How To Score A Cash Upgrade To Alaska First Class

How To Score A Cash Upgrade To Alaska First Class

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Different airlines take different approaches to monetizing their first class cabin when it comes to unsold seats. While the most common way to get upgraded to first class is using elite status or miles, many airlines will also sell upgrades for cash. Some airlines do this in advance as a way of having people skip the upgrade list (in many cases even encouraging elite members to pay to upgrade when they’re upgrade eligible), while other airlines only sell upgrades at check-in.

I’m a big fan of Alaska Airlines, and appreciate how they do business, including for their paid upgrade offering, which is worth knowing about due to the reasonable prices. Actually, they have the best cash upgrade costs of any airline I know.

How cash upgrades to Alaska first class work

Alaska Airlines only sells upgrades for cash within 24 hours of departure when there is confirmable upgrade space available. This is great news for elite members, since it means you won’t lose your upgrade to someone paying cash. I think that’s only fair.

Similarly, Alaska doesn’t offer last seat availability for cash upgrades. There actually needs to be “U” class upgrade space available in order to upgrade for cash, rather than just a seat for sale. So it’s not that you can automatically pay cash to upgrade to a seat within 24 hours as long a there’s any seat available.

How much does Alaska charge for first class upgrades?

Alaska’s first class upgrade costs are surprisingly reasonable, and are based on the distance flown on a particular segment, as follows:

  • 0-1,250 miles costs $50
  • 1,251-2,500 miles costs $100
  • 2,501-3,750 miles costs $150

So a Los Angeles to Seattle flight would cost just $50 to upgrade, a Los Angeles to Washington flight would cost just $100 to upgrade, etc.

Upgrades are valid from all economy fares, including economy award tickets. If you do upgrade you still earn miles based on your original fare class. Assuming you upgrade before you complete the check-in process, you also receive the first class baggage allowance, so that in and of itself could be worth as much as the upgrade fee (two checked bags would cost $50).

But wait, is there ever actually upgrade space?

Alaska Airlines has a lot of elite members. On many flights even MVP Gold 75K members won’t get their upgrades. So don’t expect you’re going to be offered a paid upgrade from Seattle to Los Angeles or Washington on a Monday morning. However, you’d be surprised by how often there is upgrade space.

Let me give one extreme example, which is actually what motivated me to write this post. Today I’m flying from Mexico City to Los Angeles on Alaska. They operate two daily flights. I always monitor inventory on flights carefully, and I was shocked when 24 hours out Ford and I were the only ones confirmed in first class on our flight, and the other flight had zero people confirmed in first class. That’s despite the fact that all elite members are eligible for complimentary upgrades on all Alaska flights. I’ve never seen such an elite-light route in my life.

Now the cabins are significantly fuller, presumably with people who paid $100 each to upgrade, which is quite a deal for a flight blocked at over three hours.

How to tell if there’s upgrade availability

If you want to purchase an upgrade, start the online check-in process. If there’s upgrade availability, on the first page you’ll be asked if you want to upgrade to first class. If there’s not upgrade availability then it won’t mention anything.

However, there are a couple of ways to tell beforehand whether there’s upgrade space or not. One way is to do a dummy booking on Alaska’s site. On the main page click on “Search Options” and then enter the route you’re looking at. In the “Upgrades & Discounts” section, select “MVP Gold Guest” upgrade. The reason is that they use “U” space for those upgrades, which is the same space that Alaska uses for paid upgrades.

On the next page, if the flight has the “F” icon next to it, that means there’s first class upgrade space available.

More than 24 hours out you want to use this just to get a sense of availability, since you can’t actually confirm a paid upgrade until the 24 hour mark.

Alternatively you can use ExpertFlyer, as they’ll show you how many “U” seats are available, and you can even set availability alerts, so that they’ll email you when “U” seats open up.

Can you actually skip the elite upgrade list with a paid upgrade?

As I said above, by design Alaska only allows first class cash upgrades when there’s upgrade space available, and that means that all elite upgrades must have cleared. At least that’s how it’s supposed to work. However, if you get really lucky, there’s sometimes a way to skip the list.

