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Alaska Airlines

Roxana of Kent, WA July 10, 2009

I fly Seattle to Oakland about every 3 weeks. I buy the cheapest flight from all the airlines. Twice it's been Alaska and each time was horrible.

The first time I had a run in with their policy to not change flights unless I wanted to pay 100. They. Charged my card 20 for a check in bag without telling me. And then wouldn't let me get on my flight because I had to fly withy bag and they didn't have time to get it on my plane. That flight was late so they did and I ended up flying without my bag.

This time I was next to the gate 30 minutes prior to takeoff waiting for them to call boarding since they're always late. They beber calles so when in went up there 10 minutes before takeoff which turned to 9 before as I was asking what the H, they told me it was too late and k sjouke have been at the gate not running in late. They were rude and demeaning and unaccomadating when I told them I HAD been at the gate and they hadn't called.

In never flying Alaska again. Their mess ups are one thing but the way they handle themselves with customers is not worth the trouble. I'm going southwest or anything else next time

Andrea of Culver City, CA July 10, 2009

I was a customer returning on flight 485 from Seattle to Los Angeles on July 10 from a visit with family. I originally purchased the roundtrip ticket in early May when there was a air fare reduction. I had no problmes going but coming back I was told I had to pay 15 for my one checked bag. The policy had changed in the brief time I was visiting. I was not notified on the bag fee although I did get my check in email.

I was very upset about this because I did not have a credit card on me and the cash I had was needed once I landed and needed to get to my car. The check in clerk looked and told me I 'missed the cut off day' for them to wave the check in fee. My complaint is that if I knew of this policy WHEN I PURCHASED THE TICKET then I could have correctly evaluated the ticket price. Knowing you have to spend another 30 dollars affects which airline I will go with. And my other grievance is that if you have a policy that is in effect on one half of the ticket then it should stay that way for the return of the trip. I often take that route and return with no money. I asked the clerk what would happen if I had no money and he shrugged and said I couldn't take my bag. I thought this was ridiculous and after reading the pages in this site about Alaskan AIrlines I see that it is par for the course.

I have had both good and bad experiences flying on Alaskan--generally good staff and helpful but company policy is a bit stingy with big charges for everything. Now that I know this I will go out of my way not to fly with Alaskan Airlines.

David of Bellevue, WA July 1, 2009

Alaska Airline refused to give me my 345 credit that I gained by not using my ticket. They deduct all kind of feed from it that at the end nothing really left.

sarah of thousand oaks, CA June 5, 2009

My boyfriend and I are going on our first cruise this September, and are on a pretty tight budget, we booked the tickets after getting some literature from the travel agency. We were excited as we had heard good things about them. Yesterday I got my confirmation from the cruise line and was disappointed to find that we had booked the flight one week off!! I immediately looked up prices and was happy to see only a 40 difference, so I then called, I talked to a nice lady who told me about the 100 per person change fee and after asking if there was anything she could do, she transferred me to Steve from Phoenix her supervisor. He was very cold and unfriendly; he continued to quote policy and refused after me practically begging for a break to do anything. So we are writing a letter in hopes of finding someone with a heart. If we don’t get resolution we plan on abandoning our flight and booking with Virgin as we have had great experiences with them and the total for the flight through them is 270 and to change my ticket with Alaska would cost 230!! I refuse to give them anymore money until they respond with a more customer service style attitude! Apparently Steve does not subscribe to this thought pattern....if anyone else has had luck in this situation let me know!

Tanya of Bothell, WA June 1, 2009

On May 30, 2009, I was trying to fly home from San Jose,CA to Seattle WA. I was scheduled to fly on Flight 329 however, I was delayed 3 hours. The "Lead ticket agent" Sonya was verbally abusive, and completely lack all skills in providing assistance or caring about the well being of another person. The ticket agents gave misinformation and lied. The problem originated that I was told that I was 5 min past the check-in time to check my luggage on my flight and therefore my luggage had to go on a later flight (separate from me). I was then told to sign a waiver that I voluntarily allowed my luggage to be separated from me. With the ticket agents present, I explained that due to their mandate, I had to comply with their requirements of being separated from my luggage but I was "voluntarily separating from my luggage". I was doing it because I was told to do so. I then signed their required waiver and documented my concerns on the waiver.

I then went to my gate for my flight. Suddenly without warning at the gate, I was denied boarding on my flight. I was told the Supervisor Lead-Sonya was on her way to reschedule me for a later flight. I explain to the ticket agent that this didn't make sense. I also explained that I needed to get home because of health issues that I have to manage very carefully or I could be put into a life threatening condition. I told her that I have a serious chronic disease called Crohn's disease and that the stress they were putting me through was causing my intestines to swell. If the swelling gets out of control, the situation can become fatal.

