Alaska Airlines kind of sucks

[easyrider]

I can't remember a trip in the last few years involving Alaska Airlines being a good flight. This last trip heading to Maui was held up for 2 1/2 hours. The first problem was a child wearing a costume. The kid had a dinosaur tail that made it hard for him to sit with a seat belt. The kid should not have been allowed on the airplane with the costume. Then we had to let these people off the airplane and the aircraft and wait.

On our way back from Maui a flight attendant called in sick causing a 2 hour delay which caused us to miss our connecting flights. We missed the last flight by maybe 10 minutes. I could actually see the airplane still at the gate. We were told the cabin door was shut so we were out of luck.

Had to rent a car. Had to drive 40 minutes round trip to return it. Had to wait in line too for a total of another hour. The rental car return was about 20 minutes away from the airport. Then I went to get our luggage at the airport. They said they would be open at 12:15. I was there at 12:15 and waited until 12:30 for someone to talk to me. This took another 30 minutes. Then I drove home. Another 15 minutes.

It took 20 hours to get home and then almost 2 hours today. Usually it would take 9 hours to get home from Maui.

Bill

 

[rickandcindy23]

So sorry you have had problems with Alaska. We have had really great trips to the islands, almost all were Alaska Airlines. But things happen. I was surprised when some friends of ours had their flight delayed from Maui and Alaska paid for a hotel room and a car for them to have another day. It was above and beyond because the delay was not Alaska's fault. The flight coming from the mainland had a very sick passenger, so they turned around about 90 minutes into the flight. Not the fault of the airline, but they did take care of people. Another day on Maui, paid for by Alaska, seemed pretty good to me.

 

[DaveNV]

What a perfect storm of problems. Glad you're home safe and sound, finally!

Dave

 

[Passepartout]

I'm not fond of their Q400 aricraft from BOI to PDX or SEA . Turboprops with thin, non-reclining seats, but they run almost hourly- like a bus with wings. Amerian is the thorn in my side.

Jim

 

[isisdave]

They credited our tickets without a change fee earlier this year when a medical problem prevented flying. No hassle either.

 

[mjm1]

Bill, sorry to hear that you had a bad experience. We fly Alaska to the islands every time and usually have great experiences. However, one thing that has been annoying is that they have changed flights on us several times. We did get delayed in Seattle during December once, but that was weather related, so not their fault. Hopefully your experiences will be better if you fly them again.

Best regards

Mike

 

[easyrider]

Alaska Airlines has always reimbursed us for their problems so that isn't ever a problem. Last year on a flight that was changed from Mazatlan , I called Alaska customer care and was told I would get reimbursed for a hotel stay at LAX. I sent them an email and the reply was that this wasn't happening. I called to find out why not. Long story short Alaska did reimburse us after I complained enough. These reimbursements are usually flight credits. I have a trip coming up that is using four reimbursement credits and miles. Hopefully Alaska Airlines doesn't make any changes to the itineraries.

Flying has become the worse part of these trips for me.

Bill

 

[geist1223]

I believe that Alaska has gone down hill since they bought Virgin America. They took on too much debt with this transaction. It is now our experience that if you do not pre-order a meal it will not be available. Also they have done away with the low price guarantee.

 

[Jimster]

Alaska is and has been rated one of the best domestic airlines consistently. I have never had a bad flight or bad experience. Obviously, your experience was not satisfactory, but the point is it was one person’s experience. I would argue that the problems you are talking about could have happened on ANY airline.

The truth is you can have a bad experience on any airline. The same is true for hotels. You can have a bad stay at any hotel if the circumstances are right. I don’t think “Alaska Airlines Kind of Sucks”, I think “I had a bad experience with Alaska Airlines” is a better handle.

 

[easyrider]

I don’t think “Alaska Airlines Kind of Sucks”, I think “I had a bad experience with Alaska Airlines” is a better handle.

For me it would be " I had another bad experience with Alaska Airlines !!!" Let me count them up.

1. There was this recent trip with both flights to and from Maui having issues. The delay coming home made for a very long day. Then having to return the rental car and retrieve our luggage when I woke up kind of sucked.

2. Last year our trip to Mazatlan had flight changes causing us to spend a night at LAX and get home a day late.

3. The trip to Loreto had Alaska Airlines sending our luggage elsewhere. It arrived two days latter. We had to buy clothing and personal care products.

4. The trip before the Loreto trip was to Nuevo Vallarta where the Alaska Airlines flight was delayed because of a sick kid but mostly because of an adult poking his eye out on the arm rest. This delay caused us to circle LAX waiting for a landing time. We ended up having to to fly to Ontario for fuel and then to LAX. We ended up in PV 5 hours late. By the time we were able to check in our room was let go to a wedding party.

5. The trip before this was to Maui. Coming home our flight was delayed because of a mechanical issue. This caused us to miss our connecting flight home. I had to rent a car so the trip made for a very long day. Returning the rental car and retrieve luggage was no fun.

