Jan 1, 2018, 3:17 pm
Last edit by: Baze
Welcome to the Alaska Airlines Flame-Free Q&A Thread for 2018!
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
For the 2017 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
For the 2017 version of this thread, please click here
2018 Alaska Airlines *FLAME-FREE* Q&A thread: all welcome, new and old!
Oct 8, 2018, 7:26 pm
#1306
Moderator: Budget Travel forum & Credit Card Programs, FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: YYJ/YVR and back on Van Isle ....... for now
Programs: UA lifetime MM / *A Gold
Posts: 14,426
Oct 8, 2018, 8:49 pm
#1307
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 120
I didn’t see anyone address your question, and it has been a few days.
Are your tickets on these two flights booked separately, or are they booked as one ticket, using one PRN? If they are booked separately, neither Alaska nor Condor will rebook you if your first flight arrives late, since neither of them will be responsible for you. That happens if you have two separate tickets. It will be up to you to purchase whatever is available as a last minute walk-up fare to get you to your final destination.
if they are booked on one PRN, it is hard to say. They will be pointing fingers at each other as to whose fault and who has to rebook or reaccommodate you. Anything could happen.
Oct 8, 2018, 10:49 pm
#1308
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: 36,017
Embarrassing question: My MVGP requalification credentials came to my former address and were forwarded by the USPS. I cannot find in my online account where to update my address.
Oct 8, 2018, 11:05 pm
#1309
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: SEA
Programs: Hilton/Marriott Gold, Accor Silver
Posts: 2,036
Oct 9, 2018, 7:53 am
#1310
Used to be 'g_leyser'
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Brandon Johnson International Airport (expect delays)
Programs: AA PlatPro, HH Gold, Bonvoy Gold, IHG Plat, Reno Air MEGA Platinum
Posts: 10,034
8 seats means former Virgin America plane. Most of the time (if not all) these do not have U released until 2 hours before flight or closer in, at that point the rest of the upgrade list will be processed. It happens that way on a few of the Alaska flights but it seems to be like clockwork on 8 seat F cabin.
Thanks for the help!
One side note, the agent originally tried to upcharge me for this, even though I am on a B fare. I held firm and told her that I should not have to pay any extra. She put me on hold and checked with the rate desk, and came back and agreed that I was right. Not sure if she thought I wasn't eligible because of my corporate discount or what?
Oct 9, 2018, 9:20 am
#1311
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: SEA
Programs: UA AS DL Hyatt SPG/Bonvoy HHonors
Posts: 2,008
It's to your advantage that it's all one ticket.
With 2 1/2 hour connection in Seattle, you should make your connection. Seattle is all connected behind security, so you should be able to go directly to the Condor gate. If SFO is FUBAR, AS has frequent flights from SFO-SEA, and there could well be earlier delayed flights. I would immediately go to a ticket or gate agent and tell them about your international connection in Seattle and ask them to put you on the next-to-depart flight to SEA.
Generally the carrier who delivers you late is responsible for rebooking you to your destination. However, given that the ticket is on DE stock and DE gets the bulk of the money, I would not expect that AS can rebook you onto another carrier without DE's endorsement. Seems likely that should you misconnect you might wait in SEA until DE's next flight. But as I said, I consider that unlikely especially if you make the effort to get onto an earlier flight once you are at SFO
With 2 1/2 hour connection in Seattle, you should make your connection. Seattle is all connected behind security, so you should be able to go directly to the Condor gate. If SFO is FUBAR, AS has frequent flights from SFO-SEA, and there could well be earlier delayed flights. I would immediately go to a ticket or gate agent and tell them about your international connection in Seattle and ask them to put you on the next-to-depart flight to SEA.
Generally the carrier who delivers you late is responsible for rebooking you to your destination. However, given that the ticket is on DE stock and DE gets the bulk of the money, I would not expect that AS can rebook you onto another carrier without DE's endorsement. Seems likely that should you misconnect you might wait in SEA until DE's next flight. But as I said, I consider that unlikely especially if you make the effort to get onto an earlier flight once you are at SFO
Oct 9, 2018, 9:54 am
#1312
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
Thank you, this was extremely helpful. Yes, this is indeed a legacy VX A319. Just as you predicted the U space opened up 2 hours before the flight. 4 upgrades cleared, leaving 2 seats left. I called and got the upgrade. ^
Thanks for the help!
