olouie

So as many of you likely know by now if you redeem miles for mixed cabin redemptions where the AS segments are in premium cabin but partner is in economy, AS has historically charged the highest miles AND taxes, surcharges. This is regardless if the partner cabin is actually in the premium cabins where the high taxes and surcharges are applicable. I filed a DOT complaint a while back and finally received the response below. I would suggest if you have ever redeemed miles for mixed redemptions on BA/IB etc where the partner flight was in economy / premium econ that you should get them to refund you the incorrect taxes/surcharges and also file a DOT complaint. While they didn't admit anything in the response, they are fully on notice now that their collection of premium cabin surcharges was wrong when partner flight as not in premium cabins. Hopefully they will actually fix things now.

Alaska's response:

"Thank you for sharing your comments, via the U.S. Department of Transportation, regarding itinerary pricing on alaskaair.com. It's our goal to make sure every trip you have on Alaska goes smoothly. The best way for us to do that is hearing from you.

First, I am very sorry for any disappointment caused. With regard to your concerns, historically mixed cabin partner award inventory on alaskaair.com is displayed to allow the maximum redemption options possible for consumers. However, we have rectified this display to ensure a better guest experience for our consumers using their Mileage Plan points to travel on a partner airline. Redemption options are now based on a partner's long-haul availability and fewer mixed cabin options will be available. The price of those itineraries (both miles and surcharges) and the award calendar will be more reflective of partner seat availability. Once again, we truly appreciate your feedback and hope that your future shopping/booking experiences via our website are more seamless.

It is my hope that your future flights with us will reflect the high level of service you have come to expect when traveling with us. We value your patronage and look forward to welcoming you aboard another Alaska flight soon."

olouie

And FWIW I notice that the award search has actually changed to prioritize partner cabin availability. Much better IMHO.

flytoeat

Good for you to take constructive action and file a DOT complaint, rather than just come on FT and vent.

olouie

I tried to get AS to fix it themselves first but their responses were just so bad. Basically just gave me the run around even though I told them the exact issue multiple times in writing. Only did DOT as last resort. It’s too bad AS won’t auto refund all the incorrect fees and surcharges it collected. But just for good measure I wrote into the UK CAA since AS claims they just passed that along to partner airlines.

mildfrequence

I kind of wonder what "fewer mixed cabin options will be available" means...
That there were as many of them as there are was never the issue being raised in the first place...

olouie

I think its corporate speak for "oh well we got caught so now we will tell customers paying illegally collected higher fees was better for them". But so far searching for BA/IB redemptions is so much better, I think most of us can live without an hour or two in AS first to save $$$ if we really wanted to book long haul economy redemptions.

mildfrequence

That first bit wasn't lost on me

danielflyer

Does this also apply to partner awards where this is no travel on AS? For example I recently flew JFK - LHR - BER in Premium Economy / Economy and paid approximately $200 in fees.

olouie

That pricing sounds right. If all Econ it wasn’t an issue but when AS mixed their own premium cabins with partner economy / premium economy the fees were usually in the $600-900 range one way when flying BA 😭

remyjette

Wow, this is huge! Been wanting this for a long time. Never made sense that a SEA-PDX flight with E inventory would show up as "Partner Business" when it was followed by a 10hr flight in Coach, who would want that? Made the search more annoying, and imagine not noticing and buying that. Huge improvement.

danielflyer

That's crazy! Thank you for standing up and saying something.

ashill

Did they refund the excess taxes and fees? I don't actually see anything in the response saying they would.

olouie

I didn't fly a redemption impacted by this but filed the DOT complaint since I almost got tricked too many times. I booked some before but ended up cancelling in time when I realized what was going on. If you have a booking impacted I would write in and also likely file with DOT since AS has really dropped the ball here.

notquiteaff

Would love to know if they kept the extra taxes or passed them on.

olouie

According to Alaska reps (so take this as very much speculation) they just pass onto the partners. What is interesting about that claim is a partner airline shouldn't even really be able to take higher taxes/surcharges for an economy ticket. But I also wouldnt be shocked if BA/IB etc just accept whatever taxes/fees a partner sends over without really questioning when its too high.