Subject: Formal Complaint – Incompetent Service and Denied Boarding on Flight 1409 (CLSVJM – Dear Alaska Airlines Customer Relations, I am writing to file a formal complaint regarding my experience on Flight 1409 departing from Seattle on 6/13/26. As a physician and business owner who frequently coordinates group travel, this was one of the worst airline experiences I have encountered. Upon arrival, I was informed that my check-in boarding pass was not official, despite successfully obtaining it electronically through your website/app with no warnings or indications of issues. My electronic boarding pass was rejected, leading to cancellation/denial of boarding. The gate agent (an older woman) was unhelpful, claimed my name had been announced multiple times (which it had not—she did not even know my name correctly), and mistakenly boarded my traveling companion under my name. Additionally, an older blonde staff member nearly failed to return my passport, highlighting a clear lack of training on your check-in and boarding systems. This chaos forced me onto a later flight while my group waited in Canada, unable to check into our Airbnb or pick up rental cars (as I was the primary booker). The entire incident caused significant business disruption, stress, and additional expenses. I have flown Alaska Airlines previously but will not consider it again without resolution. I request: • Full reimbursement of any additional costs incurred. • Appropriate compensation (vouchers/miles) for the inconvenience and poor service. • Confirmation of corrective actions for Please respond within 7-10 business days. Sincerely, Dr. Chunwen Teng
Never had so many staff members be rude and disrespectful. I had a staff member sarcastically call me “girly” after making me wait 20 minutes to be seen by her. I was able to print my luggage tag and she told me I was too late to check luggage I said the system obviously disagrees. And you had me wait way too long while you asked every single passenger ahead of me about their Disney vacations. She wasted so much time to then say “girly your bag won’t make it on the plane” I’m not her girly I’m a full grown adult. She needs to learn a hell of a lot of respect
The agents were super helpful. I was traveling with my mother inlaw who needed whell chair assisstance. The help and accomodation from the checkin crew, to the boarding crew and inflight crew was excellent.
Completely full flight. Boarding was smooth, but people didn’t listen about use of overhead bins which is typical. We pre-purchased a snack which was tasty. Drinks were good and plentiful. Flight left late because previous flight was delayed.
Eva Airlines attendants were wonderful. I really enjoyed the hot meals. They always greeted me with a warm smile. I'm looking forward to flying back to the USA with them again!
Flight maintenance was on so that flight didn’t go able to fly out to Seattle and Inhad to get another flight,,
3 of the 4 legs of our trip the crews were awesome! 1 leg the trip attendants were rude & dismissive, didn't even greet us when boarding even though both myself & my husband said hello directly to them when we boarded.
Well organized boarding. Cabin crew were efficient and professional. Thoroughly enjoyed the flight.
The first flight was fine, great crew, but the plane was delayed 45 minutes to go to Seattle because of they were missing a ramp. That would make sense if the plane was actually at the gate. Not if we’re still waiting for a plane. After we landed we waited 30-45 minutes on the tarmac just to get off the plane. Alaska made me miss my connecting flight, wasting my time, and my money. I should honestly be reimbursed, but hey, when does the airline ever actually take accountability? Never.
Everyone from the ticket counter to the stewards were so accommodating and helpful
Flight was delayed over 3 hours. Planes were dirty. Staff indifferent. And they serve vegan pretzels as snacks.
It was great. The gate staff were very helpful in Portland when my son forgot his rolling bag and had to go back to get it just in time to make it on the plane. We really appreciate that. Great job!
Airline is not very senior friendly. Flights are late, forcing us to run to the connecting flight. Food is awful. Wish they would go back to pretzels and peanuts. During flight, pressurization isn’t quite right and all of our ears get plugged. Everything is nickel and dime, charging for boarding, seat selection and legroom. While a screen at the desk in the gate area says check your roll on bag now for free due to space limitation, the employee at the desk will not check the bag without a $100 fee. Insane.
Kayak could’ve posted the correct gate number. Almost missed my flight.