One side note, the agent originally tried to upcharge me for this, even though I am on a B fare. I held firm and told her that I should not have to pay any extra. She put me on hold and checked with the rate desk, and came back and agreed that I was right. Not sure if she thought I wasn't eligible because of my corporate discount or what?
Thanks for the help!
One side note, the agent originally tried to upcharge me for this, even though I am on a B fare. I held firm and told her that I should not have to pay any extra. She put me on hold and checked with the rate desk, and came back and agreed that I was right. Not sure if she thought I wasn't eligible because of my corporate discount or what?
Oct 9, 2018, 12:05 pm
#1313
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Pacific Wonderland
Programs: ʙᴏɴᴠo̱ʏ Au, IHG Au, HH Dia, Nexus, Pilot FlyingJ Preferred
Posts: 5,336
You should have been charged upgrade fee based on length of flight. There is no comp upgrade for B class outside of MVPG & 75K members. B class gets MVP/MVPG upgrades as early as booking if U space is available. There are no comp upgrades for those with no status, unless its some weird benefit of your corporate agreement
Oct 9, 2018, 12:13 pm
#1314
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: SFO/SEA
Programs: Amex Biz Cent, Marriott LTP, Avis PC, Hilton Owners Diamond, AS MVP
Posts: 3,380
Is there an official policy on allowing free award ticket cancellation in the event of a schedule change? My wife is only MVP and she had an AA award booking MIA-JFK-SFO but AA cancelled the JFK-SFO flight and rebooked us through DFW instead (with no other JFK-SFO flagship options on that day). Coincidentally but unrelated to the schedule change, we also decided not to take the vacation we were planning to and were going to need to cancel our booking regardless and this schedule change seemed like an excellent way to ensure we could cancel without penalty.
The AS agent claimed that a free cancellation wouldn't be allowed since it was a more" advantageous" schedule change due to the layover now being shorter. She seemed indifferent to the fact that the flight was downgraded from Flagship Biz on the JFK-SFO segment. I pushed for a while and she eventually waived the cancellation fee as a "one-time courtesy" but I wasn't sure if I was just dealing with a misinformed agent or if there are actual policies around routing/class of service changes
The AS agent claimed that a free cancellation wouldn't be allowed since it was a more" advantageous" schedule change due to the layover now being shorter. She seemed indifferent to the fact that the flight was downgraded from Flagship Biz on the JFK-SFO segment. I pushed for a while and she eventually waived the cancellation fee as a "one-time courtesy" but I wasn't sure if I was just dealing with a misinformed agent or if there are actual policies around routing/class of service changes
Oct 9, 2018, 12:20 pm
#1315
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
I may have misinterpreted that he decided to do paid instead of the miles.
Oct 9, 2018, 5:30 pm
#1316
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 120
It's to your advantage that it's all one ticket.
With 2 1/2 hour connection in Seattle, you should make your connection. Seattle is all connected behind security, so you should be able to go directly to the Condor gate. If SFO is FUBAR, AS has frequent flights from SFO-SEA, and there could well be earlier delayed flights. I would immediately go to a ticket or gate agent and tell them about your international connection in Seattle and ask them to put you on the next-to-depart flight to SEA.
Generally the carrier who delivers you late is responsible for rebooking you to your destination. However, given that the ticket is on DE stock and DE gets the bulk of the money, I would not expect that AS can rebook you onto another carrier without DE's endorsement. Seems likely that should you misconnect you might wait in SEA until DE's next flight. But as I said, I consider that unlikely especially if you make the effort to get onto an earlier flight once you are at SFO
With 2 1/2 hour connection in Seattle, you should make your connection. Seattle is all connected behind security, so you should be able to go directly to the Condor gate. If SFO is FUBAR, AS has frequent flights from SFO-SEA, and there could well be earlier delayed flights. I would immediately go to a ticket or gate agent and tell them about your international connection in Seattle and ask them to put you on the next-to-depart flight to SEA.
