GUWonder

EK can suddenly pull the award space and refuse to sell award space, but EK can't change the award space segment compensation rates unilaterally without providing advance notice to AS. If EK wanted the price hiked, AS got notice. How much advance notice? Well maybe that advance notice period could have been revised down to a very small period of time, but surely AS lawyers wouldn't want be so negligent as to allow it to be eliminated entirely.

pdxasflyer

Agreed.

So, it's important to remember (and I believe this) that while EK drove this increase in redemptions, AS could have responded differently. For instance, give people a 30-day or 60-day notice to prepare. Sure, AS loses money on redemptions in that period, but the long-term goodwill on maintaining their integrity will pay better dividends over time than any short term losses.

Then, AS could better target miles purchases to offer it only to customers that have flown their airline over some prior period. They've done other targeted promotions, but to your point above, it would eliminate the segment that may have abused the program and would have lessened the effect of, or eliminated #2 in your post.

GUWonder

Let me make this clear: the agreement EK and AS have is not the same agreement that AS has with MileagePlan customers.

I have had great access to contracts in these matters.

eponymous_coward

How do we know those terms aren't in the AS-EK contract- "we can change your award redemption levels at any time?"

If EK insisted on it as part of the partnership, do you think AS would have objected?

The plain language says what it says (and it wasn't added yesterday, as far as I can tell). Bottom line is you can't rely on partner award levels never changing, and AS publicly represents that the partners set the mileage, not them. You can certainly assert they are lying, but then it becomes a case of "well, how do you know?"

rankourabu

Bingo! The language on the AS site is placed there by AS.

Again, if EK required more for their flights, the JetBlue/Qantas pricing should have changed last night too.

This is all AS's doing, perhaps under pressure, but the implementation is all them.

eponymous_coward

BKK-HKG is less than a thousand USD one way, last I checked. Easy way to get your shower in (if expensive).

Bretmd

I think some of us expect AS to do more than just what they minimally have to do based on terms and conditions. They pride themselves of being "north of expected", they can minimally give some kind of notice for large devaluations. They clearly must have known about this for enough time to make the transition last night.

In fact, while on the phone last weekend (when I was gaming the system by making my vanity F redemption ) an agent alluded to an upcoming price change for redemptions.

eponymous_coward

If it's more than 365 days out from ticket issue that's typically an award redeposit/reissue (with charges- AS doesn't have those, save for the $12.50/25 partner fee).

tng11

AS is an airline much smaller in scale. If they were say, losing $1,000/ticket, a sudden run on EK redemptions over one week, one month or two months could have been an absolute disaster for their finances this year. This of course, assumes that 1) EK raised reimbursement rates and 2) This took AS by surprise. If AS knew in advance that the rates were going to increase at a later date and didn't tell their members, that is a very underhanded move that undermine the credibility of their program a la Delta.

Don't get me wrong - I'm 100% livid at the devaluation happening overnight. Out of courtesy I would have even been happy with a 24 hour notice period to lock in my award. Now I've spent the entire morning trying to figure out what I can use my 100K balance on and they're not nearly as appealing as EK F.

lebowski2222

How can you be shocked, when you have 100's of points bloggers saying that Alaska Airlines program is very valuable because of the flexibility it offers aren't think bound to change? These bloggers are ruining it for the people who actually fly and earn miles the hard way

Boraxo

+1

Definitely not a shocker because the Emirates awards on AS were way too cheap compared to the competition.

Personally I hate EK so I'm quite pleased. If it drives off a few bloggers that just means more space for those of us who value AS for its competitive fares and friendly service. Good riddance to those just using AS as a path to flying EK.

This pretty much sums it up. AS could care less about the folks who don't fly AS. Nobody hears you scream in Alaska.

LwoodY2K

I mean, AS/EK could negotiate a contract requiring that EK can change the price at any time and AS can't give advance notice. Actually doing so seems like poor negotiating on the part of AS.
Seems like the more likely reason is the decision that announcing it in advance would cost more $ than lost goodwill, especially if EK can change the rate they're charging AS (in cash) with minimal notice.

Guava

Thanks for proving my point exactly. I deliberately bolded and underlined the key words in your post - you are treating a point A to point B air transport in F as a celebrity reception. EK F is obviously novel to you and that's fine. It isn't to a lot other people. What utility is there for a bar and shower if my intent is to fly from Seattle to Japan? Yet, I have seen exactly just that, Seattle based friends who flew SEA-LAX-DXB-NRT/HND. I could easily fly ANA from Seattle to Tokyo direct in 1/3 of the time it took my friends who went out their way to fly EK F to reach the same destination and in no less class. ANA F isn't exactly, you know, Air Djibouti, no offense to that country intended.

But let's talk about the "bar". My most recent onboard bar experience was a few months ago with Qatar F on board their A380, very similar bar to the one onboard EK, except with better drinks and free flowing Krug. When you can order Krug from the EK onboard bar, wake me. I have said it elsewhere on FT, I disliked the experience. I went to the bar to get out of my seat and to stretch a bit since the flight was long and to get a drink. Instead, when I got to the bar, the bartender made sure to point to the whole bar I am a F class pax and showered me all the attention while ignoring the J class patrons already sitting there. I got so embarrassed that I tried so hard to finish my drink asap so not to look impolite but just can't and ended up "fleeing" the scene before I could finish one little glass of Krug, which of course didn't escape the notice of the overly eager bartender. Maybe some people enjoy that kind of attention, I personally do not. I don't like to get noticed and want to be left alone. It was a mistake going to the bar since there is nothing there I couldn't order from the menu. As far drinks are concerned, EK doesn't have the best selection in the air by a long shot. If you happen to fly JL F a few times, Krug would taste like crap to you. It really did, to me. I was on an intense JL blitz over a 2 weeks period and was served Salon 2002 over and over during that period. After that, stepping on another airline whose F serves only Krug as their top drink - horror, it really was not comparable. So yes, while EK F may have a physical bar, as far as the drinks served and selections available, JL F will beat it by light years. Don't believe me, go to their website, look up their monthly drinks menu on long-haul F, it's all published. The list will put EK to shame.

As for the shower, unless the flight is over 16 hours and someone feels the urge to shower on a 6 hours flight like EY's AUH-LHR service, shower on board is wasted space. I'll be more than happy to forego on the shower in exchange for paying much less miles.

pdxasflyer

I see your point. Regardless of scale, they shouldn't be naďve to the behaviors of frequent fliers. If they were, then financial pain is one way to learn your lesson, but don't take it out on your frequent fliers to save your own butt. This is where greed hurts them in reality, but not in their mind.

Further, if the segment that this affects this the most is as small as you originally indicated, then I question how disastrous a 30-day notice would have been for their financials. I'll agree with you that even 24-hour notice would have been better than NO notice whatsoever.

Again, it's not the increase itself, but rather how AS has poorly handled the situation that upsets me the most.

tng11

Indeed. Not a great feeling waking up that my travel plans to Mauritius next month were decimated.