olouie

If buying a comfort seat when two passengers are flying so we can have entire row to ourselves, what is the impact on upgrade chances? I couldn't find anything on the comfort seat page: https://www.alaskaair.com/content/tr...s/comfort-seat

I'm totally fine with losing the comfort seat if we both get upgraded and/or keeping it if only one gets upgraded but wasn't sure if we would even be eligible for upgrades with comfort seat attached. Both of us are 75k.

Flying for Fun

If you purchase a comfort seat you would be ineligible for a complimentary upgrade. The other Elite passenger would still be eligible provided they are on a separate PNR. If you book both passengers and the comfort seat on a single PNR nobody would be eligible for upgrades since any Elite MVPG+ can upgrade a companion if and only if there is 1 companion on the PNR.

Since you are both 75K, who is on the separate PNR is moot. When 2 Elites are traveling with different Elite statuses, book the comfort seat in the lower Elite's name and the higher Elite Status on the separate PNR. This will give you the best chance at an upgrade.

James

jsguyrus

Is the added price of the comfort seat lower than the cost for both of you to just purchase F?

olouie

Yep around 40-50% lower. If it was only 20% savings I wouldn’t do it most of the time but 40%+ is significant.

navydevildoc

This doesn’t really surprise me, the J/C/D/I fares have really ballooned lately.

olouie

Thanks all, just booked it. Was nice that you could book your tickets using wallet funds and then just call in and add the extra comfort seat (which can only be paid for with CC). Its a bit less than one seat since there are low taxes and fees - around $19 less for our ticket. Savings of 45% off two F seats. Will def be booking this more.

rune87

You can also book the seat at the same time as putting the existing passenger as EXST (Your Last Name). You can't OLCI since the system doesn't like it, but thats what I was told when I was going through Chemo and wanted more space. Worked great the entire time.

olouie

Interesting. They made a separate reservation for me and linked to it my reservation using just EXST without my last name. I hope that can OLCI for the two seats where myself and my wife will be flying but then check in at counter/gate for the extra seat. Would be nice to do that as just getting to counter can be a nightmare.

thepinenuts

Last flight my wife and I took together, used miles for "comfort seat" (middle seat). I was 75K at the time, highest elite level. Both my wife and I were upgraded on two of the four legs.

flytoeat

Similar experience using miles for EXTS - upgraded, then reinstated miles.

dayone

Automatically?

pWei

I can see linked, but separate reservations not affecting upgrade chances. Seems like thepinenuts and flytoeat's experience lends credence to this theory.

Flying for Fun

I think there is some confusion in this thread between comfort seats and an extra seat for Person's of Size.

The former, for anyone wanting the additional seat, either for their comfort or for their cello, is eligible to earn RDM only (no EQM) on the additional seat. RDM on the comfort seat isn't automatic; a call to customer service is required.

For the later, AS requests that you book the additional seat to ensure you are able to travel and won't be denied boarding on a full flight. If an extra seat is purchased* and you could have been accommodated with an empty adjacent seat on the flight without it, AS will refund the extra seat fare.

I am not certain how AS differentiates between comfort seats and extra seats internally. It seems reasonable to believe that if an extra seat is required in the Main cabin, that person can be accommodated in one First class seat & upgrades should be available while with a comfort seat, it may be accommodating an inanimate object that couldn't be accommodated in one First class seat so AS defaults to no upgrade eligibility.

If the EXST is being purchased externally (online vs with an Agent) as some posters have exampled, what are they actually purchasing? A comfort seat or an extra seat for a Person of size? By circumventing the Agent process, the designation could lead to some very interesting outcomes.

James

* Usual forms of payment: wallet, credit card, miles.

flytoeat

Yes, at window. Then reinstated mileage seat.