Nov 27, 2018, 7:54 am
Last edit by: NoLaGent
How are Saver fares different?
Saver fares do include some restrictions on booking, refunds, changes, and seat selection.
These restrictions include:
Elite status benefits you do get when you buy a Saver Fare:
* Priority check-in
* Priority boarding group
* Baggage fee waiver
* Express security line at select airports (for MVPG+)
* Refreshments (alcoholic drink or chocolate for MVPG+)
* Complimentary inflight entertainment player - available on coast-to-coast and Hawaii flights (for MVPG75k, while they last)
* Bonus miles (by elite level)
Elite status benefits you don't get when you buy a Saver Fare:
* Access to preferred seating (certain seats behind Premium Class or in the exit rows)
* First Class upgrades, when available
* Premium Class upgrades, when available
* Waived change fees for MVPG+
* Complimentary same-day standby/flight changes for MVPG+
Full info here: https://www.alaskaair.com/content/tr...perience/saver
Saver fares do include some restrictions on booking, refunds, changes, and seat selection.
These restrictions include:
- Limited seating may be available at the time of purchase. Most seats will be assigned at check-in.
- We can’t guarantee that parties of two or more will be seated together.
- No refunds are allowed beyond the first 24 hours after ticketing.
- No changes, including same-day confirmed changes, are allowed for Saver fares.
- No standby is allowed for Saver fares, even for elite status guests.
- If a guest is a no-show for any flight during a trip, all other flights within that trip are automatically canceled, with no refund available.
- Saver fares cannot be combined with any other fare types on the same itinerary.
- Saver fares are non-transferable.
Elite status benefits you do get when you buy a Saver Fare:
* Priority check-in
* Priority boarding group
* Baggage fee waiver
* Express security line at select airports (for MVPG+)
* Refreshments (alcoholic drink or chocolate for MVPG+)
* Complimentary inflight entertainment player - available on coast-to-coast and Hawaii flights (for MVPG75k, while they last)
* Bonus miles (by elite level)
Elite status benefits you don't get when you buy a Saver Fare:
* Access to preferred seating (certain seats behind Premium Class or in the exit rows)
* First Class upgrades, when available
* Premium Class upgrades, when available
* Waived change fees for MVPG+
* Complimentary same-day standby/flight changes for MVPG+
Full info here: https://www.alaskaair.com/content/tr...perience/saver
Details/Discussion of Saver (Basic Economy) "X" Fares
Apr 20, 2019, 11:15 am
#751
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
Apr 20, 2019, 1:13 pm
#752
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: PDX
Programs: AS MVP Gold 100K
Posts: 2,329
Maybe standby was a bad word, aren’t these just people awaiting seats, which I thought could include the saver folks? It was clear that none of them knew they were in first as they didn’t board when they called for it. I could certainly be wrong. Just interesting
Apr 20, 2019, 1:43 pm
#754
Join Date: Aug 2018
Location: PDX
Programs: AS MVP Gold 100K
Posts: 2,329
I see. I’ve honestly never been on a flight where I was the only one confirmed in F, so I’ve never had the opportunity to see so many cleared there last minute who weren’t even on the upgrade list. I would never have thought anything of it until all of the recent stories of saver pax getting seated in PC. I figured F was the next step...
Apr 20, 2019, 2:19 pm
#755
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
I see. I’ve honestly never been on a flight where I was the only one confirmed in F, so I’ve never had the opportunity to see so many cleared there last minute who weren’t even on the upgrade list. I would never have thought anything of it until all of the recent stories of saver pax getting seated in PC. I figured F was the next step...
I also saw something similar on UA. I was flying SFO-PHX on Saturday evening. At T-48hr I cleared into F (as Gold). At that point there were only 3 F seats out of 20 taken (including me). I'm not sure how many silver cleared the next day, but at the gate the whole standby list cleared into F. The flight was about half full with 12 or 13 of 20 F seats taken.
non-revs like to fly when there are light loads since they are almost guaranteed to get a seat, probably in F.
Apr 26, 2019, 9:42 pm
#756
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Bay Area, CA
Programs: UA Plat 2MM; AS MVP Gold 75K
Posts: 35,067
I've seen some pricing tweaks on Saver fares as of today in a few markets. SFO-SEA is one example -- used to be a $30 upfare from Saver to Main, now it's $15.