6. Maybe two no event trips but at least a few cancelled flights because of fog in the prior trips.

So what Alaska did is to give us both credit or miles that can be used for flights only and reimbursement for hotels and rental cars. For our next trip I have figured out how to finally use the credits as they do expire. I had to make five reservations for one trip.

Bill

 

[lockewong]

I can't remember a trip in the last few years involving Alaska Airlines being a good flight. This last trip heading to Maui was held up for 2 1/2 hours. The first problem was a child wearing a costume. The kid had a dinosaur tail that made it hard for him to sit with a seat belt. The kid should not have been allowed on the airplane with the costume. Then we had to let these people off the airplane and the aircraft and wait.

On our way back from Maui a flight attendant called in sick causing a 2 hour delay which caused us to miss our connecting flights. We missed the last flight by maybe 10 minutes. I could actually see the airplane still at the gate. We were told the cabin door was shut so we were out of luck.

Had to rent a car. Had to drive 40 minutes round trip to return it. Had to wait in line too for a total of another hour. The rental car return was about 20 minutes away from the airport. Then I went to get our luggage at the airport. They said they would be open at 12:15. I was there at 12:15 and waited until 12:30 for someone to talk to me. This took another 30 minutes. Then I drove home. Another 15 minutes.

It took 20 hours to get home and then almost 2 hours today. Usually it would take 9 hours to get home from Maui.

Dear Bill:

I actually agree with you. I have been an Alaska VISA and Rewards member since 1996. In the 1990's, I have had wonderful flights and services. My in-laws live in Seattle and Alaska is the way to handle SEATAC, not Southwest. However, three years ago, I tried to book a flight from Oakland to Maui. I called and had the tickets in the cart. On Wednesday, the credit card did not go through. I drove to the Bank Of America and paid cash to have the credit line updated. Our oldest was in college and the resources were tight. I waited for 24 hours....I called Alaska and I called Bank of America. For three days, they bounced me back-and-forth. I, finally, called customer service to book the flight because the transaction would not go through. I was afraid that I would lose the fare. In two "Certified Return Receipt mailed letters, I made a complaint to both, Bank of American and Alaska Airlines. Bank of America told me I had the credit line and said Alaska made the error and Alaska told me it was Bank of America. They offered to refund me the "booking fee" of $15.00 a ticket. I was incensed. My two flights to Maui since that year were not particularly eventful but I resent the lowered customer service standards. I looked forward to Southwest's entrance to the Hawaii market. I feel that the Alaska of the past no longer exists. I no longer feel the loyalty for them that I had in the past.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

I generally log about 40k miles per year. I have been flying Alaska pretty regularly for more than 25 years. Overall, my experiences with Alaska are better than with other airlines. There are occasional glitches, to be sure, as they are with every airline. But their speed and ability in handling the issues are generally good.

Whenever I am on another airline the experience matches my Alaska experience, but never exceeds Alaska. One are where Alaska consistently stands out for me is with the flight crew. Alaska crews overall seem more satisfied and happy doing their job - though I did notice some rough patches during the VA integration.

I have some friends who are heavy travelers. The husband generally does about 100k per year, and his wife is usually over 200k. Flying that much, they are on a quite a few airlines - all of major domestic US carriers as well as a number of overseas airlines. Alaska is not their preferred carrier, but that is because Alaska is not part of one of the major airline groups, which makes the Alaska frequent flyer program much less useful to them. They do consider Alaska to be superior for in-flight services and customer relations. They just don't care for the Alaska FF program. They readily acknowledge that for the traveling that we do, where Alaska serves almost all of the destinations we want to go to, Alaska is definitely superior to any other airline. Just not for them, because they can't use Alaska miles as easily as they can use Delta and American.

In that regard, I have to agree. The downgrades/eliminations of ability to earn and use miles on other airlines is a significant detriment, and has significantly devalued the FF program. That actually been the major fall-out from the VA acquisition - Alaska has now become big enough that Delta, American, and United view Alaska as a competitor and not as the partner that Alaska used to be (first with Delta, then with American).

Other than that Alaska continues to rank near the top of my list. The difference might not be as large as it was ten years ago, but their flight-related services are still above others, IMO.

 

[Jimster]

Here is Forbes report on travelers satisfaction with airlines. These are ranked from best to worst:

1. Alaska Airlines
2. Southwest Airlines
3. Delta Air Lines
4. United Airlines
5. Frontier Airlines
6. American Airlines
7. Spirit Airlines
8. JetBlue
9. Hawaiian Airlines

That is not to minimize the problems that Easyrider may have experienced, but it is a larger sample. Also by virtue of being on Alaska, you are not on other airlines to compare. While the grass may look greener elsewhere, it doesn’t necessarily follow that it actually is.

 

[easyrider]

The reality is we have had more good flights than bad flights regarding Alaska Airlines. It just seems that in the last four years our flight karma has gone to heck.

Bill

 

[Rjbeach2003]

I fly 20-30,000 miles/year on Alaska. Living in Oregon it’s the best choice. Over the past 8 years I have flown 20,000 miles total on American/US Air. With Alaska during those same years, flying a total of 200,000 miles I have been stranded zero times.
With American I’ve been stranded four times, Charlotte twice, Phoenix twice.

