Questions and Answers

The BF and I are flying across country to Philly for the holidays. Because of his height, we want to book early and in first class. We’ve found that American has the best price and flight times. We’re able to put in our Alaska Frequent Flyer number at checkout, does this mean we will earn points towards that account? Or should we sign up for American’s Frequent flyer program as well? For reference, he flies Alaska to the PNW a couple of times a year, I fly the cheapest fight to the east coast once a year. TIA!

[QUOTE=”Amanda_See, post: 65196, member: 5781″]The BF and I are flying across country to Philly for the holidays. Because of his height, we want to book early and in first class. We’ve found that American has the best price and flight times. We’re able to put in our Alaska Frequent Flyer number at checkout, does this mean we will earn points towards that account? Or should we sign up for American’s Frequent flyer program as well? For reference, he flies Alaska to the PNW a couple of times a year, I fly the cheapest fight to the east coast once a year. TIA![/QUOTE]

You used to able to earn Alaska miles flying AA, and vice-versa, but no longer (with a few exceptions). Unless the flights you bought on AA have an Alaska Airlines flight number ([I]e.g. [/I]AS 111) you will not earn miles. You were probably able to put in your Alaska FF number because it is leftover from the days when you could earn miles. I would open an AAdvantage account. You never know when travel patterns may change. Or you could open a BA account and save Avios.

Assuming you’re flying from San Francisco or Los Angeles then? If you’re committed to flying American and willing to treat yourself to first class… most days of the year American flies an internationally configured plane once a day from Philly to San Fran, and Philly to LA (and back). You’d still have normal domestic first class service and food and such, but depending how tall he is – it could be worthwhile to have the bigger, lie-flat seat.

I’ve flown Philly to San Francisco a couple times and always seek out the bigger plane for that reason. When booking, look for either the flight operated by an A330 or B767.

[QUOTE=”rickyw, post: 65200, member: 1436″]Assuming you’re flying from San Francisco or Los Angeles then? If you’re committed to flying American and willing to treat yourself to first class… most days of the year American flies an internationally configured plane once a day from Philly to San Fran, and Philly to LA (and back). You’d still have normal domestic first class service and food and such, but depending how tall he is – it could be worthwhile to have the bigger, lie-flat seat.

I’ve flown Philly to San Francisco a couple times and always seek out the bigger plane for that reason. When booking, look for either the flight operated by an A330 or B767.[/QUOTE]

Right now, AA continues to fly the a 330 LAX-PHL and a 767 SFO-LAX (I’m on both in the next couple of months), but apparently AA has replaced the 767 with a 321 starting in September. It may change back, of course, but depending on which holiday OP is talking about (and which airport) there may not be a widebody with lie-flat seats.
Check out: [URL]https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-airlines-aadvantage/1845129-phl-sfo-get-a332-october-2017-a-5.html[/URL]

You can only earn Alaska miles from flying American in two specific situations:

1 – Domestic AA flight booked with an Alaska codeshare flight number
2 – International AA flight on American metal.

For the latter, any domestic flights included on the itinerary on AA metal without an AS codeshare number wont earn miles.

[QUOTE=”David W, post: 65204, member: 29″]You can only earn Alaska miles from flying American in two specific situations:

1 – Domestic AA flight booked with an Alaska codeshare flight number
2 – International AA flight on American metal.

For the latter, any domestic flights included on the itinerary on AA metal without an AS codeshare number wont earn miles.[/QUOTE]

Do you need an AS codeshare on international flights? From Alaska’s website:
[LIST]
[*]You’ll earn miles on domestic American Airlines flights with an Alaska Airlines (AS) flight number, and on all American [I][B]marketed[/B][/I] and operated international flights.
[/LIST]

Not for the international segment, no. I earned AS miles last year for an AA LAX-HND flight booked directly with AA.