Recall the Q1 comments about unseated pax for the gate agents to deal with. $30 is a bit steep for an advanced seat assignment (or better seat assignment) on a short hop like that. Maybe this will get more people to buy up.
Recall the Q1 comments about unseated pax for the gate agents to deal with. $30 is a bit steep for an advanced seat assignment (or better seat assignment) on a short hop like that. Maybe this will get more people to buy up.
Apr 27, 2019, 8:20 am
#757
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: SEA (the REAL Washington); occasionally in the other Washington (DCA area)
Programs: DL PM 1.57MM; AS MVPG 100K
Posts: 21,358
depends how you look at (and how they can spin) the difference ... say it was X=$109 and Main=$139; raising X to $124 is NOT the same as dropping Main to $124
Apr 27, 2019, 10:08 am
#758
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Bay Area, CA
Programs: UA Plat 2MM; AS MVP Gold 75K
Posts: 35,067
Apr 30, 2019, 5:47 pm
#759
Join Date: Dec 2007
Programs: ac, as
Posts: 166
I bought a cheap saver ticket round-trip to Palm Springs from Seattle and even on a mostly empty flight once a seat was assigned they wouldn't allow me to change it. I thought that was the most frustrating part of the saver fare. The only allow you to select seats and last two rows of the airplane or they will assign the seat for you. I looked before I checked in and the plane was 50% empty with lots of aisle seats and regular coach so I didn't think I'd ever problem changing or re selecting a seat but I found that was impossible to do. I had planned to do a same day change coming home but also found that was impossible. The only upgrade seats were $49 however on a $59 fare that's quite a upgrade just to get an aisle seat. I don't think I'll be using saver fares again
Apr 30, 2019, 6:47 pm
#760
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Near SEA
Programs: UA MM, AS MVPG75K, Marriott Lifetime Gold
Posts: 7,969
I bought a cheap saver ticket round-trip to Palm Springs from Seattle and even on a mostly empty flight once a seat was assigned they wouldn't allow me to change it. I thought that was the most frustrating part of the saver fare. The only allow you to select seats and last two rows of the airplane or they will assign the seat for you. I looked before I checked in and the plane was 50% empty with lots of aisle seats and regular coach so I didn't think I'd ever problem changing or re selecting a seat but I found that was impossible to do. I had planned to do a same day change coming home but also found that was impossible. The only upgrade seats were $49 however on a $59 fare that's quite a upgrade just to get an aisle seat. I don't think I'll be using saver fares again
May 2, 2019, 12:29 pm
#761
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,359
First time flying AS and first time flying Economy Basic with them on their 6 AM flight on Sunday. I've got a small regional flight (SFO > SAN) and didn't see the point in spending the extra $15 for an assigned seat and extra pretzels. During booking I set BA as the earning partner since that is the OW partner I use for collecting miles and I'm a Canadian citizen so no chance in me earning AS miles regularly via credit card spend or flying. Given that, was it a good idea to credit to them?
I'm guessing on board everything will be similar as AS aside from assigned seating and boarding priority. Correct?
Safe Travels,
James
I'm guessing on board everything will be similar as AS aside from assigned seating and boarding priority. Correct?
Safe Travels,
James
May 2, 2019, 1:33 pm
#762
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
First time flying AS and first time flying Economy Basic with them on their 6 AM flight on Sunday. I've got a small regional flight (SFO > SAN) and didn't see the point in spending the extra $15 for an assigned seat and extra pretzels. During booking I set BA as the earning partner since that is the OW partner I use for collecting miles and I'm a Canadian citizen so no chance in me earning AS miles regularly via credit card spend or flying. Given that, was it a good idea to credit to them?
I'm guessing on board everything will be similar as AS aside from assigned seating and boarding priority. Correct?
Safe Travels,
James
I'm guessing on board everything will be similar as AS aside from assigned seating and boarding priority. Correct?
Safe Travels,
James
May 2, 2019, 2:54 pm
#763
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
First time flying AS and first time flying Economy Basic with them on their 6 AM flight on Sunday. I've got a small regional flight (SFO > SAN) and didn't see the point in spending the extra $15 for an assigned seat and extra pretzels. During booking I set BA as the earning partner since that is the OW partner I use for collecting miles and I'm a Canadian citizen so no chance in me earning AS miles regularly via credit card spend or flying. Given that, was it a good idea to credit to them?
