safari ari

Can you split a partner award booking PNR with two people on the award? Or do you have to cancel and hope the buckets are still there to rebook individually?

Answer: Yes, it is possible just call in and have them split the PNR. Took some shuffling from the partner award site to sync, but no issues.

danielflyer

I'm looking to book SOF -> SEA flight on a third party booking site. The flight is marketed as BA but portions are operated by AA. Will Alaska count the entire trip as BA for mileage purposes, or will it use the AA chart for the portions flown on AA metal?

Flying for Fun

The BA operated flights with BA flight numbers will earn according to the BA charts. If the AA flights have BA flight numbers, they will not earn in Mileage Plan. Accruing Partner Miles "has always been" on eligible Partner Marketed & Operated flights as per the official T&Cs. AS unofficially allowed accrual on codeshare flights where both the Marketing & Operating carriers were both AS partners and a manual request was required.

When AS announced a closer partnership with AA and domestic AA flight accural, the charts were updated and now specifically states codeshare flights will not accrue Mileage Plan miles.

Partner Airline American Airlines: Overview

To ensure flight credit for travel on American Airlines, the two-letter airline code (AA) must precede the flight number (for example, AA XXXX) on your ticket receipt or boarding pass, and the flight must be operated by American Airlines. Flights marketed by another carrier and operated by American or marketed by American and operated by another carrier are not eligible to earn Mileage Plan miles, even if both partners are Mileage Plan partners.

James

danielflyer

Thanks, this is very helpful. I think the rules for BA would actually apply here since it is the marketing carrier, and I can see they have the same policy for flights marketed by BA and operated by other airlines. I'll plan to book a flight marketed and operated by BA.

sonicsmash214

Is anyone else having trouble signing up for a Mileage Plan account? I keep getting an error after submitting. Thanks!

RAD_PDX

No issues here. Mac user running Google Chrome.

sonicsmash214

Interesting. I'm still facing errors after trying a mixture of PC/MAC with Chrome/Safari/Edge. After submitting ("Join Mileage Plan") I get the following error:

Error Encountered

Our web server encountered an internal error. It was logged to aid our staff in finding a solution.

Please try your transaction again. If the problem persists, call Alaska Airlines Reservations at 1-800-ALASKAAIR (1-800-252-7522).

Flying for Fun

It looks like any chance of an Alaska Cruise season is dead in the water. Canada, today, has announced another 4 month moratorium on Cruise Ships in Canadian waters through at least October 31st, 2020. That might also be the soonest we see a mandatory self-quarentine uppn arrival into Canada lifted.

Unfortunately that doesn't bode well for AS. There won't be an influx of passengers into SEA for cruising this summer.

James

pcoll

wow, this is big for SEA. James, thanks for posting this.
we usually jump on a cruise , last minute, every year. This was to be the biggest cruise season for Seattle. Many cruise
companies increasing number of ships docking in Seattle.
my thoughts go to the friends we have made in Juneau, Skagway , Ketchikan and Victoria. This will make this year even more difficult for these communities.

Flying for Fun

Indeed, this is a challenging time for everyone. I should have posted the link to the press release but there is no shortage of related stories now.

[TIDBIT] Marc Garneau is an MP (Member of Parliament) and the Minister of Tranportation in Canada. He knows a thing or two about travel and his travels have been "out of this world," "literally." Some may recognize the name. He was the first Canadian Astronaut to travel into space. He did three Shuttle Missions, one each in 1984, 1996 & 2000.

James

atourgates

I'm currently MVP, but unlikely to do much flying before 2021.

I'm trying to figure out if there's any potential status benefit to my taking advantage of the EQM Visa promo this year.

I have just 3.6K (pre-COVID) EQMs this year. If I were to put $50K of spend on the AS Visa card (I have a small business that has a significant credit card spend every month, so this is doable) between now and the end of September to earn an additional 10K EQMs, would they just expire at the end of 2020 like normal, or has something changed with Alaska's program so that those would roll over into 2021 and give me a boost when I'll (assumedly) be flying regularly again so that I could more easily go after MVPG?

My reading of the program's COVID-changes lead me to believe that any miles earned in 2020 would just expire at the end of the year like normal, but I want to make sure I'm not missing something.

RAD_PDX

I don't see any advantage for you. Your MVP status will carry over to next year so you'll be an MVP through the end of 2021. The only way the Visa promo could help you would be if you were looking to stretch for MVP Gold this year, which it doesn't sound like you are based on current EQMs/planned future travel. Any EQMs you earn this year from now on, either by flying or through the Visa promo, will not roll over to next year. That's not to say it's impossible for AS to announce that they will roll all 2020 EQM over to 2021, but I suspect that is unlikely.

atourgates

Thanks for the clarification.

Yeah - unlikely I'll fly much in 2020 unless there's some drastic changes in COVID. Even if there were a vaccine tomorrow, I don't think I'd fly enough to make it to MVPG this year. I'll keep an eye out for any hint of a change that would allow EQMs to rollover, but otherwise agree that there's not any real benefit in my taking advantage of that promo.

rustykettel

If you're putting that amount of spend on a credit card in a three month period, you might want to look at this thread

Gold 75K Via AS Business Credit Card Spending? (Signs Point to Yes)

Flying for Fun

The EQM that you earned between January 1st and April 30th, 2020 will carry forward into 2021 and will help towards earning 2022 Status so you will be starting out 2021 with 3.6K EQM if all your flights were before the end of April 2020.

The current promotions are best for those that want to attain a higher level which will last through the end of 2021.

Rather than still needing 36.4K (AS flights only) to attain MVPG this year you would only need to fly 24,267 miles in Main or Saver. (24,267 × 1.5 plus 3,600 = 40,000) The EQM bonus on F, 75%, Y & S, 50% & B & M, 25% also gets an additional 50% boost so the actual miles flown could be less.

If you were to get the EQM from CC spend (2,500 EQM for each $5,000 spend, capped at 10,000 EQM between June 1st & September 30th, plus 1× RDM on full spend, 3x on AS spend, 40% of the $50K you would normally spend) then you would only need to fly 17,600 miles in Main. If you flew some F segments after maxing out the CC earned EQM, you could do that in 10,058 miles.

If you think you could fly between 10,058 & 17,600 miles late in the year you might want to consider allocating $20K to the AS CC. The MVPG Elite status will give you waived change/cancel fees, 100% RDM bonus & 4 Gold Guest Upgrade Certificates, (some will argue the value of, but it is a benefit nonetheless and can be used with your Companion Certificate to fly in F) and OW Elite status when AS joins OW next year. If you don't, it may still be a hedge if the CC EQM is increased or any EQM earned flying beyond April 30 is also rolled over to 2021.

The worst case scenario is that you would earn 20,000 RDM.

James