So, when's AS joining the DEQM party?
 

UA, CO and AA are offering them. DL has TRIPLE EQM. Will AS get in on the action, too?

Hear hear! I've been enviously looking at those offers especially as my AS travel has diminished a lot lately and I've mostly been flying DL/NW. DEQMs would open up quite a few AS routes for MRs.

There would be positives about this and negatives. I'm sure a lot of the ANC FF's wouldn't be too happy to have a lot more competition on the ANC-SEA route should Ma and Pa Smith now become elite based on their getaway to Hawaii and the occasional trip down to the lower 48.

I think it would be good for pretty much anyone else whose travel might be limited this year. If it requires registration, then you know it would only target those who are really interested in booking additional flights to gain the status. Sorry for rambling. It would be interesting to hear what other people think about this. I have been thinking about it once I heard the other airlines would doing it.

I completely agree on the registration part. As for elite competition... well, presumably, if this was a problem, there wouldn't be DEQM/TEQM promos. Airline travel is falling off of a cliff like the rest of the economy- UA is reporting RASM down 10%+ AFTER capacity cuts of 10%+.

I suppose, though, if AS is doing OK, though, they might not need to do this. (It does seem that international travel is really taking it in the shorts compared to domestic, and Alaska's exposure to that is nearly nil, outside of some flights to MX.)

Its probably too early in the game ...

the price of airfare is allowing me to make more unnecessary or "that would be nice" trips. In a sense, im already getting DEQM's.

Until my travel gets cut, ill be a "dont bring on the double/triple EQMs" advocate ;)

I'm going to make gold whether they offer a DEQM or not so it doesnt make a difference to me

Really? Given that DL/NW, CO, AA and UA and US have all done EQM promos? Basically, AS is the only big traditional carrier who hasn't (thus excluding WN and B6).

Now granted, if their elite yields are doing fine, it wouldn't be necessary... but I'd argue it's getting late in the game, if anything, and it might be tempting to defect to CO if you fly a lot of ANC-SEA and are noticing CO offering DEQM AND lower prices...

As 90% of my travel this year is leisure I'm flying a few long haul trips, NRT,HKG,LHR over the next few months to get my AS MVPG requalified as I'm going to be living in Seattle later in the year and will be flying AS a lot more. I have to say though it was tempting to shift to UA for the rest of the year in combination with a status match and the DEQM promo I'd possibly be able to get 1K this year alone.

With pax yields being down across the industry I'd say that the number of active elites would diminish so they could afford to make it more attractive for us to requalify by flying AS.

I'm looking like I might be tight to requal for MVPG, and DEQM would definitely prompt me to look at a couple of MRs. Though actually I'd prefer any AS DEQM to be after June, so it doesn't get in the way of my UA MRing :D

I've advocated for DEQM in the past... but then I saw the light :p

I still will probably travel as much... and if I made MVPG that much faster, I'd curtail some of my discretionary MR's... (well... its all discretionary travel :p)

So for myself personally, I don't see the need for AS to offer this... and I do look foreword to the pruning of the elite ranks to increase upgrade possibilities... which is what a promo like this would diminish... Of course I know of another FTer who would love to have this option to get MVPG... and they would have a hard time at dropping to a lower level the following year... (AS would have them hooked... as they have me :D)

So, you think Alaska's going to keep the same number of F seats around for less people, especially if F travel is what's diminishing the most?

You might get what you want in the short term, but what may happen in the long term is less elites AND less F seats. After all, if you can't fill your F seats with free upgrades, even, why not reduce the size of F and add more Y? Does it make sense to cart big chairs around that don't get filled?

CO gets a decent amount of my ANC-SEA-ANC flying these days just due to price and easy-as-pie silver upgrades since it's a non-hub route. I registered for the CO DEQM promo, and for me it will probably mean that I am guaranteed CO silver for 2010, and might even have an outside shot at CO gold, depending on how many ANC-IAH trips I wind up making this year.

I'll probably make MVPG on AS anyway for 2010 so it's a moot point for me, but if AS were to offer such a promo it would be very much appreciated! ^

At first it might sound like a good idea for AS but then I got to thinking. Nothing like rewarding people who fly less by screwing the people who fly more. I have no idea at this point whether I will make gold or not but to me a double eqm promo would greatly diminish the value of attaining gold. Why should standards be lowered? I think AS is already pretty liberal with its fly 4 segments or 8 segments by the end of march promos as it is already. DEQM just degrades the integrity of these programs

Short term... yes

Read the "fine print" on the DL "triple EQM" promo. The fare buckets that yield "triple EQM" are those that normally award 150% EQM anyway. Net/net it's really only double EQM on those fare buckets and no extra EQMs are given for L, U and T fares.

Post 9/11 AS management was seriously considering reducing the number of F seats or eliminating them altogether. It's not as far fetched an idea as you think.