Seattlenerd

You can choose the one you want to use. You have to click on it, or manually enter the discount code, to apply the one you want to use.

Eujeanie

Thank you, that answers my question. I wanted to save my F one for Hawaii, which won't be until after we use next year's Y one for a (lower 48) trip. I never had two at a time sitting there before so wasn't sure of the procedure.

Alaska14k

I will be canceling both my cards the beginning of August, as they are up for renewal in September. I have never cared for B of A and the loss of benefits is a great reason to save $150 in renewal fees. I would have stayed with losing the 1000 miles bonus for booking on line--but the elimination of the companion certificate eligibility in First is too big of a benifit to loss--as they say it is "unsustainable".
I am sure Alaska Airlines will let me buy flights with my AMEX Membership Miles Card
And down the road I might accept a 25k bonus for a new card--for a year anyway!

dgreen12

They do expire, so double check expiration dates.

Cholula

Most folks who have posted here are against these new changes while some are neutral toward them.

I have yet to see someone post that they are signing up for the card...or getting an additional card...due to the changes.

So at best it seems that AS is chasing away a lot of business for what?

To free up FC inventory so they can give FC seats away as upgrades? I seriously doubt many folks will buy full fare FC tickets. I know I certainly wouldn't. I'll buy one if I have a companion certificate as that relieves some of the sting. But to buy two??

Not going to happen here.

ChugiakAk

You've hit the nail squarely on the head. My wife and I have used the companion fare to book first class for long trips from Anchorage to visit relatives on the east coast. The long trip in coach is exhausting (if not painful) so we willingly paid the extra to do first when we can get a 2-1 deal. The trip still costs us nearly $2,000 but it can save us a trip to the chiropractor's office

Simply put, Alaska first class is more like a business class. The seats are more comfortable than coach but the service is nothing to get excited about. A free digiplayer, a glass of water, free liquor and a meal that used to be the standard in coach class. In fact, both of us often prefer the meals for sale in coach vs. the attempts at "gourmet" up front (the portobello mushroom sandwich is scary). Thank goodness the wonderful flight attendants are usually the highlight of the experience. The price differential is simply too great to buy two outright FC tickets but the companion has helped over the years.

I agree - it's going to hurt more than help Alaska's image since it seems so nit-picky. Funny to see this happening right when several "airline satisfaction" awards are announced

sea_jeff

I received a canned reply from someone at AS.

Here is my response to that reply:





Hello Txxxx -

Thank you for the email.

That was one of the more impressive and polite cases of "too bad, buddy" I've ever received.

"Challenging economy"?

Perhaps you don't read your own financial reports:

Alaska Air Group Reports June Operational Results

7/5/2012 9:15 a.m.

SEATTLE - Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE: ALK) today reported June operational results for its subsidiaries, Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air, and on a combined basis. Detailed information is provided below.

ALASKA AIRLINES - MAINLINE

Alaska reported a 10.6 percent increase in traffic on a 7.5 percent increase in capacity compared to June 2011. This resulted in a 2.5-point increase in load factor to a June record 87.9 percent. This also contributed to a record second quarter load factor of 87.4 percent. Alaska also reported 88.4 percent of its flights arrived on time in June, compared to the 91.4 percent reported in June 2011.

The following table shows Alaska's operational results for June and year-to-date 2012, compared to the prior-year periods:



I wish my business was going as well as the Alaska Air Group.

You can count me as a former cardholder as soon as my anniversary date comes up.
I'm not the only one either. Many of the folks that participate in the frequent flyer forums are fed up as well.

The 1,000 mile flight bonus but even more importantly the ability to buy an F companion fare were the only reasons to put up with the miserable service at Bank of America.

Have you ever had your card cancelled without notice due to a security breach? I have. At least three times.

The last time I was in Chicago and all I asked of B of A was to either Fedex me a replacement card or just approve the three upcoming auto-pays I had set up using the AS Visa.

They refused to do either. That did not strike me as being very customer service focused.


Respectfully yours,


sea_jeff

BOB W

Each certificate has an individual code. Use the one with the F code to book your F trip. Use the other on for a coach trip.

You choose which cert to use and when.

eponymous_coward

AS prices their F significantly under other competing carriers on competitive routes. I would guess they have done market analysis that shows that they can sell marginally more discounted F than giving it away as a 241.

