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!
Sep 10, 2017, 11:09 am
#1261
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 691
does alaska offer any benefits on international partners other than lounge access? i don't understand the benefit of flying with alaska (either SEA or PDX based) if a larger share of travel is international.
The biggest impact personally would be lack of comprehensive priority privileges in PE on BA, and lack of seat selection in PE or discount J.
Domestically, Alaska's network will soon not include a lot of smaller east coast destinations with the loss of codeshares, status benefits, and mileage earning with AA in 2018 and the loss of DL.
i'm not comparing alaska to sun country, but what does Alaska offer over DL if I want to stick with one program based at SEA or PDX? or do a lot of you go with two programs (alaska domestically as much as possible plus DL/UA/AA for international)?
The biggest impact personally would be lack of comprehensive priority privileges in PE on BA, and lack of seat selection in PE or discount J.
Domestically, Alaska's network will soon not include a lot of smaller east coast destinations with the loss of codeshares, status benefits, and mileage earning with AA in 2018 and the loss of DL.
i'm not comparing alaska to sun country, but what does Alaska offer over DL if I want to stick with one program based at SEA or PDX? or do a lot of you go with two programs (alaska domestically as much as possible plus DL/UA/AA for international)?
Sep 10, 2017, 12:03 pm
#1262
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: SEA
Programs: Hilton/Marriott Gold, Accor Silver
Posts: 2,036
does alaska offer any benefits on international partners other than lounge access? i don't understand the benefit of flying with alaska (either SEA or PDX based) if a larger share of travel is international.
The biggest impact personally would be lack of comprehensive priority privileges in PE on BA, and lack of seat selection in PE or discount J.
Domestically, Alaska's network will soon not include a lot of smaller east coast destinations with the loss of codeshares, status benefits, and mileage earning with AA in 2018 and the loss of DL.
i'm not comparing alaska to sun country, but what does Alaska offer over DL if I want to stick with one program based at SEA or PDX? or do a lot of you go with two programs (alaska domestically as much as possible plus DL/UA/AA for international)?
The biggest impact personally would be lack of comprehensive priority privileges in PE on BA, and lack of seat selection in PE or discount J.
Domestically, Alaska's network will soon not include a lot of smaller east coast destinations with the loss of codeshares, status benefits, and mileage earning with AA in 2018 and the loss of DL.
i'm not comparing alaska to sun country, but what does Alaska offer over DL if I want to stick with one program based at SEA or PDX? or do a lot of you go with two programs (alaska domestically as much as possible plus DL/UA/AA for international)?
UA might make for a decent option for international crediting out of SEA, but only if you make it to *G, I think--UA Silver gets you nothing but priority waitlisting and standby on other *A carriers, not even an elite check-in line. And you'd need substantial spend on one of the credit cards to waive the PQD requirement.
Sep 10, 2017, 1:15 pm
#1263
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: New York
Programs: Bonvoy LifetimeTitanium, UA Plat 2MM, LHW LeadersClub, IHGPlat, HiltonDiamnd, ASMVPG100K, WyndDiamnd
Posts: 1,227
I know this has been dealt with many times before, but I am still somewhat confused. What happens if I take a flight that is on AA metal (in this case from NY to CDG) on Finnair code share flight #5810 (business class), would I get credit and, if so, how would it be determined? For example, do I look at the AA chart or the Finnair chart? Would I get any bonus miles, and, if so, how would it be determined? Which chart?
Sep 10, 2017, 2:06 pm
#1264
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Pacific Wonderland
Programs: ʙᴏɴᴠo̱ʏ Au, IHG Au, HH Dia, Nexus, Pilot FlyingJ Preferred
Posts: 5,336
I know this has been dealt with many times before, but I am still somewhat confused. What happens if I take a flight that is on AA metal (in this case from NY to CDG) on Finnair code share flight #5810 (business class), would I get credit and, if so, how would it be determined? For example, do I look at the AA chart or the Finnair chart? Would I get any bonus miles, and, if so, how would it be determined? Which chart?
