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MVP Gold - Waiver for Award Cancel/Change Fee

MVP Gold - Waiver for Award Cancel/Change Fee

Old Aug 28, 2017, 11:02 am
  #1  
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MVP Gold - Waiver for Award Cancel/Change Fee

As a new AS MVP Gold status-matched from VX, I believe I get Mileage Plan fee waiver for changes/cancellations of award tickets.

Does this benefit extend to award tickets I book with my miles for family members? Family members have no status. Family members will be traveling without me.
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Old Aug 28, 2017, 11:26 am
  #2  
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Yes.

Neil
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Old Aug 28, 2017, 11:55 am
  #3  
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Points used from gold account get the change fee waiver no matter who is traveling. If traveler is gold and points are from non gold, the fee applies inside 60 days, but calling on those may help for the MVPG traveler

Revenue bookings are based on traveler not who is on the reservation or who pays
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Old Aug 28, 2017, 12:18 pm
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CDKing is right... if you book with cash, the status waiver only applies to you, even if you are flying in a group... only your fare gets the wavier.

However, if you as an MVP Gold use your points to purchase a flight for anyone (even if you are not traveling with them) then it has the full change/cancel waiver protection.

Alaska customer service told me this tip last fall when trying to help coordinate getting friends to potential bowl game sites for the UW, since we had to plan before we knew where we were going
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Old Aug 28, 2017, 11:32 pm
  #5  
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Originally Posted by nearlysober
CDKing is right... if you book with cash, the status waiver only applies to you, even if you are flying in a group... only your fare gets the wavier.
Yep, I learned this the hard way a couple of years ago...

Originally Posted by nearlysober
However, if you as an MVP Gold use your points to purchase a flight for anyone (even if you are not traveling with them) then it has the full change/cancel waiver protection.
This is good to know!
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Old Oct 3, 2017, 7:31 am
  #6  
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on advance purchase, nonrefundable paid fares, does an MVP Gold enjoy the ability to cancel at the last minute to receive a full refund to the original form of payment?

the answer seems to be Yes, as per https://www.alaskaair.com/content/tr...ices-fees.aspx.

however, wondering if in practice the refund goes to the AS equivalent of a VX Travel Bank.
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Old Oct 3, 2017, 9:31 am
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Originally Posted by Colin
on advance purchase, nonrefundable paid fares, does an MVP Gold enjoy the ability to cancel at the last minute to receive a full refund to the original form of payment?

the answer seems to be Yes, as per https://www.alaskaair.com/content/tr...ices-fees.aspx.

however, wondering if in practice the refund goes to the AS equivalent of a VX Travel Bank.
It only goes back to the original form of payment if you cancel within the first 24 hours. After that, for non-refundable tickets, while there is no cancellation fee assessed for Gold/75k or if it is more than 60 days prior to travel, the funds go into 'my wallet', which is AS' version of the VX Travel Bank or can be sent to you via a credit certificate to use on a future flight.

- Receive the value of a previously canceled ticket as credit certificates or My Wallet credit


https://www.alaskaair.com/content/ab...process-refund

We now offer you the option to receive a credit certificate on wholly unused nonrefundable tickets when canceling on alaskaair.com. A service fee will apply for each ticket being changed, plus payment of any difference between the value of your original ticket and the new fare. If you use part of your ticket, any remaining value is calculated against the flown portions of your trip.
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Old Oct 3, 2017, 10:57 am
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Reminder about No-Show Policy beginning Oct 2

If you don't cancel your ticket before your flight departs, we'll apply our updated no-show policy to your reservation.

This means:

Like we do today, we'll cancel your flight reservation and all continuing and return flights.
The money and/or Mileage Plan™ miles spent on non-refundable fares will not be available as credit towards a future flight.
While we adjust to the updated policy, we are happy to allow an exception through the end of 2017 in case you forget to tell us in advance.
We'll continue to waive change and cancellation fees for MVP Gold and MVP Gold 75K members. However, changes and cancellations must be made before your flight's departure time to be eligible for credit toward a future flight (unless you purchased a refundable fare).
So "no-show", nothing back even for elites.

