With seat sizes and passenger priorities changing, the cheapest ticket isn’t always the best

Who doesn’t love to fly first class?

Last week on a trip to Juneau, I walked a little taller with a spring in my step. After all, I got upgraded!

At the boarding gate, I perked right up when the customer service agent called out for “priority” passengers to board. I breezed right by all the people standing in line and settled in for my flight.

Flying up front makes air travel a lot nicer.

It’s pretty clear travelers will jump through quite a few hoops in order to enjoy the upgraded life when they fly. It’s not just the cushier seat and extra legroom, either. People are nicer in first class, mostly. If you’re on a longer flight, they still serve you food on a plate with silverware. You’re the first on and the first off.

Those hoops include flying enough to obtain elite status, so you scoot to the front of the line when upgrades are being handed out. And when you fly these days, you have to spend more money on your tickets to get full frequent flyer credit.

Checking in for my flight back home from Juneau to Anchorage, I looked up at the TV display above the gate. That’s where they list the names of travelers and where they are on the upgrade list. Out of 150 people on the plane, there were about 75 people on the upgrade list. Almost everyone, it appears, has “elite” status of some sort: MVP, MVP Gold and so forth.

Recently, Alaska Airlines started offering last-minute upgrades for sale so you can skip the upgrade lottery and confirm your seat right away. Sometimes it’s $500, but sometimes it’s $99. Anyone who is on the list, hoping for a free upgrade, is tempted to stop the guesswork and just grab the seat.

With popular games like that, it’s clear that Alaska Airlines needs some more inventory. There’s almost always more demand than there is supply for the first-class seats.

To partially address that supply-and-demand dilemma, Alaska Airlines introduced its Premium Class, featuring more legroom. Often, those of us who didn’t make the cut for an upgrade got a seat in Premium. Even though there still are six seats across on the 737s, the extra legroom is a welcome perk.

If you don’t have enough status to score a free upgrade to first or Premium, then travelers are invited to buy Premium seats, segment by segment.

If it seems like airlines are selling entitlement by the pound lately, I think you’re spot on.

In fact, if you have an Alaska Airlines credit card, you can charge your way to MVP status. When a cardholder charges $10,000, they’ll receive a 4,000-mile bonus. The maximum allowable amount each year is 20,000 elite-qualifying miles, after charging $50,000. That’s enough to qualify for MVP or to bump you to MVP Gold if you’ve already attained MVP status.

[Alaska Air eliminates some mileage redemption options, including for Ravn Alaska flights]

Mileage hounds and elite flyers were excited to learn Alaska Airlines is adding more first-class and Premium Class seats to its fleet of 737s.

In a release sent to frequent flyers, Alaska Air said more than 200 of its 737s will be retrofitted with the additional seats. Alaska has 59 737-800s with three rows of first-class seats. The airline will add a fourth row of seats, allowing for more upgrades. The work on these planes will begin next year.

On the 737-900ERs and the 737 Max 9s, there are 16 first-class seats at the front of the bus. That count will stay the same. But the airline is changing one row from regular economy to Premium Class (six additional seats).

The big change in those seats is the amount of legroom. Right now, legroom in economy ranges from 30.5 inches to 32 inches. The legroom in Premium Class is 34.5 inches.

Exit rows (rows 16 and 17 on Alaska Air flights) have as much as 37.5 inches of legroom.

First-class travelers enjoy wider seats (20.45 inches wide), without that pesky middle seat. The legroom is generous: 41 inches between rows.

Things are looking pretty sunny if you’re a first-class or premium-class traveler, since there are more roomier options on many planes. There’s no word on seating changes for either the 737 Max 8 or the 737-700s.

But the new premium- and first-class seats take up more room. That means that passengers in economy class will have less legroom. This detail was not included in the press release. However, an Alaska Airlines manager did confirm the cozier configuration: “While Main Cabin pitch will be adjusted to 30″ (1″ less than our current 31″ standard), our new seats from RECARO ensure that you maintain the same living space.”

“Living space” is not the same as legroom. A 30-inch pitch between rows is cramped. American and United both sport a 30-inch pitch in economy class.

Alaska Airlines is responding to traveler requests for more premium- and first-class availability. That’s fair. But with the new economy configuration, the airline appears to be increasing the demand for the more expensive seats by making economy class uncomfortable. Tall travelers might go further and characterize the new crowded configuration as unbearable, particularly for a long flight from Anchorage to Hawaii.

Still, Alaska Air can point to giant carriers like American and United and claim they’re no worse than the others. Except Delta, which offers one more inch of legroom (31 inches).

[From flights to food, the Anchorage airport is offering more options for almost everything]

Seating configuration is not the only shake-up with the airlines.

More travelers are keen on the lesser service afforded Saver or Basic Economy ticketholders. With Alaska Airlines, if you buy the cheapest, advertised price (Saver), you only get 30% of miles flown toward your Mileage Plan account. Still, that’s more generous than Delta, where you get no mileage credit at all if you fly Basic Economy.

But the amount you pay to jump from Saver to Main can vary wildly.

Between Anchorage and Seattle, Alaska Air charges $35 each way ($70 round-trip) for a Main ticket, so you can get advance seat assignments. Delta charges $30 each way.

Between Anchorage and Honolulu, Alaska charges $55 one-way as an upcharge from Saver to Main.

From Anchorage to Chicago, Alaska and United charge $40 more one-way (nonstop). Delta charges $30 more for Main. Or, with Delta travelers can pay $120 more (each way) for a Comfort+ seat with extra legroom. Alaska charges up to $185 more, each way, for Premium.

To add another twist, elite-level flyers often get Premium or Comfort+ at no additional charge, depending on the cost of the ticket.

There is an increasing number of elements for travelers to consider when making plans. That includes flying on a particular airline to achieve status to get the coveted elite-level benefits. The cheapest ticket is not necessarily the best option, particularly if you want the flexibility to pick your seat in advance or find a seat where your knees will not be squished.