Let’s say for example that a flight is departing in four hours and has two first class seats available for sale, meaning the inventory shows as “F2.” However, let’s say that the flight is “U0,” meaning that they’re not willing to clear elite upgrades yet (this is common, as airlines often like to hold back a couple of seats until the last minute).

When Alaska does open “U” seats on that flight, there’s often a bit of a lag between when the “U” space is made available and when the elite upgrade clears (this can often be a minute, 10 minutes, or sometimes even longer). That means that a flight could be F2U1 with an upgrade list 50 people deep, but if you go through the check-in process before the computer automatically clears upgrades, you’ll still be offered the paid upgrade.

This requires a lot of luck, so don’t count on this happening, but I feel like it’s at least worth acknowledging.

Bottom line

Alaska has among the best value paid upgrades of any airline out there, so if you can score an upgrade for cash on an Alaska flight, I think it’s worth it. The big catch is that most flights have long upgrade lists and there won’t be upgrades available, but then there are instances where that isn’t the case (like Mexico City to Los Angeles flights today, where there’s not a single other elite member on the upgrade list on either of the two flights).

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  1. M Guest

    Something changed recently, and I haven't been able to find any reporting of this anywhere online. I'm kinda angry because I use this method successfully a couple times a year. I have a flight in 12 days that I was hoping to be able to upgrade. These new prices make most of my routes double their old upgrade cost. Not sure I want to pay $200 extra each way.

    From Alaska website today:

    Pay for...

    Something changed recently, and I haven't been able to find any reporting of this anywhere online. I'm kinda angry because I use this method successfully a couple times a year. I have a flight in 12 days that I was hoping to be able to upgrade. These new prices make most of my routes double their old upgrade cost. Not sure I want to pay $200 extra each way.

    From Alaska website today:

    Pay for an upgrade.

    Upgrade to First Class on Alaska Airlines for as little as $29.00 USD.

    Paid upgrades may be available within 24 hours of flight departure through online check-in. They may be available on the calendar day of departure at a kiosk, airport ticket counter or at the departure gate.

    Pay for an upgrade table

    One-Way by trip miles Price*
    0 - 450 $29
    451 - 700 $49
    701 - 1,400 $99
    1,401 - 2,100 $149
    2,101 and above $199

  2. alan Diamond

    As a lowly MVP (from travel) I am really pissed if my MVP upgrade is gazumped because of flaws in Alaska software. Thanks, Lucky, for helping the unentitled to my upgrade!

    AS - fix this dammit!

  3. altadoc Guest

    Thanks Lucky! Just used this on SEA-PHL check in this morning. just came in under the 2500 mile mark - Happy to pay $100 for that upgrade, especially considering Premium class upgrade is $79!

  4. Damon Guest

    Big question is can you see all this via the app, as many utilize the app for online check in. I for one only use it.

  5. Joan New Member

    ...and you can do a cash upgrade when flying on a partner award ticket.
    We did it from OAK to HNL while flying free on AS with BA tix (free with Avios).

    Joan

  6. Bradford Caslon Guest

    @Wayne, you didn't mention your frequent flyer level with Delta. I'm guessing it may not be silver. :-)

  7. Mikek04 Guest

    @Wyane, I don't think you're the target audience for this post. If you flew 147 Alaska flights then you'd also be clearing a first class upgrade frequently without paying. The point of this is to inform people that don't have status of a way to get reasonably priced upgrades.

    BTW, when I was a frequent Delta traveler a few years I was getting upgraded 35-40% of the time so either you're flying unpopular routes,...

    @Wyane, I don't think you're the target audience for this post. If you flew 147 Alaska flights then you'd also be clearing a first class upgrade frequently without paying. The point of this is to inform people that don't have status of a way to get reasonably priced upgrades.

    BTW, when I was a frequent Delta traveler a few years I was getting upgraded 35-40% of the time so either you're flying unpopular routes, have enough status that I would expect to get upgraded or they've made significant changes to their upgrade rules.

  8. Wayne Guest

    I’m a Delta flyer. I have never paid for an UG. This year I have had 147 flights and 85% of them with complimentary upgrades.

  9. Theodore Smith Guest

    Great information. I've got a flight in March I'll be taking with my wife. We've only got 1 F ticket currently and was hoping to do a paid upgrade at the counter. Now I know how to check to see if it'll be available. Thanks!

