Comments on: Help, my ticket fell through the cracks http://www.elliott.org/the-troubleshooter/help-my-ticket-fell-through-the-cracks/ Consumer advocate Christopher Elliott's site. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:25:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: ajaynejr http://www.elliott.org/the-troubleshooter/help-my-ticket-fell-through-the-cracks/comment-page-1/#comment-37708 ajaynejr Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:58:25 +0000 http://www.elliott.org/?p=5114#comment-37708 Seems like British Airways and Alaska Airlines should be compelled to declare themselve non-partners to the world. As partners they are required to do right by the customer including forcibly rebooking the award seat that was once properly booked and then happened to disappear. Seems like British Airways and Alaska Airlines should be compelled to declare themselve non-partners to the world.

As partners they are required to do right by the customer including forcibly rebooking the award seat that was once properly booked and then happened to disappear.

]]> By: Chicky http://www.elliott.org/the-troubleshooter/help-my-ticket-fell-through-the-cracks/comment-page-1/#comment-13568 Chicky Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:16:25 +0000 http://www.elliott.org/?p=5114#comment-13568 Sounds like British Airways needs to find a new partner airline. Alaska owes Susan her points back, and a ticket (not merely a voucher) for free travel. They also need to get their international reservations desk cleaned up and put in order. Sounds like British Airways needs to find a new partner airline. Alaska owes Susan her points back, and a ticket (not merely a voucher) for free travel. They also need to get their international reservations desk cleaned up and put in order.

]]> By: DN http://www.elliott.org/the-troubleshooter/help-my-ticket-fell-through-the-cracks/comment-page-1/#comment-13551 DN Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:38:34 +0000 http://www.elliott.org/?p=5114#comment-13551 I'm a MVP Gold, and when I booked award tickets to Thailand, I found that Alaska makes it extremely difficult to book international flights. Part of the problem is that they aren't really part of SkyTeam or OneWorld, so they're pretty low on the totem pole in terms of seat assignments. The other part of the problem is that you need to contact their Mileage Plan booking department to handle any international requests because it can't be done online. I actually had to ask them to check individual partners each time (Delta, Northwest, Cathay, Air France and British Airways) because they normally defaulted to one or two partner airlines w/o checking alternatives. I tried to book First or Business Class 330 days in advance - which is the earliest possible - and couldn't do it; Alaska's recommendation was to call roughly every two weeks to see if something became available. We successfully managed to secure two business class tickets on Cathay (which is VERY nice and I highly recommend CX), but it took months. HOWEVER, I have booked many award tickets for domestic flights and those have been flawless - so it's their international partner desk that needs work. Either that, or they need to formally join OneWorld or SkyTeam so that their award travel can be better integrated. The advantage and disadvantage of Alaska's Mileage Plan is that I get domestic elite credit for OneWorld and SkyTeam flights, but I don't get the benefits of the alliances. I’m a MVP Gold, and when I booked award tickets to Thailand, I found that Alaska makes it extremely difficult to book international flights. Part of the problem is that they aren’t really part of SkyTeam or OneWorld, so they’re pretty low on the totem pole in terms of seat assignments. The other part of the problem is that you need to contact their Mileage Plan booking department to handle any international requests because it can’t be done online. I actually had to ask them to check individual partners each time (Delta, Northwest, Cathay, Air France and British Airways) because they normally defaulted to one or two partner airlines w/o checking alternatives.

I tried to book First or Business Class 330 days in advance – which is the earliest possible – and couldn’t do it; Alaska’s recommendation was to call roughly every two weeks to see if something became available. We successfully managed to secure two business class tickets on Cathay (which is VERY nice and I highly recommend CX), but it took months.

HOWEVER, I have booked many award tickets for domestic flights and those have been flawless – so it’s their international partner desk that needs work. Either that, or they need to formally join OneWorld or SkyTeam so that their award travel can be better integrated. The advantage and disadvantage of Alaska’s Mileage Plan is that I get domestic elite credit for OneWorld and SkyTeam flights, but I don’t get the benefits of the alliances.

]]>