Red L

I also got an email about a Hawaii flight in November, asking me to consider compensation ($250 in AS vouchers or 15K miles). I was not in row 4, and I declined. The strange thing was that the website was still showing FC for sale on that flight the day they sent the email.

There were two very strange things about the email I got. First, the email was very poorly written. Here's one of the paragraphs (the bolding is mine):

"On November xx, 2016 the same number of passengers are scheduled to show up than the flight can accommodate. We are requesting volunteers to give up their seats in exchange for a $250 discount on future travel or 15,000 Alaska mileage point miles per passenger."

Second, the email was sent without a blind copy to everyone's email address. I can see every email address the message was sent to (presumably all of the first class passengers on my flight). Very bad practice.

Waitlisted

I pretty much always book row 2 or 3 when booking in F or using GGUs. Even when I get a comp upgrade at my window I log in and move out of row 4 if I can. Too many times out of PDX an 800/900 is last minute down gauged to a 400/700 - all with 3 rows of F.

UAPremierExec

tonights IAD-SEA was downgauged and thankfully I was in Row 2.

Am I the only FTer that likes those "classic" First Class seats?

MSPeconomist

Are you sure that email came from AS and your account wasn't hacked? Were there links and did you enter your password? Remember that all those other email addresses could have been invented by a possible hacker. I don't wan't to alarm you, but my instinct would be to check your AS account carefully, change your password, and change the password on your email account.

SF1K

It appears that going forward they may only be selling 12 F regardless of seatmap.

Couple of examples. My parents are flying over in November. They are still waitlisted for F. No seats booked in F according to seatmap. Originally seatmap showed 16F and now it shows 12F.

My friends are flying over a couple days later. Already upgraded into F - originally their flight was showing seatmap 12F then in the last few days it went to 16F with 11 empty seats according to seat map. If I try to book 7 F tickets it isn't showing the flight as available if I try to book 6F tickets it is showing the flight as available.

Our 2017 (April and July) reservations both have 12F. Even with that for a SMF-OGG I was able to get 4U and there are 2 more U available.

Red L

My account wasn't hacked (I fly a lot and check it pretty much every day....doesn't everyone? ). The email came from an AS email address, and didn't contain a link -- just instructions to call Customer Service (which I did), and they knew about the email I'd been sent and the offer that had been made.

Looks like it was just someone who didn't know how to properly communicate the info or format the email.

mroseman13

No more seats to book into FC.

If I want to fly those routes, it'd require an overnight stay in PDX or SAN, no redeyes out to Boston from those airports

flytoeat

Request they put you on the JFK redeye in F, and then on the JFK-BOS AA shuttle.

TravelBrighter

I got a voicemail roughly two weeks back about a flight from OGG in November, oversold in F. The message was confusing, seeming to suggest that I am being bumped from F but also requesting me to 'volunteer' for a new flight in exchange for a $250 voucher. I called the MVP line looking for clarity and got a rude agent who had no idea what I was talking about, and acted like I was making things up when I informed her of the cabin reconfiguration. I said I was totally flexible and would even change dates/islands for $250 voucher and confirmed F. She treated me like I was trying to game the system somehow. I said I just want to make sure I'm not stuck in coach for 6 hours after paying a higher fare and using all my GGU certs. I was told I could not change flights unless there was U space available for those flights, even in IROPS, which just seems preposterous in an oversold situation. In the end, all I asked for was some confident assurance that I will not be bumped to coach, which I did not get. Bringing on a supervisor did not help, either. Really a bad customer service experience, frankly. And I was just recently on FT bragging about AS handling IROPS well! Guess I should have knocked on wood.

ken711129

Premium Economy has not been announced officially yet, so it's normal to have clueless Res Reps on the phone. And to my understanding, you will be re-booked on PE in case you accept the $250 voucher. I completely understand your frustration though, it's annoying to have a confirmed F changed to something unknown.

TravelBrighter

I'm pretty understanding when it comes to unforeseen events like weather, or even MX within reason, but there's no excuse for the way AS is bungling the rollout of their reconfigured cabins. They made their plans public so many months ago, it's really just a sign of sloppiness that they continued booking 16 F seats on these planes. Then to fail to keep their reps all trained on the issue? It just adds insult to injury. Honestly, I still love AS, but I am loyal for two main reasons: 1) they have better customer service, and 2) they allow time-of-booking upgrades for their elites (previously, I flew mostly paid F on Delta and/or AS and credited to SkyMiles). These two positives have always been enough to make me overlook the downsides that: i) the AS product, hard and soft, is mediocre in F, and ii) the route network is limited. I know I'm being a little precious here, but this issue is a bit of a double whammy, striking both my biggest bugaboos at once.

ken711129

You're right, there should be adequate training and proper announcement to all employees prior to making major change like this. Though i think they're trying to figure out which plane goes where, in terms of scheduling, so it doesn't affect on-time performance. And since they can't commit to a plane, they'll oversell F class on certain routes.
It's their policy to offer alternative flights if people still want F, i think. But should they choose to stay on the same flight, there's $250 voucher and a guaranteed spot in PE. There are like 30 PEs, and only Elites can select these seats. Fair trade? I don't really know, i still prefer F.

P.s. The language in the email was confusing i must admit.

ijkh

I am avoiding seats in the 4th row of First. That would be a very unwelcome surprise.

nwflyboy

Honestly, that email looks like a trainwreck. Since they have exposed passengers' email addresses to potential hackers, I'd actually demand compensation for THAT. Exposing customers' email addresses is not trivial.

NWAlaskaFlyer

BTW - Here is the email I received. Very different than the OP. No exposed email addresses in this one either.

Your Alaska Airlines flight with confirmation code XXXXXX, has been affected by an aircraft change.

This change results in fewer available First Class seats, and unfortunately, we are not able to accommodate all passengers currently holding a First Class seat assignment in the First Class cabin. As a result, we’re looking for volunteers willing give up their First Class seats in exchange for either a $250 discount on future travel or 15,000 Alaska Mileage Plan miles per passenger.

Additionally, we’ll work with you to either assign you a new seat on your flight, or on another available flight, at no additional charge. If you move to a new seat in the Main Cabin, in addition to the compensation above, you’ll also receive a refund of the difference between the First Class fare you paid, and the Main Cabin fare.*

If you’re interested in this offer, please contact Alaska Airlines reservations within the next 7 days at 1-800-307-6934, and reference your confirmation code XXXXXX.

We appreciate your flexibility and, as always, thank you for flying with us.

-Alaska Airlines

*Applies only for paid First Class fares. Volunteers who had received complimentary upgrades to First Class will receive the choice of a $250 discount code or 15,000 miles only.