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$110 Companion Ticket Valid for COACH class only - Effective August 1st, 2012

$110 Companion Ticket Valid for COACH class only - Effective August 1st, 2012

Old Jul 10, 2012, 5:23 pm
  #151  
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Originally Posted by SeaSfoWeekly
AS Perks Gone...
- Unrestricted AS50 award
- 2 Free BoardRoom Passes (Visa)
- Mileage Upgrade on Any fare class
- Ability to standby/confirm for true 24 hours (not same day only)
- Visa Companion fare on First Class
Great summary though you left out the 1K bonus for online purchases. I might also add that other credit cards provide the following benefits which I would find extremely valuable and would incentivize me to fly AS:
  • Priority Checkin
  • Priority Security Line
  • Free checked bag (this one would be huge)
  • Priority Boarding
  • Club passes and discounts
  • Reduced mileage awards

Unfortunately I doubt BofA will see much attrition on these cards due to this change. To be honest the elimination of the F benefit is unlikely to affect me as we only used that once when the cost differential between Y/F was fairly low. Buying F is much less attractive now, particularly when I have little difficulty with UDU or buying same-day upgrades which tend to be far cheaper.

Last edited by Boraxo; Jul 10, 2012 at 6:02 pm
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Old Jul 10, 2012, 5:32 pm
  #152  
 
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On flight from SEA-->SNA...flight attendant just announced companion ticket good for FC. I guess Alaska is slow on getting the word out to the crew.
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Old Jul 10, 2012, 6:00 pm
  #153  
 
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Originally Posted by ExecTraveler
On flight from SEA-->SNA...flight attendant just announced companion ticket good for FC. I guess Alaska is slow on getting the word out to the crew.
Probably because if they sign up right away they will have their first companion fare code deposited prior to August 1. Still very misleading though.
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Old Jul 10, 2012, 6:10 pm
  #154  
 
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I called customer service today and asked about getting a new credit card and would I be credited with my first class eligible companion certificate before August 1. I was told it would take about one month so I would not get the first class certificate. I then asked it there had been many complaints about the change in companion tickets to coach only and was told no I was the first to complain.
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Old Jul 10, 2012, 6:28 pm
  #155  
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Originally Posted by diamond_46
I called customer service today and asked about getting a new credit card and would I be credited with my first class eligible companion certificate before August 1. I was told it would take about one month so I would not get the first class certificate. I then asked it there had been many complaints about the change in companion tickets to coach only and was told no I was the first to complain.
Flyertalk is usually always ahead of the competition when it comes to airline news I suspect.most people will find out once they try to use their companion cert for a trip in first class only to realize that their query has been denied.
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Old Jul 10, 2012, 6:34 pm
  #156  
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Originally Posted by Cholula
Exactly what happened 10 years ago to DL when they made a bean counter their CEO.
And WN also has an accountant as CEO now, and a lot of unsatisfactory changes have hit us since he took over.

What keep me with them is the Companion Pass, up to 2 years free Companion travel, on any ticket (paid or award). But no F, of course.
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Old Jul 10, 2012, 6:34 pm
  #157  
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Originally Posted by ExecTraveler
On flight from SEA-->SNA...flight attendant just announced companion ticket good for FC. I guess Alaska is slow on getting the word out to the crew.
as I suspected they are lying and trying to screw over consumers. Ignorance is no excuse for these AS employees....so before the cover for the AS FA crowd swarms in and says oh pity the poor FAs dont know.... lets get that out of the way right now they should know so they are lying. They'll never see a companion fare usable for F class if they applied on that flight. Usually I go with the flow but I think in that instance with such a massive cut in benefits I wouldve rang the FA call button and when they came to give me an app I wouldve called them on their BS

Last edited by ANC; Jul 10, 2012 at 6:43 pm
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Old Jul 10, 2012, 7:21 pm
  #158  
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Wirelessly posted (beckoa's PWP wondrousdevice3.0: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9810; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.0.0.583 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

Originally Posted by golfingboy
Originally Posted by diamond_46
I called customer service today and asked about getting a new credit card and would I be credited with my first class eligible companion certificate before August 1. I was told it would take about one month so I would not get the first class certificate. I then asked it there had been many complaints about the change in companion tickets to coach only and was told no I was the first to complain.
Flyertalk is usually always ahead of the competition when it comes to airline news I suspect.most people will find out once they try to use their companion cert for a trip in first class only to realize that their query has been denied.
Well for those who read the mail...AS did just send out a bunch of letters notifying of the change which is stirring the masses.
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Old Jul 10, 2012, 7:33 pm
  #159  
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Originally Posted by ANC
as I suspected they are lying and trying to screw over consumers. Ignorance is no excuse for these AS employees....so before the cover for the AS FA crowd swarms in and says oh pity the poor FAs dont know.... lets get that out of the way right now they should know so they are lying. They'll never see a companion fare usable for F class if they applied on that flight. Usually I go with the flow but I think in that instance with such a massive cut in benefits I wouldve rang the FA call button and when they came to give me an app I wouldve called them on their BS
As much as I despise this change,* I'm going to call you on this for being beyond unfair to the FAs. You can be angry at the company and even angry at the specific executives and managers who instituted this change, but you should not take your anger out on front-line employees. If they haven't heard yet--and it's very, very likely that most haven't--it's not their fault. Direct your anger at AS for not efficiently communicating this information to their employees.

