• Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
  • Advertising Disclosure
Live and Let's Fly
  • Home
  • Reviews
    • Flight Reviews
    • Hotel Reviews
    • Lounge Reviews
    • Trip Reports
  • About
    • Press
  • Contact
  • Privacy
  • Award Expert
  • Advertising Disclosure
Home  >  Alaska Airlines • Award Bookings • Singapore Airlines  >  Alaska Airlines Violates Our Trust…Again
Alaska AirlinesAward BookingsSingapore Airlines

Alaska Airlines Violates Our Trust…Again

Matthew Klint Posted onOctober 16, 2019October 16, 2019 33 Comments

Alaska Airlines Asia Stopovers

Overnight, Alaska made two substantial changes to its MileagePlan program, resulting in many partner awards pricing significantly higher today than yesterday. I’ll say it bluntly: Alaska Airlines violated our trust once again and should be ashamed of itself.

As always with Alaska Airlines, the sin is not the devaluation itself, but the failure to provide any notice before implementing it.

Devaluation #1: No More Stopovers on Intra-Asia Awards

Stopovers on awards within Asia are no longer permitted on a complimentary basis. This marks the end of one of the greatest values of Alaska miles.

Devaluation #2: Mainland China Re-Classified From Southeast Asia to North Asia

Mainland China was classified as part of Southeast Asia on the Singapore Airlines award chart. Now it is grouped with Korea and Japan in North Asia. In a move sure to make Beijing smile, Hong Kong remains in South Asia.

An Example

So let’s put these together. Yesterday, you could fly from Beijing to Singapore on Singapore Airlines in first class, stay as long as you wanted in Singapore, then return to Hong Kong in Singapore Airlines first class. The cost would be 35K miles, the price of a one-way ticket within the Southeast Asia region.

Now that Mainland China has been re-classified as North Asia and stopovers are no longer permitted, you are looking at 75,000 for the outbound and 35,000 miles for the return! Yes, a trip that cost 35K miles yesterday will now cost 110K miles!

That’s almost as bad as the overnight Emirates devaluation of 2016.

> Read More: Alaska Airlines Blames “Travel Hacking” for Emirates Devaluation

Did The Bloggers Ruin This?

All of the serious points/miles bloggers, myself included, blogged about the introduction of Singapore Airlines as a redemption option on Alaska Airlines. Are we responsible for this sudden change?

I’d strongly push back on such a narrative. It’s too simplistic. First, let’s give Alaska some credit for knowing what it is doing…you really think they had no clue their system was allowing stopovers on one-way awards? Second, we’ve had stopovers on intra-Asia awards for years. Their sudden demise was hastened by the addition of Singapore Airlines, but the idea of intra-region stopovers is nothing new and was widely publicized. I do think bloggers pointed out the sweet spots…and that sweet spots always have a limited shelf life. But there were bigger forces at work.

> Read More: Singapore Award Space Blocking On Alaska Airlines

CONCLUSION

Gilbert Ott of God Save the Points points to the true problem:

[T]his is yet another gut punch, not necessarily because it’s happening, but because it’s been done without any warning, under the cover of darkness. That’s just not ok…

Scott Mackenzie of Travel Codex responded, “I’ll say I don’t think these changes are as bad as Gib suggests.”

I disagree and hope that someone will gently correct me when I start sounding like a United shill. Rather, I think Gib captures precisely the problem with today’s Alaska MileagePlan devaluation.

Alaska just concluded a huge sale on purchased miles. Many took advantage because they expected to make strategic Asian redemptions on Singapore Airlines. Now awards that cost 35K miles cost 110K miles. This represents a bait and switch…and cannot be be dismissed as a small correction to a “bug” that was exploited.

The changes are reasonable…sweet spots are only sweet spots because of their comparative value vis-a-vis other loyalty programs. But not giving us any notice really strikes me as unethical, especially when Alaska promised future notice after the no-notice Emirates devaluation in 2016.

