Feedback needed on Alaska Airlines

[Pusniski]

I've never flown with this airline. I've seen a lot of complaints on internet reviews. Some are really old and I don't take the ones that are 2+ years old into consideration. All airlines have issues but I'm not seeing too many people saying they even liked them and it seems to be mainly west coasters. :confused: I'm flying out of the DC area and was looking at them as an option for us. Care to tell me your experiences with them? :)

[Gardyloo]

It's a very competent airline, which now dominates commercial service up and down the west coast, and of course to Alaska. Service in economy is as good as, sometimes a little better than other legacy carriers; Alaska's first class product on longer flights is quite good, although legroom is not as great as other carriers' FC offerings on some routes.

 

Alaska's mileage program (partners for accrual and redemption on numerous airlines, including American, Delta/NW, Continental, British Airways, Air France/KLM, Qantas, Cathay Pacific and others) is a frequent winner of the "Freddie" award for best frequent flyer program in the industry.

[6rugrats]

I am not sure where you are finding lots of negative reviews. They are fine; no worse than any other airline.

[Pusniski]

Cool - Thanks! I'm glad to see someone providing compliments on them. I was looking at their Visa with the $50 companion fare. That would help out quite nicely on our air fare. Maybe first class isn't so far out of reach after all? :)

 

Seating configuration is important to us for this trip. My husband is very tall. I guess I'm off to seatguru to check them out.

[Pusniski]

I am not sure where you are finding lots of negative reviews. They are fine; no worse than any other airline.

 

I did a google search. Some of the reviews were pretty old so I didn't even take those into consideration. People gripe about Air Tran, but I love them and have had nothing but great experiences. I'm elite with Delta and have been slowly moving my business to Air Tran when I can. Flying Jet Blue in October - yet another line my friends love but people elsewhere complain about. What had me nervous was that the complaints were pretty consistent - Food quality in first class and even for purchase, poor service by FAs and can't get through customer service on the phone. There were a few complaints about the seats being on the small side. Honestly, I couldn't figure out why a market leader in the Alaska area would be so horrible. :confused:

[Gardyloo]

Depending on when you're flying, your elite status with Delta will probably get you elite treatment with Alaska (AS) as they are moving closer together. (Alaska was very close to NW, and DL's acquisition of NW is slowly trickling into the relationship with AS.) Things like priority boarding, exit row selection, etc. for DL elites on AS metal are starting to show up, but not yet cross-upgrade privileges like AS had with NW.

 

The $50 companion fare is a great product (although sadly it comes with a "relationship" with B of A :( ) and using it for a first class RT from the east coast is IMO the best possible leverage. That's what we do with ours every year. Note the companion seat earns full FF miles (you can book them to your DL account if you want) and does NOT come out of award inventory, just straight F inventory. Helluva deal.

[scottbee]

I've never flown with this airline. I've seen a lot of complaints on internet reviews. Some are really old and I don't take the ones that are 2+ years old into consideration. All airlines have issues but I'm not seeing too many people saying they even liked them and it seems to be mainly west coasters. :confused: I'm flying out of the DC area and was looking at them as an option for us. Care to tell me your experiences with them? :)

 

They're one of the best domestic US airlines, with a modern fleet of 737s. Just before Christmas I flew AS via SEA, and the airport was a mess due to a snowstorm. With flights delayed and canceled in every direction, I didn't see a single cranky person, a tribute to their ability to reroute and solve people's problems.

 

Also, the FF plan is second to none, offering one way redemptions, more partners than just about anyone. The credit card, and the $50 companion cert is also excellent (I have two AS credit cards and hence 2x$50 companion certs per year).

[chipmaster]

I've never flown with this airline. I've seen a lot of complaints on internet reviews. Some are really old and I don't take the ones that are 2+ years old into consideration. All airlines have issues but I'm not seeing too many people saying they even liked them and it seems to be mainly west coasters. :confused: I'm flying out of the DC area and was looking at them as an option for us. Care to tell me your experiences with them? :)

 

When given a choice we choose Alaska, our only dissapointment is that they don't fly more places for us out of Portland.