*I do despise this change, even though I never have bought and never foresee buying a full F fare (short of it being filed as a mistake fare), since even with the companion certificate cutting the cost almost in half, the cost is far beyond what I could ever afford to spend on a trip. To me, I am angry because it is a benefit that many folks whom I consider friends cherish and because it is yet another major benefit taken away in a long, long slew of benefits being taken away, which only furthers the perception that this is a long trend that shows no signs of abating. I'm choosing to honor Niemller's quote, except that instead of "First they came for First Class with the companion certificate," it may better be stated "And the fifteenth cut in the last year and a half they came for..."
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Old Jul 10, 2012, 8:36 pm
  #160  
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Originally Posted by beckoa
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Well for those who read the mail...AS did just send out a bunch of letters notifying of the change which is stirring the masses.
Yes, I received three of them yesterday. They did not, however, send one to someone who has a new account (opened a couple of weeks ago) with a "good" companion cert - I wonder if they don't want new CC holders to cancel before they've paid the annual fee upon receipt of bad news.
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Old Jul 10, 2012, 8:37 pm
  #161  
 
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Many things that stood out for AS were great. Then good. Then okay. Now pure crap. I was a loyal AS flyer. I sat at the luncheons and heard over and over, they benefits would not be devalued.

Oops. My measly 550,000 miles flown, mostly for leisure, at higher prices, are basically persona non grata acknowledged.

All the cards go back. Makes more open FC seats "necessitiated by ongoing cost pressures and growing demand for limited space in first class, which made the costs of continuing to offer the Companion Fare fare for first class bookings unsupportable."

Dear Caroline Boren, please deliver the "targeted consumer feedback" as follows: As you no longer wish to provide a personal service oriented, cost effective, business model, I choose to no longer use your services. I have already been in touch with several colleagues who share the same opinion. My $25k annual spend is no longer needed. Who is your "micro focus monetary core"? It is obviously no longer loyalty based. Bite me.

Respectfully,
[name redacted]

Last edited by jackal; Jul 10, 2012 at 10:30 pm Reason: removing real name and MP # for privacy protection
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Old Jul 10, 2012, 9:29 pm
  #162  
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You might really want to take your full name and MP# out of your post. Also, "bite me" if that is part of your real message is generally not conducive to an adult discussion, although believe me, "I feel your pain."
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Old Jul 10, 2012, 10:21 pm
  #163  
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While I agree that I am disappointed in the overall and ongoing reduction of benefits...and definitely fear what is coming in the future, I am a bit shocked about the ongoing, spiraling downhill discussion going on here.

Let's face it, the AS visa has been on every bloggers TOP airline credit card list for years now...why? Because the full F companion ticket with mileage earning was too good to be true. Probably, for a while, only a few customers took advantage of this benefit - many never thought to try...because they probably never purchased an F ticket in their life. But, as awareness increases, soon abuse creeps in - likely many people made aware of this card, got the card ONLY for this benefit, and many ONLY flew AS once a year, and only used the card once a year for that purchase. It's no great mystery that these aren't great customers to AS or to BofA... So now when multiple FTers on this thread are saying that their 3 or 4 cards are going to be cancelled...well, it's no great mystery that the system was being abused... In some ways, I'm surprised AS maintained this benefit as long as it did. But, I'm going to have to say that the few probably killed this benefit...but the many will still value the companion certificate for what it is.

Don't get me wrong...for those that benefited from this, it sucks to lose a benefit. But for those threatening to take all of their business elsewhere exclusively because of this...well, let all of us know when you find the other airline offering an F companion certificate. AS's companion certificate post August 1 is matched by whom...US Air probably. WN...not at all (no AK, no HI, no Mexico in their route network...not to mention no place to upgrade to even if it were available.)
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Old Jul 10, 2012, 10:47 pm
  #164  
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I just don't see how it is "abuse" to use a product as sold (and this was no secret), and to give an airline, say, $1700 to $2000 for 2 tickets when they would be much more likely to go to an upgrader or a mileage redeemer if they don't sell all the seats.

This airline has done nothing to discourage or prevent card churning and multiple cards, including multiple bonuses, and multiple companion fares. They have had years to do so. Sorry, not abuse. The credit card partnerships are way too valuable.
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Old Jul 10, 2012, 11:26 pm
  #165  
 
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Originally Posted by ANC RED-EYE
Let's face it, the AS visa has been on every bloggers TOP airline credit card list for years now...
Actually no. Very few bloggers had ranked it very high in the era of 50K sign up bonuses, even during the 40K promo last year which is the only time I've seen it get much press.
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