BREAKING: Alaska (was) Honoring Old Emirates Redemption Rates and Giving Additional Points for Trouble…

by Adam

UPDATED Below

Wow, my booking service – Juicy Miles, had two clients who were waiting for Starwood points to transfer over to Alaska when the Emirates redemption rates suddenly changed overnight with absolutely no notice. Those same flights are still available, but only at the new pricing (which is more than either client has…or is willing to spend). We contacted Alaska customer service to talk about the issue and how unfair it was given the pending SPG transfers. Well, they agreed..

If a Mileage Plan member can show that they were waiting on an SPG transfer, merger of accounts, points purchase, or credit card bonus / monthly points that would have put them at the amount needed for a redemption, Alaska will honor the old rate. The agent literally placed the difference in miles between the new price and the old price in the accounts of our clients which now allows them to redeem at the new rate (no word on whether they are monitoring the accounts to ensure they redeem their points for Emirates travel…though we have already booked the flights in both situations). In addition, they gave them each 5,000 extra points to apologize for the inconvenience.

My clients didn’t need to provide any proof as their SPG points posted today directly to their accounts.  I’m not sure what documentation if any will be necessary for the other situations, though I was told that all scenarios are required to have occurred before Thursday, March 31st.

Still not transparent, but at least they are trying to be fair to those who took direct action with the belief they would be able to book a flight at the posted redemption rate. Unfortunately, those who were aspirationally saving (and may have participated in several of these same activities) will not be able to benefit unless their most recent transactions place their accounts at the old redemption level. No word on how long these exceptions will be made.

UPDATE 9P EST: After we received emails that others were not receiving the same courtesy as our clients, we contacted Alaska once again.  It appears that this was sadly a case of an amazing supervisor going above and beyond for us and even potentially going outside of what she was allowed to do. This is not a policy for all and it seems we were simply very lucky.  The fact that she was allowed to add that many miles to two accounts without this being an official policy is shocking, but it nonetheless seems to be what happened. Disappointed for everyone else waiting on their transfers and we apologize for getting your hopes up.

Related Emirates Trip Reports:

Alaska Mileage Plan

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9 comments

Emirates awards on AS devalued with no notice - Page 23 - FlyerTalk Forums April 1, 2016 - 5:12 pm

[…] { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-14'); }); http://pointmetotheplane.boardingare…emption-rates/ Per the JuicyMiles booking service Alaska Honoring Old Emirates Redemption Rates and Giving […]

Reply
Dan Diversky April 1, 2016 - 5:44 pm

I don’t know who you talked to, or if this is an April Fool’s Joke but they have no idea what you are talking about.

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Adam April 1, 2016 - 5:51 pm

@ Dan – No April Fools’ Joke. This is real. Call back and ask for a supervisor. Give specific details about your pending Starwood transfer that you made specifically for an Emirates redemption.

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Dan Diversky April 1, 2016 - 5:56 pm

Did exactly that. No waivers. No favors. Have miles in the bank for more than one ticket and an SPG xfer teed up to cover the rest. Spoke to a supervisor and all I got was, “Sorry. We can’t do a thing. We are not making exceptions. We will not provide you with additional miles to make up the difference.”

I will try again tomorrow.

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Adam April 1, 2016 - 6:00 pm

@Dan – If you want to shoot me an email, I can give you the details for the supervisor we spoke with. You need to be super clear that your SPG transfer was done solely with the intention of booking an emirates award

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NewToMiles April 1, 2016 - 5:45 pm

What’s the process for this? I was waiting for a SPG account merger. Do I just call Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan?

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Adam April 1, 2016 - 5:52 pm

@NewToMiles – An SPG account merger will not help with this. You need to have an existing pending transfer from SPG to Mileage Plan that you began prior to yesterday

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Ryan April 1, 2016 - 9:40 pm

This was a terrible decision to post this stories. This is the issue with bloggers , they never know when to keep their mouths shut. you potentially got a very nice agent into trouble AND led people to believe something that isn’t real. Can’t you all just know when to share and when to stay quiet?

Reply
Jonnie April 2, 2016 - 12:32 am

If these people want to fly in a premium cabin, they should buy a premium ticket.

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