  10. Latif Bhegani Guest

    Hello Lucky I am a new follower in your email group and enjoy reading your good advice. Question what app do you use to get your flight info.?
    Thank s

  11. Betty Guest

    When I flew LAX-LIR in 2015, I got paid first class upgrades. Well worth it. It was available at 24 hour check in on the outbound. On the return I started the check in process but abandoned it because it wasn't offering me the paid first class upgrade at 24 hours out. Kept repeating every few hours and about 6 hours prior to departure it became available. Was very pleased:-)

  12. Vailtux New Member

    Last November I paid $107 to upgrade SAN - EWR with no status whatsoever, just an MP account.
    After paying the confirm screen hung for a second, then indicated I should see an agent at check-in, THEN jumped to issuing a boarding pass. I thought it was a mistake.

    At the gate, the agent asked me to change seats; I was glad to help and remained in first.
    Then she started to quiz...

    Last November I paid $107 to upgrade SAN - EWR with no status whatsoever, just an MP account.
    After paying the confirm screen hung for a second, then indicated I should see an agent at check-in, THEN jumped to issuing a boarding pass. I thought it was a mistake.

    At the gate, the agent asked me to change seats; I was glad to help and remained in first.
    Then she started to quiz me, "What status do you have? Are you a MVP Gold?"
    Twice I replied, "I was offered an upgrade and paid for it." Perhaps she was unaware of the process?

    If it never happens again, I'm glad it happened once!

  13. Jim Guest

    I did it too on DCA-LAX. Definitely worth it.

  14. Mark Guest

    save your $$ or your company's $$ and forget AS First Class.
    not worth it on any route.

  15. baqa New Member

    GDL routes also consistently go out with empty seats in F + paid upgrades available.

  16. Chris Guest

    @Lucky - changes may be in store for a most excellent credit card:

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/j-p-morgan-chases-sapphire-reserve-card-gets-a-new-chief-1512918001

  17. keitherson Gold

    LAX-MEX has no elites because AS gets absolutely 0 corporate traffic in Mexico. Their Mexican routes are all to beach resorts. LAX as an AS hub is also weak, it's more a pit stop for SEA MEX. I think it's even the same flight number.

  18. Nick In Chicago Member

    AA seems to only offer cash upgrades at checkin for non-elites which is ridiculously foolish. I feel penalized for having status in this case.

  19. Jason Diamond

    I flew AS last Friday SEA-DCA. When I checked in at the kiosk there was an upgrade available for $100. No brainer. It was the best $100 I’ve spent in awhile. Great flight and I liked the service.

  20. rand Member

    Here's a better idea fly Delta & if like me you don't have status 1st class will cost half what Alaska charges w/o all the hoops to jump thru. I recently flew PHL-SEA $530 & had I not waited it would have been $467 not bad. Service was excellent and I would do it again. I've noticed that AS has declined in service & availability in the last few years

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

M Guest

Something changed recently, and I haven't been able to find any reporting of this anywhere online. I'm kinda angry because I use this method successfully a couple times a year. I have a flight in 12 days that I was hoping to be able to upgrade. These new prices make most of my routes double their old upgrade cost. Not sure I want to pay $200 extra each way. From Alaska website today: Pay for an upgrade. Upgrade to First Class on Alaska Airlines for as little as $29.00 USD. Paid upgrades may be available within 24 hours of flight departure through online check-in. They may be available on the calendar day of departure at a kiosk, airport ticket counter or at the departure gate. Pay for an upgrade table One-Way by trip miles Price* 0 - 450 $29 451 - 700 $49 701 - 1,400 $99 1,401 - 2,100 $149 2,101 and above $199

0
alan Diamond

As a lowly MVP (from travel) I am really pissed if my MVP upgrade is gazumped because of flaws in Alaska software. Thanks, Lucky, for helping the unentitled to my upgrade! AS - fix this dammit!

0
altadoc Guest

Thanks Lucky! Just used this on SEA-PHL check in this morning. just came in under the 2500 mile mark - Happy to pay $100 for that upgrade, especially considering Premium class upgrade is $79!

0
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