Tag Archives: Alaska Airlines

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My Outrageous 2017 Travel Predictions + Reader Ideas Needed

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Good morning everyone, I’m sorry for the delay, but I have been diligently thinking about my 2017 travel predictions.  I am going to channel my inner Nostradamus to come up with some outrageous travel predictions for 2017.  Doctor of Credit has a good resource for all other 2017 travel predictions.

Disclaimer: I have made some travel predictions in previous years and I am more often wrong than right, but that losing streak has not dampered my prediction spirit.  To see how bad I am at making predictions, please read A Look Back at my 2016 Predictions (Airlines, Hotels, Credit Cards & MS).  I consider myself an optimistic pessimist (I prepare for the worst, but hope for the best), so these travel predictions will sound depressing.

Airlines

  • Southwest seems bent on making the Companion Pass very difficult to get unless you fly Southwest every week.  I believe credit card signup bonuses will no longer count toward the Companion Pass and Southwest might kill the whole concept of the Companion Pass entirely or switch to a certificate program similar to the Alaska Airlines companion fare or Virgin America companion ticket.
  • Other airline credit cards will adopt the Alaska Airlines companion fare (you pay full price and your companion pays up to $120) or the Virgin America companion ticket (you pay full price and your companion pays full price minus $150).

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2 Mysterious Alaska Airlines MVP Gold Guest Upgrades & 24-Hour Gift Certificate Wait Period

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Good morning everyone.  Yesterday, there was a lot of excitement around Virgin America and Alaska Airlines, so I was looking around my Alaska Airlines account for more info.  I checked my Alaska Airlines account and saw a new link called Thank You Gift listed under the Mileage Plan header.  I didn’t notice this section before, but it says I have 2 MVP Gold Guest Upgrade codes available.  The codes expire on December 31, 2016, and I cannot use them, so they are available here on a first come, first use basis.

  • 9HL7-T237-2830-6919-4440-2203
  • 9HL7-T249-5463-3372-6009-2204

The strange thing is that there is a link that goes to the guest upgrades section, but there is nothing listed in the guest upgrades section.

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Alaska Airlines Breaking Up with Delta, but Improving Mileage Plan

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Buenas tardes everyone,

I’m on a Delta flight from Monterrey to Atlanta right now, and right before takeoff I received an email from Alaska Airlines announcing changes to their mileage program. “Enhancements” is often a code word for devaluation, but for the most part these seem like good things – with one glaring exception.

Alaska and Delta Ending their Partnership Effective April 30, 2017

Buried at the end of their updates and press releases is the big news that Alaska and Delta are severing their partnership next year. People have been predicting this since Delta expanded their Seattle operations several years ago and launched head-to-head competition on some of Alaska’s core west coast routes, and it’s finally happened: the last day of the partnership will be April 30, 2017. After that, Alaska and Delta will stop codesharing each other’s flights, and members of their respective mileage programs will no longer be able to earn or redeem miles on the other airline. However, both airlines will still award miles for flights booked prior to today’s announcement, even if the flights are after April 30 – a very nice move. (No elite benefits will be honored after that date, though). Continue reading →

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A Travel Hacker Wish List for Santa (Reader Ideas Needed)

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Good afternoon everyone, here is the filler post of the weekend. Enjoy!

Usually this time of year, we look back at the predictions we made at the end of 2015 or early 2016 and see how many things we got right and how many things we got wrong. It is usually a little depressing to look back and see how much has changed (for the worse) over the last 12 months. I wanted to put a positive spin on the predictions this year and turn it into a Christmas wish list for Santa. If Santa had the power to make travel hacker lives better, what would you wish for?

Grant’s wish list (in no particular order):

  • I want Chase to create a “no 5/24 rule day” so everyone can be approved for the Chase credit card they really want (I have my eye on the Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card).
  • I want the JPMorgan Chase Ritz Carlton Credit Card to change the $300 travel credit (incidentals only) to match the Chase Sapphire Reserve Credit Card $300 travel credit (paid airfare and hotels).

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Alaska Airlines 20 Minute Baggage Guarantee = 2,500 Miles for Slight Delay

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Good morning everyone, sorry my posting frequency has gone way down lately.  I am back from my trip to Maui and Kona, so I will get back to posting more frequently soon.  This is just a quick post this morning about the Alaska Airlines 20 minute baggage guarantee.  If your checked bag is not available on the baggage claim carousel within 20 minutes of landing, you can get a $25 Alaska Airlines discount code or 2,500 Alaska Airlines miles.  My flight from Kona (KOA) to Oakland (OAK) on Alaska Airlines landed at 12:07am PT (according to the Alaska Airlines app).  We went down to the baggage claim carousel and waited for our bag.  As soon as I saw our checked bag, I took a screenshot of the time on my iPhone, showing that the bag came 25 minutes after landing.  I then tweeted the screenshot to Alaska Airlines letting them know that the bag took longer than expected to show up on the baggage claim carousel.

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