channa

On award tickets, sure, but not revenue tickets. That is a huge benefit of AS for MVPG and 75K.

AS has its issues, but this is a huge selling point for me. It gets me to buy tickets speculatively (even for more money) since worst case, I can always dump it in my wallet if I no longer need it. Whereas with UA/DL/AA, I have to be closer to 100% certain I'm going and happy with the flight and price before I pull the trigger. With AS, if I think I'm going and the flight and price are good enough, I buy it without hesitating.

eponymous_coward

halamadrid

I would also add that as others have mentioned even fee free changes on award tickets only happens at the highest elite levels. Even SDCs on United with plenty of seats open as an EP have required that they be in the same fare class or there is a fee. I guess for me it's more valuable to have benefits that apply to the 100+ revenue flights that I take rather than the few award flights I take in a year (where I also find great value BTW). That's where I find real value.

Legend717

I'm surprised that no one has, so far, mentioned that the Alaska MVPG benefits are available a just 40,000 miles, rather than everyone else's 50k.

But in the end, sure, keep kvetching that Alaska sucks.
I'll gladly take the upgrades you guys are leaving behind as you go to whoever else you think is better.
I've actually just come from another airline's elite program; I'm here to tell you that Alaska has a long way to FALL before they're competitive, in some regards.
But, as they say, oceans of ink upon reams of paper will rarely convince anyone of anything other than what they already believe.

eponymous_coward

I'd say there's been enough changes that I'll spend some time in 2018-2019 tire kicking (I usually sample some non-AS flights regularly anyway) and seeing if WN or DL could work. The last time I tried it VX and UA were "nopes" for various reasons (though occasional VX flights were still options). I'm usually somewhere in between MVP and Gold and cannot really ever hit 75K or be close, so the cost of it is fairly low.

CZBB

I rarely (aka never) come close to MVP, so the killing of basically any service appropriate to me will drive me to WestJet. Service out of BLI has become more expensive, and fewer options, and now with the devalue of things like 60 day change it likely means more flights on AC/WS/G4 for me.

DUT

CDKing

For now, Wait until basic comes out and the earnings are sliced in lowest fare buckets. AS likes to claim they don't have a revenue based program but not listing a specific $ amount but reduced earnings is the exact same thing.

eponymous_coward

tom911

I don't know if that's necessarily bad when you total the numbers. With my lifetime UA and AA status I can bring in 2,000 miles on a $300RT to the east coast. With Alaska, I currently bring in over 11,000 miles. There's some value for me in the extra 9,000 miles that I would pay a premium to accrue those miles, so instead of buying a $300 fare with no mileage accrual on a basic economy fare, perhaps I'd have to buy the $350 fare with full miles. Now, if full miles don't come about unless you buy a $500 fare - a $200 premium - I would not be a buyer at that level and would just pass on the miles or fly AA/UA instead for some minimal amount of miles. It's all about the numbers and they're just not out there yet.

halamadrid

I've had similar situations don't get me wrong. 75K love is not an across the board thing . Now I sort of have a feel for when the agent is going to be helpful and when they are just going to resist all the way. You normally can tell the moment they pick up the phone, and when that happens I just tell them that I need to think of my options and will call back. Sometimes it's better to hang up and just try again to see if you get a different call center. But, I've been there as well when the agent resists the logical choice all the way...

But also on the good side (which have vastly outnumbered the bad experiences) I've even had agents put me on a flight to get me home even when the gate agents and CS at the airport absolutely refuse because the flight is "full" (GA even refused to put me in the stand-by list ...smh).

T2A

So true, you get some agents that are just amazing and others that follow the rules a little too close. Haha. I will say Alaska does a really good job of empowering the people at the call center to do right by its customers.

I've found in most situations it's better to call in than talk to customer service at the airport (seems like they have to call in to make certain things happen).

ORDPSC

I'm very disappointed in the recent announced changes. My favorite thing about AS was their flight change option without a penalty. We have only managed to be MVP, but that's been going on 10 years in a row now. I've been stock piling miles to use in the "future" as we can continue to pay to fly and stay MVP which at least had a few perks we liked. But now I find myself booking premium seats which in effect gives me some of the MVP perks. As most have mentioned on this thread.... our other choice is DL which this year we managed to break into the Medallion status. If we just use our AS visas for the companion tickets and buy premium seats to Hawaii I might have to concede my MVP status to concentrate on DL status. (Although the MQM/MQD thing is incomprehensible to me & I cannot figure out the DL website - AS is WAY easier!)

ucdtim17

As an MVPG the announced changes so far don't hit very hard. I'm flying much less next year so wasn't planning to requalify this year but now it's looking like I may be able to do it without any extraordinary effort. I'm a little indifferent about it though. To go most places from the East Bay I'll have to schlep over to SFO. I foresee various trips where I have to choose between an ill-timed or overpriced AS flight and better/cheaper options on UA/DL/B6. And if I'm going to be flying economy I'll usually be better off just flying WN at OAK.

All in all I guess it's better to have the status than not but I fear I will get little use out of it.

FlyASaura

I'm not sure where the "schedule is better" piece for DL/WN/ and B6 is coming from. Delta is the only one that is even close to competitive with schedules, and they still have a slew of 1x daily midday or redeye only flights on routes where Alaska has morning, midday, or evening options. Delta's more limited SEA schedule is the biggest barrier that keeps me away from them even when the price is better .