BOB W

Not much new came up. Here are the highlights:

1. Platinum was ready to roll out with some "Really Exciting" benefits according to Rick Rasmussen. It will happen eventually, but the resources to roll it out & administer it were used instead to solve the flight delays, baggage handling problems & other issues. It will happen

They will "Reach Out" to their top flyers in the mean time to offer more personal "stuff". No details offered

2. No more scheduled MD-80's on Alaska flights except for mechanical swaps. All MD-80's will be retired by October

3. Most flight numbers are changing to a more orderly sequence. I understand the sequencing but don't want to get into it here. AS will be sending out an announcement

4. AS will be using more of the North terminal in SEA. As UA vacates gates & reduces their presence in SEA, AS will move in

5. AS is adding flights to LAX & SFO from SEA to make them hourly. All of those flights will go out of the C concourse

6. WIFI is scheduled for testing in April on one plane. Pricing structure TBD

7. AS is working on coach cabin recognition for GOLD's. It is happening, but not as frequently as AS or the GOLD's would like. More training is needed

8. I asked about problems with the multi-city function. It does not show upgrade avaliability. It also will not book what I call a backtrack itinerary. To fly from SIT to SEA in the evening, you have to backtrack to JNU. Mutli-city will not allow this currently

No new destinations noted. No extended BR hours or an additional BR in SEA was mentioned. (Sorry Jackal, I did not have time to ask)

If I think of anything else, I'll add to the post

jackal

MVPP, huh? I'm sure it's nice for the top-tier flyers, but it just means I'll be even further behind in my UG priority and race to the top of the pile...

Duckouttahere

I don't think Alaska should create a 3rd tier when they operate planes with only 2 classes. Creating an extra level is just going to tick off a lot of MVPG and MVP's to cater to a select group of people that already get the 50k bonus miles at the 75K mile mark and more than likely doesn't have to pay for their tickets out of pocket anyway. If your company makes you travel that much a year, tell them to pay for your first class seat!

ChuckArtic

If the Anchorage Board room was not profitable they would have shut the doors years ago. I am not sure how you can explain the over staffing in Seattle as a good business decision. Board room memberships have go from $50.00 dollars a year to what they are now. The number of staff in the Anchorge board room has been reduced over the same period of time. Good for profits I'm sure.

BOB W

I agree. When I hear the 75K people wanting Plat, they step on their own tongues more often than not. Their statements go something like this "I get to the 75K so I get my 50K bonus miles, then I stop flying AS. I go to (DL, NW, CO-insert your airline of choice here) and build mile for status there."

Not much loyalty as far as I can see.

TravelMann

Just a point or two to add from what was discussed at the breakfast. At the lunch:

1) they did indeed mention that there was discussion about using the old American club at the end of the C Concourse. If an agreement could be reached, it would be open by the end of the year.

2) Some of the ideas mentioned for platinum were unlimited U availability when qualifying fares were purchased and always having award seats available. If they would double the MVP gold upgrade certificates and maybe a reduced BR membership fee, we'd be talking about a pretty rich top tier that doesn't diminish the Gold tier too much.

3) A great feature too long in the coming is the *assumption* that Golds want first class. If you buy a qualifying fare and the U space is available, the system wil automatically grant you the seats. There will be an *opt out* feature if you want to remain in coach with your party or for some other reason. You will also automatically be added to the waitlist. I've forgotten to do this a couple of times, and I go to check at three days out and my upgrade has not cleared because I didn't add myself to the waitlist at the time of booking weeks or months before.

4) An online wallet has been discussed before and it's closer to fruition. Any unused ticket values and customer service compensations etc can be pooled in your wallet for use.

5) Walkway from North terminal to South terminal at ANC is under construction. This is great news, but it's not on the secure side so being able to go over to the Boardroom when you're on Continental would still be too much of an ordeal. [Note: construction on Terminal A/B is still 1 1/2 years from completion.]

6) They are working to eliminate the loopholes in the whole *36 hour waitlist* stealth upgrades by people working the system.

It was good seeing MissyDarlin and she brought up a feature that I didn't know about. On a multiple segment trip, you might see a gold U, but you should hover the pointer over the U to see if all segments are available. You will get the gold U even if only one segment is available and have an unpleasant surprise at the end of the process.

I'm sure I've forgotten something. Anyone else??

BOB W

I have been a BR member for many years. I have never seen the ANC BR crowded to capacity or even close. I don't think they could close it due to not being profitable. Staffing does seem to be light, especially at the bar.

There are simply to many people flying to & from Alaska to try that. Remember, those people are flying to a destination where there is Board Room or a partner lounge in most cases.

