I’m biased. I work at the airport and within these systems so I know how to be effective. On top of that part though everyone was friendly and helpful. Both legs of my trip were on time. My baggage was handled with care. Alaska’s part of my experience was top notch.
The TSA pre check with photo linked to Alaskan airlines was extremely fast & convenient.
WOuld have liked coffee or pretzels but other than that, crew and pilot and flight were great. Seat was great, too.
My suggestion is that they should provide USB-C charging ports for modern cell phones.
With saver fares on Alaska, you are treated like a 2nd class citizen. Last to get a seat-most likely in the middle. Last to board. By then all overhead bins are taken. It’s sad to see Alaska treats its customer like India’s caste hierarchy. I’m in Portland Oregon. So I have to Alaska. Otherwise, I wouldn’t fly on them again.
The flight 2161 was cancelled after repeated delays; for some reason the crew and not the tower located in Billings, Montana made the call. A cancelled flight is not a big deal, it happens. It was very disappointing that upon cancelling the flight it was a free for all to get to the counter for rebooking. Priority seating and first class ticket holders should have been giving priority to get on the next available flight. Most would agree that the process of moving states away, w/a cat, is stressful. A cancelled flight, 90 minutes to rebook, no place to stay, medication that was to be refrigerated and trying to find a local pet friendly hotel significantly added to the stress. Had I been able to rebook (per priority boarding SOP) I could have called the place I had just checked out of as my room most likely was just as I'd left it, including with pet supplies (which also had to be repurchased). While waiting to rebook, many of us called Alaska Airlines 800 number hoping to get a new flight; the waiting time -- this is not a joke -- was eight (8) hours, which dropped to "just" two (2) hours about 45-minutes later. Due to the cancellation I had to spend $268.75 and I still have not been refunded for the change in ticket (first class to regular). Each time I've call, five times now, the wait time was absurd, or a message of call back is given. Hopefully visiting the airport and talking with an agent face to face will be the final chapter to this experience. Alaska has been my go to air travel for years, hopefully this trip was just a hiccup. A system that forces customer's to spend hours of their time (money) to get a just due refund is not a working system. I suggest Alaska Airlines hire more representatives to handle calls; time is more valuable than money, spending 90 minutes to rebook a flight, without the difference being automatic is absurd. There are things called computers, they do amazing things. Once the flight was cancelled, only three agents were working to rebook the PAX, This too was unacceptable. First class ticket holders pay for first-class service, this should include rebooking on flights that are cancelled. I recall a time when flights were cancelled the airline would offer a hotel should the next flight not be until the following day? I had no idea that was no longer SOP; many could return home, several of us could not. The agents were pleasant once the PAX had their turn to rebook, this was true down in baggage area as well. The flight out the next day was also what I'd come to find of Alaska Airlines.
The crew inside the airport for Alaska was rude, lazy and incompetent
The flight was delayed by 2 hours for “routine maintenance”and because of that I arrived much later iso my Uber ride home was $100 when it’s normally $50.
The airport crew and on board experience was fine. The problem with Alaska air is that there is zero customer service over the phone when you’re trying to buy your ticket or change anything.
More or less, this seemed like a mismanaged group of great people who would crush at this job, if only they were given the resources to do so.
