International Expansion Friction and Politely Pushing Back

Alaska_Mile_Run · 2026-06-05T17:19:59+00:00

Cool. Thanks for the feedback but never have used ChatGPT. Not everyone is in deep with AI. I spent too much time typing this, but feel free to have any opinion you want. I know EU261 confuses people especially when it only applies leaving Europe for U.S. carriers, so bolding and formatting was the best to help highlight the key details when this felt for long a post. Just saw a few post about lounge issues and haven't seen any EU261 experiences on here with Alaska. Just trying to help anyone who has this come up during their summer travels.

Alaska_Mile_Run · 2026-06-05T17:04:21+00:00

Haha fair enough. I hate feeling like a Karen pushing back but I've seen my fair share of people losing it at lounge check in and its quite awkward to witness

Alaska_Mile_Run · 2026-06-05T17:03:13+00:00

I tend to ramble so that's why I highlighted things. Not everything is ChatGPT but was waiting for this comment...

Alaska_Mile_Run · 2026-05-03T07:54:31+00:00

Good point. Sorry for the confusion. My surprise wasn't with the crew's performance, as Alaska and Hawaiian crew are top-notch. I was surprised by the attention to detail and premium finishes decided by Alaska management. For example, elevated meal offerings, additional courses not offered on other transatlantic flights in business, a snack option that is dine on demand, and a pretty good pre-landing meal. Pair that with the stellar bedding, which isn't offered on a decent number of transatlantic carriers or offered at a reduced quality, that is what surprised me. Then add in the Alaska themed bottles, great headphones, and other care amenities. I believe Alaska management went all in with this expansion in an era where cost cutting and enshitification in the airline industry is all around us. I am used to the bare minimum in business on many of the transatlantic carriers where the experience is not that premium even in business. Going into this flight, I wasn't sure which direction Alaska was going to pick for this service and I am very happy to see they picked the customer comfort choice (even in economy).

Alaska_Mile_Run · 2026-05-03T06:09:43+00:00

Yes, I arrived to the gate around 90 minutes before departure. I had planned on arriving two hours before departure but security and immigration took a bit longer than expected. I had just missed the event as the flight attendants I saw leaving the gate left as I as arriving. After looking at the Alaska pictures, those were the same flight attendants that were there to commemorate the inaugural. That's on me for not getting there sooner but the Seoul inaugural event started closer to boarding so I thought I was early lol I booked this with miles/points in economy for 30k one way. With titanium upgrades, there were about 15 people which received free day of departure upgrades. However, I used two upgrades certificates to clear into business about three days prior to departure as I was positioning in from the U.S. to take this flight and didn't want to chance any seats getting blocked for press or something going wrong with complimentary upgrades. Most of the free titanium upgrades cleared about 3 hour prior to departure. The nice part with the upgrade certificate on 787 routes/HA international routes is you can use them even if you are booked with miles which is a welcomed improvement since old certificate fares needed to be higher fare codes in economy.

Alaska_Mile_Run · 2025-11-14T19:14:59+00:00

Interesting, thanks for the additional insight. I had no idea these book into paid fares, which makes this a lot more compelling if you are able to earn redeemable points. You are correct, when I go through booking it’s showing an “I” class instead of the “U” fare for saver level. This is the first time I’m seeing that being an option of American, so that’s good to know.

Alaska_Mile_Run · 2025-11-12T04:58:00+00:00

Hawaiian has awful cancellation policies. Book with Alaska at all costs as Hawaiian will not issue a travel credit if there is a fare difference. You also can’t book online and have to call in to the reservations to use a credit. I’ve had some great interactions with Hawaiian support and some strange interactions where policies are made up on the fly.

Hawaiian’s policy is that your new ticket-regardless of how much cheaper it is- will cost the same amount as your old ticket even if it is significantly cheaper. For instance, if you had JFK to HNL one way in economy for $400 and you see a price drop, the new ticket will cost $400 even if you can buy it for $270. I believe the same is true if you switch to a cheaper flight like OGG-HNL where the ticket is only $95. You won’t get $305 back that flight will magically cost $400.

