Article by WashingtonStateWire. Published on Sunday, June 26, 2011 EST.
Alaska Airlines, Get With The Program! My Favorite Airline Let’s Me Down…Twice Now.
Alaska Airlines dropped the ball for a second time for me this week. I am ready to go along with all the on-line work pushed onto the flying public in the effort to save money, and increase profits, but their darn on-line system should work. I also ran into a gate terminal that could not access the correct codes. Alaska Airlines, retool your servers and retrain your people.
Seat selection was not available when I bought my tickets almost a month before the flight. I was instructed to get the assignments at the gate. That causes me to take up the time of a human. That’s a no-no in today’s “no-customer-contact-profit-driven-world”. So first I try the 20th century 1-800 number, there goes twenty minutes. And you guessed it the attendant could not figure out why we could not get seat assignments, and she was not able to help me. So now I have to wait and get my seat assignments when I get to the gate, which causes me to get out there a little early. Like my time is of no value. (it is isn’t it?)
What’s worse, when I got to the gate the attendant could not get me a seat assignment! Third try a ticket was printed out. Oh oh, yes, it was a Stand By ticket. So in just four tries, and ten minutes, with traveling hurry-up professionals snorting behind me I went from boarding pass with no seat assignment to a Stand By ticket. Thanks.
So, we started over, called some person on the phone (how high tech is that?), and after a few more tries we got our new boarding passes with real seat assignments.
OK, the staff was nice and friendly, but come on Alaska Airlines, get with it. Let us buy tickets, get seats, print boarding passes at home. Step it up a notch. If I have to go through all of this I will start flying brand X, the one with no baggage fees. Yes.
BTW, this week one US airline will start charging you five bucks if they have to print out your boarding pass. Do it at home, so there. Isn’t air travel fun?
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