Jan 4, 2017, 7:30 pm
Last edit by: Calchas
Welcome to the Alaska Airlines Flame-Free Q&A Thread for 2017!
Anyone is welcome to ask anything, even the most basic questions, in this thread without having to fear a snarky response. In this thread, there's no such thing as a dumb question--we were all new to Alaska Airlines, FlyerTalk, and even the whole idea of mileage programs once and needed some help navigating the ropes. We're here to help you do just that!
That said, if you want to do a little reading to see if your question has been previously discussed, links to some of the most common and extensive topics in this forum are listed in our FAQ thread -- click here to check it out.
Special care will be given in this thread to trying to provide answers in a clear manner with minimal use of acronyms and jargon.
If you need to contact someone for help, here's a current list of our forum's team:
Ambassadors (Our Greeters--members who have specifically volunteered to welcome and mentor newbies and monitor this thread):
ANC RED-EYE
baliktad
beckoa
golfingboy
Moderators (Our Janitors--members who have volunteered to do housekeeping/keep the forum in order)
ryandc99
jackal
You are welcome to send a private message to any of these individuals for assistance, but you'll generally get a faster response and broader palette of answers if you simply post your inquiry here in this thread.
Note to FlyerTalk members who enjoy the ability to take advantage of loopholes--if someone posts something that exposes information you'd rather not be public, please remember this is a Flame-Free thread, and harsh or snarky posts are not permitted. Although FlyerTalk itself does not censor posts that share information, members are free to edit their own posts to remove information. If you wish to request any poster to remove information they have shared publicly, please do so politely and respectfully.
Welcome, and we look forward to providing any assistance we can!
~the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan forum team~
For the 2016 version of this thread, please click here
Anyone is welcome to ask anything, even the most basic questions, in this thread without having to fear a snarky response. In this thread, there's no such thing as a dumb question--we were all new to Alaska Airlines, FlyerTalk, and even the whole idea of mileage programs once and needed some help navigating the ropes. We're here to help you do just that!
That said, if you want to do a little reading to see if your question has been previously discussed, links to some of the most common and extensive topics in this forum are listed in our FAQ thread -- click here to check it out.
Special care will be given in this thread to trying to provide answers in a clear manner with minimal use of acronyms and jargon.
If you need to contact someone for help, here's a current list of our forum's team:
Ambassadors (Our Greeters--members who have specifically volunteered to welcome and mentor newbies and monitor this thread):
ANC RED-EYE
baliktad
beckoa
golfingboy
Moderators (Our Janitors--members who have volunteered to do housekeeping/keep the forum in order)
ryandc99
jackal
You are welcome to send a private message to any of these individuals for assistance, but you'll generally get a faster response and broader palette of answers if you simply post your inquiry here in this thread.
Note to FlyerTalk members who enjoy the ability to take advantage of loopholes--if someone posts something that exposes information you'd rather not be public, please remember this is a Flame-Free thread, and harsh or snarky posts are not permitted. Although FlyerTalk itself does not censor posts that share information, members are free to edit their own posts to remove information. If you wish to request any poster to remove information they have shared publicly, please do so politely and respectfully.
Welcome, and we look forward to providing any assistance we can!
~the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan forum team~
For the 2016 version of this thread, please click here
2017 Alaska Airlines *FLAME-FREE* Q&A thread: all welcome, new and old!
Jun 23, 2017, 12:26 am
#916
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
I confess I haven't been paying attention. Mea culpa 
But I thought there was very little likelihood of needing to fly a Virgin America route, but turns out I was wrong.
Looks like I may have a mid August flight.
Do MVPs get free access to MCS seats? If so, can it be done on either/both Virgin's and AS' websites? (the flight shows up on both).
I'll try to keep up from now on
But I thought there was very little likelihood of needing to fly a Virgin America route, but turns out I was wrong.
Looks like I may have a mid August flight.
Do MVPs get free access to MCS seats? If so, can it be done on either/both Virgin's and AS' websites? (the flight shows up on both).
I'll try to keep up from now on
Jun 23, 2017, 12:31 am
#917
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Pacific Wonderland
Programs: ʙᴏɴᴠo̱ʏ Au, IHG Au, HH Dia, Nexus, Pilot FlyingJ Preferred
Posts: 5,336
Not yet! But soon. Supposed to be "Summer 2017", however AS hasn't announced a specific date so far.
https://www.alaskaair.com/content/tr...-schedule.aspx
https://www.alaskaair.com/content/tr...-schedule.aspx
Jun 23, 2017, 2:12 pm
#918
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Northern Calif./Eastern Ida.
