I want to know other thatn paying $40 to upgrade on Alaska Airlines, is there any other way? I understand you cannot use stickers, and I don't want to be stuck in coach.
How is the First class on AS like compared to CP?

Also, (maybe Ken) Is it the best to upgrade from YYZ - LHR flying on the 8:15am departure flight and the 9:45pm departure flight returning?
Also, what is the usual hotel that any of you stay at in London.

Also, if I will not make Platinum this year, but I will make Gold, if I write to them and request to be upgraded and from my travel history,my travel is increasing dramatically from yr to yr, will they do it?

I appreciate any comments.

Regards,
Empress

I have found that CP89 from LHR to YYZ at 21:45 was not too hard to get an upgrade on.

As per the hotel: Inter-Continental May Fair in London is great!

I believe that there is some sort of challenge now for members who are Club to take on the Gold and Gold to take on the Platinum. Check with CP.

London hotels - it depends on what your budget is. If the sky is the limit , there are many to choose from. If not, then you'd have to seek high and low.

I posted about Alaska first class a while back, but it may have disappeared with the recent FT hardware upgrades.

From my one and only flight on Alaska, I would say Alaska's first class is almost as nice as Canadians economy class. [No, I didn't make a typo!] Granted, they were short flights, but the seat pitch was only 36" (I measured myself), cabin service was almost non-existant, and even though I had a first class ticket, there was no first class cabin on the second segment. I asked both Alaska and Horizon about this, and while they acknowledged it, they had no sensible explanation for it.

The airline personnel were not too impressive either. That may be due, in part, to labour "difficulties" at Alaska. But I also sat next to an FA who was deadheading home. I was none too impressed with his attitude, stories, or the fact that he just laid low when he realized the plane was oversold, and a couple of people were deboarded. A pilot sitting a few rows ahead did give up his seat for a standby passenger.

Frankly, unless your going to be on a really long flight, or really need the wider seat (21") I would say the upgrade to "first" class is not worth $40 or a sticker. Very surprising to me, as in the past, I have only heard good things about Alaska.

If you are close to Platinum, and you do have a history with CP, give them a call and discuss. They may well be able to work something out for you.

I've only flown on CP to LHR once, last April, and I used a black sticker, so I was able to upgrade at time of booking. The flight left YYZ at 8:10pm, and BC class was full, as was economy.

The one time I stayed at a hotel, was at the Phoenix, in the "touristy" part of the city. Highly unrecommended.

Sorry I can't give you any more info.

Regards,

Ken Hamer

Ken, do you remember what kind of aircraft you boarded on? It just sounds impossible to me a first class cabin with a 'impressive' 36".

I don't think there is a challenge to go from Gold to Platinum, if so, it will be perfect. Can anyone confirm this because you know, when you call one of those CP agents, they usually tell you they don't know any thing. If anyone of you is Platinum member, would it be possible to call Plat desk and ask because I am only a Gold member, so it will take me forever to wait for CPlus.
Also, I recently returned an award ticket, any idea how long it will take for my points to go back in.
Surprise, because I only heard good things about Alaska Airlines. I believe they use 737-400 right? I only get to upgrade using black stickers to LHR 72 hrs ahead, so want to book the flight with highest possibility to upgrade.
Well, I found recently that CP is trying real hard every flight to fill up their J cabin. It is a good and bad situation. I hope they do give preference to Gold and Plat members before upgrading others. They should also consider selling their unsold J class seats for a small price, since they will be empty anyway.

Regards,
Empress

Agincourt:

Indeed, it was a 737-400. And I too was surprised at the service level and the lack of seat pitch, give the generally good comments I had heard. By coincidence, I had a tape measure in my brief case, so I actually did measure the pitch -- 36" precisely.

Being a one time experience, I'm not ready to write them off. But I'll expect better the next time.

Empress:

You sound like me last year when I went YVR-HKG-BKK on black stickers. As a Gold, and being a popular route, the best I could do was standby at the aiport. I was holding my breath from the 72hr mark until boarding time, but I did get upgraded, on all segments.

One good thing -- CP holds a lot more "revenue" seats on international flights, than they do for domestic. (A revenue seat being one they hold, rather than upgrade, in hopes of selling it.) Because of this, there is a higher likelihood of getting an upgrade at the airport. Make sure your are early -- sometimes they will put you on the standby list even earlier than 2 hours. (Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.)

But a "bad" thing as well, at least if you are trying to upgrade. CP's service improvements are apparently starting to pay off big time. Sales of J class tickets are way up. I just got an upgrade today at about the 68 hr mark, for a trip from Ottawa to Vancouver, via Toronto. The YYZ-YVR segment had no upgrade availability for any class of member, for any flight, this coming Saturday. I called to check this afternoon, and literally, as I was talking to the agent, a seat became available. Whew!!! That was close!

On the other hand, it's very good news for CP.

Regards,

Ken Hamer
P.S. I'm convinced. Forget the morning flights for YYZ-YVR or YVR-YYZ. Probably not a chance in hell of upgrading, lately.

KenHammer:

I am amazed by your post. I take an average of 2 Horizon/Alaska trips a week and have only twice, in hundreds and hundreds of trips seen a mediocre FA. My experience with Alaska's 1st class would put it light years ahead of any other domestic 1st class I have experienced--even ahead of GB's (British Airway's London/Spain franchisee) 1st class.

Granted I am top level MVP/Gold so maybe I get fussed on a bit, but I can't remember any service (save trans-oceanic) which rivals that I have experienced on Alaska.

Granted if you were on a little Dash-8 to Podunk Alaska, Oregon or Montana, it might get a little tight. But, what the heck....drink your free beer/wine, relax and enjoy the breathtaking mountain/glacier views for 45 minutes.

[This message has been edited by Punki (edited 05-26-99).]