beckoa

I think my threshold is higher then jackal's. But others seem to have higher ones then myself. I'd say it depends on the route, and if U class is open already (for immediate upgrade). If a G or T class fare is $150 and H class is $400 OW I'll opt for the cheaper fare. If within $50 on a transcon I'll probably swing to Value fare if U class is open, if not I'll take my chances in the back. I've rarely picked value though- typically just over the holidays to/from Hawaii when fares are already expensive. What was your scenario you were considering?

koopas

Question: As a MVPG 75K, if I book a ticket in Y, S, B, M, H, or a Value and Full Flex fare with U space available, I should get instantly upgraded. If I also apply the $99 BofA companion certificate, would my companion also get instantly upgraded?

Thanks.

beckoa

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Assuming U is two or more yes ^

koopas

Thanks Beckoa for your insight, as always. I hope flyertalk is paying you to answer questions so reliably!! ^

jackal

If only...

NWAlaskaFlyer

Apologies is this question has been answered. I see some variations but nothing like the specific questions I have. Here goes:

I am an MVPG75K and have some upcoming travel with companions. I am curious about the best way to book these trips. In some cases I will be traveling with my wife and want either all or none upgrades to first. I don't care as much about the seating proximity but we either both fly first or neither. 2 questions about this scenario. First does this type of travel ever qualify for automatic online upgrades or is it wait-list only? Second, does it matter which fare class I use to purchase these tickets? (I.e. will I improve our chances by purchasing flex?)

Second scenarion is travel with a work companion. In this case I want my upgrade regardless of whether the companion gets upgraded. How I handled this so far is to book the travel together to get the companion on the upgrade list and then call in and have the reservation split. This way the companion maintains the upgrade list but I am processed when the first seat becomes available. Is this optimal or should I handle the companion upgrade differently to give the companion a better chance of upgrade?

baliktad

Companion upgrades on Alaska are always an all-or-nothing affair. No matter how the reservations are structured, you will always either both be upgraded or neither.

When traveling with your wife, you should book together on the same itinerary. This will be simplest because you will be able to pay together and presumably always expect to travel together. When you book as a 75K with a companion, your upgrade request will be entered at time of booking for the two of you. If you purchase a Value fare or above (fare buckets Y/S/B/M/H), you are eligible to be upgraded as soon as you are ticketed. If there is no upgrade space available at time of ticket purchase, you will be waitlisted and will have priority over all others who book later. If you purchase a cheaper ticket, you will not be eligible to be upgraded or placed on the waitlist until 5 days prior to departure. This means that other Golds that purchase Value fares could clear before you. As noted above, companion upgrades are always all-or-nothing, so there must be 2 U seats available for your upgrade to clear.

When traveling with a coworker, if you want to clear even if he doesn't, you should book separately. When you are on an itinerary by yourself, your complimentary upgrade request is for just you by default, so you will clear even if there is only one U seat available. To upgrade a companion without disrupting your own chances, you will have to wait until your upgrade clears before requesting the coworker's upgrade. The way you do this is key: wait until your upgrade clears, and then look for additional U seats. When you see that there are at least 2 U seats available, call up and ask to add your coworker as your complimentary upgrade companion. Companion upgrades must be processed at the same time as the elite's upgrade, so they will first downgrade you, request upgrades for the both of you, and since there are 2 U seats, you should both be upgraded immediately. The reason you need at least 2 U seats is that even though your upgrade has already cleared, downgrading you does not necessarily release your seat back into upgrade inventory.

It's a bit more work for the coworker-style upgrade, but since companion upgrades are always requested together, it's the only way to prioritize yourself over the pair of you. There is unfortunately no way for you to upgrade yourself with "high" priority and a companion with "low" priority.

Note that the way you are currently processing your coworker's upgrades is the same as if you had not split the reservation at all. You will either both be upgraded, or neither, so there's no point in booking together and then splitting the reservation.

rlsmith658

I'm not sure if I'm in the right forum, but I thought I would start here.
I don't want to rant too much since I love Alaska, but I feel there needs to be an upgrade review with gate agents, particularly when starting new routes.

Recently flew LIH->PDX (Flt 822, 11/13) and the gate standby listed 4-6 MVP/gold/75k people waitlisted. 3 seats were open in FC at the time of boarding and the lady in front of me (non-elite) had her credit card out and was ready to purchase FC upgrades when I walked up to find out the status.

I asked the gate agent if all the elites had been upgraded already and she looks at me and says "The tell me I'm supposed to sell the seats if I can and this lady is going to pay for the upgrade." She told me I would need to shell out $150/seat in order to get upgraded and since the non-elite had just swiped up 2 of the 3 seats for her and her husband that there was only one seat open now.... I was floored. Absolutely floored. The gate agent made me feel like I was "stealing" seats from this non-elite and the non-elite even said to me "I'm 48 and would very much appreciate an upgrade..."

Thank goodness, another agent came over to review what was going on and was able to sort out the upgrade list. The three seats were ultimately given to the list of waitlisted elites, including myself and companion. I do appreciate that they were able to sort it out but only after a ruckus at the gate.

I believe the gate agents were from other airlines and perhaps not familiar with the upgrade policies? Either way, it was disheartening to know that the upgrade seats could have been snagged by non-elites and no one would have known.

missydarlin

I've forwarded your post to the training dept.

Paid upgrades are definitely not prioritized over Elite Upgrades.

I believe the agent is confusing selling the F seat (which is encouraged) with selling an upgrade seat.

rlsmith658

Thanks, missydarlin!

beckoa

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Wow I just read your post and thank your dillagence. AS is expanding slowly employees in Hawaii but until they use AS gate agents there is potential for confusion.

LIH no ka oi

JimmyJoe

Although this has been discussed, I'm still confused.

If I buy AS code share flights on Delat airlines (ticket issued from DL but flight is on AS) how do I get the AS record locator number?

Am I automatically on the upgrade list?

cmx

I was waiting for my MCO-SAN flight on 12/29/12 at the gate when the gate agent came over the PA and said that there were 2 first seats available for $100 each. I went up to her, told her I was DL Plat and asked if I was on the upgrade list. She said that I wasn't, but that it didn't matter because upgrades were sold at the gate before complimentary upgrades were processed. The seats were then sold for $100 each. It's not true that policy is to sell F at the gate before complimentary upgrades are given to DL elites, is it?

johnp012001

Shouldn't be. Were to traveling alone on your reservation?

jackal

You can:

-Call Delta
-Follow @DeltaAssist on Twitter; then tweet @DeltaAssist with your request and they will DM you back
-Call AS and give them your last name and flight number

I think you should be automatically added to the waitlist, but it's good to check.