flatdawgs

Self-funded flyer based in SEA; primarily travel to secondary airport in the SE, decent amount of west coast travel, and an international trip or two per year. I am debating whether or not to go for MVPG for next year; it would require an international mileage run and with the recent changes I’m not yet sure it’s worth it except to status match with DL. Losing DL was difficult as they had by far the most flights/best connections to GSP; AA wasn’t too bad through CLT but unless the codesharing issue and costs work out I’m just not sure AS is the right place any more. It’s still cheaper by $1000 to book an AS/DL itinerary SEA-GSP next April (sample dates I’ve been checking to see if anything changes) through the AS site than it is to book an AS/AA one – and even that’s $250 more than just booking directly through DL or AA. Being self-funded I’m not sure that’s worth it.

I hate the DL FF program as I pay my own way and am relatively price-conscious (although I do purchase the odd F or J fares), but it still beats potentially earning nothing on the bulk of my trips outside the West Coast. Jet Blue’s new Mint service to BOS and JFK is also intriguing, as are several international airlines that I don’t fly currently because they’re not aligned with AS. I’m hoping we see further info on how exactly this AS/AA tie-up will now work—otherwise I’m just not sure about next year’s status.

PV_Premier

Earning/maintaining status isn't as bad on DL FFP if you can fly your international trips on partners that earn MQD as a percentage of distance flown. Those can still earn quite a pile of MQD$ negating the need to buy more expensive domestic tickets to maintain status.

Case in point, I bought a $1900 W fare on VS this year SFO-LHR-AMS//LHR-SFO and it earned over $3000 MQD.

I also had a fairly expensive international coach fare on DL that netted about $2200 MQD.

Finally, I've got an upcoming coach ticket on VA that will earn 10% MQD of miles flown for a total of about $1500...the actual ticket cost all in was $870.

All told, I was a lot more concerned about needing to spend money to maintain status than I should have been. Turns out, the struggle is going to be to get enough miles to make PM.

Now, I will say I'm DEFINITELY not earning as many redeemable miles as I am used to, and that is very annoying.

Skyjumper

I'm an SFO/SJC based flier with a mix of company paid for and personal travel.

2017: Fly AS/VX when possible, AA as an alternative. UA/DL to fallback to. Currently MVPG but I should have MVPG75K by the end of the year.

2018: Status match to DL or UA. There are just to many places that I simply can't get to from SFO on AS to make it workable without AA. Even if AS goes there it typically connects in SEA at some horrible time. Combined with the degraded service levels on VX I just don't see a viable path forward flying AS.

gtslow

I'm a Seattle based business funded traveler, but I have to pick a flight no greater than $200 of the lowest cost logical fare.

2015: Alaska MVP 75k but hit it on partner metal with 70k on Alaska.
2016: Alaska MVP 75k on Alaska metal (maybe 90k total with partners)
2017: Alaska with a handful of Virgin and American. Will hit 75k on Alaska metal unless I change roles.
2018: Alaska + Virgin primarily. If I need a regional plane east of the rockies I will fly United since I have gold with them being Platinum Premier on Marriott.

BearX220

Me too, but sub ORD for SFO. From here AS has even lower utility.

2010-2017 or so: MVPGold or 75, credited all AS/AA/DL/BA/CX flying to AS although AS metal was about 40-50% of my bookings.

Moved to Chicago in 2016, and now this. So:

2018: No interest in DL SkyMiles and DL has a small footprint in Chicago anyway. Taking the B6 Mosaic match in 2017 and will try to re-earn for '18 as long as spend premium is not unreasonable; Mosaic really isn't much of a draw. Will credit AA/BA/CX to Avios. Already flying WN more, especially to eastern and southern points, and RR is honest if modest value. AS bookings limited to ORD-SEA or ORD-SFO, when the price is right. Without Mosaic, not sure I have a status play anywhere unless I revive my moribund AAdvantage account. Ah, well, I was looking to fly less anyway.

flatdawgs

That's great info - thanks! I'll need to do some more research (and it might mean I try and requalify for MVPG this year if only for status match possibilities). I will still prefer AS where possible - but it has to make sense for me. I'm not as concerned about RDM personally as I rarely have time to use them, and when I do it's normally with not enough time in advance to find the cities I need - therefore, the bank's pretty full!

I'm just one of those whose flight patterns fall through the cracks. AS isn't a true national carrier unless they can get you to secondary cities either on their own (unlikely for now) or through a partner with reasonable pricing on codeshares (hasn't happened yet but I'll still hope). I'll always be a big AS fan and have been a MP member since forever, but these changes kind of cut me out.

Baze

Did something change in the Marriott/UA agreement? I thought you only get Silver on UA with Platinum Marriott. Just curious. I'm Gold with UA due to million miler, don't fly them much anymore.

BOSTravels

Fly domestic Y for business, international J for fun. I make MVP with a combination of domestic and international. Loss of AA is annoying (for domestic purposes).
Will most likely will switch to B6 for most (all) of the domestic flights, best/cheapest J for international flights.