Sep 10, 2017, 4:20 pm
#1265
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: ORD
Posts: 172
Partner Award Question
Hi all -
Hoping someone with more experience than I can save me some trouble here.
I wanted to book a one way award with a stopover. BKK-HKG-ORD-ANC. Stopover at ORD. All on CX or AS metal in biz.
ORD is technically not an AS or CX hub, so I think the stopover may be suspect, but might slip through? Additionally, it is unclear to me if the backtracking is allowed. East coast to west coast, not generally allowed. ORD-PDX/SEA/ANC, anyone know?
I only ask because AS cannot see my CX awards and having HUCA many times, I am tempted just to use some other miles to book the award. If the backtracking is allowed, maybe it is worth trying to deal with AS...if not I think I'll just book with another award currency.
Any benefit to status matching to AS to get more experienced agents who can see CX inventory?
Many thanks!
Hoping someone with more experience than I can save me some trouble here.
I wanted to book a one way award with a stopover. BKK-HKG-ORD-ANC. Stopover at ORD. All on CX or AS metal in biz.
ORD is technically not an AS or CX hub, so I think the stopover may be suspect, but might slip through? Additionally, it is unclear to me if the backtracking is allowed. East coast to west coast, not generally allowed. ORD-PDX/SEA/ANC, anyone know?
I only ask because AS cannot see my CX awards and having HUCA many times, I am tempted just to use some other miles to book the award. If the backtracking is allowed, maybe it is worth trying to deal with AS...if not I think I'll just book with another award currency.
Any benefit to status matching to AS to get more experienced agents who can see CX inventory?
Many thanks!
Sep 10, 2017, 5:37 pm
#1266
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 306
Direct Flights with Stops
SQ25/SQ26 are direct flights between JFK and SIN that stop in FRA. I'm wondering what the mileage would be if these flights were credited to Alaska. Would they be calculated as JFK-FRA and FRA-SIN or just as JFK-SIN? I imagine the situation is similar with CX888/CX889, which stop at YVR en route to JFK/HKG. Does anyone have any experience with how flights like these usually credit?
Sep 11, 2017, 6:27 am
#1267
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
Hi all -
Hoping someone with more experience than I can save me some trouble here.
I wanted to book a one way award with a stopover. BKK-HKG-ORD-ANC. Stopover at ORD. All on CX or AS metal in biz.
ORD is technically not an AS or CX hub, so I think the stopover may be suspect, but might slip through? Additionally, it is unclear to me if the backtracking is allowed. East coast to west coast, not generally allowed. ORD-PDX/SEA/ANC, anyone know?
I only ask because AS cannot see my CX awards and having HUCA many times, I am tempted just to use some other miles to book the award. If the backtracking is allowed, maybe it is worth trying to deal with AS...if not I think I'll just book with another award currency.
Any benefit to status matching to AS to get more experienced agents who can see CX inventory?
Many thanks!
Hoping someone with more experience than I can save me some trouble here.
I wanted to book a one way award with a stopover. BKK-HKG-ORD-ANC. Stopover at ORD. All on CX or AS metal in biz.
ORD is technically not an AS or CX hub, so I think the stopover may be suspect, but might slip through? Additionally, it is unclear to me if the backtracking is allowed. East coast to west coast, not generally allowed. ORD-PDX/SEA/ANC, anyone know?
I only ask because AS cannot see my CX awards and having HUCA many times, I am tempted just to use some other miles to book the award. If the backtracking is allowed, maybe it is worth trying to deal with AS...if not I think I'll just book with another award currency.
Any benefit to status matching to AS to get more experienced agents who can see CX inventory?
Many thanks!
Sep 11, 2017, 9:01 am
#1268
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Northern Calif./Eastern Ida.
Programs: Amethyst Premier Plutonium Medallion
Posts: 20,628
if you take a stopover in FRA, you'd probably get the JFK-FRA-SIN credit or at least have a better basis on which to argue for it if it didn't credit automatically.