The SEA BR can sometimes seem like an overcrowded hostel. The people that work there are very good at what they do & I know several fairly well. They just need a second location in SEA. If they keep expanding into the North terminal they may need three.

BOB W

I hope they have moving walkways on the majority of this path or it will be a very long hike.

TravelMann

I find these comments, and the one it is in response to, a bit harsh/cynical. Perhaps if there were a *reason* to continue past the 75 threshold, members would fly. It's not disloyal to seek the most benefit for yourself. If AS can do anything they darn well please for their bottom line so can we. Are you confusing loyalty with philanthropy? Sure, I could be charitable and continue to give my business to AS regardless of how it affects me (fares, schedules, bonuses and additional Elite qualifications be darned).

Northwest, UA and I believe AA have something in place to recognize and reward members who continue to fly past the highest tier level qualifier (in the form of systemwide upgrades and/or threshold bonuses etc This tells me that this is not a problem unique to AS. At least these carriers seem to recognize and value that marginal revenue from defections.

jackal

Agreed. I hear people complain a lot about the short hike to/from the new car rental facility (as if any other major airport has it better...and in the olden days, you walked just as far, but it was mostly outside instead of through a nice, heated tunnel with cool northern lights!). This would be even worse...

Apparently, a coworker's dad is one of the architects/engineers (or architectural engineers or whatever) on the project designing said walkway. I always meant to suggest to him perhaps having a glass wall separating the walkway into two halves: one airside and one landside. However, I never got a chance to mention it. I'm sure there would have been logistical hurdles, but having an airside connection between the two terminals would be a big bonus for North Terminal travelers, given the dearth of food options available over there. (Well, there's not much to speak of in the South Terminal now, but once they finish renovations, there will at least be a few different choices, whereas there is one cafeteria/lounge over on the North side.)

ANC RED-EYE

numbers correspond to TravelMann's #s...I deleted anything I'm not adding to to avoid this being too lengthy.

2) I think I understood RR say that they're looking at designing Platinum to reward only the top ~5% of the current MVPG's. Therefore we're talking about a very small number of extremely frequent flyers. Perks to be a more personalized, almost concierge, type service, as well as guaranteed U from all qualifying fares, etc. as mentioned above. It was STRESSED though that the implementation of platinum would aim to NOT DECREASE MVPG benefits at all.

3 & 6) Acknowledgement that the current upgrade system and waitlist seem to frequently let things fall through the cracks...this new effort may be to the disadvantage of tenacious FTers why watch seatcounter and do multi online check-ins waiting for U effectively jumping the upgrade waitlist. Currently, the autoupgrade function works until 36 hrs pre flight and is then turned over to airport...making all U availability in the 36 hour window fair game for line-jumping, mileage, and paid upgrades. New system will continue through the 25 hour mark, and talk of improving airport/check in waitlist as well.

My additions:

1) Talk of extending BR hours in ANC got unanimous applause from the 100 or so MVPG's at the lunch. RR acknowledged that this had been done and not worked in the past, referring to it becoming a "bar scene" later in the evening. However, feeling was that it was something that could be tried again.

2) Additional WiFi details: it will be trialed on one 737-800 beginning in April; plan is for it to be free service for MVPG's. Sorry Jackal...I didn't have the guts to bring up POWER.

3) Decision to increase mileage redemptive upgrades to 15,000, and only from certain fares was presented as a means of preserving U for MVP/G upgrades. Stat was that prior to this change, 12,000 U seats went to mileage upgrades per month. 95% of cases from very discounted fares, to MP members with no status reserving seats often several months to a year in advance. Since the change, that number has decreased to 2,000 - the hope is that more MVP/G's are getting upgraded either at purchase or at airport.

4) "Enhanced" F snack service got some criticism...can't remember the specific response.

5) AS is going to STOP it's homegrown and apparently failing flight status notification (no experience here - I've basically never used it). They will be contracting this out to a reputable service (compared to the service AA uses).

6) Look for the flight time ANC-HNL to be moved earlier starting in June to allow for multiple options for inter-island connections. No mention of inter-island partnerships.

SEA_Tigger

So it would be AS' answer to United's Global Services. ^

jackal

That's OK...thanks for thinking of me!

Chugach

I've heard rumors about this walkway for years, but had no idea that they were actually going to do it. There's nothing about it up on the ANC website. Good news!

While having it airside would be nice, don't forget that CO, DL, and US, are all moving back to the South Terminal once the A/B remodel is complete. Once that happens, North/South connections will probably go down considerably, especially in the winter.

Chugach

I just checked; outbound ANC-HNL in June leaves ANC at 2:00 PM, arrives HNL 6:10 PM. Inbound HNL-ANC remains on the same schedule. Good move by AS.