Generally the carrier who delivers you late is responsible for rebooking you to your destination. However, given that the ticket is on DE stock and DE gets the bulk of the money, I would not expect that AS can rebook you onto another carrier without DE's endorsement. Seems likely that should you misconnect you might wait in SEA until DE's next flight. But as I said, I consider that unlikely especially if you make the effort to get onto an earlier flight once you are at SFO
Oct 10, 2018, 12:48 pm
#1317
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: ANC
Programs: Alaska 100k
Posts: 1,012
Yeah, that's all what I expected. Surprisingly (to me) the Alaska agent I talked to told me that the ticket wouldn't be eligible for my normal 75k same-day change benefit since it contained flights from other airlines, but I'll still show up at the airport a few hours early and see what they say... there are worse places to hang out than SFO terminal 2...
For example:
SEA-YVR AS/QX (4 hr layover)
YVR-NRT JL
Agent is unable to perform SDC to a different SEA-YVR flight under normal operations. Just once, however, I have been allowed to standby to an earlier flight, but that might have just been a fluke.
NRT-YVR JL (5 hr layover)
YVR-SEA AS/QX
Agent in YVR can usually perform SDC. But sometimes the phone reservation agents cannot.
I've experienced the same with HU flights and BA flights.
I think it might be dictated by fare rules. When you purchase a ticket on alaskaair.com (including mileage awards on partners), it is explicitly written that same-day changes are allowed for MVPG/75k. But when you purchase a OAL ticket, those fare rules generally won't be included for the AS segments.
Oct 10, 2018, 5:14 pm
#1318
Used to be 'g_leyser'
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Brandon Johnson International Airport (expect delays)
Programs: AA PlatPro, HH Gold, Bonvoy Gold, IHG Plat, Reno Air MEGA Platinum
Posts: 10,034
I am going to miss the VX F-cabin when they get rid of it. It is a great product.
Oct 10, 2018, 6:51 pm
#1319
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 120
SDC benefits generally only apply when there are no further OAL segments downline for the current day.
For example:
SEA-YVR AS/QX (4 hr layover)
YVR-NRT JL
Agent is unable to perform SDC to a different SEA-YVR flight under normal operations. Just once, however, I have been allowed to standby to an earlier flight, but that might have just been a fluke.
NRT-YVR JL (5 hr layover)
YVR-SEA AS/QX
Agent in YVR can usually perform SDC. But sometimes the phone reservation agents cannot.
I've experienced the same with HU flights and BA flights.
I think it might be dictated by fare rules. When you purchase a ticket on alaskaair.com (including mileage awards on partners), it is explicitly written that same-day changes are allowed for MVPG/75k. But when you purchase a OAL ticket, those fare rules generally won't be included for the AS segments.
For example:
SEA-YVR AS/QX (4 hr layover)
YVR-NRT JL
Agent is unable to perform SDC to a different SEA-YVR flight under normal operations. Just once, however, I have been allowed to standby to an earlier flight, but that might have just been a fluke.
NRT-YVR JL (5 hr layover)
YVR-SEA AS/QX
Agent in YVR can usually perform SDC. But sometimes the phone reservation agents cannot.
I've experienced the same with HU flights and BA flights.
I think it might be dictated by fare rules. When you purchase a ticket on alaskaair.com (including mileage awards on partners), it is explicitly written that same-day changes are allowed for MVPG/75k. But when you purchase a OAL ticket, those fare rules generally won't be included for the AS segments.
Oct 11, 2018, 7:59 am
#1320
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: SEA
Programs: Bonvoy Gold
Posts: 1,942
I've successfully gotten a no-fee refund (redeposit of miles) and, for other, similarity affected paid travel (- 3 hours), received compensation ($75 pp, IIRC). This applies to to Companion Fares, too, and was not affected by the new rules about 60-day changes. Its not for the AS Rep to tell you what's in your best interest. Handle this over the phone with a Manager; a good one will walk you through your options.
