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!
Aug 4, 2017, 12:12 pm
#1081
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Ewa Beach, Hawaii
Posts: 10,909
To clarify, if it is considered an upgrade (a U fare class) then you get your original booking class. If it is an upfare to a real fare for upfront where you are paying the difference in fare then you get the bonus EQM's.
Aug 4, 2017, 12:26 pm
#1082
Join Date: Jul 2017
Programs: AS MVPG; Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 145
Damn, that's not what I wanted to hear! Thanks for clarifying. I was hoping I could cash upgrade the rest of my trips this year to help up the difference between MVP and MVPG.
Aug 4, 2017, 12:32 pm
#1083
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Pacific Wonderland
Programs: ʙᴏɴᴠo̱ʏ Au, IHG Au, HH Dia, Nexus, Pilot FlyingJ Preferred
Posts: 5,336
Check the fare difference between economy and first. On some routes there's not that much of a delta and you'll get Alaska Lounge access (and free bags, but you'd get that already as a MVP). According to missy, a change fee may apply as normal when upfaring from economy to first, but IME, the agent will only charge the fare difference.
Aug 4, 2017, 12:40 pm
#1084
Join Date: Jul 2017
Programs: AS MVPG; Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 145
Are you MVP already? If so, you won't be offered the cash upgrade, you'll already be upgraded.
Check the fare difference between economy and first. On some routes there's not that much of a delta and you'll get Alaska Lounge access (and free bags, but you'd get that already as a MVP). According to missy, a change fee may apply as normal when upfaring from economy to first, but IME, the agent will only charge the fare difference.
Check the fare difference between economy and first. On some routes there's not that much of a delta and you'll get Alaska Lounge access (and free bags, but you'd get that already as a MVP). According to missy, a change fee may apply as normal when upfaring from economy to first, but IME, the agent will only charge the fare difference.
Aug 5, 2017, 11:16 am
#1086
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2008
Location: San Francisco
Programs: GM on VX, UA, AA, HA, AS, SY; Budget Fastbreak
Posts: 27,597
Does AS have curbside checkin for PDX (Portland) on sunday? We fly AS400 PDX-SFO. The 567 SFO-PDX didn't have curbside at SFO T2.
Also my home-printed BP didn't say F or "priority" and the TSA screener tried to get us into the regular tsa line before I iterated that we were in AS F. is that normal for the BP to not have any F mention because VX definitely has a F mention for tsa.
Also my home-printed BP didn't say F or "priority" and the TSA screener tried to get us into the regular tsa line before I iterated that we were in AS F. is that normal for the BP to not have any F mention because VX definitely has a F mention for tsa.
Aug 5, 2017, 11:45 am
#1087
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Ewa Beach, Hawaii
Posts: 10,909
Does AS have curbside checkin for PDX (Portland) on sunday? We fly AS400 PDX-SFO. The 567 SFO-PDX didn't have curbside at SFO T2.
Also my home-printed BP didn't say F or "priority" and the TSA screener tried to get us into the regular tsa line before I iterated that we were in AS F. is that normal for the BP to not have any F mention because VX definitely has a F mention for tsa.
Also my home-printed BP didn't say F or "priority" and the TSA screener tried to get us into the regular tsa line before I iterated that we were in AS F. is that normal for the BP to not have any F mention because VX definitely has a F mention for tsa.
Aug 5, 2017, 3:34 pm
#1088
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: YYF/YLW
Programs: AA, DL, AS, VA, WS Silver
Posts: 5,951
Mobile boarding passes on my iPhone (the kind I nearly always use) do say "Priority Boarding" (whether I have my AS MVP Gold or AA Platinum number in the reservation) and, when I'm using my AS number, "MVP Gold". I don't know if that's based purely on status or if it can also get there based on class of service.
Aug 6, 2017, 2:25 pm
#1089
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: SEA
Programs: Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 1,945
I know this one falls into the category of "fat chance," but does anyone have any positive experience with talking with an AS agent on the phone and getting what's now listed as a 30k direct mile flight for 25k? Until recently, it was 20k (when I had 18k miles), then ballooned to 30k. Even with some surge spending, I don't think I'll reach 30k by the time I need to book it at the end of this month.
This particular direct flight is not offered through any other carrier, and 1-stop is not a possibility for me this time.
Worse case, I can buy the $350 one-way ticket, but I'm really hoping to be able to use miles.
This particular direct flight is not offered through any other carrier, and 1-stop is not a possibility for me this time.
Worse case, I can buy the $350 one-way ticket, but I'm really hoping to be able to use miles.
Aug 6, 2017, 4:50 pm
#1090
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
I know this one falls into the category of "fat chance," but does anyone have any positive experience with talking with an AS agent on the phone and getting what's now listed as a 30k direct mile flight for 25k? Until recently, it was 20k (when I had 18k miles), then ballooned to 30k. Even with some surge spending, I don't think I'll reach 30k by the time I need to book it at the end of this month.
This particular direct flight is not offered through any other carrier, and 1-stop is not a possibility for me this time.
Worse case, I can buy the $350 one-way ticket, but I'm really hoping to be able to use miles.
This particular direct flight is not offered through any other carrier, and 1-stop is not a possibility for me this time.
Worse case, I can buy the $350 one-way ticket, but I'm really hoping to be able to use miles.
Last edited by CDKing; Aug 6, 2017 at 4:57 pm
Aug 7, 2017, 9:00 am
#1092
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
Specific rows are blocked until the gate for families and I've seen AS offer vouchers to get people to switch seats so family can seat together.
Aug 7, 2017, 12:19 pm
#1093
Join Date: Jun 2017
Posts: 258
I thought you were able to pick your seats ahead of time with AS and VX? Is this not the case?
Aug 7, 2017, 2:42 pm
#1094
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
Aug 7, 2017, 5:24 pm
#1095
Join Date: Aug 2017
Posts: 1,610
Can I do a same-day change or standby to an earlier flight if it will violate my minimum connection time (what if I'm standing at the gate of the earlier flight)?
Details:
- LAX minimum connection time (International to Domestic) is 2 hours.
- I land at LAX at 6:10am (from LAN), and currently same-ticketed on Alaska 10am flight lax to seattle.
- There is an 8am flight which I'm not allowed to ticket due to MCT rules, but I'm confident I can catch it (no bags, business class, global entry etc). Will I be allowed to take this flight if I try to do same-day change online, or if I'm standing in front of the agent?
This is in first-class & MVP Gold so no issues regarding eligibility for same-day change, the only issue is that the 8am flight is a hair under MCT for LAX.
Details:
- LAX minimum connection time (International to Domestic) is 2 hours.
- I land at LAX at 6:10am (from LAN), and currently same-ticketed on Alaska 10am flight lax to seattle.
- There is an 8am flight which I'm not allowed to ticket due to MCT rules, but I'm confident I can catch it (no bags, business class, global entry etc). Will I be allowed to take this flight if I try to do same-day change online, or if I'm standing in front of the agent?
This is in first-class & MVP Gold so no issues regarding eligibility for same-day change, the only issue is that the 8am flight is a hair under MCT for LAX.