Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan - Flight changed - cannot switch even if available?

So I was in the Alaska Airlines app on my phone and I got a message saying 2 trips to be deleted, I click OK, and go in to find my honeymoon flights have been removed. **Please note these flights were booked using AS Miles.

I login into my account on alaska airlines and it has a message saying due to a scheduling change I need to call alaska airlines asap. So I call in and there was a time change on all my flights. Now instead of arriving in ANC at 10:45 PM it is 12:05AM, and I leave ANC over an hour later for my departure, now leaving a 40 minute layover in SEA.

I explain that it is my wish to arrive in ANC before midnight, was there anything earlier available. The agent explained to me I wouldnt be able to change flights without paying a fee, and said besides there isnt anything available. However I can go online and find 3 flights that go MSP to ANC that same day earlier for the same amount of miles with First Class seats open that I booked. Why am I not allowed to make this change???

Also, should I be worried about a 40 minute layover in SEA on AS? (Flying coach on return) Normally on DL I wouldnt chance a 40 minute layover...

So I was in the Alaska Airlines app on my phone and I got a message saying 2 trips to be deleted, I click OK, and go in to find my honeymoon flights have been removed. **Please note these flights were booked using AS Miles.

I login into my account on alaska airlines and it has a message saying due to a scheduling change I need to call alaska airlines asap. So I call in and there was a time change on all my flights. Now instead of arriving in ANC at 10:45 PM it is 12:05AM, and I leave ANC over an hour later for my departure, now leaving a 40 minute layover in SEA.

I explain that it is my wish to arrive in ANC before midnight, was there anything earlier available. The agent explained to me I wouldnt be able to change flights without paying a fee, and said besides there isnt anything available. However I can go online and find 3 flights that go MSP to ANC that same day earlier for the same amount of miles with First Class seats open that I booked. Why am I not allowed to make this change???

Also, should I be worried about a 40 minute layover in SEA on AS? (Flying coach on return) Normally on DL I wouldnt chance a 40 minute layover...

I'd try calling again on the flight availability issue. Sometimes you end up getting the answer you are looking for!

Regarding the second issue, AS would not have reconstructed an itinerary for you that didn't meet or exceed the minimum connection time in SEA. So while 40 minutes seems a bit on the thin side, if this is what AS did then it's a "legal connection". The challenge is more likely to be if your inbound flight unloads at one terminal (D or N) and your outbound flight departs from a different one (the reverse - N or D). You'll have to take the train, and while they operate on frequent headways, it's still a PITA, esp. if the inbound flight is running late.

Good luck and congratulations on your nuptials!

If your flights are changed by more than an hour, you should be able to make a change without a fee.


As for availability... are you currently flying all Alaska Airlines? Or is there a partner involved? Did the availability you see involve the same airline(s)? Its certainly worth calling back and asking why the availability you see online won't work.

I just called again and spoke with someone. She said she could not find the availability I was seeing online, and it wasnt something I could change myself.

Currently I am flying all on Alaska Air.

I asked if there was anything available on a partner airline. She told me a one-way award ticket would not available on partner airlines so I would have to change my return trip as well. That just seems unreasonable and too big of a hassle. Delta's awards for my dates at sitting at 80,000 miles each first class, which is hardly worth it. AA would put me through DFW or MIA to get to ANC (someone there does not own a map :D ) I found several delta flights from MSP to SEA, and SEA to ANC at an earlier time but she was unwilling to search for award availability on those and kept calling my trip a one-way award...

(I called in to AS because the miles needed to come from 2 separate accounts. I was instructed the best way to do this is purchase the Trip to ANC with one account, and the trip home with the other account. Because we only had enough combine miles to go first class one way. One account had 55k miles, the other 42k miles. They advised us to purchase the first class tickets with the 55k and the coach with the 42K, as the 42k account would not have enough miles to buy a first class and a coach ticket for the departure and return trips. I hope this is making sense. so is this why she is calling it a 1-way ticket?? We do have 2 separate confirmation numbers...)

I was fine arriving at 10:40pm, but 12:05am gets me on the ground by 3:00am my time at to my hotel by about 3:30-45 my time, not exactly how I want to start the honeymoon, but I guess I can live with it. This isnt a huge problem, but not something I was expecting to have happen either... I wanted to get up early and have a good start to the next day, not have to sleep in. Oh well. it isnt going to break my trip.

Im a bit perplexed here and scratching my head. I read the original post several times. My question is, where are you departing from to arrive in ANC? I would assume since you are on AS and leaving from MSP the only logical place is SEA-ANC? That being said flights leave every hour or 2 to ANC and you have 2 options for times leaving MSP. Leads me to question number 2....is this trip within a few weeks? since you say nothing is available to change to?

Also confused by this statement above I was fine arriving at 10:40pm, but 12:05am gets me on the ground by 3:00am ...huh?

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Im a bit perplexed here and scratching my head. I read the original post several times. My question is, where are you departing from to arrive in ANC? I would assume since you are on AS and leaving from MSP the only logical place is SEA-ANC? That being said flights leave every hour or 2 to ANC and you have 2 options for times leaving MSP. Leads me to question number 2....is this trip within a few weeks? since you say nothing is available to change to?

Also confused by this statement above I was fine arriving at 10:40pm, but 12:05am gets me on the ground by 3:00am ...huh?

It was 3 AM according to body clock I think.

Midnight isn't bad- the Midnight Sun will probably throw off the sleep schedule a bit anyway...

Yes there have been a couple schedule changes resulting in later arrival times- the joys of booking months out.

My thoughts are as follows.

It is 1 hour and 20 minutes difference. In the grand scheme of things is this really a big deal?

Although tight you should have no issues with a 40 minute connection time. Done it plenty of times at SEA and never missed a connection.

It's your honeymoon. Congrats, relax and enjoy. Personally wouldn't spend another second worrying about this if it was me.

Yes, in the grad scheme of things it is really nothing. I just had it in my head that I wanted to get into ANC before midnight. If needed, since I am flying first class, sleeping on the SEA-ANC leg should be pretty easy. Especially considering I rarely have trouble in coach.

Thanks guys, sorry for making a big deal about nothing.

Yes, in the grad scheme of things it is really nothing. I just had it in my head that I wanted to get into ANC before midnight. If needed, since I am flying first class, sleeping on the SEA-ANC leg should be pretty easy. Especially considering I rarely have trouble in coach.

Thanks guys, sorry for making a big deal about nothing.

You're getting married nothing to apologize about. :D

Sorry if my post sounded rude. Definitely not my intent but I am a very laid back, go with the flow person.

It does stink when things do not work out as planned but you should be A-OK on this minor change.

Hopefully you will have a great time and the flight change will be a distant memory once you get there.