Alaska Airlines has announced major changes to its Saver fares, which are the carrier’s version of basic economy. We knew some changes were coming, because yesterday we learned that mileage earning on Saver fares would decrease by 70%. Now we have the full story, and it’s not all bad news.
Continue reading: Alaska Airlines Saver Fare Changes: A Mixed Bag
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
“Status Accelerator: Each calendar year you'll start with 20,000 elite qualifying miles in your account. This industry-leading benefit will help you reach higher tier status even faster. Good news: Your 2023 EQMs have already been deposited into your account.”
Overall that's pretty good. I have 3 saver flights booked this summer and since I booked in Jan and Feb it sounds like I will get the full mileage. I probably will no longer book saver fares... I do value the miles... but It looks like with the savings of getting my 5000 mile RT Pdx-Bos I could purchase more miles then I would get buying the full fare. (when miles come with a bonus) Speaking of which, since the current sale ends soon, is there a minimum amount of miles that need to be purchased to be eligible for the Oct 70% bonus. Thanks Lucky!
Yes. Terms state that you must buy 30K this time around to be eligible for the bigger bonus later.
The chances of getting an upgrade on a saver fare are essentially zero so for practical purposes that's not a meaningful change.
Time to start looking for another airline to fly on. 20 years of loyalty to Alaska and this is what we get.
But it's within your tier, so excellent chance. You may be the last at the 100k level, but you are still ahead of all the other levels.
If you buy a saver seat, you are not assigned an actual seat until check-in. It is usually a middle seat.
Alaska usually processes upgrades around T-24 (which is awesome compared to other airlines that sell last minute upgrades over elites), so getting added at the end won't be super useful but might be nice for those rare flights when there's nobody on the list. The mileage earning change hurts though. As an elite I don't book saver fares on Alaska and I still won't, so I guess that's good business for them.
This seems to me like an improvement fir basically everyone booking a saver ticket except those doing it purely for mileage running. What exactly is the dealbreaker for you?
Having flown Alaska to and from Mexico direct here on the west coast, I am doing less so now and just flying United. Alaska's fares are much higher. It used to be possible to choose a seat with Saver fares. Maybe because I have the Alaska Visa card but I think I will be canceling that.
Genuinely curious where you think you'll take your business that you think is "better"? I don't see any options that are better.
Saver fares are treated the same across all airlines at this point. You are either paying to select a seat, paying a higher fare to select a seat, or paying to be at the front of a line to have your pick of seats. All of them give you less RDM/EQM on basic econ/saver fares that AS.
I don't mind this especially on shorter flights. <500 miles.
For a 30 minute flight, where I sit, or an upgrade have little value to me.
It's a $30 premium to select a seat and have a higher upgrade priority.
The elite qualifying and redeemable miles are also going to be low.