As a Alaska Visa card holder I have paid $0 for checked bags. As an MVP I have earned over 300,000 miles. American and most other airlines don’t offer miles based on miles flown any more.

With Alaska Visa companion fare my wife and I have flown to Hawaii and elsewhere over 10 times(we each have a card)

Last September, when Hurricane Dorian threatened flights in and out of Orlando I was quickly credited fully when I cancelled the flight.

Alaska has made some changes that I don’t like, such as being able to rebook at lower fare, 60 days out, at no charge. I did that a couple of times.

The flight crews are consistently top notch, the customer service folks the same.

I do wish the had better partners to Europe. We have flown Condor R/T to Frankfurt twice and were pleased with that, but connections to/from Italy are less desirable.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

From the SF Bay Area I find Alaska to be more expensive than comparable alternatives. Even with the companion pass.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Alaska has made some changes that I don’t like, such as being able to rebook at lower fare, 60 days out, at no charge. I did that a couple of times.

If you make MVP Gold level, ticket cancellation and rebooking fees are waived. So if you're at that level, you can still take advantage of fare reductions. This year I generated over $1000 in saving by rebooking.

That, and enhanced upgrade capabilities, make it worthwhile for me to assure that I hit MVP Gold status every year. I track that, and if necessary I look for fares and flights that generate more qualifying miles

 

[CalGalTraveler]

The removal of the 60 day policy was the nail in the coffin for us. Why lock in when you can fly SWA and cancel 10 min prior to the flight?

 

[jehb2]

What I love about Alaska Airlines:

My husband and I each have an Alaska credit card so we get 2 companion passes. With the $1,200 cask back I get from Costco my family of 4 can travel to Hawaii for roughly $1,400 total versus $4000.

What I hate about Alaska Airlines:

They change my flight 20 times. And almost always the new itinerary includes 3 planes and spending the night somewhere. I change it back but never to something as good as my original itinerary.

 

[Firepath]

Being in the NW, Alaska is often our only option. We have been happy with their service except for the time they switched our seats on a 6 hour flight, separately my husband and I, and then insisting they didn't do it, so I must have. They are expensive, and as CalGalTraveler mentioned, often higher than others, even with the companion certificate. The inability to easily cancel or change a flight without fees was the deal breaker for me. Being TS travelers, we usually book far in advance and like the freedom to adjust our flights. SWA is a clear advantage for that.

 

[easyrider]

Alaska Airlines sent a text that they cancelled our flight due to weather at 2 am this morning. They are claiming weather. This means to catch our connecting flight we need to drive 3 hours. I guess they know what the weather is before it happens.

Bill

 

[davidvel]

Alaska Airlines sent a text that they cancelled our flight due to weather at 2 am this morning. They are claiming weather. This means to catch our connecting flight we need to drive 3 hours. I guess they know what the weather is before it happens.

Bill

Is it possible that your plane is coming from somewhere where it was affected by weather, either early this morning or last night?

 

[klpca]

Alaska Airlines sent a text that they cancelled our flight due to weather at 2 am this morning. They are claiming weather. This means to catch our connecting flight we need to drive 3 hours. I guess they know what the weather is before it happens.

Bill

Based upon your luck Bill, I think that the takeaway here for the rest of us is to not be on your flights.

On a serious note, that has to be very frustrating. Travel is difficult enough without that kind of nonsense.

 

[easyrider]

We did drive to SeaTac giving 4 hours for traffic for a 3 hour drive. It takes about 2.5 hours in good traffic. I didn't want to be late. Traffic was bad. We ended up with 90 minutes by the time we got to the airport which I thought was enough. The ticket machines would not print our luggage tags so we ended up in line only to be told to go to a different line. This line had 4 people in it but one idiot wouldn't get off the counter because he had missed his flight. At 45 minutes to departure I asked for help. All of these alaska air employees were just bsing with their coworkers. Finally at 30 minutes out an alaska air employee decided to help us. He got us checked in and through security. We didn't think our luggage would make it as we barely made our gate. Anyway, we made it and so did our luggage. It looks like we were upgraded today regarding our room. Things are looking good.

 

[mjm1]

We did drive to SeaTac giving 4 hours for traffic for a 3 hour drive. It takes about 2.5 hours in good traffic. I didn't want to be late. Traffic was bad. We ended up with 90 minutes by the time we got to the airport which I thought was enough. The ticket machines would not print our luggage tags so we ended up in line only to be told to go to a different line. This line had 4 people in it but one idiot wouldn't get off the counter because he had missed his flight. At 45 minutes to departure I asked for help. All of these alaska air employees were just bsing with their coworkers. Finally at 30 minutes out an alaska air employee decided to help us. He got us checked in and through security. We didn't think our luggage would make it as we barely made our gate. Anyway, we made it and so did our luggage. It looks like we were upgraded today regarding our room. Things are looking good.

Glad to hear it worked out and you made it OK. Sorry to hear of your difficulties. Enjoy your upgraded room and your trip overall.

Best regards.

Mike