use OLCI and print to PDF which I can file away for future use if necessary.

It was my very first segment that didn't get recorded. I flew LAX-ATL-PBI-ATL-LAX, and for whatever reason they credited everything except for the first LAX-ATL segment (which I was upgraded to F on). It just seems very strange that they'd credit me with the last 3 segments of a 4 segment trip, and yet STILL require a scanned BP. I sent Customer Care another email explaining this, so we'll see what they say. Just wondering if anyone had any suggestions or experience with this.

You know, that idea never occurred to me! I'll have to start saving the OLCI to my computer just for situations like this. I prefer to have a ticket printed at the airport (just feels better, and I hate how picky TSA can be occasionally about print quality, sizing, etc), but this is a great failsafe. Thanks! :)