And if they are wrong, more F seats for me on G/T fares.

seaflyguy

Flying SEA-ANC-SEA on a companion fare in F, we had a prime dinnertime departure, and on a three-and-a-quarter-hour flight, the F meal service was a bag of snack mix and a small plate with a bit of salad greens and two small pieces of beef. That was it. No bread, no dessert, nothing else. Mrs Seaflyguy recently flew SEA-ORD-SEA and was upgraded to F in both directions. It was a pleasant surprise but she said the beef bourgignon she was served on both flights was literally the least edible airline meal she had ever been served, including back when airlines provided free "meals" in Y.

On a long flight, like SEA-HNL or SEA-SJD, I'd use my companion fare to upgrade to F for the improved personal space at a small-ish premium over Y. But pay for F outright? Are they kidding?

bigbirdwithsilverwings

EXACTLY!

Cholula

True but I think they price it right about what it's worth.

Considering their pre-departure glass of water, meal service that, except for transcon service, can only be described as mediocre and some seats/interiors that have a LOT of age on them, I think AS FC is priced about right.

And it's even more right when you throw in a (now disappearing) FC Companion fare.

pdxasflyer

This would appear to be the biggest 'chip-away' response rate I've seen over the past year or two - now 17 pages and still going. I join others in committing to an overhaul review of all loyalty cards to see which one might be best for us as the AS Sig Visa card seems to have just fallen off the cliff.

Many of you have posted incredibly smart, thoughtful responses that I agree with 100%. I was particularly happy to see one poster point out that in AS's letter to everyone that THEY (AS) felt these were beneficial changes (or something to that effect), but forgot to ask what WE - their loyal customers - felt. Looks like someone at the top managed to get into their accounting classes but somehow skipped Business 101: Listen to your customers.

Now, to be fair, AS does have gold lunches throughout the year, so there is that, but I've not taken a look back to see how our feedback has translated into positive 'enhancements' and would be curious to do so, as I don't feel much has been achieved for us customers. And, I'm further curious as to why we haven't seen many Gold lunch reports this year (or did I miss them all?), but foresee the next one to be interesting: with 17 pages of extreme displeasure in one of a couple threads that touch this subject, I would be sorely disappointed if this same displeasure wasn't voiced overtly during said lunch (I've not yet been invited to one).

Personally, I've used the companion cert many times, but only once for F, and we were planning to do so again, when this change was announced, so will get one more use of the benefit. Sickening that AS chose to change this, especially for an airline that appears to be performing financially well in a poor economy prior to the change.

It's incredibly sad when many front-line employees (FAs, GAs, phone reps, etc.) work hard to provide great service, only to be usurped by poor decisions of beancounters. What a terrible price the senior leadership will pay through an erosion of their loyal customer base who can't justify staying loyal in return. I could care less about BofA, but don't view this as their doing, but AS's. What a shame.

Chugach

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_1_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9B206 Safari/7534.48.3)

I don't buy the "AS discounts F" argument, at least from ANC. For Anchorage folks, AS First (or non-Coach as I like to call it) is priced the same as other carriers to most lower 48 destinations. The difference is as a Gold you can get into U fares out of ANC to mitigate the cost down.

As an ANC flier, I'll maintain MVPG for three reasons:

1. No change fees.
2. Far and away the best option between AK and OR/WA and intra-AK.
3. The four annual upgrade codes.

Take away 1 or 3 and I'll drop down to MVP with my lower 48 travel beyond Portland going to UA or DL.

dave1013

It used to be that one could request an invitation to the Gold lunch. I believe that is no longer the case and attendance now is pretty much by invite only (so hopefully you'll get one soon). Some active contributors to this forum would request invitations seemingly for the pleasure of reporting out on the proceedings, which they did a very good job of. I miss their contributions, too.

At the lunches I've attended, the AS management reps would always say how pleased they were to offer this benefit and that they valued the input received. I've no reason to believe they weren't sincere but your comment about Business 101 really resonated with me.

Again, I appreciated the opportunity to attend the lunches I got to go to, but I'd sooner they do away with them and retain some benefits that might otherwise get chip-chip-chipped. And if they're not acting on our lunchtime input, then I question why AS is continuing them.