This means that award prices on Cathay Pacific and JAL, both overdue for a devaluation, are not safe.

Then again, maybe Alaska will backtrack slightly as it did when it banned Asian redemptions within 72-hours of travel, then reversed itself a day later.

But I’m not holding my breath…

> Read More: Latest Alaska Devaluation Was Bizarre Overreaction
> Read More: Let’s Give Alaska Airlines Credit for Listening

Previous Article Mysterious Eastern Airlines Announces New Flight From New York…Again
Next Article Spectacular Deal: Flying Blue Special Edition Promo Awards

About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

Related Posts

  • Air France Business Class Door

    The Upsides To Losing Elite Status

    October 23, 2022
  • Southwest Airlines delays flight cancellations

    Domestic Meltdown: Carriers Struggle Boiling Over

    April 3, 2022
  • Alaska Airlines Banned 14 Passengers

    American Airlines Elevated A Loyalty Program… Alaska’s

    November 7, 2021

33 Comments

  1. Daniel Reply
    October 16, 2019 at 11:42 am

    Get used to it. They overpaid for Virgin America and now have to get that money back…

  2. Yiran Liu Reply
    October 16, 2019 at 12:08 pm

    If you don’t really understand why the devaluation comes…..Don’t post

    AS system allows redemption such as

    PVG-SIN-LHR-SIN clarify as a one way intra-asia and it was abused so much in 2 days and you can imagine why

    • Matthew Reply
      October 16, 2019 at 12:56 pm

      Were you one of the brokers that ruined this for everyone?

      No one is protesting prohibiting routings via London for intra-Asia routes. That goes without saying–I would never encourage such abuse on my blog.

      But a stopover within Asia? Fair game and something that made Alaska stand out among its peers.

      Alaska was perfectly justified in rescinding this benefit, but should have given notice while immediately blocking egregious violations like flying between two Asian cities via London or Sydney.

  3. Kacee Reply
    October 16, 2019 at 12:14 pm

    I have no problem with these changes. AS implemented SQ awards without full awareness how their incredibly generous routing rules could be abused by ticket brokers. This is a serious problem in Asia and has caused several programs to implement award ticket restrictions. When you’re dealing with outright fraud, giving notice of necessary changes is not a realistic option.

    AS remains probably the fairest and most generous major FFP.

    • Matthew Reply
      October 16, 2019 at 12:58 pm

      I have no problems with the changes, only the lack of notice.

      Alaska has a team well-versed at combating fraud. It could easily take steps to reign in this fraud without immediately eliminating stopovers. That includes a waiting period on new accounts or restricting bookings on Asian awards only to account holders and family members with the same surname.

      • Kacee Reply
        October 16, 2019 at 2:38 pm

        I appreciate the principle, but just have a hard time getting too worked up about some vested right to stopovers on a one-way intra-Asia award. To me, that falls within the “too good to be true” category.

        • UA-NYC Reply
          October 16, 2019 at 6:23 pm

          Kacee man F the FT UA mods! They are becoming shills for the airline. Almost as bad as TPG & Marriott.

      • Colleen Reply
        October 16, 2019 at 10:43 pm

        *REIN in.

    • Daniel Reply
      October 16, 2019 at 2:38 pm

      “without full awareness”?

      It took them years – yes, years – to make award tickets available after their partnership was announced. They had enough time to figure this out beforehand.

    • Whistleblower Reply
      October 16, 2019 at 11:23 pm

      Remember, Scott writes for the Alaska air in-flight magazine and has scored many sponsored trips from Alaska air and partners. He’s of course going to try to dumb it down. No different than The points guy or anyone else with an Amex to chase affiliation. they constantly trying to play down the devaluations. Because they don’t want to hurt their sponsorships

  4. Joey Reply
    October 16, 2019 at 12:17 pm

    I agree with Kacee. Not sure if you read milelion but you can read some of the crazy SQ routings that apparently worked before this change.

