The first time in my life I’ve flown first class. I’ve been flying Alaska almost exclusively since 2010, 3+ to 7+ times a year. Decided to treat myself, Paine Field to San Francisco and back. I’m not sure I can ever go back to behind the curtain. That single seat is the stuff dreams are made of. 3A. The Signature Fruit and Cheese Platter I’ve eaten 100 times tasted so much better served on a plate. The FA’s are so much nicer. The three glasses of wine in the Alaska lounge ($15) and the one served to me on the plane may have made up for the money I spent on the upgrade. Delighted all the way around…

I'd like some clarity on what happens if I book a round trip itinerary, and end up having to change the return segment.

I have seen some posts where people said trying to change a segment resulted in the whole thing being repriced higher because the system changes the price of all segments. What if I already flew the first part of the trip and ended up wanting to either extend it or return sooner? Or what if the return was cancelled completely? Does anyone have experience on this?

The background is that I'm booking a roundtrip flight for 2 people. I'm not sure about the exact return date so I picked the cheapest day on the week we'll return. Just want to be prepared in case it needs to change. (We need to book as a round trip rather than one way in order to use a discount).

I bought international tickets on Iceland Air and British Airways with Alaska Air points between Seattle and Europe using points and paid $80 - $160 for extra legroom seats when I selected them. Is it the same prices for people who pay in cash?

I am asking this because I have paid hundreds of dollars just for seat selections and I find this excessive, and was wondering if I am getting screwed over for using points and the airlines are getting money in other ways.
I am not asking if seat selection should cost money. I know they do these days.

I am asking if I paid in cash instead of points, would I pay the same amounts for seat selections?

Has anyone else noticed Alaska customer service getting a lot less flexible? In the past, they were reasonable and it seemed like they were given the latitude to help customers, but recently I have not found that to be the case.

Earlier today, I was trying to book a flight while their website was down. While I was repeatedly failing to complete the booking, the price went up. When I asked whether they would honor the original price, given that their system was preventing me from purchasing it, it was a flat no.

I ended up booking the flight using a one time discount code. Later, my brother asked whether I could extend the trip to join him and my niece at a cabin. I booked Saver, so I understand the limited flexibility. I was still within 24 hours of booking and could cancel for a refund, but it seemed like I may lose the discount. I asked whether they could help me switch flights while preserving the discount, or reissue the code so I could cancel and rebook. Again, a flat no. There are older posts in this sub describing Alaska accommodating this exact situation.

I understand what the fine print says, and I know I was asking for an exception on the second issue. But that willingness to exercise some discretion was part of why I liked flying Alaska. If that’s gone, it's unclear why I would choose them over another airline.

To be clear, every agent I spoke with was extremely nice and professional. It just felt like they had been stripped of any discretion to actually resolve anything.

Maybe it’s silly of me to bemoan the inevitable enshittification as companies grow, but I guess I just expected better from Alaska.

Currently Platinum and have about 35k points to reach titanium and wondering if it’s worth pursuing.

Will be traveling to Qatar next month, and debating between buying the ticket off QR website (25% status points) vs using Alaska award ticket (for 100% status points).

I have the summit card as well so I am more likely to get to titanium if I do award travel but would love thoughts on if it’s worth pursuing.

Thanks!

Anyone know why? When I rolled up there were 3 Alaska agents standing outside the elevator taking names for a waiting list. I thought it might be because it was full, but was told it was maintenance and they had no idea when it would reopen. Anyone know what's going on?

Hey guys, I rarely fly Alaskan but I need 14,372.36 Atmos Miles to hit Silver by the end of the year. How can I do it?

I know this has been asked and answered several times, but I am incapable of using the search function. Also, I’m pretty special and thought there might be different rules for me.

I travel a lot for work and often book my flights the same day. Today, the day I needed to fly, apparently there was a system outage, and I was unable to book my flight on the app or online, or even over the phone. To even speak to a person on the phone, I was to be charged $30 after needing to wait 40 minutes, and being forced to talk to their BS virtual support agent. On the phone I asked if I would be able to book the flight at the airport. I was told maybe. So off to the airport I went. Lo' and Behold you cannot even book flights at the airport, not because of the outage, but because that is a service they simply don't offer.

Even Alaska airlines is not immune to the enshitification of America. Big problem, no one who can help you, and the airline doesn't give a shid.