I'm guessing on board everything will be similar as AS aside from assigned seating and boarding priority. Correct?
Safe Travels,
James
I'm guessing on board everything will be similar as AS aside from assigned seating and boarding priority. Correct?
Safe Travels,
James
If you don't have status on AS, I think that basic economy is usually the way to go (assuming you are flying economy). I view the buy-up mostly as a fee to use your elite benefits. Even with assigned seating, the good seats aren't available to you as a non-elite. Also on some flights there are reports of very good seats being assigned -- even premium seats -- at check-in. I think they might be doing something stupid like blindly going front-to-back with the automatic seat assignments. If you check in early you might get a premium seat before an elite member has gotten around to moving to it for free.
Also, lots of Canadians get a lot of value out of the AS program. I'm not suggesting that you should switch primary mileage programs or anything but the partner earning is pretty good (especially if you fly in premium cabins) and the miles are worth a lot so people all over the world do find value there.
There is a deal posted on the premium cabin mileage run forum right now (I'm not sure if you've seen it there -- I know that you are active on that forum) that would almost get you MVPG status (750 miles short!) and more than enough miles for a round trip business class trip to Asia for a single $4400-ish first class round trip on BA (SFO-LHR-BOM in first class). I'm trying to resist the urge to book that one right now (if I book it straddling the new year, I'd get the rest of the way to 75k this year, half way to MVPG for next year, a ton of miles, and a pretty good christmas / new years holiday in a country I've always wanted to visit...)
Last edited by VegasGambler; May 2, 2019 at 3:07 pm
May 2, 2019, 9:00 pm
#764
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 3,359
I don't think main gets you extra pretzels
If you don't have status on AS, I think that basic economy is usually the way to go (assuming you are flying economy). I view the buy-up mostly as a fee to use your elite benefits. Even with assigned seating, the good seats aren't available to you as a non-elite. Also on some flights there are reports of very good seats being assigned -- even premium seats -- at check-in. I think they might be doing something stupid like blindly going front-to-back with the automatic seat assignments. If you check in early you might get a premium seat before an elite member has gotten around to moving to it for free.
If you don't have status on AS, I think that basic economy is usually the way to go (assuming you are flying economy). I view the buy-up mostly as a fee to use your elite benefits. Even with assigned seating, the good seats aren't available to you as a non-elite. Also on some flights there are reports of very good seats being assigned -- even premium seats -- at check-in. I think they might be doing something stupid like blindly going front-to-back with the automatic seat assignments. If you check in early you might get a premium seat before an elite member has gotten around to moving to it for free.
Also, lots of Canadians get a lot of value out of the AS program. I'm not suggesting that you should switch primary mileage programs or anything but the partner earning is pretty good (especially if you fly in premium cabins) and the miles are worth a lot so people all over the world do find value there.
Aside from flying, it may be difficult for a Canadian could earn AS miles. There is an AS credit card exclusively for Canadians that nets 30,000 miles sign up bonus + 1 mile per CAD spent on the card which seems nice but would be curious to see how it fares to the AmEx Gold card I have which earn 2 MR points per CAD on travel, drugstores, groceries and gas, 3 MR points per CAD on AmEx Travel and 1 MR point everywhere else. What's the value of 30,000 miles? What am I missing here from a rewards standpoint?
There is a deal posted on the premium cabin mileage run forum right now (I'm not sure if you've seen it there -- I know that you are active on that forum) that would almost get you MVPG status (750 miles short!) and more than enough miles for a round trip business class trip to Asia for a single $4400-ish first class round trip on BA (SFO-LHR-BOM in first class). I'm trying to resist the urge to book that one right now (if I book it straddling the new year, I'd get the rest of the way to 75k this year, half way to MVPG for next year, a ton of miles, and a pretty good christmas / new years holiday in a country I've always wanted to visit...)
-James
May 2, 2019, 10:55 pm
#765
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
Earning: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/31061078-post20.html
Last edited by VegasGambler; May 2, 2019 at 11:48 pm