Availability of Business or First Class Awards
#16
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: MEL CHC
Posts: 20,923
#17
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: British Columbia
Programs: AS MVPG100K, Marriott Marriott Titanium Elite, Hilton Gold
Posts: 7,263
Sometimes one has to "suck it up" and take the brutal. Aren't you supposed to appreciate the finer things that way? Although on my last CX F HKG-LAX I had the flu, no Krug, no Caviar, ate a small portion of the bone-in tenderloin, kept hydrated with water and slept most of the way. Now that was truly brutal.
James
On JL6 today the brutal offering is Louis Roederer Cristal 2009 and Bollinger La Grande Anne 2007.
James
On JL6 today the brutal offering is Louis Roederer Cristal 2009 and Bollinger La Grande Anne 2007.
#18
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Seattle
Programs: AS, Hyatt , Marirott
Posts: 30
Fairly disgusted seeking o/w Europe to SEA in May. Coach over the pond silly , costly routings. XxxPHL-DFW(5 hr cnx) overnight DFW then SEA. Etc.
Randomly Seattle to Auckland in October. 5am Seattle - LAX for a midnight Fiji/AKL cons in coach
what is with ridiculous connections?
Randomly Seattle to Auckland in October. 5am Seattle - LAX for a midnight Fiji/AKL cons in coach
what is with ridiculous connections?
#21
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: MEL CHC
Posts: 20,923
If frequent flyers thought they were entitled to (freebie) better seats, sales for real cash money of F & J would likely decrease
#22
Join Date: Jan 2017
Programs: alaska
Posts: 108
I searched extensively for January 2018 availability from 360+ days out and every day following. No spot ever opened up the entire time except for Premium Economy on Qantas. There was never any released to Alaska. I complained to Alaska, but fell on deaf ears.
Their Europe connections are just frankly subpar right now. After losing Delta/Air/France/KLM, it's not at an acceptable level. They need a legitimate European partner.(BA is OK, but massive fuel surcharges).
They do have competitive amounts available for Asia from JAL/Cathay/Korean Air/American, etc. (hopefully Singapore will be added sometime, although they've been slow here too).
All this said, I've basically switched over to Chase Sapphire for most of my reward spending, because although Alaska advertises like it's easy to get award flights, the reality is, it's not.
Their Europe connections are just frankly subpar right now. After losing Delta/Air/France/KLM, it's not at an acceptable level. They need a legitimate European partner.(BA is OK, but massive fuel surcharges).
They do have competitive amounts available for Asia from JAL/Cathay/Korean Air/American, etc. (hopefully Singapore will be added sometime, although they've been slow here too).
All this said, I've basically switched over to Chase Sapphire for most of my reward spending, because although Alaska advertises like it's easy to get award flights, the reality is, it's not.
#23
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Over the Bay Bridge, CA
Programs: Jumbo mas
Posts: 38,506
I've been at this FF game for 33 years now. It isn't historically uncommon for these premium awards to be available at 2 main points - when the flights are loaded into inventory, and within a few days of travel if there is space. (This provides a good way for airlines to reduce their FF balance sheet and/or get $ from partner airlines on seats that would go vacant).
#24
Join Date: Jun 2018
Programs: Alaska, Bonvoy, HH
Posts: 481
Fairly disgusted seeking o/w Europe to SEA in May. Coach over the pond silly , costly routings. XxxPHL-DFW(5 hr cnx) overnight DFW then SEA. Etc.
Randomly Seattle to Auckland in October. 5am Seattle - LAX for a midnight Fiji/AKL cons in coach
what is with ridiculous connections?
Randomly Seattle to Auckland in October. 5am Seattle - LAX for a midnight Fiji/AKL cons in coach
what is with ridiculous connections?
#25
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: British Columbia
Programs: AS MVPG100K, Marriott Marriott Titanium Elite, Hilton Gold
Posts: 7,263
I've been at this FF game for 33 years now. It isn't historically uncommon for these premium awards to be available at 2 main points - when the flights are loaded into inventory, and within a few days of travel if there is space. (This provides a good way for airlines to reduce their FF balance sheet and/or get $ from partner airlines on seats that would go vacant).
Of all the F awards I have flown, I have yet to be on a flight where occupancy has been more than 50%.
James
#26
Join Date: Jan 2014
Programs: Amtrak Guest Rewards (SE), Virgin America Elevate, Hyatt Gold Passport (Platinum), VIA Preference
Posts: 3,134
Probably. The incremental cost of adding a passenger in a premium cabin is probably a couple hundred dollars. If there's a cost of 1cpm, that probably gets you to break-even or even a small profit on that seat. The key is that it does this without lowering the "headline price" on what is often a very expensive ticket (e.g. $10-20k for a super-long-haul F seat).
#27
Join Date: Jan 2014
Programs: Amtrak Guest Rewards (SE), Virgin America Elevate, Hyatt Gold Passport (Platinum), VIA Preference
Posts: 3,134
I searched extensively for January 2018 availability from 360+ days out and every day following. No spot ever opened up the entire time except for Premium Economy on Qantas. There was never any released to Alaska. I complained to Alaska, but fell on deaf ears.
Their Europe connections are just frankly subpar right now. After losing Delta/Air/France/KLM, it's not at an acceptable level. They need a legitimate European partner.(BA is OK, but massive fuel surcharges).
They do have competitive amounts available for Asia from JAL/Cathay/Korean Air/American, etc. (hopefully Singapore will be added sometime, although they've been slow here too).
All this said, I've basically switched over to Chase Sapphire for most of my reward spending, because although Alaska advertises like it's easy to get award flights, the reality is, it's not.
Their Europe connections are just frankly subpar right now. After losing Delta/Air/France/KLM, it's not at an acceptable level. They need a legitimate European partner.(BA is OK, but massive fuel surcharges).
They do have competitive amounts available for Asia from JAL/Cathay/Korean Air/American, etc. (hopefully Singapore will be added sometime, although they've been slow here too).
All this said, I've basically switched over to Chase Sapphire for most of my reward spending, because although Alaska advertises like it's easy to get award flights, the reality is, it's not.