Programs: Amethyst Premier Plutonium Medallion
Posts: 20,640
Not yet! But soon. Supposed to be "Summer 2017", however AS hasn't announced a specific date so far.
https://www.alaskaair.com/content/tr...-schedule.aspx
https://www.alaskaair.com/content/tr...-schedule.aspx
"hey, we got it done in summer 2017!"
Jun 23, 2017, 8:11 pm
#919
Moderator Hilton Honors, Travel News, West, The Suggestion Box, Smoking Lounge & DiningBuzz
Join Date: Jun 2000
Programs: Honors Diamond, Hertz Presidents Circle, National Exec Elite
Posts: 36,026
That's a pricing scheme I fail to understand.
Anyway, the $80 differential was a bargain and I grabbed the earlier flight's F seat.
Jun 24, 2017, 11:07 am
#920
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: San Jose, CA
Programs: BA Gold, Ritz-Carlton Gold
Posts: 98
I'm a BA Gold who lives in the SJC area (the bulk of my flying for work is in BA J). Having recently become aware of the incredible AS earning rates for flying BA J I'm seriously considering moving my elite status.
Will AS match my BA status since I live in their service area, or will I have to start from scratch? It's probably not a big deal if they don't match, as I'd only really be sacrificing the elite earning bonus on most of my flights the first year, but obviously I'd prefer to avoid that if possible.
Will AS match my BA status since I live in their service area, or will I have to start from scratch? It's probably not a big deal if they don't match, as I'd only really be sacrificing the elite earning bonus on most of my flights the first year, but obviously I'd prefer to avoid that if possible.
Jun 24, 2017, 2:21 pm
#921
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: YYZ, SFO
Programs: AS 100K, UA*S, IHG Plat, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond | Formerly: AC Super Elite
Posts: 2,476
http://statusmatcher.com/report/53936
I'd say try for it anyways? The answer is no if you don't try
Jun 24, 2017, 11:20 pm
#922
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
I'm a BA Gold who lives in the SJC area (the bulk of my flying for work is in BA J). Having recently become aware of the incredible AS earning rates for flying BA J I'm seriously considering moving my elite status.
Will AS match my BA status since I live in their service area, or will I have to start from scratch? It's probably not a big deal if they don't match, as I'd only really be sacrificing the elite earning bonus on most of my flights the first year, but obviously I'd prefer to avoid that if possible.
Will AS match my BA status since I live in their service area, or will I have to start from scratch? It's probably not a big deal if they don't match, as I'd only really be sacrificing the elite earning bonus on most of my flights the first year, but obviously I'd prefer to avoid that if possible.
Jun 25, 2017, 12:34 am
#923
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: EWR, SLC, SGN
Posts: 1,113
For my onward leg though, after utilizing the free stopover in DXB, I was able to use online check-in and I was able to choose a seat online.
Jun 27, 2017, 3:35 pm
#924
Join Date: Sep 2011
Programs: HH-Diamond, Hyatt-Glob, all else dirt level
Posts: 92
If spouse and I each have an AK account (one w 100k other 20k) and I need 4 international biz seats on either CX or JAL does it make more sense to transfer needed miles from SPG into each persons AK account (for 2 awards per account) or all into the larger AK account, then pay the small fee to move the other 20k? Trying to figure out if it will anger the AK gods to pool all points into one account for one PNR or use different PNRs to stay cool with the powers that be. Note: all names have same last name and address
Last edited by woodburyhome; Jun 27, 2017 at 3:36 pm Reason: additional note
Jun 27, 2017, 5:09 pm
#925
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Pacific Wonderland
Programs: ʙᴏɴᴠo̱ʏ Au, IHG Au, HH Dia, Nexus, Pilot FlyingJ Preferred
Posts: 5,336
If spouse and I each have an AK account (one w 100k other 20k) and I need 4 international biz seats on either CX or JAL does it make more sense to transfer needed miles from SPG into each persons AK account (for 2 awards per account) or all into the larger AK account, then pay the small fee to move the other 20k? Trying to figure out if it will anger the AK gods to pool all points into one account for one PNR or use different PNRs to stay cool with the powers that be. Note: all names have same last name and address
Not sure about transfers incoming from the same SPG account to two different Mileage Plan accounts. It's possible if that information is shared with Alaska that it could get your accounts flagged but as long as it doesn't violate the T&C (mostly on the SPG side), it should be ok and cheaper than moving the 20K miles over to a single large account.
