Questions and Answers

My Alaska flight plans are pretty much set for the rest of the year. It looks like I will be coming up about 1,000 miles short of making Gold MVP. I am contemplating a short completely unnecessary roundtrip from Seattle to get over the hump if the additional benefits are worth it.

What has my interest is the waivers for mileage plan charges and ticket change fees benefits that come with MVP Gold Status. In particular, I am curious if this applies to tickets that I purchase for my college age kids. If so, a short mileage run might make all the sense in the world.

Thanks for any insight.

Often, if you call AK at the end of the year and explain how close you were to re-earning Gold MVP status they will give it to you for the following year. I know several people who have done this successfully. However, YMMV.

[QUOTE=”Steve from LA, post: 65044, member: 3327″] What has my interest is the waivers for mileage plan charges and ticket change fees benefits that come with MVP Gold Status. In particular, I am curious if this applies to tickets that I purchase for my college age kids. If so, a short mileage run might make all the sense in the world.

Thanks for any insight.[/QUOTE]

Hi Steve – I know quite a few people who really like Mileage Plan but I think its plan benefits are the same as AAdvanatge, SkyMiles, MileagePlus, etc., which is the benefits accrue to the flier, not the purchaser of the ticket. [I]i.e.[/I] your kids would have a different FF # than you, and they would only get the same-day change waiver benefit if they achieved MVP Gold as well. The only time they would get the benefit of your status is if they were on the same reservation.

1,000 miles short, to me, would be a no brainer to find a way to get up to MVP Gold. If your travel is set already for the year, but not quite booked, you could consider just adding in an extra connection on 1 or 2 flights, rather than needing a whole extra trip.

I’m not an Alaska guy, but I would think your status benefits would extend to them if you are booking reward flights for them, through your account (changes, cancellations, etc.) But, that would be the extent of it and wouldn’t apply on paid tickets.

I have a day to kill in SAC in July. Looks like I’m having lunch in SAN. That should get me the 1,000 I will need for about $150 ($30 of which gets me first class down to SAN). But the real question is whether I can get the free cancel/change benefit for tickets purchased for my kids. I normally use my points to get them to and from the east cost since they often fly during peak holliday times and those tend to be $$$. Having some flexibility would be great.

[QUOTE=”Steve from LA, post: 65048, member: 3327″]I have a day to kill in SAC in July. Looks like I’m having lunch in SAN. That should get me the 1,000 I will need for about $150 ($30 of which gets me first class down to SAN). But the real question is whether I can get the free cancel/change benefit for tickets purchased for my kids. I normally use my points to get them to and from the east cost since they often fly during peak holliday times and those tend to be $$$. Having some flexibility would be great.[/QUOTE]

As RickyW pointed out you can probably (almost definitely) use the free cancel/change for awards tickets booked with points for your kids. So that is probably worth lunch in San Diego. 🙂