Downgrade Question
Sep 16, 2018, 11:50 pm
#46
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: YVR, HNL
Programs: AS 75k, UA peon, BA Bronze, AC E50k, Marriott Plat, HH Diamond, Fairmont Plat (RIP)
Posts: 7,832
Your GGU is not a complimentary upgrade. While it is still an upgraded coach fare, you ‘paid’ for the upgrade with an instrument - your GGU. So it wasn’t free, you paid for it by using a currency.
Sep 17, 2018, 9:03 am
#47
Join Date: Dec 2017
Programs: Alaska Airlines
Posts: 48
Thanks all for your help. The plane was switched to one with fewer first class seats - but that happened several months ago and it was confirmed upgrade until a few hours before the flight. I've always been loyal to Alaska primarily for its customer service. Not to sound dramatic, but I was pretty shaken by this experience because of the complete indifference the gate agents showed (and in one case, pure hostility), in particular.
Sep 18, 2018, 2:29 am
#48
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Northern Calif./Eastern Ida.
Programs: Amethyst Premier Plutonium Medallion
Posts: 20,643
If one uses an instrument as ‘payment’, in this case a GGU, then by definition that is not ‘complimentary’. As I said upthread, I am sure AS will make this right á la a Customer Service gesture but the OP is not entitled to a refund. Buying a specific fare class that affords attractive conditions, in this case a complimentary upgrade possibility, is not the same as actually buying F. The OP bought coach and got coach.
Agree to disagree I guess. I see a difference between the scenario here and the ones you described. The OP had a confirmed reservation for an upgraded seat, which was secured at the time of booking due to AS own inventory management practices combined with an upgrade vehicle (cash) that the OP earned the right/privilege to access via his/her status. He/she was not wishing for an upgrade or trying to get higher in the queue by purchasing a higher fare, they were ensuring their upgrade by the willingness to pay a premium at the time the upgrade was available (booking). This is absolutely no different in my opinion than if the OP used a GGU (which is also an upgrade vehicle earned by status) to secure the exact same seat, or if the OP was a nobody and bought a $159 upgrade at OLCI only to find the plane swapped from a 739 to a 738 at the gate. The upgrade vehicle, in this case, a cash premium over the coach fare, should be refunded for failure to deliver the product promised at the time of booking.
But, alas, the carriers have us all over the barrel for these kind of things, with the DOT in their back pocket, so nothing here will really change. Hopefully, the OP will get his/her money back and an extra token from AS. In my opinion, AS inventory management practices have gotten a little sloppy for the F cabin, but I don't have any hard proof from my own experience on which to build a complaint.
One way AS could mitigate these circumstances is to create multiple upgrade buckets like DL has. Mileage and instrument upgrades go into RP/OP, but complimentary upgrades go into RU/OU, if I recall correctly. I don't know where cash upgrades or YBM instant ups go, but perhaps yet a 3rd bucket. This makes it very clear to everyone how you got that seat and what the pecking order is if they should need to rearrange seating due to an equipment swap. Not sure it always follows that pecking order in the event of downgrades (fortunately I have never been downgraded on DL) but at least it's transparent if you know the system. And this from DL who is not a harbinger for transparency.
Sep 18, 2018, 6:57 am
#49
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 204
Instant-upgrade fares haven't consistently been treated as F-cabins fares, a situation across carriers that has existed for several years. Maybe the DOT will get involved (not from one case - that's not how they work) but, frankly, I doubt it. Carriers have lawyers reviewing fare rules.
Oct 22, 2018, 8:47 am
#50
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2008
Programs: Alaska MVP Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 669
Almost six weeks later I finally received a reply from Alaska - but only after contacting a friend who works there and knows a customer service director.
They have issued a refund for the difference I paid between the lowest economy fare and the one that was upgradeable and confirmed to F class. I haven’t received it yet, but certainly expect it to come.
The person who wrote me was very kind, and I was appreciative of her note, and also the gesture.
They have issued a refund for the difference I paid between the lowest economy fare and the one that was upgradeable and confirmed to F class. I haven’t received it yet, but certainly expect it to come.
The person who wrote me was very kind, and I was appreciative of her note, and also the gesture.
Oct 22, 2018, 12:23 pm
#51
Join Date: Jan 2017
Programs: alaska
Posts: 108
This topic is debated constantly on FT in various contexts. Largely because DL, UA and AA all do it in one form or another. There have been inumerable complaints to DOT, the carriers have uniformly responded that upselling to a fare basis which is eligible for a freebie is not a downgrade requiring a refund when withdrawn, and there is even a pending class action against AA which appears to be doomed (but one never knows).
Bottom line is that the debates on FT are interesting, but carriers have won this battle. A long time ago. If they had not, it would be just as easy for AS to create a discounted F bucket which is the same as M.
Bottom line is that the debates on FT are interesting, but carriers have won this battle. A long time ago. If they had not, it would be just as easy for AS to create a discounted F bucket which is the same as M.
Oct 23, 2018, 11:08 am
#52
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: New York, New York
Programs: AA Gold, Alaska MVP; Free Agent Super Duper Diamond Treasure Chest ;)
Posts: 4,682
These buy-up fares are such a con. If you are booked into F at the time of booking, and then get downgraded, it is the very definition of "bait and switch". You end up paying higher for a crappy coach product, and end up worse than someone who paid a few hundred bucks lesser and is sitting in the seat of their choosing.