[kenish]

Concur with the other posts. Every time I've flown Alaska or Horizon Air (their regional subsidiary) it's been a good experience. Their fleets are modern, well maintained, and clean inside. They are retiring their MD-80s and their jet fleet will be all new-gen 737s. I've never seen an employee cop an attitude and most seem to actually enjoy working with customers (versus openly nasty attitudes or pasted-on smiles I see on other airlines). Financially they are more solid than most other airlines (symbol ALK).

 

For the OP- Good or bad, another advantage of Alaska is their flights between SEA and ANC are almost hourly during the day. If something goes wrong there are a lot of options. Other airlines such as DL, CO, AA, etc. have only 1 or 2 flights a day to ANC from their hubs.

[Gardyloo]

They are retiring their MD-80s and their jet fleet will be all new-gen 737s.

The Mad Dogs are now gone, but there are still quite a few elderly 737-200s and their ilk that are definitely sprouting ear hair.

 

I've never seen an employee cop an attitude and most seem to actually enjoy working with customers (versus openly nasty attitudes or pasted-on smiles I see on other airlines).

Well.... let's not go overboard. It's a mixed bag, but I agree that on average the employees seem to be more helpful than with many other airlines. But Cathay Pacific has nothing to worry about.

 

However one can occasionally finish one Oprah book club selection and get part way through the next one while awaiting bags at SEA, also LAX.

 

One thing to note is that connections at SEA to/from Horizon (destinations like Portland, Spokane, Vancouver) are notoriously prone to delays and cancellations. I would never plan for a short connection through SEA to those places when being late meant boats were sailing or marriage vows were being recited while Horizon dinked around at SEA.

[scottbee]

The Mad Dogs are now gone, but there are still quite a few elderly 737-200s and their ilk that are definitely sprouting ear hair.

 

The 737-200s were retired long before the MD80s, and the last ones in passenger service were QC (passenger/cargo) flying exclusively in the state of Alaska. Last time I actually saw (actually you heard the old PW JT8Ds before you saw them) was out of KTN a few years ago.

 

AS's fleet is 737s comprising, -400s, -700s, -800s and -900s. Their overall fleet age is only 7.5 years, a very young fleet my most standards

 

AS's regional carrier QX/Horizon operates an all Bombardier fleet of CRJ700s (being retired) and DHC8-400 (aka Q400)

[klfrodo]

Anybody still have one of their little nuggets of gold that Alaska used to give away?

[Gardyloo]

The 737-200s were retired long before the MD80s, and the last ones in passenger service were QC (passenger/cargo) flying exclusively in the state of Alaska. Last time I actually saw (actually you heard the old PW JT8Ds before you saw them) was out of KTN a few years ago.

 

AS's fleet is 737s comprising, -400s, -700s, -800s and -900s. Their overall fleet age is only 7.5 years, a very young fleet my most standards

 

AS's regional carrier QX/Horizon operates an all Bombardier fleet of CRJ700s (being retired) and DHC8-400 (aka Q400)

You're right - I said -200s when I meant -400s, some of which are 20 years old (and which I seem to occupy on a too-regular basis.) But some of the older -400s are getting pretty shabby IMO.

 

I flew the -200Cs a bunch in Alaska years back. Cool airplanes.

 

As for average age, I have to ride AA Mad Dogs all the time, and now we're talking old. Not as old as some of NW's DC-9s, but old enough that the plate at the forward door says "Douglas Aircraft Co. Inc." on it.

[realmccoy]

We have flown with Alaska Airlines on 4 occasions. I have been happy, despite that they lost our luggage coming home one trip. Coming back from Alaska our flight was cancelled and we had to move to another flight. They bumped us to 1st class...but our luggage remained in Seattle. They were quick to locate the bags and we had them in hand the next day with a credit for a future flight. We never filed a complaint and have chosen to fly with them two more times since. So we are happy with them.

[lovesublime]

My son is a pilot with Horizon and last year we had a less than great experience with them (he wasn't flying the plane, BTW, I don't even know where he was at the time) We were returning from Vancouver and had to switch out in Seattle. We left Vancouver over an hour late and then had to circle around Seattle for over an hour because of nose gear trouble. Captain said he didn't get three green lights so he didn't know if the nose gear was down and locked or not. He said he felt it drop, but didn't get three greens. At least he was honest.