  5. ghostrider5408 Reply
    October 16, 2019 at 12:19 pm

    Daniel I am not sure about AS overpaying that’s a long term play. When one acquires another company you don’t go about it “short sighted”

    As for betrayed as the author clearly stated “were bloggers” partly to blame I say YES. Point is how many people are truly loyal AS flyers for the record I am a MM with Alaska the hard way before all the newer long haul flights!
    There was an old E. F Hutton commercial that essentially said you have to earn it. One nice thing about AS if one calls the partner desk for help booking they look at your account and know who is a real AS flyer and not some hack. Hackers continue to lay waste to these programs. I personally would like to see them all disbanded and use that money to reduce ticket prices and cc rates. See what happens to all the bloggers then. There is an oh so small but growing movement to reduce these programs which I am all for.

  6. Yiran Liu Reply
    October 16, 2019 at 12:24 pm

    people abuses the system by booking

    China – SIN – EU/AUS – SIN

    with a stopover in EU/AUS and pays Intra-Asia one way rate…. You can imagine what will happens

    • Matthew Reply
      October 16, 2019 at 1:01 pm

      An easy loophole to close without eliminating stopovers on intra-Asia awards.

      • GuruJanitor Reply
        October 16, 2019 at 3:23 pm

        Unless of course, their IT doesn’t allow it, which Lucky at OMAAT has hinted at.

  7. Sexy_kitten7 Reply
    October 16, 2019 at 12:30 pm

    Well United really f**ked me in the c*** (pardon my French) but I agree those changes aren’t great. Didn’t AS jack up award charts wo/warning last year too?

    This is one of those things where the more you think about it, the angrier you get. So not only are they raising the PQD figure up to 4k/5k for us lowly Silvers, they’ve been “tricking” us into buying up to RE for the last year. It’s no f**king wonder I’ve “earned” 1800 PQD this year! 27.4k PQM so 6.5 cpm plus taxes and fees. But it’s still highway robbery. In the past, I’ve made Silver with as little as 700 PQD (yes, all UA metal). I’ve decided to stop flying altogether. I’m so disgusted.

    • Matthew Reply
      October 16, 2019 at 1:02 pm

      AS always claims “fraud” to avoid accountability for failing to provide advance notice for devaluations.

  8. Alan Reply
    October 16, 2019 at 1:26 pm

    People were booking SIN LHR SIN PEK in F for 35k

    • Matthew Reply
      October 16, 2019 at 1:33 pm

      I understand. That should have been blocked. I am talking about awards within Asia.

  9. Mattt Reply
    October 16, 2019 at 1:48 pm

    Yeah that’s tough. We should be used to the lack of notice by now, unfortunately. And we should also predict that when a “loophole” opens, the closing of it will be an overreaction… to the detriment of more than just those who took advantage of it.

    Although it does feel a bit strange to be “punished” for the behavior of others that we cannot control. Seems your lawyering is shining through 🙂

    • Jay Miles Reply
      October 16, 2019 at 11:26 pm

      Maybe you should sue them.

      • Matthew Reply
        October 16, 2019 at 11:46 pm

        Nope.

  10. Christian Reply
    October 16, 2019 at 2:22 pm

    This isn’t Bonvoyed bad, but killing off the egregious routings immediately and giving notice on stopovers would be sensible.

  11. Shannon Reply
    October 16, 2019 at 3:47 pm

    I am so upset intra Asia stopover is banned over night especially on my beloved Japan airline. A little notice in advanced would be more acceptable. Instead of killing all, why can’t AS just ban those abusers in China and Singapore???

  12. jnrfalcon Reply
    October 16, 2019 at 4:57 pm

    It was a bug anyway. Especially a much more huge bug was discovered related to this.