Slow boarding, limited food and drink portions. Bad delays and turbulence
there were two flight attendants that were up front...that were the best! They get KUDOs for making my trip only fantastic. Tell them Jeff said that!
OKay. I sat in the back of the plane and it was really loud between babies and little kids, and adults who.like to talk a lot and loudly most of the flight.
Flight coming out of Buffalo was delayed, so we had to be rescheduled on another flight from Baltimore to Phoenix which means we had a long layover and got home 3.5 hours late. Shuttle to parking stopped at 10pm, so we had to pay for an Uber to the parking lot and got charged an extra day of parking since it was after midnight. Not the best experience. Long day!
Was fine, delayed and feels like southwest is always late
I don't know why flying out of Sarasota requires two plane changes.
Original flight was delayed, then cancelled and the gate staff did not expedite rebooking. Also, no instructions were given that a ticket number was needed before being called to facilitate rebooking. This could have been much more organized.
Checkin was good, fllight ws good. Onlly complaint is lack of foot on 6 hour flight from Seattle to Boston. Snacks were flimsy - chips and cookies. could have offered something more substantial for such a long flight. I know you can buy food in airport but for the price you pay for a ticket, they should step up for the passengers.
Only beverages were offered to first class and I thought the flight attendant could have also served the Delta Comfort as well instead of sitting down and staring at her phone and walking past all of us to the back of the plane to charge her phone more. There was a complete lack of turbulence and was safe enough for flights attendant to walk around in the front of the plane, collect trash and serve a few people water and turn off the seat belt light. Also didn’t enforce people putting their seats into the upright position and allowed two passengers to remain reclined during landing. They seemed out to lunch completely. Usually my experience on Delta is much better.
Definitely a southern flavor. Cordiality was evident even though no drinks or snacks were served.
No service flight that took 5 hrs and a stop at an unscheduled airport. Crew and pilots did their jobs
Much better than I expected. I had an economy ticket so I was really happy the flight was so comfy and the service so generous. Passengers were all polite too.
For some reason, TSA Atlanta didn’t have my bag on the flight on time and they don’t have to provide Delta a reason for that.
Delta does a great job with entertainment and free wifi. I can still be in touch with my colleagues while in the air.
In a world of delays, Delta was on time both ways! Boarding was fast and efficient. Staff was friendly. AND wifi worked.
Flight was delayed, we could have been notified earlier and in a consistent manner. App was not refreshing for another passenger to get the latest flight status. We could have stayed and waited at the hotel instead of waiting at the airport had we known the flight was going to delayed for more than 5 hours. The toilet is too tight, and needs to be cleaned more frequently (every hour). The entertainment screen froze, the touch screen not responding to touch. We were upgraded to comfort, it is more comfortable than regular economy seats.
Flight delayed two hours , missed connection flight then connection cancelled- horrible experience with hotel
Omg the disaster at the security was on another level! “Go to this end, sorry closed now, go to that end”. Ridiculous! This took over an hour! As far as the airline was concerned although I booked nearly a year ago I couldn’t get my bag tag - stand in another 15 minute line or my seat on Hawaiian Airlines- 5 more minutes! Then my TSA status was denied. Like what the heck! Makes a person not want to travel with this amount of incompetence
The Honolulu Hub needs 2 to 3 times the amount of things to do as well as shuttles that transport to/from gates and terminals. Arriving from OCONUS locations; transferring to CONUS locations its a miserable experience. Fetching and re-checking bags, then returning to a gate across the airport take longer than any other large airport. If youre confused by what I mean, the process goes like this: Disembark plane Walk a mile to the main terminal Walk half a mile to baggage claim Wait 40 minutes for baggage Walk a mile to re-check-in baggage Wait 20 minutes for checking in those bags Fo back through the wrong TSA line because the signage is poor Almost miss the connecting flight because your gate is across the airport.
The checking was disaster, the crew wasn't behave well. It took us two hours to check in, after that thr line at the TSA was long, we barely make the flight. Bad airline
Fabulous if you have a portable wheelchair. They can store it in the galley and you can just walk out with it. Really nice and the flat seats are just incredible, very nice. iPads for movies, also pretty nice,
The crew were exceptionally nice and accommodating. My wife was tired after the flight from Haneda, Tokyo. They let her sleep and served her dinner later after she woke up, before we landed in PDX.