TProphet

It's not "cheating the system," it's asking for an exception and being granted one. Absolutely not the same thing. And why do you hope they "crack down on this," how does it help you?

dayone

Marriott Platinum gets UA Silver and Platinum Premier gets Gold.

davistev

2017 strategy:
Primary Program: AS Mileage Plan - I am based in Australia so all my Qantas domestic flights are credited to AS. My AUS-USA flights are on Fiji Airways & Qantas. My Asia-USA flights are exclusively on Hainan Airlines to SEA. Total miles this year will be around 350,000 of which about 175,000 miles will be credited to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan.

Secondary Programs:
SQ Krisflyer: All of my United flights as well as Virgin Australia and SQ flights credited here.

ANA: All of Philippine Airlines and ANA flights as well as some Star Alliance flights credited here. Looking to increase Star Alliance crediting here for 2018.

TAP PORTUGAL: Ukraine International credited here as well as some Star Alliance business class flights (200% earnings). I have yet to redeem anything but am so far not impressed with crediting success. I will redeem out and cease with this mob. Easing on TAP and ramping up on ANA as my main Star Alliance Partner.

JAL: All of my OneWorld flights (Malaysia Airlines and Qatar Business class in particular) except Qantas and American Airlines flights credited to AS.

DL Skymiles All of my Skyteam and Jet Airways flights credited here.

Tertiary Programs
Priority Pass for lounges as I fly many LCC and small airlines.
Cebu Pacific GoPoints
Malindo Air
Air Asia Big Points
Qantas points from domestic Woolworths purchases - saving for an Air North flight to East Timor.

At gunpoint
Long Haul United / American / Delta Economy. I will avoid US carriers for long haul economy if possible.
Biman Bangladeath Airlines
Pakistan International Scarelines

MILEAGE REDEMPTION GOALS:
AS miles redeem for CX flights ADL-YVR (120,000 miles Business)
ANA miles redeem for NH flights SYD-ORD (120,000 return Business)
JAL miles redeem for CX flights ADL-HKG-MNL (65,000 return Business)
SQ miles redeem for AC flights SEA-YYZ (40,000 return Business)

2018 Changes:
American Airlines flights to be credited to JAL
Jet Airways flights to ???? as no longer will be a Delta partner.

Narrative Summary
Alaska Airlines is my main USA based FF programme due to their incredible group of quality global partners. Fiji Airways and Hainan Airlines come to mind as two airlines I would not have considered in the past if not for AS. I have largely dumped Air Canada, United and Delta over the years dropping from top tier to no tier due to their horrible policies and crap service. I have moved most of my allegiance to Asia based programmes such as JAL, ANA and SQ due to their superior service and "miles based" accrual programmes.

I fly ME3 sometimes but am not a lover of their FF programmes. Emirates to AS, Qatar to JAL.

Priority Club means I no longer care about airline based lounge perks which also means I can jump on an Air Asia, Cebu Pacific, Malindo Air or Hong Kong Express flight in Phuket, HKG, MNL, DPS, KUL for short haul flights.

rustykettel

2017: AS, JL, DL until May, AA, UA. UA experience left me unimpressed.
2018: AS + ??

Increasingly self-funded personal travel on economy fares- work has been cutting travel budget and is ratcheting up pressure to use DL or AA. Can get away with an alternative if the price is low enough. Unfortunately AS has not been as competitive as in the past while UA is again.

Should have enough for MVPG in 2018 at this point so will kind of wait and see how the VX integration & changes are handled. Not impressed so far. Expect to fly several trips on AS using companion codes next year but that could be about all on AS.

Elsewhere, not sure where we're going. Loss of benefits on AA is a big blow- paying for MCE/preferred will need to be factored into ticket price. Currently have UA Silver through Marriott and would have DL Crossover Rewards through SPG but I expect one or both of those to end once the programs are combined. Less than happy with the 3+3/4+3 cabin layouts of refurbed aircraft so will lean towards carriers with either 2+ sections or travel less and pay for premium cabins.

AS benefits on DL & AA spoiled me. So did not needing to drive to PDX for decent fares. Not sure I can go back to that.

Lake_Hood

2/3 Business 1/3 Leisure

Already have a couple trips booked on AS, and haven't made the decision on whether or not I am going to jump ship yet. Considering making DL my primary, but still have a couple months to decide.

tusphotog

PHX based business traveler here. Most of my flights go to PDX, CLT and SEA. The rest are throughout the country with no discernible pattern, so I can usually get 4-5 AS long hauls a year into or out of PDX/SEA. WN is great in PHX for my short hauls (almost hourly flights to LAS/SAN/SoCal), and I've got the companion pass which makes weekend trips with the GF almost "free."

AS 75K since 2010 or 2011. The gain of the full AA schedule a few years ago was a great thing for me. I go to Charlotte about 4-5 times a year and that meant I could finally skip connecting in DTW or ATL to earn AS miles. I'd use AA to fill in the (gaping) holes in PDX schedules out of Phoenix, which helped cut down my connecting flights in Seattle. The loss of Delta was no big deal to me, but this AA one hurts since I find myself on an AA plane about 20 times a year.

Not a fan of maintaining three programs, but I'll probably be forced to do that unless I want to start flying WN to Charlotte (which is rather difficult from certain places). As for my commute up and down to PDX, the Alaska schedule is nonexistent for most of the year, and unless I want to start risking SEA connections again, I'll probably find myself back on WN.

Baze

Thanks. All the documentation I have read doesn't mention Platinum Premier.