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Long wait for bags - just de riguer nowadays?

Long wait for bags - just de riguer nowadays?

Old Jan 4, 2006, 11:02 am
  #1  
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Unhappy Long wait for bags - just de riguer nowadays?

While waiting almost an hour (again) for bags at SeaTac over the holidays, I got to wondering: is this wait now just like no meals in coach? That is, is a long wait for baggage an obligatory part of flying in an era where consumers only buy based on price, not service? This really hit home as an announcement came over the speakers saying something about a flight from Portland arriving, and their bags being available on carousel #14 in 45 minutes. Wow - the wait time for their bags is as long as their flight!

Does Alaska have any service level guidelines for baggage delivery during busy times, or is any amount of time it takes OK? Are all airlines at SeaTac just as bad? I'd consider taking a different airline to avoid an hour wait for luggage.

(Yes, like all of you, I try not to take bags, but when travelling with my kids, and going skiing, it is hard to do carry-on only).
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Old Jan 4, 2006, 11:08 am
  #2  
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Originally Posted by FrankFi
While waiting almost an hour (again) for bags at SeaTac over the holidays, I got to wondering: is this wait now just like no meals in coach? That is, is a long wait for baggage an obligatory part of flying in an era where consumers only buy based on price, not service?
Yup. Too many AS customers would rather have low fares and poor service then high fares and good service, so AS continues to replace their own expensive ramp workers with cheap outsourced ones.
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Old Jan 4, 2006, 11:11 am
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Originally Posted by FrankFi
While waiting almost an hour (again) for bags at SeaTac over the holidays, I got to wondering: is this wait now just like no meals in coach? That is, is a long wait for baggage an obligatory part of flying in an era where consumers only buy based on price, not service? This really hit home as an announcement came over the speakers saying something about a flight from Portland arriving, and their bags being available on carousel #14 in 45 minutes. Wow - the wait time for their bags is as long as their flight!

Does Alaska have any service level guidelines for baggage delivery during busy times, or is any amount of time it takes OK? Are all airlines at SeaTac just as bad? I'd consider taking a different airline to avoid an hour wait for luggage.

(Yes, like all of you, I try not to take bags, but when travelling with my kids, and going skiing, it is hard to do carry-on only).
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Old Jan 4, 2006, 11:16 am
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What day did you fly? I know that 1 night we were having problems with the
bag drop not working, to many bags and it kept getting jammed up.
The POS was working on the problem for a couple of hours so only 1
carousal was working, 14 I think. Both As and Horizon had to use the same one so bags were put on in order of arrival of the flight.
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Old Jan 4, 2006, 11:19 am
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Originally Posted by FrankFi
Are all airlines at SeaTac just as bad?
No.
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Old Jan 4, 2006, 11:28 am
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Originally Posted by Crzn33k
What day did you fly? I know that 1 night we were having problems with the
bag drop not working, to many bags and it kept getting jammed up.
The POS was working on the problem for a couple of hours so only 1
carousal was working, 14 I think. Both As and Horizon had to use the same one so bags were put on in order of arrival of the flight.
Admittedly, I am talking about a busy time - Friday 12/30 specifically, also Sunday 11/27 (!), etc. Holidays are when families with kids travel, though, so it is totally predictable that alot of bags are going to be on planes those types of days... it seems to me that Alaska could put on extra staff for such times, if they thought baggage delivery time was important. Hence, my post - does Alaska consider the time it takes to get check-ins to customers of any importance? Do they measure it? Does anyone get dinged by management when it takes an hour for everyone to get their bags? Or is it "that's just the way it is", which may very well be the proper business decision, I admit!

(Of course, a one-time mechanical problem can screw things up no matter what).
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Old Jan 4, 2006, 11:48 am
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Originally Posted by SEA_Tigger
Yup. Too many AS customers would rather have low fares and poor service then high fares and good service, so AS continues to replace their own expensive ramp workers with cheap outsourced ones.
That's just not true. Most consumers would rather have low fares and good service. They just know that paying a higher fare won't necessarily result in better service so they buy the lowest fare out there.
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Old Jan 4, 2006, 12:15 pm
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Originally Posted by rjque
That's just not true. Most consumers would rather have low fares and good service. They just know that paying a higher fare won't necessarily result in better service so they buy the lowest fare out there.
Yet when they lose meals, lose flexability on their tickets, suffer more connections due to loss of non-stop services, as long as those fares stay low, they seem to accept it.

People would rather endure what 2005 travel is vs. what we had in 1995, since we're only paying five cents a mile instead of ten.
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Old Jan 4, 2006, 1:25 pm
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I flew into Seattle on Christmas Eve morning -- a very busy travel day. We arrived at Gate D-3. I was one of the first off the plane. I got my bags within 10 minutes of arrival at the baggage claim. Good Job, Alaska!!
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Old Jan 4, 2006, 4:29 pm
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Fly up to ANC and we'll take good care of you! In spite of our adverse weather and mega-cargo loads, we take pride in getting bags out quickly. To hear some people talk, AS is a "monopoly" here...but on the ground side of things we sure don't act like it! We have inbound bag runners meeting virtually every flight to help get customers bags quickly and the only cargo that we take care of before bags is human tissue/blood. Everything else waits...your bags come first.