No charging outlets worked. Other than collecting trash attendants didn’t come around. No one could hear flight attendants announcements during the flight. Seat pads were horrible. Sitting on a board for 5 hours. What happened to Hawaiian airlines comfort, hospitality, and extras? Our pilots did an excellent job trying to minimize turbulence and incredible job in landing in windy conditions.
I like that if they asked you to checked in a bag at the gate they give you priority to board
Horrible food and crew. Crew were laughing and talking loud while people were trying to sleep
Yall need to integrate your system with Alaska more efficiently. They booted me off the first flight because of a discrepancy on your end.
There weren't enough employees at check in took awhile to get bags checked. There wasn't a wheel chair for me, I was sent to someone who turns out to work for a different airline, if My flight hadn't been delayed I probably would have missed my flight as it was, by the time I arrived at my gate, they started boarding in about 15 minutes. I don't know who took me to my gate, definitely was not the normal people who take passengers to the gate. I'm guessing she may have been in a management position. I wish I knew her name, she went beyond to help me. With that said everyone was kind, and were doing the best they could. So, I choose to say it was an Adventure, stressful start, but good. In the end went well. The situation was not only difficult for passengers but the employee's.
The staff at the check in counter was so rude. Made you feel Incompetent
Frontier scheduled a 40 minute connection in DEN. What they failed to mention was that they “close the doors” 20 mins prior to departure, which means you only have 20 mins. Not enough time. Possibly against DOT regulations. Filing complaint.
Flight was scheduled at 9:40pm. Got delayed to 10 am, the next day. crazy
The bag check, flight check-in, and onboard experience convinced my wife and me that we will actively go out of our way to avoid flying Frontier Airlines in the future. At bag check, we were informed that check-in could only be completed via the Frontier mobile app. Unfortunately, the app was extremely frustrating—sending us through repetitive, confusing loops that repeatedly forced us to decline add-on services with nearly every click. While most airline apps upsell, this one felt intentionally exhausting. As the process dragged on, we became genuinely concerned that my phone battery would die before check-in could be completed. We approached the bag check staff—who were standing together talking—and explained both our frustration and our predicament. They laughed. Later, my wife described the interaction as “gaslighting,” which felt accurate. We were then informed it would cost $25 per person simply to have our boarding passes printed. From that point forward, the tone of the experience was consistently hostile. The bag check employees were condescending and combative, behaving more like bullies than customer service staff. Unfortunately, that same attitude continued onboard. One flight attendant argued with me when I attempted to stow my backpack in the overhead bin. I explained that we had each paid $75 to check our bags specifically so we would not need to use carry-on space and could have adequate legroom. She demanded to see my ticket, pointed out that it said “no carry-on”—which I acknowledged—and I reiterated that this was precisely why we paid to check our bags. Her response was, “I don’t make the rules.” She then walked away, but not before asking if I “truly wanted to fly back to Chicago today?”—an unnecessary and unmistakable threat. It is also worth noting that despite booking our tickets together in the same transaction, we were not seated together. Upon our return to Chicago—where we could once again sit together—we compared onboard experiences. We both remarked on how unhappy the flight attendants appeared and how each of us was separately asked whether we would like to purchase a beverage. We declined. At no point was water mentioned as an option, leaving us with the clear impression that even water came at a cost—or that complimentary water, if available at all, was deliberately left unmentioned. Overall, the experience was shocking and deeply disappointing, but it was also a profound learning experience—one we will not forget and will not repeat. -Steve
Plane was hot and miserable and the crew was rude!
12 hour delay required getting on and off plane 3 times - would have at least liked to have been offered a snack or drink
They didn’t offer a water, even after I asked
They switched our terminal 3 times and we were delayed for four plus hours!!!
It was an early flight and most people napped/slept and the crew let us which was nice.