At this point with the conversation with the Ticket Agent, Sonya steps in and starts berating me about my luggage. She was belligerent and punitive. Her conduct was absolutely aggressive and wretched. She has no business dealing with the public on any level. I was in sobs and kept telling her that she didn't need to grind me into the ground. I begged to get on my flight because I need to get to my destination because of my health issues and because of this abusive woman, my health was seriously compromised last night and I was forced to remain at San Jose Airport 3 hours against my will because there were no other flights available other than the one that Sonya had forced me to take.

When I called the 800 number for customer service and explained what I was going through because this unprofessional/uncalled for situation, they provided me an upgrade for the next flight as some compensation for what I was going through. Later when I got my boarding pass, I was told that the ticket agents at San Jose Int'l airport had arbitrarily retracted the upgrade. This woman, Sonya should be fired. I will NEVER, NEVER fly Alaska Airlines again and will make sure other know how rude and abusive that they are!

Anita of Washington, DC May 19, 2009

On Wednesday night May 13th, 2009, my flight from Alaska to Washington, DC, via Frontier Airlines, was re-routed to Alaska Airlines. The flight from Alaska to Seattle Washington occurred without incident except for a significant delay. However, after landing in Seattle I had a layover before traveling to my destination of Washington, DC. As my mother and I attempted to board the flight 4 to DC, row14E, the ticket checker at the gate was less than friendly. She initially called individuals with small children or individuals who needed assistance to board first. Next, she called rows 1 through 6. At this time, more people than who could occupy rows one through six seemed to have boarded the plane. One other passenger even made a comment to that affect. Then, that same passenger asked others if the ticket checker was allowing all passengers to board because so many people were boarding.

Without any clear direction, we began to form a line and approached the gate for entry. My mother handed the ticket agent her ticket. The agent replied that my mother’s row had not been called for boarding yet, and handed my mother back her ticket. A couple of minutes later, the ticket agent called rows 15 and higher. My mother and I had row 14. The ticket agent called rows 15 and above and then subsequently called row 14. I believe this was done so that my mother and I would board the plane last.

When I boarded the plane, I saw the other passenger in my row/ section seated comfortably. Likewise, there were several other people seated in rows 7 through 14. They obviously had been allowed to board with one of the previously called groups while we had been denied entry. Their luggage had been put up in the over head compartments and underneath their seat. There was not enough time for those passengers to have secured their luggage if these individuals boarded when rows 14 and below were called. As stated above, I conclude that the ticket agent purposefully prevented my mother and me from boarding while allowing others to board. I believe this incident could have been racially motivated. This situation infuriated me. Consequently, I do not want to travel on [their] airlines again. I was embarrassed to have my frail mother treated that way.

steve of naknek, AK May 8, 2009

AK airlines charged me 4.29 per lb to send my frozen food From Spokane WA to King Salmon AK...The rate has over tripled in the last year...For what it cost me to air freight those coolers, I could have bought them seats in coach and had the stewardess serve them peanuts!..It a blatant ripoff and I will never use AK air freight again...I am also canceling my ak airlines credit card..(They won't let me use the miles for upgrades anyway) and will not fly AK airlines and will advise my friends about the ripoff of AK airlines....I realize that things are tough, but this is robbery....

Marie of Bothell, WA February 20, 2009

Marie of Bothell WA (02/20/09)
I have been a member of their Mileage plan for a long time. In August 2008 I received an email indicating they were having a problem with their system and were unable to send my monthly stmt showing my mileage balance, but that it would resume in September. That was the last I heard from them about my mileage #. I still get balance stmts for my husband & daughter every month.

I have tried to contact them 2 or 3 times a month since then in hopes of getting it corrected. I am told that they would be happy to restore my miles with a reinstatement fee of 75. That there is no record of my mileage # and that I need to call their cust service 800#. You don't get any better service by calling the 800#. Either they don't speak english or I get a song & dance about how it's my fault for not responding sooner. I'm not clear how much sooner I could have contacted them. I started in September when I got stmts for my husband & daughter, but nothing for myself. What good is customer service if they don't listen to anything you have to say. You might as well be talking to robots, they're all programed to say the same things.

I have lost 15,000 frequent flyer miles, which combined with other family members miles means a free flight for one of us.

Joe of Langley, BC February 3, 2009

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