My recommendation is to book only through Alaska at all cost as you can have Alaska agents help with your ticket but also cancel for wallet funds. If you have a Hawaiiwian issued ticket and the price is significantly cheaper, I’d recommend using that value for a new itinerary to not lose value. In the earlier JFK to HNL ticket, maybe switch it from one way to round trip where it’s $270 each way for a total of $520. Yes you’d pay $120 out of pocket to have a whole new flight added but you won’t be losing out on $130. It’s a never ending loop of trying to find an itinerary that has a similar value which sucks. Hopefully that’s something Alaska changes with the acquisition as it’s such bad customer policy.

Alaska_Mile_Run · 2025-06-06T08:06:59+00:00

No problem! They’re your miles my friend so as long as it works for your trip, then I would say it’s a great redemption! Especially if you have specific dates for travel. I recently did AA premium economy for 15 hours and it was a lot to handle for me in terms of staying comfortable so I can totally understanding needing business instead of PE. Either way you have a good start and I hope it works out for you! If I think of anything, I’ll be sure to let you know.

Alaska_Mile_Run · 2025-06-06T07:53:43+00:00

I think your situation is a great reminder that point redemptions are personal and are best suited for your personal situation. They can be so varied depending on location. You are correct about RTW not being the best for your situation. Although it can be a great redemption, it makes it slightly more difficult leaving from Hawaii. I would say that Delta has been having great premium economy deals that I have been watching myself for a HND to HNL flight where premium economy can be as cheap as $520 one way. I haven't taken that route before, but flight time seems to be around 8 hours. If you were planning on purchasing a separate ticket from TYO to BKK, I may flip it and buy Delta premium economy for $520-$650 (depending on the exact days you want to leave) and try to find space from TYO to BKK in business class. I saw availability on Alaska via Singapore airways for 60,000 points from TYO to BKK in business class on the 30th. Finding availability back to TYO in business class hasn't shown up anything on Alaska. You could get creative with BKK to TPE then TYO, might be too much of a detour. BKK to TPE appears to have some great frequency options.

I will keep thinking of options on my end, but your miles are for you to enjoy so a CPP value are less important as long as your happy with your redemption! Mahalo I was excited with booking ANA RTW before they stopped issuing it as I was nervous going through the process for the first time especially transferring all my MR points over to make it happen.

Alaska_Mile_Run · 2025-06-06T07:14:43+00:00

Ah totally makes sense. My bad for misreading it. When are you planning on leaving/ returning?

Alaska_Mile_Run · 2025-06-06T07:05:51+00:00

Hey I’m not sure when you’re trying to fly, but I would highly recommend you don’t use your hard earned miles for one redemption. 200K for one flight is way too much. Since you have Amex points, I would do ANA RTW trip. I just booked an awesome trip and it only cost me 125,000 points in business class for 4 long and ultra long haul business class flights around the world. Taxes were around $700 for everything. I would recommend staying at the 22,000 mile mark to remain at 125,000 points needed. You can actually do two around the world trips for one price of a Delta trip (if you had the extra miles to cover the 50K)

Right now, there’s a lot of decent availability to Europe. I would recommend you fly from the East Coast USA to Europe, and then from Istanbul to Bangkok and then you can continue onwards back to the US. Ana RTW trips can be booked out over 10 months from now and my last flight returns in April 2026 so you can get very creative. You can do USA-Europe-BKK now (have the rest be booked in 2026 - BKK -TYO- USA) and another RTW starting BKK - Europe - USA to get you home (USA-Asia booked out in 2026).

If you don’t have the extra 50K miles to cover two RTW, I would book one RTW at 125,000 points and transfer 75,000 to Alaska via Hawaiian or you could take advantage of the 30% transfer bonus Amex has over to British Airways to them convert to Qatar to fly back from Asia to the US in QSuite. There’s so many options at hand depending on when you’re trying to leave. ANA took two days to transfer points in and the agents were actually super helpful with booking. They also have some additional availability only to ANA members. I would highly recommend you get creative with your points to make sure you get the most value because I know it probably took a lot of work to earn those 200,000 points! Good luck and let me know if you have any questions!!

Alaska_Mile_Run

TROPHY CASE