Alaska Airlines fare classes explained

Overview

Fare classes can tell you a lot about the unique terms and restrictions of your ticket. Alaska Airlines uses dozens of them to categorize seats ticketed on its own metal (revenue or award flights), as well as flights on its partners. ExpertFlyer makes it easy to locate the fare class that best suits your travel style.

Importance of fare classes

When booking a flight, have you ever noticed that one-letter code on your ticket? That’s called a fare class, and if you’re a casual flyer, it likely means nothing to you.

In fact, fare classes can tell you a lot about your ticket. They’re more than just cabin labels like Economy and First; they’re booking codes that help determine the unique rules of your ticket, such as:

• Whether you can book an award seat. Typically, not every seat on the airplane can be booked as an award.
• How many points you’ll earn for the flight. The number of redeemable and elite qualifying points you’ll earn depends on your fare class (as well as the distance you fly, elite status, and more).
• If you can upgrade the seat. Whether you’re booking a paid or award flight, the unique fare bucket you book can affect whether or not you can upgrade your ticket — as well as your place in the queue of potential upgrades.
• A ticket’s refund and change rules. Some fares are refundable, some can be changed, and some are use-it-or-lose-it. Looking at the fare class can help you to identify those restrictions.
• Other restrictions. From boarding order to seat selection to baggage allowances, your fare class can reveal some of your ticket’s limitations.

Let’s quickly examine Alaska Airlines fare classes to help you understand what your ticket’s letter means (and which code best fits your travel goals).

Alaska Airlines fare classes

Below is a quick look at the fare buckets you’ll encounter when reserving flights through Alaska Airlines. You can see how each class affects the total number of redeemable points and status points you’ll earn for your travel. Of course, each of these fare classes varies in price.

Some booking classes are exclusively for Alaska Airlines flights, and some are for Alaska partners. Others are shared by both, though they may have ranging implications depending on whether they’re Alaska/Hawaiian flights or partners like Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways.

Alaska Airlines fare classes:

Alaska Airlines partner fare classes (when booked through Alaska Airlines):

Alaska Airlines award fare classes

In addition to these consumer-facing fare classes, you can use ExpertFlyer to find award inventory and upgrade buckets that Alaska Airlines doesn’t publicize. Here’s what to expect:

All to say, when you find one of the above fare codes through ExpertFlyer, an award seat will be available.

Upgrades on Alaska Airlines

In short, Alaska upgrades tickets in two ways:

1. Complimentary upgrades
2. Upgrade certificates

The upgrades available to you will depend on things like your fare class, your Alaska Airlines elite status, and whether an upgrade is available at all.

Complimentary upgrades

If you’re an elite flyer, Alaska Airlines may upgrade your seat when you reserve your flight. No need to wait until the day or week of travel to know whether you scored a better seat.

Upgrades to Premium Class are valid everywhere Alaska flies. But not all fare classes are eligible for an upgrade. Here’s a list of which fares are eligible based on your status:

• Atmos Silver — Y, B, H
• Atmos Gold — Y, B, H, K, M, L, V, S, N
• Atmos Platinum — All fares except X
• Atmos Titanium — All fares except X

For flights within North America, Alaska Airlines elite status can also unlock First Class upgrades based on your fare class:

• Atmos Silver — Y, B
• Atmos Gold — Y, B, H, K
• Atmos Platinum — Y, B, H, K, M
• Atmos Titanium — Y, B, H, K, M

Alaska uses a ‘U’ class of service to show you which seats are eligible for a First Class upgrade. You can easily find these within ExpertFlyer under the ‘Awards & Upgrades’ tab.

You can then navigate to the Alaska Airlines website and look for that specific flight. You’ll find the First Class upgrade indicator below the flight itinerary.

Upgrade certificates

The more you fly with Alaska Airlines, the more upgrade certificates you can earn. Upgrade certificates are selectable rewards when reaching 55K, 95K, 125K, 150K, 200K, and 250K milestones.

To redeem them, you’ll again need to look for that ‘U’ class of service which signifies that upgrade certs can be used. You can only use an upgrade cert for tickets purchased in Y, B, H, K, M, L, V, S, or N. Specifically, ineligible fares include Q, O, G, and X.

How to find your fare class

While finding your Alaska Airlines fare class is easy enough, it’s still a bit clunky compared to competing airlines. Alaska won’t give you the specific letter in the details of the search results.

Instead, you’ll have to first add it to your cart. The bucket will be revealed before checkout.

If you’ve already booked, you can instead find the fare class in your confirmation email or in your reservation details when you visit your reservation online.

Book your ideal class with ExpertFlyer

The specific Alaska Airlines fare class you book can determine whether your seat is eligible for an upgrade; it can mean the difference between earning many thousands of points, or no points at all; it can dictate how flexible your ticket is to changes and refunds. ExpertFlyer helps you to quickly locate the flights with your preferred fare bucket so you can book into the ideal class for your travel goals.

Have questions or suggestions for this article? Please reach out to support@expertflyer.com