CalanMan

I don't know of any way to make alaskaair.com act like X fares don't exist site-wide, but I've found that on the "All Search Options" interface (which also appears at the top of results when browsing results), if you select an upgrade type, any upgrade type, it won't show the "Saver" column. The X fares still appear in the row of dates along the top, so if your days are flexible, you want use the flexible calendar view like @VegasGambler said.

It's just a layout change, and not really that useful, but I've found that ignoring a column in the middle is easier than ignoring the column on the left. With the Saver column shown, I'm constantly having moments of "Ooo! There's a good price!" followed by disappointment. It's maddening. The more I can hide X fares from myself, the better. I really wish it was a site-wide setting, including email marketing!

Flying for Fun

You can exclude them indirectly! For upgrade type select anything other than "None." Since Saver fares cannot br upgraded, only main fares will be shown in the first column. The date tabs across the top will still reflect the Saver fare.

James

xliioper

Use "as+ /f ~bc=x" in advance controls.

icelandman2

Yup that's what I've always been doing. Unfortunately instead of showing the buy-up price, this seems to show the cheapest AS flights not offering X fares for some reason.

VegasGambler

Put AS+ in the left box and F ~bc=x in the right box.

If I do this with a SFO-LAX search for 4/1 I see $74 fares. If I remove the thing in the right box I see $59. This matches the website ($59 saver; $74 main)

Eurynom0s

This just landed in my inbox. I don't see how this email is really helping anything, the only people who would potentially care about this email are the people who understand that given that Saver fares occupy the old standard economy price point and that the full main cabin tickets got a price bump, that this was a devaluation of Mileage Plan benefits since people who care about getting those benefits now have to cough up more to keep getting them.

missamo80

Looks like they made a mistake when proof-reading. I assume they meant to say:

Neil

dave1013

Received this morning from Andrew Harrison:

Dear dave1013,

I am writing today to talk with you about Saver fares, which is a new product Alaska Airlines recently launched. Many of you have written or called us asking for a better understanding of the rationale behind this decision, and I'd like to provide some context for why we launched a new fare class with fewer benefits than other Alaska Airlines products.

Saver fares are designed for a specific type of traveler - one who prioritizes price above all else, and not the elite Mileage Plan™ benefits you've come to know and love. Saver fares offer cost-conscious guests the absolute lowest fare possible. The trade-off is that these tickets are not refundable, not changeable, and not eligible for front-of-cabin seat selections or complimentary upgrades - even as an elite member.

We resisted launching Saver fares, but in recent years the offering of Basic Economy fares by other airlines have become popular among cost-conscious flyers and we started to lose business to the competition. In order for Alaska to be considered by shoppers, we had to reduce our Main Cabin fares to match the lowest published prices of our competitors' Basic Economy fares, while still offering full Main Cabin benefits.

As you can imagine, this became impossible to sustain. This industry shift to Basic Economy has cost Alaska hundreds of millions of dollars over the past few years. It was simply a financial imperative that we launch our own version to protect Alaska Airlines over the long term. We recognize, in some situations, you will pay more for Main Cabin fares that provide the full suite of the elite benefits you're accustomed to. Our goal continues to be what it has always been, to fulfill our commitment to maintaining low fares, great service and generous Mileage Plan rewards.

The airline industry is constantly changing and often forces us to make difficult decisions, but we remain focused on setting ourselves apart from other airlines. Our Saver fares needed to be more generous than run-of-the-mill Basic Economy fares, and they are. Alaska passengers who purchase Saver fares earn full miles for their trip, are allowed to bring a carry-on bag and in many cases can still be assigned a seat at the time of booking - albeit in the rear of the aircraft. Additionally, elite Mileage Plan members who purchase Saver fares will still enjoy priority boarding.

We did a poor job at providing you with enough information well in advance about how Saver fares might impact your elite experience, and for that I apologize. Going forward, we will err on the side of providing our most loyal customers like you with more proactive and transparent communication about product changes of this magnitude — for better or worse.

Thank you for your loyalty and understanding. It means the world to us, and we don't take it for granted.

Sincerely,
Andrew HarrisonEVP & Chief Commercial Officer, Alaska Airlines

JacksonFlyer

I just got this e-mail a few minutes ago and I wondered how long before somebody would say something here....was not disappointed. The mods should probably combine this with the ongoing "Saver Fare" discussion as I doubt this explanation from Alaska will sway anyone who have commented ad nauseam on this topic one way or the other. I appreciate that the powers that be understand that there are rumblings amongst their elite members and took the time to send the e-mail, even if it doesn't mean much to some. I appreciate it.

Eurynom0s

I feel like the ultimate problem here is framing. If they'd just come out and said that they'd decided they needed to raise fares, obviously nobody would like it but whatever, that's a thing that happens. But the doublethink about Saver fares being great for cost-conscious people while putting them at the old baseline main cabin price point pushes it into feeling a bit like they're insulting our intelligence.

jrl767

"We did a poor job at providing you with enough information well in advance about how Saver fares might impact your elite experience ..."

uh, yeah, and most of us elites -- especially those of us here on FT -- figured it out pretty quickly

as in many other areas, it's not the initial screw-up that's the problem so much as the scramble to unscrew the poor or non-existent messaging that accompanied it

metaldirtnskin

And those of us who had the misfortune of not figuring it out ended up buying those tickets (like via our corporate travel booking sites) without realizing what we were getting, or rather weren't getting.

The tone of the email was very self-pitying: poor us, we had to do it because everyone else did it, we won't do it again, maybe, unless of course we do.

nsx

Alaska just emailed this to, I presume, all elite members:

In short, "We know you are upset, but this is how it's going to be."

Somehow I can't believe that Alaska believes that it should have announced their "no more elite benefits on our lowest fares" policy at the start of 2018, when customers were deciding where to spend their 2018 travel dollars. I'm sure that it was financially better to keep customers in the dark, blindside them at the end of the year, then apologize. Loss of customer trust is hard to weigh against short-term financial consequences, and I don't believe that these breaches of faith have long-lasting effect unless they are repeated and they exceed industry norms.

I'm sure the need to provide advance notice was debated internally. I would have had more respect for Alaska if they had admitted that giving more notice would have been too financially costly. Sometimes doing right by customers is just too expensive.

nearlysober

Shed a little light into their thinking - I hadn't really considered that AS had already been competing with basic economy and just not calling it something else. Doesn't make me really any less salty about having to pay extra for my benefits... but still, I guess I appreciate them trying to communication with us an explain their thinking - even if it is just a corporate message - it's always easier to say nothing so they but an effort into this.

But yeah, basically the way they launched Saver Fares, we didn't know if they'd be the existing floor (as it turned out to be) or a newer lower fare. And we were left to ourselves to make figure out that Saver Fares were basically just a method to charge us more for our benefits.

Now, if they'd told us that in advance, would we be any happier? I doubt it

flycal312

Honestly, I thought it was a pretty good letter and understand where they are coming from. AS's saver fares are more generous than the competition's.

However, for the bit of mileage running I do with MileagePlan, it will be with Qantas Y or Singapore J / Cathay J/F, no more AS flights. I cannot stand sitting in 32C on a packed plane anymore. Maybe that's how they wanted my behavior to change, and they've done it.