  13. Jon Ben Reply
    October 16, 2019 at 6:20 pm

    Im glad they did this. They were getting taken advantage of by a few at the expense of the many (the other flyers, the airline them self). A good deal is one thing and rewarding real loyalty is good but all the games just hurt the average person. At the end of the day they are just a business, and arguably a successfully growing one that still has one of the best programs, so if people dont like it just fly someone else. I suspect only the people who were hacking the system will choose to do that which is a win for people whos time is actually valuable.

  14. ghostrider5408 Reply
    October 16, 2019 at 7:25 pm

    Jon Ben don’t forget the bloggers their fingerprints are all over this one.

  15. James Reply
    October 16, 2019 at 9:00 pm

    Soo…. This post is merely justification of wrong estimation given to client(s)? Oh well….

    • Matthew Reply
      October 16, 2019 at 11:51 pm

      Actually, no Alaska bookings lately at Award Expert and I did not write about the latest purchased miles promo.

      • James Reply
        October 17, 2019 at 2:12 am

        Okay

  16. Pedro Reply
    October 16, 2019 at 11:41 pm

    This is all BS…drop all FF programs, points, etc.

  17. Tal Reply
    October 17, 2019 at 2:07 am

    Tbh bloggers are infact responsible. If you kept quiet things would have been normal. But nope you had to flap your gums so that the airlines knew you were publisizing the loopholes.

  18. John L Reply
    October 17, 2019 at 4:21 pm

    violate trust? Pfft. Alsaka closed a loophole you bloggers (and eventually brokers) proudly exploited with regularity.

    Alaska is not UA, AA, Delta. if you want to find mistrust issues, try banging your drum for those 3 legacy US carriers.

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Search

Recent Posts

  • United Airlines Steakhouse Cheeseburger
    Steakhouse Cheeseburger On United Airlines February 4, 2023
  • Woman Pants Miami Airport
    “Why Would I Need Pants On?” (Woman Strides Through Miami Airport) February 4, 2023
  • Catfight Over Window Seat Leads To Massive Brawl, With 15 People Thrown Off Flight February 4, 2023
  • United Airlines Newark Collision
    United Airlines 787-9 Collides With 757-200 At Newark Airport February 3, 2023

Categories

Popular Posts

  • Spirit Airlines Captain Runs Out Of Cockpit After Woman Yells “I Hope Y’All Crash And Die!” January 17, 2023
  • Hotel Worker entered room
    Woman Demands $3,000 In Compensation After Hotel Worker Walked Into Her Room At Midnight January 24, 2023
  • United Airlines 2023 Status Extension
    United Airlines Quietly Extends MileagePlus Premier Status…Again January 14, 2023
  • British Airways 787-10 Business Class Review
    Review: British Airways 787-10 Business Class (Club Suite) January 10, 2023

Archives

February 2023
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728  
« Jan    

As seen on:

live_and_lets_fly

The new United Polaris Lounge at Washington Dulles The new United Polaris Lounge at Washington Dulles is the most beautiful of all Polaris Lounges. Stay tuned for a detailed look and many more photos on the blog tomorrow. Well done @united.
@malaysiaairlines just announced it would retire i @malaysiaairlines just announced it would retire its A380 fleet. While not surprising, it is sad to see the growing list of carriers retiring this superjumbo jet. On Malaysia Airlines, I flew the #A380 once from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to London (LHR) and had the entire first class cabin to myself (full review on the blog). It was a beautiful flight that I will always remember.
Welcome to @fly_bur @aveloair! I am so excited tha Welcome to @fly_bur @aveloair! I am so excited that a new carrier, Avelo, has launched, especially from an airport just 12 minutes from my home!
I greatly miss the @lufthansa #747-8 at @flylaxair I greatly miss the @lufthansa #747-8 at @flylaxairport. Hopefully this summer it will return.