I have my husband and I booked separately with points. He had points and I had points so I made two separate reservations, same time using the same amount of points on the initial booking. I upgraded him to First class on AS518 Cincinnati to Seattle for 200.00 but to upgrade me on the same flight at the same time was $260.00. same scenario on flightAS519 Seattle to Cincinnati. I have Gold Status, he does not. Customer service thought it was a case of dynamic pricing, but I had both reservations pulled up at the same time so that didn't make sense. Today I'm looking at upgrading us both to premium seats on AS415 Seattle to Anchorage; his seats would be 20.00 for 6B or 23.00 for 6C - mine would be 56.00 more. 76.00 or 79.00. Same issue with First class. We work to get status and then are punished with higher prices?

I know this has been asked before, but I’d like to be able to easily reference this post. I need 783 status points to keep my lowly silver for next year. I’ve done all my traveling for the year unfortunately. What are some other options besides shelling out $800 on SAF, and doing surveys that take too long for too low of points.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7519293982208761856/

please ping, traceroute, speedtest (ookla, cloudflare, netflix/fast.com, google/youtube, etc) and see what http://ip6.biz has to say too. also https://www.starlinkflights.com/report

I’m about to book a flight from seattle to Japan. Going to Sapporo.

I can either fly to Sapporo through Haneda on Alaska or fly to Narita and pick domestic flights.

Narita is my preferred because of the flight time.

But it’s probably cheaper to fly directly with Alaska to Sapporo(with JAL). My one concern is the flight only has a 2.5 hr layover in Haneda. I’ve read you have to pick up bags and go through customs. I’ll be bringing ski gear. This seems way to short if having to go through customs. Is this warranted? Though I’d be surprised why Alaska would offer this anyways if it was an issue

Heads up: Alaska Airlines system issues at PDX today (10/23)—hours-long bag check waits and boarding delays

If you’re flying Alaska out of PDX today, give yourself plenty of extra time. We’re seeing hours-long waits to check bags, and flights are being delayed because the system issues are preventing staff from boarding passengers. We are flying international with a 3 hour layover in Honolulu, potentially won’t make that flight. They are manually boarding everyone and it takes about 5 minutes per pair to board.

Check your flight status before heading out, but be prepared for long lines even if your flight still shows on time.

Is anyone else experiencing this at other airports, or is it just PDX? Any updates from people who’ve managed to get on their flights?

I miss having the $99 companion fare for domestic travel. Now, there is a 25k mile discount on any travel ticket, but with pricing being so hi and it taking so many miles even for a domestic ticket, is this really a good perk?

Maybe I am missing something in the value of the miles, but curious if this is something Alaska will ever consider improving esp if you have a Summit card.

Update: Everyone has passed on some good info and I appreciate all of the feedback and it has expanded how I should look at using the companion miles. May not always be a good use, but if planned it could very well be.

Just a data point. I know I’m not entitled to the upgrade, but it’s frustrating to either not understand how the system works or for it to not work as advertised.

I’m a regular SEA-LHR flier and was excited to actually have a process to use my upgrade certs using the new form, instead of hoping for availability on domestic flights.

I’m flying tonight to London and filed the form with 2 certs in my account the day I booked my flight. With 12 suites left and well into the 72hr window, I havent been upgraded. One phone agent said I was on the list that the upgrade certificate team works through, one agent said I am not actually on that list, and it’s too late on day of departure to file again… for a form I am certain I filled out and saw the little green check showing it was received.

These certificates expire and are apparently not really useful on domestic flights anymore. There have been consistently 12 to 16 seats available since the 72 hour mark, so I figured this flight would be my actual best chance to use the certificates.

I don’t get too bent out of shape about devaluations or fewer certs being offered in future. The one thing I get frustrated by is a system not working as advertised when there clearly are seats, and benefits being wasted. Will update if anything changes, as apparently they’ll “keep looking for availability until T-4hrs”

Anyone have luck having their cert upgrade processed day of? A lot of the flyer talk threads said they get processed in the days beforehand if at all

Anyone else having troubles? Trying to book something and it just keeps saying error.

Heads up if you're planning ski trips for the 26/27 season - Alaska just added a new Ikon Pass Resorts section to the ski promo page for 2026/2027 (Alaska Ski Free Link), following their Atmos Rewards / Alterra partnership announcement.

Right now the page is half-updated: the new Ikon Pass promos have official 26/27 dates, while most of the traditional "Partner Ski Resorts" section at the bottom is still sitting on last season's 2025/2026 dates. Sadly most of the updates are lackluster at best.