(Alaska Airlines = AS, not AK
)Edit: or divvy up the miles and book both seats from one account for one direction and the other account for the return and save the phone booking fee if you find all seats on JAL.
Last edited by rustykettel; Jun 27, 2017 at 5:28 pm
Jun 27, 2017, 5:50 pm
#926
Join Date: Sep 2011
Programs: HH-Diamond, Hyatt-Glob, all else dirt level
Posts: 92
Thanks Rustykettel,
We both have SPG accounts so we could each transfer the points over to respective AS accounts.
I was thinking I needed to pool all points into one account for one PNR but I'm happy to make a phone call and pull from both AS accounts for 4 tickets if it lessens my chances of a second set of eyes on my booking. Probably being paranoid, I was just worried if a large amount of points were transferred from SPG for a booking it might be bad karma.
We both have SPG accounts so we could each transfer the points over to respective AS
accounts.I was thinking I needed to pool all points into one account for one PNR but I'm happy to make a phone call and pull from both AS accounts for 4 tickets if it lessens my chances of a second set of eyes on my booking. Probably being paranoid, I was just worried if a large amount of points were transferred from SPG for a booking it might be bad karma.
Jun 28, 2017, 12:30 am
#927
Join Date: Apr 2016
Programs: NH, JL, SQ
Posts: 164
does anyone have a rough idea of how long alaska will take to process a retroactive mileage claim for an AA flight? it says 6-8 weeks but i'm really hoping to get it sooner
I wasn't asked for it but would should I send in a copy of the boarding pass?
I wasn't asked for it but would should I send in a copy of the boarding pass?
Jun 28, 2017, 7:53 am
#928
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Pacific Wonderland
Programs: ʙᴏɴᴠo̱ʏ Au, IHG Au, HH Dia, Nexus, Pilot FlyingJ Preferred
Posts: 5,336
Thanks Rustykettel,
We both have SPG accounts so we could each transfer the points over to respective AS accounts.
I was thinking I needed to pool all points into one account for one PNR but I'm happy to make a phone call and pull from both AS accounts for 4 tickets if it lessens my chances of a second set of eyes on my booking. Probably being paranoid, I was just worried if a large amount of points were transferred from SPG for a booking it might be bad karma.
We both have SPG accounts so we could each transfer the points over to respective AS
accounts.I was thinking I needed to pool all points into one account for one PNR but I'm happy to make a phone call and pull from both AS accounts for 4 tickets if it lessens my chances of a second set of eyes on my booking. Probably being paranoid, I was just worried if a large amount of points were transferred from SPG for a booking it might be bad karma.
Other than Delta (now no longer a partner) and Korean Air, all of the partners' charts are on a one way basis not round trip so there's really no need to call in unless the partner can't be booked online (CX). Just book two one-ways, one direction from one account and one direction from the other, and save the phone booking fees. Each direction of travel would be a single PNR and unless you're doing an immediate turn, a different PNR for out and back should be fine.
ETA: Realized I was assuming 4 seats meant two people on a round trip. If it's four people one way or four people on a round trip, I'm not sure if the phone agent can put that on a single PNR drawing from two different MP accounts. Maybe call Reservations and ask if that's the case? I know they can put two people on a single PNR with miles from each person's account.
I've just sent an email with a copy of the boarding pass along with my MP account information and flight details. Sometimes it's been as soon as the next business day and usually within 1-2 weeks of emailing.
Last edited by rustykettel; Jun 28, 2017 at 8:01 am
Jun 28, 2017, 7:48 pm
#929
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Northern Calif./Eastern Ida.
Programs: Amethyst Premier Plutonium Medallion
Posts: 20,640
is it possible to upgrade one person with miles and the other with a GGU on the same PNR, perhaps by calling in? assuming that both passengers are ticketed in a mileage-upgrade eligible fare class?
i have 3 GGUs left and want to upgrade a round trip companion ticket so i would need to use miles to cover one of the upgrades in one direction.
i have 3 GGUs left and want to upgrade a round trip companion ticket so i would need to use miles to cover one of the upgrades in one direction.
Jun 28, 2017, 8:35 pm
#930
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Pacific Wonderland
Programs: ʙᴏɴᴠo̱ʏ Au, IHG Au, HH Dia, Nexus, Pilot FlyingJ Preferred
Posts: 5,336
While it's for a MVP on a companion fare, it does state in a couple of places that two different upgrade methods can be manually processed by a phone agent so probably? Might try the Ask Missy thread for a positive confirmation since she answered the MVP question (and got the training department to clarify AS's internal policy).