eponymous_coward

Depends on what grass you're looking for. DL Diamond (top of food chain) vs. MVPG (nowhere near the top, and in AS's primary hub to boot) isn't quite a fair comparison for upgrade priority.

It's an easy choice for ME to go with AS because otherwise the DL MQD boot would be stamping on my face forever (no, AMEX isn't an option). I go somewhere between 20k-45k miles (plus awards) on a bunch of cheap fares every year. DL would make me DL Dirt for that without sufficient MQD. AS gives me MVP or MVPG plus a pile of RDMs.

But someone who gets DL Diamond, sure, makes all the sense in the world to shoot for that. Have friends who get the DL 360 experience. By all means take it. Just like I am taking the free miles from 12Status and milking a targeted promo for 1k per partner up to 25k (so I'll be on a few DL flights in 2018).

If AS changes the program and airline to go with Basic Economy and their version of fare-based elite qualification and spend-based earning, I'll ditch to WN + whoever's cheapest as a free agent. For my average flight (2-3 hours) IFE is not a big deal, but if everyone's going to treat me like NK if I fly cheap fares I might as well fly NK, or whoever meets my needs on a case by case basis...

BenA

andyh64000

One very disappointing thing happened when we left the party. We found out the names for the round trip tickets they were giving away weren't actually drawn. One of the people checking people in just submitted names based on how much he liked someone when they checked in and we had checked in through the other line (there were two check-in lines).

eponymous_coward

You don't consider 50k RDM a year and mile flown=mile earned (plus pretty juicy RDM bonuses) meaningful (a 75K accruing partner miles will get over ~200k RDM a year from flying pretty easily)? I suppose if more free plane travel is like being served more food you don't want to eat because you've had quite enough already, sure. I could imagine someone who flies well past DL Diamond + AS MVPG might not want to see a plane on vacation.

FWIW, I have never had an issue with getting exit row all the time. As an MVP or Gold (I have multiple trips for 2018 planned out, all are in AS F or an exit row, same was true in 2017). But my travel patterns are apparently not yours. And I cheerfully fly WN.

BenA

My routes on AS are usually SEA/YVR/SFO/LAX west coast hops, and SEA-RDU/BOS/IAD/DCA transcons. I agree, I have had reasonable luck getting at least an exit row on the transcons by booking far enough in advance, but I prefer row 6, and since Premium was introduced I haven't gotten to sit there once. Still, I do agree Row 17 is pretty solid as far as coach seating goes on domestic carriers.

Close in I've had much worse luck, and I've spent more time in a middle seat on AS in the last year than I have in the last three on Delta. They're just too popular and there just aren't enough good seats to go around.

As you surmise correctly, I don't value the AS redeemable mile bonus much on its own, particularly since I'd have to plan to fly an extra 40k EQM to get those redeemable miles (or shift some of my Delta business, losing out on the associated Diamond perks). I like using miles to faraway places for special occasions, and I've actually found AS to be either hard or expensive to redeem ever since the massive Emirates redemption devaluation. The current sweet spots are probably JAL, Cathay Pacific and Qantas; I do aspire to using some of my mileage for F on one of those carriers! But availability is tight enough that I'm not going to grind out the different to 75K on mileage alone.

I value onboard and in-airport perks much more than mileage redemptions; I tend to not make decisions based on mileage earning, and then I'm pleasantly surprised when my balance grows and I can get some free stuff. (Partly, that's conditioning from Delta courtesy the awful earnings story on SkyMiles these days, and partly it's because I never fly on OPM, so my vacation dollars and time are always needed for the status grind.) If Alaska offered something like guest upgrades usable on all fare classes at 75K, though, or more partner lounge access when flying international itineraries, that might be a different story altogether.

ATOBTTR

If my flying was limited to just the West Coast and/or if AA had a better partnership with AS (which instead was made worse recently), I would possibly consider a switch to AS/AA while being SEA based. However, I stick with DL because much of my travel is to the East Coast and while AS does serve the East Coast from SEA, many destinations are once-a-day with flight schedules that don't work for me and other destinations I need to get to aren't served by AS, and the AA codeshare options are now less attractive. The East Coast destinations AS does serve are often once a day with an early morning departure from SEA which donesnt work for me as I often need a noon or mid-afternoon departure. That said, the returns to SEA from the east coast are often late evening departures which do work for my return schedule and I have used those before.

That said, I did enjoy flying AS when I have flown them, especially when there were still some reciprocal DL benefits. Heck, I managed to get upgraded on AS about 50% of the time via my DL status on SEA-LAX/LAX-SEA. I found the staff (ground and flight crew) great on most of my flights. I was fine without the IFE on the short hops up and down the coast and although some people mentioned they didn't like them, I personally found the meals I did get on AS in FC pretty decent.

eponymous_coward

Yeah, if lounge access and upgrades are your deal, I could see how DL Diamond in SEA > MVPG75K in SEA.

Personally, outside of a very few destination lounges (CX in HKG, LH in FRA), I would just as soon get to the airport and walk up to my gate as my boarding group is going on (I can do this fairly well out of SEA or my frequent airports like LAS), and my most frequent flights (1-3 hours) are ones where I am relatively indifferent to coach or first (I've SDC'ed myself out of first for a better flight time on AS so many times I've lost count). Most of my overseas flights are award J or award F (where a brace of AS miles comes in handy), so there's the lounge access (or I'm on LCCs for short flights where I just don't care). But I can see where you are coming from there.

arles

Just got the email to re-enroll for the new season - and of course, the website is not set up.

PABE

Got the email and am trying to sign up, but the website took about 4 minutes to load on the third attempt. It then failed when I tried to sign up.
Considering they seem to be heavily promoting this to SEA residents, I feel like they would try to make the website work.

ATOBTTR

EkekoBWI

Just re-enrolled family. Easy miles, though probably fewer miles this year. 6W - 10L is my guess.

SJC ORD LDR

So does being a fan of Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, or Terry Bradshaw get you 12 status? Or is it a Texas A & M thing?

doubleA

Is there a link to share? I didn't get an e-mail yet...

Paplover

In the first post.

The Situation

Website is 12status.com. DL sent the email, and I, like everyone else, immediately rushed to sign up again, causing it to go down. Waited a few hours and no issues.