The day before yesterday NW experienced a "sick-out" here in ANC and they were short rampers. We (including myself) picked up the slack and ran transfers from NW so that THEIR customers on THEIR tickets who were riding AS codeshares would have their bags at their final destinations. We couldn't get all of them...but we did our best and I'm proud of each and every bag that arrived because of our hard work. We weren't paid extra for it as an airline or as individuals but it was the right thing to do...so we did it.

Many AS employees go the extra mile when you outsource...you lose that.
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Old Jan 4, 2006, 6:34 pm
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Originally Posted by rjque
That's just not true. Most consumers would rather have low fares and good service. They just know that paying a higher fare won't necessarily result in better service so they buy the lowest fare out there.
They don't actually know that paying a higher fare won't result in better service, but they aren't willing to pay higher fares to find out. The majority of people simply want the lowest fare. Period.
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Old Jan 4, 2006, 7:20 pm
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Originally Posted by AS Flyer
They don't actually know that paying a higher fare won't result in better service, but they aren't willing to pay higher fares to find out. The majority of people simply want the lowest fare. Period.
I think most people have had experience on more than one airline and, with the exception of Southwest, realize that each offers a nearly identical (and unpredictable) inflight experience. Why pay more to fly AA instead of UA when AA is unwilling to guarantee that the $100 buys anthing more than what UA is offering (a seat on the flight)? Everone knows that the person who paid $1000 for their coach seat is going to get exactly the same service as the person who paid $99. Why would anyone want to be that $1000 chump?
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Old Jan 4, 2006, 9:03 pm
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Originally Posted by rjque
I think most people have had experience on more than one airline and, with the exception of Southwest, realize that each offers a nearly identical (and unpredictable) inflight experience. Why pay more to fly AA instead of UA when AA is unwilling to guarantee that the $100 buys anthing more than what UA is offering (a seat on the flight)? Everone knows that the person who paid $1000 for their coach seat is going to get exactly the same service as the person who paid $99. Why would anyone want to be that $1000 chump?

It's kind of a "what came first, the chicken or the egg?" question, isn't it? What came first, the decrease in amenities and service an airline provides, or rock bottom fares. I think, if you look back, you have to agree that the airlines started reducing services and amenities after the fares started falling to unsustainable levels. Just three or four years ago, Alaska was still serving a full hot meal from Seattle to Los Angeles and meals on flights where meals were appropriate. United was still serving full hot meals from Seattle to Chicago. Amenities and services started decreasing when fares had already fallen to basement levels. So, as opposed to the chicken/egg question, I think that this question is easily answered. My point to all this is that people were demanding low fares when airlines were still offering many amenities (magazines, pillows/blankets, meals, snacks, etc.) and services (paper ticketing, city ticket offices, etc.). Low fares definetely came first.

We can debate whether people would pay more for more service but ask any industry expert and they will tell you that the majority of people are not willing to pay for more amenities, nor were they when they were offered. I can tell you that studies we did at Alaska showed that people were willing to forego most amenities in favor of lower fares.
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Old Jan 4, 2006, 10:13 pm
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Originally Posted by eastwest
Fly up to ANC and we'll take good care of you! In spite of our adverse weather and mega-cargo loads, we take pride in getting bags out quickly. To hear some people talk, AS is a "monopoly" here...but on the ground side of things we sure don't act like it! We have inbound bag runners meeting virtually every flight to help get customers bags quickly and the only cargo that we take care of before bags is human tissue/blood. Everything else waits...your bags come first.

The day before yesterday NW experienced a "sick-out" here in ANC and they were short rampers. We (including myself) picked up the slack and ran transfers from NW so that THEIR customers on THEIR tickets who were riding AS codeshares would have their bags at their final destinations. We couldn't get all of them...but we did our best and I'm proud of each and every bag that arrived because of our hard work. We weren't paid extra for it as an airline or as individuals but it was the right thing to do...so we did it.

Many AS employees go the extra mile when you outsource...you lose that.
Eastwest stop it!

I use the excuse that the "bags will take a while" to stop off in the Board Room to freshen up after my flight. If my kids find out that I'm enjoying a glass of wine while they are circling the pick up area, they'll not like me very much.

But, I DO AGREE that the baggage claim in ANC is very efficient. ^


Slow your roll dude!
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Old Jan 5, 2006, 12:17 am
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Very happy to hear that there are still AS employees (Eastwest et al) that care about their work. May be this is one big reason that AS is still hanging in there among the majors.

BW
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