Jiburi

Last edited by jiburi; Oct 3, 2017 at 11:06 am
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Old Mar 11, 2018, 9:23 pm
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Originally Posted by Finkface
It only goes back to the original form of payment if you cancel within the first 24 hours. After that, for non-refundable tickets, while there is no cancellation fee assessed for Gold/75k or if it is more than 60 days prior to travel, the funds go into 'my wallet', which is AS' version of the VX Travel Bank or can be sent to you via a credit certificate to use on a future flight.

- Receive the value of a previously canceled ticket as credit certificates or My Wallet credit

https://www.alaskaair.com/content/ab...process-refund

We now offer you the option to receive a credit certificate on wholly unused nonrefundable tickets when canceling on alaskaair.com. A service fee will apply for each ticket being changed, plus payment of any difference between the value of your original ticket and the new fare. If you use part of your ticket, any remaining value is calculated against the flown portions of your trip.
Does this apply regardless of purchasing site (like other than alaskaair.com)? More specifically would a full refund be available if purchased via AmexTravel with MR pts?
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Old Mar 11, 2018, 9:43 pm
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Originally Posted by Governator
Does this apply regardless of purchasing site (like other than alaskaair.com)? More specifically would a full refund be available if purchased via AmexTravel with MR pts?
Non-refundable fares purchased with MR go into your wallet when canceled. Refundable fares go back to the Amex card.
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Old Mar 27, 2019, 12:22 pm
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Anyone have any practical experience with this waiver after loss of status? I booked a ticket as MVP Gold, and when I pull up the reservation online it still lists me as MVP Gold in the system. But I now am a no-status nobody. Do the rules in effect when I booked the ticket apply, or the rules in effect when I attempt to cancel apply instead?

There have been substantial schedule changes, so i may be able to cancel that way anyway, but I want to know what all my options are...
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Old Mar 27, 2019, 12:38 pm
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There is no waiver if you don't have status. The status at the time the ticket is deposited matters, not the time at booking.

That works both ways, of course. I had an award ticket that I booked when I was MVP, and wanted to change. I knew I would be MVPG later in the year. So, rather than make the change and pay the $125 fee, I cancelled the reservation (but did not deposit the ticket) and made a new one. Then when I was MVPG I redeposited it and got a all the miles and fees (except the $12.50 partner booking fee) back.
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Old Mar 27, 2019, 12:45 pm
  #13  
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Originally Posted by BenA
Anyone have any practical experience with this waiver after loss of status? I booked a ticket as MVP Gold, and when I pull up the reservation online it still lists me as MVP Gold in the system. But I now am a no-status nobody. Do the rules in effect when I booked the ticket apply, or the rules in effect when I attempt to cancel apply instead?

There have been substantial schedule changes, so i may be able to cancel that way anyway, but I want to know what all my options are...
this is probably a typical "YMMV" situation: if you speak directly with an agent you might avoid the fee, but I wouldn't have high expectations ... and of course an online transaction will be unforgiving
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Old Mar 27, 2019, 1:32 pm
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Originally Posted by BenA
There have been substantial schedule changes, so i may be able to cancel that way anyway
If it's more than an hour or two that would be the angle I'd pursue, not trying to use past status for a fee waiver.
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Old Mar 28, 2019, 2:31 pm
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Originally Posted by BenA
Anyone have any practical experience with this waiver after loss of status? I booked a ticket as MVP Gold, and when I pull up the reservation online it still lists me as MVP Gold in the system. But I now am a no-status nobody. Do the rules in effect when I booked the ticket apply, or the rules in effect when I attempt to cancel apply instead?

There have been substantial schedule changes, so i may be able to cancel that way anyway, but I want to know what all my options are...
Technically, you should have to pay the change fee. Had a friend in this same situation who lost gold status, but a prior reservation wasnt reflecting the lower status on the website. She was able to successfully make a change to the flight online without incurring a change fee, but fairly sure that if she had called in, they would have caught the status change. If it were me, Id try to do a ticket change online to a different itinerary or later date instead of a straight cancellation and see if you can make it through the whole process without it trying to charge you a change fee. Good luck!
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