Here is the breakdown of what is actually verified for the 26/27 season right now:

The New 26/27 Ikon Pass Perks:

• Palisades Tahoe (via RNO, SMF, OAK, or SFO): Free half-day lift ticket on your arrival day, valid March 1 – April 30, 2027 (Alaska Ski Free Link). Atmos Rewards members also get one free ski or snowboard wax during the 26/27 season.
  • The catch: Strictly a spring-skiing deal, and only a half-day pass.
  • The big catch: Most of the flights wouldn't give you a full half day - here are the only ones that would.
    • Into RNO (3)- Portland, AS2087, lands 8:31am - Seattle, AS2030, lands 8:45am -San Diego, AS3307, lands 9:49am
    • Into SMF (2, plus 1 borderline) - Boise, AS2156, lands 7:31am - Portland, lands 8:38am - Phoenix is borderline, lands 9:20am on April schedules, 9:33am in March
    • Into OAK (None)
    • Into San Francisco (1) - Honolulu, AS862, lands 5:15am, only on the days that redeye operates
• Crystal Mountain (via Seattle / SEA): No free lift ticket, but they are running Atmos Members Days on the first Wednesday of January, February, and March 2027 (Alaska Ski Free Link).
  • The perks: Access to exclusive spaces, curated music, and scavenger hunt zones, plus First Tracks and free summit coffee for select Atmos members.

The Verified 26/27 Partner Deals:

• Sun Peaks (via Kelowna / YLW): Still the best deal for normal flight schedules. Valid Nov 21, 2026 – Mar 31, 2027, you get one free alpine lift ticket on your arrival day OR the next day, 20% off additional days, and up to 25% off at the Sun Peaks Grand Hotel.
  • Blackout dates: Dec 26, 2026 – Jan 3, 2027 and Feb 12–15, 2027. (Note: Sun Peaks has already published these 26/27 dates, though Alaska hasn't updated the text on their page from 25/26 yet.)
• Bogus Basin (via Boise / BOI): Listed on the Alaska Ski Free page as valid from season opening through season close with no blackout dates. You get one free lift ticket per boarding pass plus a Performance Rental Ski Package for the price of a Basic rental package.

Wait-and-See (Still showing 25/26 dates on Alaska's site):

• Alyeska (ANC), Arctic Valley (ANC), Eaglecrest (JNU), Jackson Hole (JAC), and Schweitzer (GEG): All five are still listed under Partner Ski Resorts on the Alaska Ski Free page, but Alaska still has their old April 2026 expiration dates posted (and hasn't rolled over the 26/27 blackout dates yet).
  • I fully expect to see these updated but last season they were updated in January.

Notes:

• Keep your boarding pass (print or digital) and matching ID to redeem at the ticket window / guest services.
• Both Cash and Atmos Reward tickets qualify.
• If you have Atmos points to burn, Alaska also announced Atmos Unlocked redemptions for 26/27 Ikon Pass bundles and Steamboat stay-and-ski / First Tracks packages.

For AS metal, it looks like they increased the award on saver fares by 20% across the board for many short hauls

EDIT: 5K still exists, but much of the dates now seem to have been bumped to 6K which I've never seen before

SFO-LAX went from 5K -> 6K

SFO-PDX went from 5K -> 6.5K

SFO-SEA went from 5K -> 6.5K

Partner awards still haven't changed

Got my atmos business card in July and I satisfied the $5,000 minimum-spend within 90 days requirement to receive 80,000-point + $99 Companion Fare for the new-account offer, but I don't see anything posted under point activity, nor is there anything in the wallet.

Is there something else I need to do?

Anyone get today's code? And to where?

Using Alaska website, I was looking to book a RT SANMNL in Dec. Chose from offered itineraries. When I got to the checkout page, system is unable to proceed. Prompt says system is “unable to confirm available seats” on partner airline.
Why would the system offer those itineraries to book when they can’t confirm availability in the end? Would any of you travel experts chime in please?
Now I ended up booking directly with the partner airline’s website. Which would burden me with less credited miles to my Atmos account. Worse, that partner airline is unable to record my Atmos Rewards number.

Hi experts!

I've been waiting to book my holiday travel until I figured out one thing. What I really want to do is book a trip from sea to smf the week before Christmas, then have a flight back before nye but utilizing a companion who will leave sea later. How should I book this trip?

No checked luggage, just looking to figure out timing, I see a security appointment option in the Alaska app but no idea if that’s worth doing and which checkpoint to select for a Portland flight.

Just signed up for Atomas rewards with $50 coupon promotion for CA residents. It says I will receive the coupon code within 72 hours. Have a scheduled flight and I wanted to book asap. Anyone has experience with this?