 

When we FINALLY landed, they had all the green airport emergency vehicles and workers running toward us wearing their helmuts and silver fire proof suits. We ran into the terminal thinking we were about to miss our connection on CO. Turns out, our connection hadn't even landed yet because of our 'emergency'. The plane was a Dash 8 Q400 (crash and dash) which is currently what our son flies.

 

Incidently, only about a year earlier when he was working as a flight instructor ( our son), he had a nose gear problem. He dropped the gear but he didn't get three greens. I'm trying to remember which plane he was flying and I'm thinking it was a Piper Arrow (I think). Anyway, he was out over the water in Galveston and he called the Galveston tower to let them know. They had him fly by so they could look and then had a nearby coast guard helipcopter fly under him and inspect. He was informed that the gear was not locked-they observed that the nose gear was cantilevered backwards. He used the rudder peddles to 'rock' the plane back and forth and and after a couple of minutes he got three green lights. It was all fine in the end.

 

I will continue to fly on Horizon and Alaska Air. They have good pilots.

[lovesublime]

Oh, I should have added this in my previous post. When our son was a new college graduate and brand new flight instructor-he was forced to do an engine out landing on a state highway. He had himself and three pax onboard and managed to land on the grassy median in the middle of the highway without injury to any persons or damage to the aircraft.

 

Upon investigation, it was discovered that the oil pan plug was missing and in fact hadn't even been safety wired. All the oil had drained out and the engine seized up. After this incident, we all realized he was working for a crappy outfit and he quit right off and moved on.

[Travelcat2]

We have very little choice up here in Bellingham, WA (near Canadian border). The flights to Seattle have, for the most part, been fine. Their "First Class" to Mexico sucks! You get a "free" hamburger that the coach passengers pay $5 for. Their Frequent Flyer Program was pretty good until recently when they raised the amount of miles required to upgrade or to fly free.

 

IMO, until another company gives them competition, they will continue to be a sub-par regional airline.

[scottbee]

We have very little choice up here in Bellingham, WA (near Canadian border). The flights to Seattle have, for the most part, been fine. Their "First Class" to Mexico sucks! You get a "free" hamburger that the coach passengers pay $5 for. Their Frequent Flyer Program was pretty good until recently when they raised the amount of miles required to upgrade or to fly free.

 

IMO, until another company gives them competition, they will continue to be a sub-par regional airline.

 

You have tons of choice in Bellingham, there are two major (top 50 worldwide airports) within a 90 minute drive.

 

As for Alaska/Horizon, I've never had an issue with them, and flown many times out of YVR, YYJ and BLI. They are, and will continue to be, one of the few remaining good airlines in the USA and Canada. I would suggest you compare AS with UA or US and see how they come out....

[Travelcat2]

You have tons of choice in Bellingham, there are two major (top 50 worldwide airports) within a 90 minute drive.

 

As for Alaska/Horizon, I've never had an issue with them, and flown many times out of YVR, YYJ and BLI. They are, and will continue to be, one of the few remaining good airlines in the USA and Canada. I would suggest you compare AS with UA or US and see how they come out....

 

I was only referring to flying out of Bellingham International Airport. You can fly Allegient (probably misspelled) or Alaska. Driving to SEA is a nightmare -- we prefer to fly. We usually fly out of Vancouver (YVR) on British Air, Lufthansa or Air Canada.

 

In terms of Alaska Airlines -- they are better than many airlines in the U.S. -- I didn't give them credit in my previous post. Our favorite U.S. airline is Continental -- Alaska would be 2nd. IMO, foreign airlines just seem to do a better job.

[Molly7]

Fly Alaskan Air from San Diego,CA to Eugene, OR usually thru SFO or SEA--never had a problem in last 4 yrs (just went to Eugene 6/30-7/3/09). No lost baggage-no flight delays (sometimes fog out of SFO or SAN) and even on the smaller contract carrier into Eugene its very comfortable and clean aircraft. I recommend this airline and will fly them in the future.