apodo77

Old numbers can always be credited to the new card. Even if reported stolen.

Seattlenerd

A credit? Now that I wouldn't have a problem with.

I think one aspect, unrelated to this, others overlook is that for some of us, loss of the companion certificate's use for paid F was simply the last straw, heaped on the mound of poor customer service from BofA. The latter was the overwhelming factor in my case in closing a card (though I kept a second one for simply buying AS tix, as others also do).

bigbirdwithsilverwings

[QUOTE=Seattlenerd;21074656]

I think for some of us, loss of the companion certificate's use for paid F was simply the last straw, heaped on the mound of poor customer service from BofA.

Seattlenerd is dead on. ALL outstanding F companion certificates must be used or they expire at midnight on July 31, 2013. The numbers should be in hand re how many people have dumped their cards (I've dumped 4 along w/4 significant spends per card for my business and my household) and the revenue lost by no longer having the ability to use the F companion certificate as a marketing tool for the BofA VISA along w/Alaska's cut of the 2-3% commission the VISA card realized and/or the BofA's outright purchase of the miles + the loss of one full fare first class seat. I believe this decison cost Alaska and BofA a lot of $. A lose lose lose deal.
Alaska loses BofA's $, a number of its VISA affinity card holders, and customers wiling to buy one full fare F class seat. BofA loses customers hence its % cut of the total amount of $ spent on its card is appreciably down. The consumer now finds another way to get into a premium seat (I'm using Chase Sapphire and Ink cards and SPG AMEX and flying other carriers). Anybody have any info that Alaska has recognized the error of its decision and is going to set things right? Thanks!

sea_jeff

That would be interesting to know. Personally I've gone from about $5K/month for business expenses to an average of $250/month on my AS Visa.

ANC RED-EYE

Like many, I dropped the AS visa, but it was for other reasons. I have never used the companion cert for paid F. I am curious about this "mound of poor customer service". Many people have complained about BofA's customer service. I personally held this card for almost 10 years. I recall being annoyed that they kept changing the number due to security breaches (probably happened 4 times or so), but other than that, I didn't find BofA's service deplorable like so many others seem to imply. I've held credit cards with most of the major banks; frankly, most of them seem about the same. So, what was it that everyone was hoping BofA would do for them that they didn't do that other banks do?

I would be curious about the numbers. My impression was that AS made this move in response to the FT/blogger effect - what was implied was that many, many people held this card (and likely multiple cards) and only used the card for the companion cert benefit. I personally had stopped putting any significant spend on this card years prior. The card continued to be worth it to me for the 1K booking bonus...but once that was gone, I really wasn't using it at all. I'm surprised to hear that some FTers were using it so extensively - I think the alternative cards mentioned were significantly better for daily spend to begin with, so in some ways, AS/BofA did you a favor...

dave1013

I wish I did.

The fact of the matter is, AS just re-upped with B of A in a deal that they say is going to net them in excess of $50M a year. Apparently, they don't see their relationship with B of A as an error. So they must know something we don't. I'm waiting to see what the new arrangement portends for cardholders but am not holding out a lot of hope for restored goodies.

Seattlenerd

The bad experience is not implied, it's a fact:

Banks behaving badly: dealing with a divisive digital divide

The column is on GeekWire, a tech news site, and outlines frustrating issues with Bank of America's VISA customer service. Even though it was written nearly a year ago, it continues to draw readers and comments.

dgreen12

Used the last of my other half's FC Companion Fare discount code this morning (it expires at midnight tonight).

A new coach companion fare discount code for the next year was already sitting in his account --- told him to cancel his AS BofA Visa (but he doesn't listen to me).

bigbirdwithsilverwings

Exactly!! I used my final banked F companion certificate and the 2 C companion certificates I owned today. I upgraded one of the C companions using miles on one segment (the other was sold out in F) and while doing so, asked the very nice Alaska phone rep who upgraded me whether she foresaw a return to the F class companion certificate. She used about 300 words to tell me "no way". I'm done. I do not believe this is the right play for anybody. I've had a 90% run up in my Alaska stock value over the last year or so, but I think I better sell it
soon. This will come home to roost-via lost revenue, lost paid F class (for one person at least) and less revenue to Alaska. Very sad.

beckoa

Wirelessly posted (beckoa's PWP wondrousdevice3.0: Mozilla/5.0 (BlackBerry; U; BlackBerry 9810; en-US) AppleWebKit/534.11+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/7.1.0.694 Mobile Safari/534.11+)

This isn't F revenue though...its ~60% F revenue... If AS fills those seats with paying F customers... That's AS' gamble.

Seattlenerd

Classic error: assuming the FlyerTalk audience is representative of everyone who flies. We're the obsessive tiny minority.

bigbirdwithsilverwings

Agreed but based on the length of this stream and the number of views, I think it is a large enough "tiny minority" that Alaska is committed to a policy that will harm its bottom line. And to that, I say "hurray" and hope for a change in policy. I know, I know. I'm a dreamer....

mwilsonrr

I certainly understand the frustration felt by people that regularly took advantage of booking first class companion fares. That being said, I find two silver linings as an MVPG mileage plan member:

1. Better F upgrade percentage than I had previously, and
2. Still have the ability to get first class seats with the companion certificate (via guest upgrade certs)

So, for me at least, the current situation is still beneficial. I would probably dump the card if I weren't MVPG, though, because coach-only would not be attractive.

I'm sure the change has opened up a lot of F class availability to/from Hawaii. It must be worth it, though, to Alaska in terms of overall revenue. Or, maybe it's just that no other airline offers anything better?

johnp012001

The length of this thread? How many posts and views are from unique posters/viewers? In case you're curious, you've posted 86 times just in this thread, not counting posts in other AS Visa threads.

We get it, you don't like it! You've convinced yourself that AS is losing money based on this decision. But guess what, folks at AS that have access to something other than anecdotal evidence seem to disagree with you. Apparently they believe that selling 2 F seats at full price on long haul flights makes more sense than 2 F seats at a 40% discount. How many people were using these for a quick jaunt SEA-SFO or the like? I'm guessing not many.

bigbirdwithsilverwings

johnp: you have some serious flyertalk skill since I have no idea how many posts I've made in my life or on this thread. What are your stats? Total and on this thread? And please answer your own question: "How many posts and views are from unique posters/viewers?" Please advise. Thanks john!