Sep 11, 2017, 11:35 am
#1269
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 306
Sep 11, 2017, 2:13 pm
#1270
Join Date: Nov 2016
Posts: 812
Booked a Mileage Plan award flight, DSM>ORD>SEA>PSC. Currently 9:40 departure and 18:30 arrival, a pretty long day. I booked in first class, used 32.5k miles. However, the only flight that I'm actually in first on is ORD>SEA. Fine with this, since the other two flights are under an hour each.
My question, is AS similar to AA, in that if there is award space that opens up on a better itinerary, can I switch to that free of charge? Or do I have to pay a fee to change award itineraries?
My question, is AS similar to AA, in that if there is award space that opens up on a better itinerary, can I switch to that free of charge? Or do I have to pay a fee to change award itineraries?
Sep 11, 2017, 2:48 pm
#1271
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: SEA
Programs: Hilton/Marriott Gold, Accor Silver
Posts: 2,036
Booked a Mileage Plan award flight, DSM>ORD>SEA>PSC. Currently 9:40 departure and 18:30 arrival, a pretty long day. I booked in first class, used 32.5k miles. However, the only flight that I'm actually in first on is ORD>SEA. Fine with this, since the other two flights are under an hour each.
My question, is AS similar to AA, in that if there is award space that opens up on a better itinerary, can I switch to that free of charge? Or do I have to pay a fee to change award itineraries?
My question, is AS similar to AA, in that if there is award space that opens up on a better itinerary, can I switch to that free of charge? Or do I have to pay a fee to change award itineraries?
Sep 11, 2017, 4:02 pm
#1272
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
Booked a Mileage Plan award flight, DSM>ORD>SEA>PSC. Currently 9:40 departure and 18:30 arrival, a pretty long day. I booked in first class, used 32.5k miles. However, the only flight that I'm actually in first on is ORD>SEA. Fine with this, since the other two flights are under an hour each.
My question, is AS similar to AA, in that if there is award space that opens up on a better itinerary, can I switch to that free of charge? Or do I have to pay a fee to change award itineraries?
My question, is AS similar to AA, in that if there is award space that opens up on a better itinerary, can I switch to that free of charge? Or do I have to pay a fee to change award itineraries?
Sep 11, 2017, 4:13 pm
#1273
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Pacific Wonderland
Programs: ʙᴏɴᴠo̱ʏ Au, IHG Au, HH Dia, Nexus, Pilot FlyingJ Preferred
Posts: 5,336
Who knows, maybe you'll get lucky. Heading eastward, FRA-SIN departs on the following calendar day although I'd assume SQ is smart enough not to be confused prior to sending the data to AS.
Sep 11, 2017, 11:31 pm
#1274
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: PDX
Programs: HHonors Gold since '02, Hertz President's Circle since '07
Posts: 3,226
24 hour cancellation, gift certificates, discount codes
I have only recently come into some discount codes and gift certificates. This is all new to me, and I have some questions because I've received inconsistent information on the AS site and from service reps.
1. If you book with a gift certificate and then cancel within 24 hours I believe a replacement certificate will be issued. How long does it take to receive the replacement? When does the replacement expire? Is it possible to extend the expiration of a certificate by booking then canceling?
2. What happens to a discount code when it is used and then the booking is canceled within the 24 hour cancellation period?
1. If you book with a gift certificate and then cancel within 24 hours I believe a replacement certificate will be issued. How long does it take to receive the replacement? When does the replacement expire? Is it possible to extend the expiration of a certificate by booking then canceling?
2. What happens to a discount code when it is used and then the booking is canceled within the 24 hour cancellation period?
Sep 12, 2017, 12:21 am
#1275
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: ANC
Programs: Alaska 100k
Posts: 1,012
Are you waitlisted for first class when it says "Premium Class Waitlisted"?
I realized that I have flown only paid F and QX flights this whole year. So this is the first time I've ever had to deal with upgrades to Premium & First.
I realized that I have flown only paid F and QX flights this whole year. So this is the first time I've ever had to deal with upgrades to Premium & First.
Last edited by PABE; Sep 12, 2017 at 11:19 pm