ALASKA AIRLINES PROMISE COMES THROUGH

An Alaska Airlines promise is different than Hawaiian Airlines.

How different?

Alaska sent a refund check this week, a refund Hawaiian couldn’t find a way to make.

What’s the big difference? First with Alaska:

I wasn’t the only traveler who faced a canceled flight from Arizona to Oregon.

Airports around the country were full of disgruntled passengers wondering what to do next when they learned they weren’t going anywhere soon.

And maybe I wasn’t the only one in the nation who needed to get home early Monday to fulfill the requirements for surgery on Tuesday.

It felt like it.

After ten years of pretending I wasn’t hobbling around, the last five being the most painful to watch, I had a hip replacement scheduled on a Tuesday.

Monday was the last chance to cover all the bases for Tuesday. The last steps were a corona virus test at a trusted medical clinic, and a peek down my neck by the anesthesiologist for any obstructions.

That was on my mind while I was stepping through the hoops of canceled flights after the Alaska Airlines promise of keeping up their end of the travel deal fell through.

With my wife in the Sky Harbor line for Alaska, I was in a rental car in the mobile phone temporary parking lot looking at flight schedules, ready to pay anything. Ready to rent a jetpack if that was the only way out.

Let’s go.

Trapped In Phoenix With The Portland Blues Again

Since I wasn’t the only customer stranded, the Alaska Airlines promise of making everything come out right seemed possible.

Instead of getting home Saturday, I made it Monday, hit my appointments, and settled down.

On Tuesday I probably wasn’t the only patient showing up after a busy Monday of three international airports and the lingering doubt about getting the money right with Alaska.

By Wednesday I had high hopes for the Alaska Airlines promise even though I literally didn’t have a leg to stand on. Okay, I had one leg and a walker.

That’s the day I started working on the refund.

Communicating The Alaska Airlines Promise

I called the phone numbers, emailed, and my hopes grew dimmer.

The phone waits were too long, and I had the wrong email address.

This is the right email address:

Customer.Care.Reply@alaskaair.com

On July, 4, 2022 I got this response:

Dear David,

Thank you for sharing your concerns regarding your recent travel and sorry for the delay response. By taking the time to contact us, you have given me the opportunity to assist you with your concerns today.

So that I may locate all of the details necessary to complete my research, I would like to kindly request that you provide me with your receipts and your complete mailing address. The attachments provided we couldn’t open because of security purpose. Reimbursement takes 20 business days to process in a form of a check and sent out via USPS. Please reply to this email with scanned copies of your documents attached; the acceptable file formats are: jpg, gif, png, tif, bmp, pdf. If you wish to mail or fax your documents, please include your reference number found at the bottom of this email and send your documents to:

Alaska Airlines Customer Care
PO Box 13670
Des Moines, WA 98198-1009

Fax: 206-433-3477

As always, thank you for flying with us. We look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Diane B.
Customer Care Representative

If you think that’s an Independence Day message to celebrate, you are correct.

I was free from the runaround of poor communication on my part, and the numbers crunch of passengers asking for the same thing I asked for on their part.

Tips For Making The Alaska Airlines Promise Come True

Be clear about what you’re asking for.

No one wants to hear your sad history of disappointment after disappointment.

You want a refund to cover the extra expenses of a two day delay after a canceled flight; they want to give you a refund after you show your receipts.

If you take pictures of your receipts with an iPhone 13, check the settings. Alaska won’t open images in the heic format. The shots of documents might be correct in every way, but they’d better be attached as jpegs.

So, after using the correct email and correct photo formatting, I received a refund for the full amount requested.

Yes, you read it right, I received a refund for the full amount requested.

Hawaiian Airlines Timed Out, Not Alaska

We had plans to attend a wedding in Hawaii, but canceled due to the pandemic.

We forwarded the tickets to another date with the idea of using them then.

Let’s face it, a chance to go to Hawaii for any reason takes root.

In spite of constant contact, our tickets got timed out and we lost the money.

Still going to Hawaii, still flying Hawaiian Airlines, just not on the original ticket.

If I was in charge of Hawaiian Airlines customer service I’d keep the ticket refunds open until the last one was mailed. But that’s just me.

Nothing gives a flying customer more confidence than keeping the travel promise:

Tickets that work, airplanes that work, staff that works.

The Alaska Airlines promise was made and kept.

Call it a lesson for other airlines. Good work, Alaska.

Thank you, Diane B.