gawright

I have an Alaska Airlines platinum Visa card, which is not free. When I first acquired it, I did so because it offered a $50 companion ticket and a couple of first-class upgrade coupons. The card renewed last fall, and I paid the fee. A few months later I had not received any new coupons, so I phoned the number on the credit card. The person on the other end of the line explained to me that I was not entitled to any more coupons--that they were only included with the initial acquisition of the credit card. (Silly me, I thought.)

So I asked if I could cancel the credit card and get a refund of my annual fee. "Too late," she said, "you can cancel at the beginning of next year." (Screwed me, I thought.)

A few months later I received a letter from Alaska/Visa explaining that my ANNUAL benefits would no longer include free Board Room passes. So I called Alaska and explained that I would please like to receive the coupons that I should have received 8 months earlier. "No problem," she said, "look for them in about 6 weeks." (Why does it take anyone 6 weeks to do something as simple as mail a letter?)

So I eventually received my coupons. The only problem is that I wanted to use the $50 companion coupon in the interim, and I couldn't. Irritating.

Before I received the new coupons, irritated I was in the Seattle airport in August and wanted to upgrade to first class. I explained my situation and asked if I could get an upgrade. No chance. I presented an upgrade coupon that had expired 7/31/02. No chance. I retired to a quiet location and wrote a phone number on the expired coupon, in such a way that it overwrote the "02". I approached another gate agent with the coupon. Bingo. First class upgrade. Am I bad?

duxfan

No, just crafty. I don't blame you. When I still lived on the west coast, I had the SeaFirst AS card. Of course, SeaFirst was owned by the old B of A, which is much different from todays B of A. But a friend was a SeaFirst branch manager, and she would run interference for me when promises weren't lived up to. She left the bank during the Nationsbank merger, and the customer service got so bad that I cancelled the card. It's a shame that an airline with such a good reputation for service is tied to a Bank that isn't.

fredmartens

Second that rant. If I didn't enjoy flying AS and the miles that go with it so much, I'd dump BofA in a heartbeat.

I have had mulitple problems with the AS Plat Card and the bank...like mailing the full payment 7 business days ahead of the due date and STILL getting hit with a late fee and interest....four months in a row.

Great airline, weak bank. Wish AS would partner with another bank.

flytoeat

I had a couple of late postings as well, even though they were mailed several days before the due date. In each instance BofA reversed any penalty/interest charges but it was still a pain to have to call and request this when I had done my part correctly. I stopped mailing my bill and started paying online. I have had no problems since. The AS mileage more than compensates for BofA's ineptness.

South of the Border

I've had no problems with using the Visa card. I find that dropping by local B of A branch to make the payment allows me to maximize the float with minimal hassles. I suspect most problems are due to slow US mail.

gloverfamily

I am fairly new to this board and have a question regarding the $50 companion certificate and two first class upgrade certificates you receive with the Alaska Airlines Visa Platinum.

(1) Can the $50 companion certificate be used with an award flight as opposed to a purchased flight?

(2) Can this $50 certificate be used in conjunction with the online fares available at www.alaskair.com or must I phone an Alaska Air representatives to use the certificate? (I've just found that the online fares are usually cheaper than the phone fares).

(3) Can you use the TWO FIRST CLASS UPGRADE CERTIFICATES with the $50 companion certificate? Can you use them with an award flight?

Thank you for your help.

stef315

I'm pretty sure the answers are: 1. No, 2. No, and 3. Yes.

I don't have my cert in front of me to read the rules, but I do know that I asked about the online fare question (#2) before and was told that it couldn't be done. I actually had to give them the certificate in hand before they would even issue the tickets.

Also, I do know that I have upgraded the tickets with upgrade certs with no problems atleast 3 times.

Someone else might know more about the award ticket but I think it states a purchased published fare or something along those lines.

opushomes

Stef is correct.

No, No, Yes

You must book with a phone agent or a city ticket office. Web fares are not eligible and there is no way to book the companion fare on-line. Fare will normally be higher than fare on the web, but with careful shopping, one can still do quite well.

Upgrade is now available only on day of travel, used to be that the ticket could be reserved and upgraded immediately. Unfortunately, that opportunity is gone and the value of the upgrade certs are drastically degraded.

You, however, can upgrade with miles at booking. Still a very good deal.

mapsmith

Actually on #2 if you make the booking for one fare on-line and then add the $50 Companion fare by phone (and do it early enough) it does work. But to use the Companion Fare you must call in. The fare the Companion Fare is the Companion of can be booked on line.

At least it did for me.

missydarlin

Actually this is only partially true. You CAN book the reservation (not ticket) online, but it has to be a regular published fare. No Internet only fares, no internet sale discounts, and no webspecials.

freymech

1. No 2. No 3. Yes and yes I'm looking at the certs and the $50 companion fare is in conjunction with a "paid published airfare" and must be obtained through a travel agent or an AS ticket counter. For your third question I have done both. One thing to pay particular attention to is that the first class upgrades can only be made the day of departure and only at the airport.
I have had first class seats held for me just so I could insure that the seats would be available when I got to the airport. Prior to this year the first class upgrades could be made at the time the tickets were obtained.


[This message has been edited by freymech (edited 09-21-2002).]

deelmakur

The bank is sneaky, especially with the payment window. I believe it may be a few days shorter than a regular, non affinity card. So, when you allow for slow mailing of the bill, followed by slow payment processing, you really end up with about a 5 day window. Not much room for error, especially if you travel a lot. I solved the problem by taking my payment to any B of A branch in the country. The regular teller takes it, and it posts in 2 days.

gloverfamily

You all have been great. Thanks for you help. So far, I've narrowed my choices down to Alaska and United. Anyone have pros/cons they would like to share?

Can you book a last minute award flight on one of Alaska's partners to say Greensboro, NC from Seattle? How soon can you get a ticket? (I'm thinking of an emergency situation where you need to leave town right away but it's to a town that isn't serviced by Alaska but is serviced by a partner.)

missydarlin

72 hours is required to get a ticket issued in a city not serviced by AS... exceptions can be made if travelling on NW for a true emergency situation.

we2sparks

You can go to the B of A website and set up auto payment from a checking account at any bank. I have the minimum payment come out automatically from my Washington Mututal account. If I want to pay extra, I go into the branch. You can have it set up to pay either minimum or balance in full..

:-) Michelle