williamvdh

Has anyone used their BA Gold status (Emerald) to get benefits like luggage and seating at Alaska air with success?

I added my BA number to an Alaska booking and the number is showing in my booking but I'm unable to select seats in the OneWorld Elite part of the seat map. I contacted Alaska and they removed and re-added the BA number and they said that they don't get the status from BA.

After calling BA they said it could take months for my status to be recognized because of BA IT problems. Is this true? Or do I have to contact BA again to get this fixed for my booking?

alex67500

This is a tagline on this particular board. Some status benefits take a couple of days to replicate across, but the link may well be broken for a new entrant.

golfmad

I'm interested in this too. Alaska have direct flights from TPA to US West Coast destinations and I'm considering booking one shortly.

jwhite9185

Interesting - I booked some AS flights this morning and OneWorld Emerald shows in MMB. I was surprised it did, seeing as they’re such a recent addition.

plunet

IT problems? Surely it can't be. The BA Marketing dept haven't been sent that memo

FlightDetective

Yes, I made a new booking with Alaska on the day they joined and it recognised me as Emerald and I was allowed to select seats with no fees.

From what I can gather, you added your number to an existing booking, so maybe there is some issue around existing Alaska booking having the BA number added after the fact. That's my guess... especially if it was booked before they joined oneworld. Quite possibly this situation was not taken into account?

Either way, it worked perfectly for me.

Geordie405

So for new bookings apparently the AS booking engine doesn't recognise the BAEC number until after the booking has been finalised and the tickets issued. At that point you can go back into the booking and select seats.

I had an existing booking where my number was showing with my Emerald status next to it, but my wife's wasn't. We'd just had the tickets re-issued due to yet another schedule change plus changing my wife's name on the booking to her married surname. When I added her BAEC number it initially populated just her number, but when I refreshed the booking after a couple of minutes it showed her status.

While not strictly on topic I have to say that I have had excellent customer service from AS when amending bookings due to schedule changes etc. They also have some good earning opportunities in terms of tier points. I am flying LAS - LAX - ANC - BRW - ANC - JNU - SEA - LAS in July so that will be 380 TPs.

williamvdh

Thanks for your replies.

Because some of you had some success with this I contacted Alaska again and someone from the Oneworld desk confirmed that this is a BA IT problem in some cases unfortunately.

They are working on it "on a daily basis" and apparently BA isn't the only one with this problem. I'll give an update when it works!

ISTFlyer

I have flown AS earlier this month and inserted my BAEC Gold number and had no issues getting OWE privileges.
Also, I got a personal thank you on one of my flights and the crew offered me beer/wine and chocolate which wasn't offered to other passengers in Y.

PoincianaKings

AS status holders get this as standard. Normally a beer and a chocolate bar- that is in addition to the usual free snacks in Y or the upgrade snacks if sitting in their Premium Class seats. Either AS have decided to extend that to all OW status holders or you just got lucky!

econ

Apparently they also weren’t sent the one that said that the SFO AS lounge has been closed for years (although a new one is supposed to open later this year) and that the JFK lounge is also closed with no word if/when it will ever re-open.

DeltaFlyingProf

Just as a note on a related subject, the online log in for AS does not recognize (yet?) that Emeralds get one more free bag. For example, my husband and I had paid F tickets and were entitled to 2 bags because of the fare. But the app showed a due for a 3rd bag. However, at the airport, the check in agent was well aware that Emerald are entitled to 3 bags for free.

greenmeadie

Hi - Follow up question with this.

I'm looking at booking a AS saver ticket and I am BA silver - will I get free seat selection and luggage allowance? Reading the oneworld site, I should do, but I wanted to double check.

Thanks!

ISTFlyer

You oneworld Sapphire baggage allowance would apply ( 2 x 23 kgs / 50 lbs ) and you would be getting free seat selection.
However, you would only be able to select seats in the rear of the Economy cabin and the system wouldn't permit you to choose an exit-row or a seat in the front of the cabin for free.

eefor jfp

Booked a ticket with AS today LAX-SJC. During the booking process I could only select seats in the rear part of the cabin but after the tickets were issued (two minutes) AS recognized my status and I could select seats in the elite section. Just not premium seating (without paying the fee). Does AS ever upgrade partner elites into these seats at the airport?