Why I love Alaska in 2018

Old Nov 18, 2018, 2:21 pm
  #16  
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Originally Posted by williwaw
As MVP I haven’t had a lot of luck with upgrades. But have gotten row 17 all year and that’s worth a fair bit to me!
That's been the biggest advantage to me over UA - even if I'm not assured of getting an upgrade, I've been virtually guaranteed an exit row on every mainline flight as my fallback.
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Old Nov 18, 2018, 2:23 pm
  #17  
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Originally Posted by williwaw
As MVP I haven’t had a lot of luck with upgrades. But have gotten row 17 all year and that’s worth a fair bit to me!
Same here. I have gotten upgraded 3 times (all to/from Hawaii, so at least they were long flights) but I've been in a premium seat every other time.

What's it worth with the introduction of saver fares, though? Will you pay the extra $20 for a slim chance at an upgrade, along with the ability to select that premium seat? I probably will -- the premium seat is worth more than $20 to me. If you're not willing to, though, MVP is basically worthless now -- you can just pay $75/year for the CC, get your checked bag, and you are in the same boat whether you have MVP or not.
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Old Nov 18, 2018, 3:56 pm
  #18  
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Originally Posted by channa
We have a month and a half, you have to fix this!
I agree....if I was within 1000 miles of ANY status level, I'd be planning a quick mileage run....there is no way I would let myself be that close and miss it.
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Old Nov 18, 2018, 4:36 pm
  #19  
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Originally Posted by VegasGambler
What's it worth with the introduction of saver fares, though? Will you pay the extra $20 for a slim chance at an upgrade, along with the ability to select that premium seat? I probably will -- the premium seat is worth more than $20 to me.
Is $20 the difference between a Saver fare and a fare that guarantees an MVP or MVPG selection of a PC seat at booking? Not everyone here is 75K, and the lowest regular (non-Saver) fares have more often than not resulted in no upgrade for me this year (fortunately row 17 was often available, though not always).
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Old Nov 18, 2018, 4:47 pm
  #20  
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Originally Posted by notquiteaff


Is $20 the difference between a Saver fare and a fare that guarantees an MVP or MVPG selection of a PC seat at booking? Not everyone here is 75K, and the lowest regular (non-Saver) fares have more often than not resulted in no upgrade for me this year (fortunately row 17 was often available, though not always).
It is not guaranteed. I've literally gotten it every time, though. I'm mostly found to/from SFO; it's certainly possible that other cities / routes are more elite-heavy and harder to get.

Note that you don't need to wait for the "you've been upgraded to premium" email; I haven't seen one of those in 6 months. Just go select the seat when your upgrade window opens. It will be free. Even if the app shows a charge, it will skip the payment step and assign the seat so long as your upgrade window is open. I'm pretty sure that the PC upgrade processor is broken and I'm jumping the queue... I've certainly been in flights where I snagged a premium seat and 10 people ahead of me on the upgrade list didn't get F or PC.
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Old Dec 2, 2018, 9:27 am
  #21  
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Interesting Thread...

I am looking at taking on a consulting project next year for a Burbank based company. I will be flying out of Dallas. My first thought was to fly AA DFW>BUR, but the ticket cots seems to be around $800* PLUS a connection in PHX (I HATE connections BTW). Then I remembered that AS took over VA flights out of Love Field (and I will take DAL over DFW ANY day). Yes, no lounge access at DAL, but the trade off is still worth it to me. I was surprised that AS prices their F cabin (P fare) at $600.00 RT. Having been MVP back in 2004 & then MVPG in 2012 when AS flew out of Prescott, I always thought AS was a great little airline. Would very much look forward to flying them once again (-:

*I have negotiated first class travel as part of the engagement.
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Old Dec 2, 2018, 3:06 pm
  #22  
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Originally Posted by I_Can_Fly_US_Airways
I am looking at taking on a consulting project next year for a Burbank based company.
BUR is a great airport to fly in/out of. Minor annoyance flying AS out of BUR is that there isn't a real precheck lane in terminal B, so you get precheck-lite, but I've never had more than about 2 people in front of me in line there. There are also very limited services airside in B, so you're limited to an expensive sandwich if you're flying after work and want to get dinner at the airport, though that may matter less if you're always in F. On the upside, the little strip mall just outside the airport is a very short walk away and has some ok options - I tend to do pickup/dropoff there, rather than in the airport loop.
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Old Dec 2, 2018, 7:42 pm
  #23  
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Originally Posted by chrisl137
BUR is a great airport to fly in/out of. Minor annoyance flying AS out of BUR is that there isn't a real precheck lane in terminal B, so you get precheck-lite, but I've never had more than about 2 people in front of me in line there. There are also very limited services airside in B, so you're limited to an expensive sandwich if you're flying after work and want to get dinner at the airport, though that may matter less if you're always in F. On the upside, the little strip mall just outside the airport is a very short walk away and has some ok options - I tend to do pickup/dropoff there, rather than in the airport loop.
Also LAX has the Alaska Lounge. For me I really love LAX over BUR as I can walk between Terminals TBIT-Terminal 8 all airside so when time permits I can grab a bite to eat or use the lounge and watch the planes. BUR is small but by the time I fly into LAX I Can get to West LA in no time at all.
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Old Dec 2, 2018, 8:01 pm
  #24  
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Originally Posted by danielonn
Also LAX has the Alaska Lounge. For me I really love LAX over BUR as I can walk between Terminals TBIT-Terminal 8 all airside so when time permits I can grab a bite to eat or use the lounge and watch the planes. BUR is small but by the time I fly into LAX I Can get to West LA in no time at all.
It's the getting into/out of LAX that's a big negative - for someone going to work in Burbank, BUR is going to save more than an hour both arriving and departing on every trip. Getting to and from BUR is much more predictable time and traffic-wise. At peak commute times I can get from Pasadena to Sunnyvale via BUR in less time than it takes to get to LAX.
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Old Dec 2, 2018, 8:25 pm
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The original OP sounds like a total paid social media influencer.....it is totally written by a PR firm....."Alaska listens is a great resource"...said no regular AS flyer...ever!
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Old Dec 2, 2018, 8:27 pm
  #26  
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Unhappy Yes...

Originally Posted by chrisl137
It's the getting into/out of LAX that's a big negative - for someone going to work in Burbank, BUR is going to save more than an hour both arriving and departing on every trip. Getting to and from BUR is much more predictable time and traffic-wise. At peak commute times I can get from Pasadena to Sunnyvale via BUR in less time than it takes to get to LAX.
Not my first choice, BUT...since I get to "pick my own poison", flying into LAX & taking Uber up to Pasadena seems less stressful then having to connect thru PHX on AA (& flying out of DAL vs. DFW) every week to me...
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Old Dec 2, 2018, 9:10 pm
  #27  
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Originally Posted by isaac.chambers
The original OP sounds like a total paid social media influencer
He's not.
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Old Dec 2, 2018, 11:10 pm
  #28  
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Originally Posted by I_Can_Fly_US_Airways
Not my first choice, BUT...since I get to "pick my own poison", flying into LAX & taking Uber up to Pasadena seems less stressful then having to connect thru PHX on AA (& flying out of DAL vs. DFW) every week to me...
It's a close call, but I also tend to go for non-stops from LAX over connections from BUR, though that's partly driven by SFO being unreliable for regional flights and SEA adding a bunch of extra time flying past PDX and then back.
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