Combining Alaska Airlines companion fare with UR points/book & cancel
Nov 26, 2018, 10:20 pm
#31
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SEA
Programs: AS 100K, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 876
Decided to be my own datapoint. Even after calling and discussing with the rep, they are not able to do anything to the ticket. I even tried having her just cancel into my wallet. No-Go. She said it appears they are prohibited from making changes to the ticket even though its booked 100% on Alaska stock. Thanks Expedia for yet again being a pain in the ....
Nov 27, 2018, 11:08 am
#33
Join Date: Aug 2018
Programs: AA Exec Plat, Bonvoy Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 621
well, i just answered my last question. Bookings made through new UR travel portal can no longer be canceled via AS.com and have the value of the fare added to My Wallet.
that's a bummer, it was great while it lasted. Good thing I have no intention of canceling flight!
that's a bummer, it was great while it lasted. Good thing I have no intention of canceling flight!
Nov 27, 2018, 11:54 am
#34
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: PNW
Programs: AS 100K
Posts: 1,551
Nov 27, 2018, 11:05 pm
#35
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SEA
Programs: AS 100K, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 876
Based off of my test run that appears to be the case now. Based off of the portal Expedia would issue it as a standard alaska cancelled ticket certificate. Whether they are referring to Alaska's 125$ cancellation fee or a seperate one on top of that I do not know. Definitely reduces the benefit of UR for me.
Nov 28, 2018, 8:36 am
#36
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
Based off of my test run that appears to be the case now. Based off of the portal Expedia would issue it as a standard alaska cancelled ticket certificate. Whether they are referring to Alaska's 125$ cancellation fee or a seperate one on top of that I do not know. Definitely reduces the benefit of UR for me.
Do you do (or want to do) any international travel? I love Japan, so for for me, the sweet spot in their transfer partners is 110k pts -> VS miles, which can be redeemed for RT F on ANA. That has much more value (to me) than $1650, even if I do need to take the time searching for award availability.
Even UA miles are probably a better deal than 1.5c. Hyatt points definitely are. Maybe this is an opportunity to explore more uses for your points... you might find something more lucrative that fits your travel patterns
Nov 28, 2018, 11:13 am
#37
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: PDX
Programs: AS MVPG
Posts: 608
Considering that the tickets are revenue tickets that earn full EQM and RDM, I'd value them higher than 1.5c. In any case, I'm sure many people are like me where they're miles rich, cash poor, and have no plans on going to Japan anytime soon. What I miss is the free 60-day cancellation that allowed me to cancel a ticket and bank the value in my wallet so I could use it as payment on a companion ticket purchase, making the whole transaction free. As just a MVP, the loss of the 60-day cancellation killed the usefulness of this for me.
Nov 28, 2018, 11:40 am
#38
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
In any case, I'm sure many people are like me where they're miles rich, cash poor, and have no plans on going to Japan anytime soon.
I was just suggesting that if something that used to work doesn't work any more, you might want to use it as an opportunity to try to find even better value through transfer partners. You may end up saving even more money than you were before, without changing your travel patterns at all, which can only be a good thing.
Nov 28, 2018, 1:41 pm
#39
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SEA
Programs: AS 100K, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 876
that makes them exactly 1.5c (the tickets you buy with cash earn full points too!)
Sure, that example was something that's good value for me. I don't want to get too far off topic; there is plenty of discussion about how to get value from Chase pts in the UR forums.
I was just suggesting that if something that used to work doesn't work any more, you might want to use it as an opportunity to try to find even better value through transfer partners. You may end up saving even more money than you were before, without changing your travel patterns at all, which can only be a good thing.
Sure, that example was something that's good value for me. I don't want to get too far off topic; there is plenty of discussion about how to get value from Chase pts in the UR forums.
I was just suggesting that if something that used to work doesn't work any more, you might want to use it as an opportunity to try to find even better value through transfer partners. You may end up saving even more money than you were before, without changing your travel patterns at all, which can only be a good thing.
Nov 28, 2018, 6:26 pm
#40
Join Date: Sep 2008
Programs: A3 *G, AA exePlat, AS MVP 75k Gold, JL sapphire, UA silver
Posts: 4,035
For me 1.5c was plenty fine of a redemption of UR. I like travel to Europe so other than VS transfer, the other airline partners were of minimal benefit to me. Chases's transfer rates aren't all that great. I'm a Hilton guy so the hotel transfer partners are useless as well. Being able to book random tickets...total worth it to me.
eventually, i may have to settle it for 1.5c
it is nice in theory to transfer to VS and redeem ANA F for 110k. but it ignores the fact that 1) I need to position to ANA gateway, 2) I need to go to other part of Asia from Japan 3) very few date and very difficult for holiday maximization.
Nov 29, 2018, 1:18 pm
#41
Join Date: Apr 2017
Programs: AS 100k, DL PM, New Sagaya
Posts: 1,291
Just another data point. I called AS to explore changing a UR purchased ticket and they indicated its a special bulk fare they can't make changes to. For my purposes what will probably work easier is just doing a SDC through AS instead of re-engaging UR and Expedia.
Dec 13, 2018, 12:46 pm
#42
Join Date: Apr 2017
Programs: AS 100k, DL PM, New Sagaya
Posts: 1,291
As I shared in another thread, the SDC did not work due to my desire to change the routing of the original ticket. If I had not changed routing, the SDC would work. So I chose to cancel the return portion of the Expedia ticket and purchase a new ticket home. Expedia cancelled it and placed the residual value on a ticket I can use within a year through Expedia. They will charge the AS change fee for that. At the time I made this flight I was MVP so $125 was quoted. But I will be Gold for 2019 so I am curious to see if that gets waived later.
Dec 13, 2018, 4:23 pm
#43
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: SEA
Programs: AS 100K, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 876
As I shared in another thread, the SDC did not work due to my desire to change the routing of the original ticket. If I had not changed routing, the SDC would work. So I chose to cancel the return portion of the Expedia ticket and purchase a new ticket home. Expedia cancelled it and placed the residual value on a ticket I can use within a year through Expedia. They will charge the AS change fee for that. At the time I made this flight I was MVP so $125 was quoted. But I will be Gold for 2019 so I am curious to see if that gets waived later.
Dec 17, 2018, 10:24 pm
#44
Join Date: Sep 2009
Posts: 46
As I shared in another thread, the SDC did not work due to my desire to change the routing of the original ticket. If I had not changed routing, the SDC would work. So I chose to cancel the return portion of the Expedia ticket and purchase a new ticket home. Expedia cancelled it and placed the residual value on a ticket I can use within a year through Expedia. They will charge the AS change fee for that. At the time I made this flight I was MVP so $125 was quoted. But I will be Gold for 2019 so I am curious to see if that gets waived later.
Dec 17, 2018, 11:35 pm
#45
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Intermountain West
Programs: Too many to list
Posts: 12,082
Does the Expedia ticket show up in your Alaska account? Is it possible to use the value in combination with a new booking with a companion fare? I'm MVP Gold and just made an UR booking with the intention of cancelling to wallet funds so that I could book with a companion ticket for my wife. Darn Expedia - is this really dead? Let me know if there is anything I can try to help the FT Community.