.
.
.
.
#Lufthansa #FirstClass #747 #747-8 #StarAlliance #Miles #Points
I recently spent a weekend at the @ventanabigsur. I recently spent a weekend at the @ventanabigsur. This is not only a lovely, all-inclusive resort, but one of the best properties to use your @hyatt World of Hyatt points.
.
.
.
.
#Hyatt #BigSur #California #WorldofHyatt #CA-1 #Points #Hotels
In terms of a spacious first class product, the @E In terms of a spacious first class product, the @Emirates suite on a 777-300ER is hard to beat. My preference is Suite 2K.

.
.
.
.
#Emirates #777 #firstclass
Nearly five years ago, I took a “break” from I Nearly five years ago, I took a “break” from Instagram ahead of the birth of my first child. Goodness, how time flies. While I’ve enjoyed catching up on others over the years, now it is time for me to return to Instagram. In this first post, I highlight two joys in my life, my two children, whom I trust will grow up to be prolific travelers that circumnavigate the globe as ambassadors of love and respect.

.
.
.
.
.

#travel #airplanes #airlines #miles #points #familytravel #human #integrity #honor
United Airlines' new Polaris seat is a huge improv United Airlines' new Polaris seat is a huge improvement over UA's current business class seat. Check out my blog at liveandletsfly.com for 70+ photos of how @united is transforming its entire business class experience starting this December!
The perfect @flysas name tag for #Longyearben! The perfect @flysas name tag for #Longyearben!
Spotted four #polarbear outside of #longyearbyen - Spotted four #polarbear outside of #longyearbyen -- oh, and I love 40°F summer weather!
One of the best crews I have ever had the pleasure One of the best crews I have ever had the pleasure of flying with in all my years of flying. Thank you @flysas SK940 on 11 Aug 2016
Next stop ARN! But dear @flysas , next time if I a Next stop ARN! But dear @flysas , next time if I assign a window seat months in advance, don't move me to a center seat "for my convenience" with no way to get my original seat back... 😞
Ready for #PIA from #MAN to #JFK -- we will be rac Ready for #PIA from #MAN to #JFK -- we will be racing the #Delta flight to JFK at the gate next to us, which also departs at 12:45p. With @onemileatatime
Another room with a beautiful view... #hyattregenc Another room with a beautiful view... #hyattregencycasablanca #cassablanca #hyatt
Enjoying #shanghai with @onemileatatime from the i Enjoying #shanghai with @onemileatatime from the inside of the @grandhyatt_shanghai ... It is 40°C outside! 😓
From my front gate to my boarding gate in 15 minut From my front gate to my boarding gate in 15 minutes flat. I ❤️ #bur #burbankairport
@malaysiaairlines #747 out of retirement and in se @malaysiaairlines #747 out of retirement and in service at #kul -- beautiful livery!
View from my 61st floor room at the beautiful bran View from my 61st floor room at the beautiful brand new @parkhyattguangzhou -- look for a full review coming soon on the blog #hyatt #parkhyatt #guangzhou #parkhyattguangzhou
Will miss the @united #globalfirstlounge at #ord, Will miss the @united #globalfirstlounge at #ord, which closes tomorrow and the Queen of the Skies #747 which will be retired in 2018.
The colonial #architecture of #mumbai is stunning. The colonial #architecture of #mumbai is stunning. If you're ever here, get up at 5am and have a walk around the city before it gets busy. You can hear the birds instead of honking horns.
Load More... Follow on Instagram
facebook twitter instagram rss

This site is for entertainment purposes only. The owner of this site is not an investment advisor, financial planner, nor legal or tax professional and articles here are of an opinion and general nature and should not be relied upon for individual circumstances.

 

Advertiser Disclosure: Some links to credit cards and other products on this website will earn an affiliate commission. Outside of banner ads published through the Boarding Area network, this compensation does not impact how and where products appear on this site. While we do try to list all the best miles and points deals, the site does not include all card companies or credit card offers available in the marketplace. Please view our advertising policy page for additional details about our partners.

 

Editorial Disclosure: The editorial content on this page is not provided by any entity mentioned herein. Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.